Anti-Terror Bill: A cobweb

By Brian M. De la Cerna

 

The Philippines is close to having a new sword to wield against terrorism amid concerns that if enacted, the said legislation would infringe on civil rights.

After being passed by lawmakers in the Senate, which was immediately adopted by the House of Representatives, the bill was forwarded to the office of the President and is now waiting for the signature by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a 1707 essay, English satirist Jonathan Swift wrote: “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” The truth of this thesis is evident and relevant in the political status quo of the Philippines.

For the past 4 years, the United Nations, militant groups and human rights organizations have raised questions on the surge of extra judicial killings, which have been linked to the Oplan Tokhang of the Duterte administration. The campaign might have been found its reason to substantially eradicate the menace and important ensnare drug lords and dealers.

However, research by media organizations and human rights groups tells otherwise. It has shown that police routinely execute petty and unarmed drug suspects and then plant guns and drugs as evidence, while big names in the illegal drug industry watch the spilling of blood of innocent victims in the streets from afar.

Laws and legal systems were clearly misused to go against the massive trade of illegal drugs and perceived enemies. Yet, government authorities have insisted and denied such misconduct by the Philippine National Police. President Duterte’s signature policy, since he took office in mid-2016 has been widely condemned locally and internationally for the number of deaths resulting from police operations and allegations of systematic extra judicial killings. Out of thousands of deaths, only a few received justice.

The lesson and pain of the past should have been the sole basis of our legislators to spend more time in studying carefully and thoroughly all the provisions in anti-terror bill, that will amend the Human Security Act of 2007.

Even President Duterte himself, had previously expressed urgency for the passage of such bill, while there is still a lingering threat of coronavirus disease 2019 that remains to be addressed.

The proposed legislation has an overbroad definition of terrorism that can subject suspects, impose surveillance, travel ban, apprehended without a warrant, weeks of detention prior to an appearance before a judge, and less accountability for authorities. A special body composed mainly of Cabinet officials appointed by the president would provide the authority to enforce the law. “Very defective” measure with “many unconstitutional provisions” and will place the Philippines “permanently under a situation worse than martial law,” retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said. Who would want to eat an undeveloped fruit anyway? The former SC senior associate even insinuated that he will be at the frontline of legal battle if it will be enacted into law.

Perhaps the Duterte administration sees this anti-terror bill as an instrument of obedience to scare dissenters, the opposition, and the like. This feeble instrument  aims to take away our basic human rights enshrined in the constitution could have made the people to squabble in fear, however it gives us merely an overwhelming strength to question its legality and fight back. It grants the Philippine government not only the power of silencing our voice, but also taking away from us the pleasures of hope.

Rep. France Castro of ACT-Teachers party list, on the other hand, feared that the measure would aggravate red tagging of groups like hers. For the past years under the Duterte administration, red tagging has become a new practice of the government, when it shouldn’t have been granting that we are now thriving in a modern civilized society. Many believe that the anti-terror bill is a political tactic continues to undermine Philippine democracy encouraging authoritarian practices and will therefore have a chilling effect on public debate and discourse. One of the more striking amendments include prolonging the detention period without being charged in court, on the “mere inkling of involvement and engagement in indefinable acts of terrorism,” as the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) put it.

Like the fictional nation of Panem, based on the critically acclaimed trilogy of Suzanne Collins entitled The Hunger Games, repressive leaders seek to put surveillance on citizens, manipulate information, and manage public opinion. We sometimes take it for granted, even in the so called free society, is that our movements and conversations are monitored and leaders in the administration practice sophisticated spin control to influence public perceptions. In a contemporary era, where the thirst for naked power rule the masses from a distant Capitol, where governments demand for the sacrifice of our freedoms in exchange for greater good, where people in authority spit on the rights of the citizens, how close are we to Panem?

This anti-terror bill undoubtedly has errors. It was formulated without reference to human beings. Maybe, just maybe the government compromised that  respect for human rights and the rule of law must be the bedrock of the global fight against terrorism. But seeing people, regardless of social status taking a stand against this lying and gruesome anti-terror bill, which is exploited by ambitious people in the government and of every description is already a sure sign that Filipinos will not crouch down in angst and forced conformity.

It’s just so sad to think that the government desires us to be relatively and accurately correspondent to their will. Spreading of fear is the grand instrument indeed, disguised as a beacon of light. It is the fault of our government if they fail to make us intelligent and progressive individuals, free from violence, abuse, and oppression. It manifests that they are not fulfilling their mandate of formulating and implementing laws equally in the interest of all, but is being administered for personal gains.

President Duterte’s political wisdom has been piling up like a cloud, getting darker as days went by. He wants to create a world, which everyone will bow down and kneel. And of course, he is at the center of it all—together with his supposedly justice league. Hence, metaphorical wasps and hornets not only break through the flimsy cobweb, but also thrive to continue stinging havoc to the Filipino people.

The author studied political science at the University of San Agustin and aims to earn his Master’s degree in Public Administration at Central Philippine University. He is a gormer Consortium Secretariat of a Regional Health Research and Development Consortium under the Department of Science and Technology MIMAROPA and Former Content and Technical Writer of Office of the Municipal Mayor Unit of Janiuay, Iloilo. Apart from books and music, he loves “fighting for the rights of our farmers and fisherfolks, because I do believe that the problem in the agriculture sector is structural and not personal.”