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Deviation

Days after the bombings in Indonesia, efforts have stepped up to enact into law the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) which has long been languishing in the halls of both Houses in Congress. As a matter of fact, the committee on justice and foreign affairs of the House of Representatives approved the draft of the ATB last Tuesday while the Senate thru its committee on public order headed by Sen. Manuel Villar is consolidating the different versions of the bill.

The ATB, conceptualized after the September 11 bombings in the United States, is designed to swiftly contain threats of ‘terrorism’ by giving room for government agencies to arrest suspected terrorists without necessarily going through the tedious process of securing warrants. It also aims to prevent acts of terror by ensuring that offenders will receive harsh penalties.

But taking a closer look at the ATB, it is a façade to suppress the growing discontent of the people. This will lead to increasing human rights violations and extend life to the dying regime of Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo. There is ambiguity in the definition of terrorism. To cite Section 3 of the draft bill in Congress, “Terrorism is the premeditated, threatened, actual use of violence, force, or by any other means of destruction perpetrated against person/s, property/ies, or the environment, with the intention of creating or sowing a slate of danger, panic, fear, or chaos to the general public, group of persons or particular person, or of coercing or intimidating the government to do or abstain from doing an act.”

Under such definition, anyone staging protest actions against the government can be labeled a terrorist since the act of complaint can be interpreted as “premeditated, with the intention of creating or sowing a slate of danger, panic, or fear, or chaos to the general public,” or “coercing or intimidating the government to do or abstain from doing an act” and therefore be arrested without warrant. Under such scenario, GMA will truly benefit as she could easily order the arrests of her critics. And the people have tasted the sample, so to speak. Already, the Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) concocted by Malacañang has resulted in protesters being brutally truncheoned, manhandled, arrested and detained by police forces with the excuse of “no permit, no rally.” Already, a political analyst has asserted that the CPR, another version of “maximum tolerance” cannot and will never be effective in suppressing opposition as long as people know their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Also, the definition, according to Atty. Pacifico Agabin is “merely a duplication of the existing crimes enumerated in the penal code”. This is also dangerous because common crimes can be elevated as ‘acts of terror’ leading to warrantless arrests and higher penalties.

Furthermore, the ATB is just a temporary solution to the terrorist attacks. Terrorist attacks by groups like Jemaah Islamiyah are undertaken in countries (and allies of these countries) identified by these Islamic radicals as “evil nations” and “enemies of Islam” like the United Sates of America whose policies contribute to political and economic strife particularly in the Middle East. This is crucial in the fight against terrorism and the key to end ‘acts of terror’.

The terror attacks in the Philippines perpetuated by the Abu Sayaff and the Jemaah Islamiyah is due to the Philippine government’s support to the United States’ war on terror. Other than this, there is no other reason for the terrorist attacks. This is the same scenario in Indonesia because their government is subservient to the dictates of US and is supportive to the war on terror.

While there is global threat of terrorism, GMA should evaluate the policies of the government particularly its unwavering support to the war on terror of US Pres. George Bush because the Philippines is being coerced to fight a war initiated by another nation.

And to the lawmakers, please do not be blinded by the ATB as the solution to threats of terrorism as it will only curtail the rights of the Filipino people. #

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