St. John’s Academy Inc.

Senior High School

Unchaining the Chained:

A Position Paper About the Necessity to Demolish the R.A. 11479 or the Anti-
Terrorism Law

Group 6 – STEM – St. Agnes

Nacu, Theo Allen T.

Payos, Roniel Chester F.
Dimalanta, Regina Mae S.
Ruiz, Marjorie R.
Sacramento, Armhie Fhey C.

December 2020
 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s influential assertion about social arrangement,
“There can be no justice without peace, and there can be no peace without justice.”,
recapitulates the significance of humanity in attaining societal orderliness. Thus, the
calmness of citizens does not determine the peacefulness of a society; instead, it is
the country’s humane system and citizens’ satisfaction that quantify harmony. The
previous thought reverberates to the current circumstance of Filipino lives regarding
the recently passed Anti-Terrorism Law that has been a subject of controversies.
During the prevalent pandemic months between April and July, some individuals
heavily criticized the loss of actions of the Philippine government in battling 2019’s
Coronavirus (COVID-19). Eventually, the Congress has established a Republic Act
that might lower the tension of citizens, and prevent any sign of violence that could
lead to terrorism. Accordingly, the Philippine President, Mr. Rodrigo Duterte, signed
the Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 on July 3, 2020, and
this specific policy condemns terrorism as a disadvantageous threat in preserving
national security and in promoting people’s welfare (Sy, 2020). Analyzing that the
southern part of the Philippines is countered by Islamic militancy, the specified
mission of the law raises responsiveness and combats physical conflicts. However,
the previous idea does not justify the inordinate implementation of the policy, thus,
resulting to innumerable individuals who oppose the Anti-Terrorism Law. By basing
on the credibility of involved departments, inappropriateness of time, potential
abuse, and unconstitutional provisions, people who are intending to deconstruct the
certain law expect for further cases of violence and societal disorder. The effectivity
of this law eliminates the effectivity of the notion of “democracy” in this democratic
country, hence, abolishing the orderliness left in the society. Although the
extermination of terrorism in the Philippines became highly possible, the Anti-
Terrorism Law should be demolished because it suppresses the freedom of speech,
normalizes reg-tagging, and enables warrantless arrests.
 First, the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020 directly qualifies the suppression of
press freedom. As the clauses state through the official law proclamation, attacks on
press are connected to speeches, writings, proclamations, emblems, banners, and
other representations which impact a serious risk to public safety (Official Gazette,
2020). The supporting clause is a vague term to use when oppressors are only waiting
to prey on broadcast stations, new portals, and publications who oppose the
government’s philosophies. In very recent time, the state witnessed large scale
attacks on press freedom characterized with the recent incidents of Maria Resa, the
Chief Executive Officer of Rappler. She was charged for online defamation, and
cyber-libel for a news article containing alleged involvement of a prominent
business woman in illegal activity. To others, this may seem as another cry for help
of the “Dilawan” to further tarnish the image of the ruling, but this case will forever
be used to silence journalists. According to Ressa, the case and the law will somehow
be weaponized against the perceived critics of the state (Ketchel, 2020). Another
case of lip-sealing by the government is the closure of ABS-CBN Corporations
which was proven to be free from any anomaly regarding debates on taxes and
employment. However, the network was still denied a new franchise because the
station is simply not with the president’s ideologies. The sudden closure of the
broadcast station placed family breadwinners at the edge, deprived of jobs. This also
largely affected the population for it is a known fact that media is not just for
entertainment itself, but the station is also a catalyst of change and information. With
the absence of different stands, opinions, and ideologies regarding politics, the
public is forced to believe only what is aired through antennas and digital screens.
This endangers critical thinking and analysis of Filipinos on recent national events
which can later alter the general views of the public without multiple views thru the
lens of news casting and broadcasting. The injustices that involve media and state
freedom happened when the Anti-Terror Bill was still unsigned. Therefore, the Anti-
Terrorism Law should be demolished because it could further suppress the autonomy
of media regarding press freedom.

Second, the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Law neglects the Filipino's

opinion and decision that leads to the normalization of reg-tagging. Gavilan (20202)
defines reg-tagging as an act of labeling, naming, and accusing individuals as
communists, terrorists, or people who threaten the societal welfare. Thus, without
even exerting any physical violence that may cause trepidation and panic to
individuals, the government has the capability to indicate whether you are a terrorist
or not. Individuals may be targeted for giving harmless opinions that are not in favor
of the government, may the opinions be in a form of written or uttered literature. In
the past previous months, a lot of citizens and communities are being red-tagged by
the government, assuming that activism and being socially woke can be equated to
terrorism. In factuality, Amnesty International (2020) asserts that the government's
perilous counter-insurgency strategy has led to a violation of human rights. Recently,
Casilao (2020) reported that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is
monitoring the advocacies of Liza Soberano, an actress under the ABS-CBN
Network. Moreover, Southern Luzon Command chief Lieutenant General Antonio
Parlade Jr. warned the actress about how Gabriel Women’s Party could turn her into
a rebel, which is an overboard statement. As Filipinos who are determined to fight
for the rights of an individual, the administer of the law of anti-terrorism is indeed
discourteous to the country and people. The immorality of the aforementioned
incidences proves that the implemented law of President Rodrigo Duterte
contravenes the law of human rights by allowing socially invoke citizens to be reg-
tagged.

Lastly, the implementation of warrantless arrests, as stated by the law, has

made the Anti-Terrorism law to be unconstitutional. Some human rights advocates,
lawyers, and other critiques have questioned and wanted to void the law for a reason
that it violates human rights and the constitution itself. In factuality, Ramos (2020)
affirms the belligerent provisions of Section 29 of the law, wherein it extends that
the suspected person will be detained for fourteen to twenty-four calendar days at
that time the committed person has been arrested without bail. The remaining ten
days of detention was added to further settle the investigation and to prevent
committing another form of terrorism; this is done without delays. This provision
contradicts the constitution for a suspected person having only three days of
imprisonment. In a report of Navallo (2020), two male Aetas in San Marcelino,
Zambales were the first to be charged under the new Law after allegedly firing and
shooting the soldiers despite being horrendously tortured. A president of the
National Union for Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) told that those soldiers who tortured
the Aetas show an act of terror after letting the two were fed a human waste, illegally
detained, and physically beaten. In addition, Bajo (2020) asserted that many
protesters were arrested during the protest in Manila against the Anti-Terrorism Bill.
The authorities exerted force and violence in order to arrest the protesters, and when
the police officers were asked about the reason why they arrested the protesters, the
authorities could not give concrete answers. The thirty protesters who were detained
that day of peaceful protest became the living epitome of the oppression of the Anti-
Terrorism Bill through warrantless arrests.

Despite all the arguments that were stated, the Philippine government and
some Filipino citizens believe that the entire Philippines will benefit from the Anti-
Terrorism Law. Gonzales (2020) asserted that the Philippines needs this nature of
law because this anti-violence policy ensures the welfare of the society and promotes
peace among individuals. The certain law exterminates rebellious groups that pose
danger specially to the children and women of Mindanao. Moreover, according to
Sobel (2020), the supporters of Anti-Terrorism Law emphasize that Filipinos should
not worry about their human rights because doing protests and sharing advocacies
are allowed as long as they are not creating serious risk to public safety. These
statements convey that Filipinos do not have any reason to oppose the Anti-
Terrorism Bill as long as they are not terrorists or communists. However, the
previous statement’s own thought destroys the nature of the law because of improper
implementation. Not being a terrorist is not an enough reason for individuals to feel
secured, because the main system of the law encages even the innocent people.
Furthermore, the law’s promotion of peace provides false hopes because societal
orderliness cannot be poured from the implementation’s violence and oppression.

Both sides crafted a valid point in stating the advantages and disadvantages of
passing the Anti-Terrorism Bill into law. Many people agree and disagree to
demolish the law because it ironically stops violence or continues violence – there
is no in between. Hence, some of the people are having doubts because they think
that the government will see this as an opportunity to use the power of the law for
their personal endeavors. Some individuals disagree with the law’s implementation
because of the guidelines that can be easily used against the Filipinos, especially
activists. Other citizens want the law to be ineffective because it restricts the people
from expressing their opinions against the government. The law also normalizes red-
tagging which is to blacklist individuals who are innocent in real life, just doing their
patriotic task for Filipinos. Lastly, Anti-Terrorism Law allows people to be arrested
without warrants by basing on mere suspicions. Although the law seems to be meant
for the terrorists, there are a lot of cases where the Anti-Terrorism Law is used
against the Filipino citizens who are just expressing their opinion towards the
administration. Thus, there is a necessity to demolish the Anti-Terrorism Law for it
suppresses freedom of speech, allows red-tagging, and empowers warrantless
arrests. To create peace, one should start peace, because adding the fuel of violence
to the flame of violence increases casualties, or worse, blows the remaining peace.
 REFERENCES
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