As a Filipina girl myself, my heart broke when I heard the news. Imagine if your country was about to pass an ‘Anti-Terrorism Bill’ that allowed for a warrantless arrest and confinement of citizens by law enforcement, police and military personnel. All they need is confirmation from the government and Anti-Terror Council (ATC).
On July 3rd 2020, the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte signed the ‘Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020’ into law. When he was elected back in 2016, Duterte’s campaign promised an end to the major ‘war on drugs in the Philippines’ and zero-tolerance crime policy. This led to the making of the bill...
First and foremost, I’d like to state what the general definition of the term ‘terrorism’ is.
‘Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or its citizens to further certain political or social objectives.’
The Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020 is apparently supposed to enhance the Human Security Act of 2007. But according to this new Anti-Terrorism Bill, HB6875: the term is defined by anyone who
Tries to damage government property
Attempts assault
Carries (or buys) a knife or deadly weapon
Allegedly meets people to plot a government attack
Donates to non-government relief drives
Is in a rally/action that can cause ‘a serious risk to public safety’
Posts, shares, or writes memes related to ‘terrorism’
This new bill stretches the definition of ‘Terrorism’. It provides the government with the authority to place anyone under surveillance even if they make a meme related to ‘subversive activities’. It even places workers at risk of being caught in engaging in harmless and valid union activities - but under this broader definition, it could be viewed as damaging government property. No one is exempt and text, emails, phone calls and social activities will all be easily tracked.
As a punishment, those who are accused are subject to face death, jail time without appeal or even be sentenced to a 12-year-life time of imprisonment without the possibility of bail. But that’s not all. The law allows suspects to be constricted without a legal warrant of arrest for 14 days which can have an additional 10 days, and placed under surveillance for 60 days, that can also be extended by up to 30 days.
Someone with the right state of mind can evidently see that this new law goes against and violates human and constitutional rights. This includes:
‘No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws’ (Article 3, Section 1)
‘The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable’ (Article 3, Section 3)
‘No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances’ (Article 3, Section 4)
‘Bail as a matter of right except in capital offences where evidence of guilt is not strong’ (Article 3, Section 13).
The Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights quoted that this bill ‘paves the road for possible abuse’. As well as stating that ‘this broad definition, starting a fight in a bar could technically be classified as an act of terrorism’.
Despite the amount of publicity and protests against this, the bill was passed. Now anyone, no matter how old, how young, you can be arrested by a police officer, without a warrant. But this doesn’t mean that we have to stop here. We can still fight this and find a way to abolish the bill and restore peace in the country. #JunkAntiTerror
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