In a press conference
on Monday, March 2, 2020, human rights alliance Karapatan joined other
progressive organisations in opposing the passage of the Anti-Terror Bill,
which seeks to amend and strengthen RA 9372 or the Human Security Act (HSA) of
2007. The rights group raised alarm over
contentious and vague provisions, which it said “infringes on and effecti
In a press conference
on Monday, March 2, 2020, human rights alliance Karapatan joined other
progressive organisations in opposing the passage of the Anti-Terror Bill,
which seeks to amend and strengthen RA 9372 or the Human Security Act (HSA) of
2007. The rights group raised alarm over
contentious and vague provisions, which it said “infringes on and effectively
curtails people’s democratic rights and lays the legal groundwork for a de
facto martial rule.”
Senate Bill No. 1083,
the Senate’s version of the Anti-Terrorism Law was approved recently in its
third and final reading, with 19 senators voting in favor, while only two voted
in opposition. “The bill contains provisions that threatens the right to
security and privacy, with provisions legalizing extended periods of
surveillance, warrantless arrests, and arbitrary detention of suspected
terrorists, along with other violations on the freedom of association, free
expression, mobility and due process,”
Karapatan Deputy Secretary General, Roneo Clamor, said.
Furthermore, he said,
“the removal of the penalty for state forces who have committed wrongful
detention, a feature of the HSA will now embolden state forces to act with
impunity and sow terror. Under the vague provisions of the bill, everyone can be
tagged as terrorist, and arrested, incarcerated and charged on the basis of
mere suspicion that he has committed, is thinking to commit, about to commit,
or is committing acts the bill considers as acts terrorism, even when there is
no visible physical act being done. The
vague provision on inciting to terrorism in effect will restrict dissent in all
forms at the risk of being tagged as terrorist or harboring terrorist or
providing material support to terrorists, which all carry the same penalties of
life imprisonment.”
“Even without the
proposed amendments to the HSA, this law has already been used to harass
critics and activists through arrests and trumped up charges alongside a
massive red tagging campaign of human rights defenders in order to delegitimize
them and malign their organisations. We have seen the intensification of such
under Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 and the National Task Force to End Local
Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ECLAC). The Anti-Terrorism Law will further
tighten Duterte’s dictatorial grip on power,” the Karapatan official said.
Six counterpart bills
are currently pending before the House Committee on Public Order and
Safety. The Karapatan official urged
lawmakers in the Lower House to reject the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law:
“We urgently call on our lawmakers to not let themselves be instruments of
state violence and repression by not passing such a deplorable legislation. We
urge you to put the interests of the people and human rights by resisting to
lay down the legal foundation of Duterte’s reign of terror. We urge you to
address the roots of terrorism through genuine reforms and not all out
suppression of dissent, militarist policies and authoritarian rule. Now is the
time to unite in resisting a sitting tyrant and rage against the weaponization
of law,” he concluded.