Let's talk about the Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB), also known as Senate Bill 1083, amending the Human Security Act (HCA) of 2007: a short thread about what is happening in the Philippines right now.

#JunkTerrorBill

R.A. 9372, the act that this bill is amending, condones state-sanctioned violence and silencing of any form to anyone that opposes them. Jomorito Goaynon, a Lumad leader, and Ireneo Udrbe, a peasant organizer are only two of the many people this act has affected.

It was passed to the Senate in order to “prevent, prohibit, and penalize terrorism” or “terrorist” acts in the country by targeting people (including minors) who are profiled and considered to be most likely to perform terrorist acts or join groups--organizations--related to it.

Under SB 1083, the term “terrorists” were vaguely defined. The following acts shown in the picture below are to be punishable by law and penalized with life imprisonment or imprisonment of 12 years.

Please click on the pictures and see the alt text for the English translation.

ACTIVISM IS NOT TERRORISM! Imposing this bill essentially allows those in power to silence this regime’s critics. No one is safe: especially when innocent people who were being critical about the government’s actions could easily be punished as it is implemented.

It allows personnel to place people under surveillance, monitoring such as your calls and texts. Compel telcos are allowed to disclose messages and calls of those who are suspected, wiretapping individuals. It allows warrantless arrests that could detain them for up to 24 days.

It is prone to abuse by those in power, committing institutional abuse without any fear of its consequences. It poses a threat to our basic human rights and democracy. It is indeed proof of de facto dictatorship.

They are choosing to silence us as we are in the middle of this global pandemic, prioritizing the implementation of this bill rather than creating a concrete solution and imposing nationwide mass testing to battle COVID-19.

Truly, the system is showing us more and more how it risks the lives of the people it claims to serve.

To impose this bill is to take away our basic human rights and freedom of speech in a democratic country, a place where we should be allowed to speak. At times like these do we need to speak up about what’s going on in our country more than ever.