Lawmakers want brakes on anti-terror measure
SEVERAL House leaders want the brakes applied on the speedy passage of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate asked Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to defer the transmittal of House Bill (HB) 6875 to the Senate after several congressmen either withdrew their votes on the bill or wanted to make clarifications.
Albay First District Rep. Edcel Lagman made the same request to Cayetano on Friday, citing escalating
protests, the sizeable negative votes, abstentions and affirmative votes with strong reservations; the failure of the House to craft its own version after adopting in toto the Senate bill; and the withdrawal of its principal author, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon.
Zarate urged Cayetano to give lawmakers more time to reconsider their votes.
Following the announcement of votes, Rep. José María Clemente Salceda of Albay and Rep. Lorna Silverio of Bulacan withdrew their “yes” votes and registered abstentions.
Salceda said he recalled his vote because some provisions in the bill were “inconsistent” with human rights.
Amendments will no longer be discussed as the House adopted the Senate Bill 1083.
Silverio recalled her “yes” vote after “careful evaluation and consultations” with constituents.
Pasig City’s Roman Romulo and Laguna’s Marisol Aragones also said they were changing their “yes” votes to an abstention.
Agusan del Norte’s Lawrence Fortun and Iloilo City’s Julienne Baronda asked to have their names deleted from the list of authors, claiming that they did not signify intent in the first place.
“We hope that more still will withdraw and change their ‘yes’ votes by writing the secretary general and the speaker to register their change of heart,” Zarate said.
He asked other colleagues to recall their affirmative votes.
“I am calling on my colleagues who voted ‘yes’ to the terror bill to reconsider their vote and vote to reject it instead. Their reservations as to constitutional grounds, the bill’s grave implications to human rights and it being subjected to abuse are clearly valid. We should not allow our country to become a police state with a junta- like formation lording it over. Human rights and civil liberties may become a thing of the past if this bill is enacted,” Zarate said.
Lagman wants to know the “real score” in the nominal voting on third reading of HB 6875 since there “appears to be some confusion on the tabulation of votes as evidenced by changes and corrections made in the result of the voting by the attending staff of the secretariat.”
During the Thursday session, Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. announced there were corrections in the results of nominal voting because of a technical error in the recording of electronic votes. The corrected results were 168 “yes” instead of 173; 36 “no” instead of 31.
The number of abstention remained at 29.
Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo also criticized the fasttracking of HB 6875.
“Nakita natin ‘yung statement ng mga authors sa House of Representatives na binawi ‘yung kanilang pagiging author. Ano’ng dahilan nila? Ang dahilan nila kasi ayaw nangmag- accept ng amendments. Eh‘ yung boses— ‘yung iba’t ibang boses,‘ yun‘ yung essence ng demokrasya,” she said during her weekly radio program on Sunday.
Robredo added that in the rush to pass the bill, inputs of various concerned groups were set aside.
She opposed the expanded definition of terroristic acts and the relaxing of restrictions on law enforcement.
Political Science professors from the University of the Philippines released a position paper expressing “vehement objection to the contents and the nature of the passage” of HB 6875.
“We are also gravely concerned with the timing and mode of the passage of this bill. In the middle of a pandemic, Congress chose to prioritize an Anti-Terror Law, thereby instilling fear instead of compassion. Moreover, critical decisions have been made in a span of days — definitely a short period for a measure needing much scrutiny,” the paper read.
Two religious organizations, Caritas Philippines and the Protestants’ Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches ( PCEC), joined the opposition to the AntiTerror Bill.
Caritas, the humanitarian, development and advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the rights and welfare of the Filipino people must be defended.
“Activism is not terrorism. We cannot let this happen. This is not only intolerable, this is inhuman, unjust and unlawful,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, Caritas national director in a statement.
“If what we do constitutes terror acts, then what else is not? If every dissent and opposition can be considered terrorism, who else will be free? If all the powerful in government can label anyone a terrorist, what else can they not do?” he added.
The Protestant-led PCEC echoed the call of Caritas, saying the AntiTerrorism Bill could “imperil the rights of Filipinos, their sense of dignity which, having its origin in God, our laws are called to uphold and protect.”
“This Act understandably involves the heaviest and most stringent penalties affecting individual persons and organizations, it should have undergone an extensive process of deliberation. Causing us great apprehension, too, [especially] the vague definitions of terrorism and the extended period of warrant-less detention, which opens the way to serious abuses of a person’s rights and dignity,” the PCEC said.