By: Ayyan Shaikh
2020 has not been a good year so far. I think we all agree when I say that. It’s been far from a good year and to make it worse people in the Philippines now have to worry about their human rights being taken away, due to a new bill.
The Philippines’ House of Representatives has passed an anti-terrorism bill that will restrict the rights of the citizens of the Philippines to show their dissent against the government. During the House of Representatives’ meeting on National defense and security and public order and safety, most members voted in the favour of a bill designed to strengthen the law against terrorism in the country, amongst other things.
This bill will grant the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte vast powers to expand the campaign of suppressing dissent. Under the current law, a suspected terrorist could only be detained for 3 days without a warrant, however, if this bill is put into action, the days for which a suspected terrorist could be detained before they must be presented before any Judicial authority will be increased to 14 days. This can further be extended to 24 days in total if deemed necessary. In addition to that, the bill states,“ Any person who shall voluntarily and knowingly join any organization, association, or group of persons knowing that such is a terrorist organization, shall suffer imprisonment of 12 years and those who will recruit another to join, commit, or support any terrorist organization will be punished with a penalty of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole,”.
The bill that was also approved by the Senate is supposed to replace The Human Security Act of 2007, which was rarely used, as, if someone is wrongly detained for terrorism, the law enforcers would have to pay a large sum of money to the suspect for each day they were detained. The new anti-terrorism bill does not contain such safeguards which makes it all the more dangerous for people to voice their opinions against the government.
(Photo by Rolex dela Pena/EPA for Aljazeera)
This bill will also give Duterte power to appoint a special council, composed of cabinet officials which in turn will provide the authority to enforce the law and declare individuals, and/or organizations as terrorists without the approval of the court. The bill has been widely interpreted as the governments’ effort to wipe out dissent instead of terrorism. Once signed by the president, the bill can, and may be used against critics and opposition leaders. This is a direct infringement of the human rights of the citizens of the Philippines.
The bill also contains these words, “seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental social, economic or political structures of the country,” and, “using speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners, or other representations tending to the same end.” Due to their broad meaning, this can be interpreted as an attack on the freedom of speech and expression of the media and anyone standing against the government. The fear of Filipinos might not be baseless as president Duterte has mentioned his desire to place the Philippines under martial law on various occasions and with this bill in position, he might as well be controlling everything in the country like a dictator.
With the President expected to sign the bill this year, protests have erupted throughout the country. Activists and a huge amount of the general public have gathered on the streets to show their distaste against this bill. People have also used their social media platforms actively to protest against the bill as #JunkTerrorBill, #ACTIVISMISNOTTERRORISM, and #OustDuterte. There is a countrywide opposition towards this bill and to counter all this opposition, the presidential spokesman, Harry Roque, stated that it is an important step to remove terrorism as the terrorist groups in the Marawi region of south Philippines are a great threat towards the country. Despite this, people still continue to show their distaste for this bill. No excuse will be accepted when it comes to the basic human rights of people.
It is quite disappointing along with it being a bit scary that the world has progressed so much, yet somewhere, somehow, people still have to worry about their basic human rights being taken away from them. We, as the future generation and as empathetic people, must raise our voices against this injustice. We may not be able to do much, but standing in solidarity with our fellow human beings and joining them in their conquest to stop the unjust bill being brought into action is enough. Furthermore, we can also help them by signing petitions and raising awareness about this issue, click here to know more! After all, we are the generation where change begins.
(Photo by Rolex dela Pena/EPA for Aljazeera)
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