Anti-Terrorism Bill and BLM
By: Jonathan Noble
Tags: America, BlackLivesMatter, Philippines, Politics, Duterte

#JunkTerrorBillNow

Right now, the Philippines is in a state of disarray. With COVID-19 cases piling up for two or three months now, you would think that the national government would step up and try to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. But instead of focusing on prioritizing mass testing and providing aid, they’re choosing to instead pass this honestly stupid, unnecessary, and self-serving bill. The Republic Act №. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007 is a bill that on the surface, sounds really good. A bill that would prevent terrorist attacks from happening? That’s pretty fucking great. But the thing with it is how they define what a terrorist is or what constitutes as terrorism. It’s just so vague and unclear. It basically gives the government and its agencies absolute control over who they consider to be a terrorist. They can just profile you and suspect you of being a terrorist and arrest you without a warrant on grounds that maybe for example: you shared an opinion that is against the government. Even though that opinion was rooted in criticism. Which by the way, it’s totally okay to criticize the government. It is our duty to be vigilant and be aware with what our government is doing because they serve us. They swore an oath to uphold what’s good for the people of this country. But the powers that be, they recognize that criticism and any form of dissent is a threat to them. They don’t want anyone speaking out against them because they don’t like it when people shine a light to whatever shady shit they’re trying to do. This is their attempt at snuffing out any opposition that stand in their way and we cannot let that happen.

I just got caught up with the developments this morning actually. Which then prompted me to just start writing about it because honestly, I’m scared. I really am. I don’t want to live my life in fear. No one should. We should be able to share our thoughts to anyone, about anything, positive or negative. That is one of the major pillars that humanity is built upon. Could you imagine? A world where you can’t mobilize in the streets and fight for the causes you want to fight for? Speak out against corrupt officials and stupid bills that doesn’t really benefit anyone but the murderers we call politicians these days? It sucks to think that it might be a possibility. And yet, here we are. I’m scared. I think we all are. But we shouldn’t let that consume us. We can’t let these morons win. So we should keep pushing. Continue to speak up. Be proactive. Use the platforms that you have right now and let your voice be heard. I think that’s the best course of action. If you wanna learn more about this, I will provide a link here. It’ll take you to a site where you can learn more about the bill with a very informative infographic and ways you can contribute and let your voice be heard. Obviously, I don’t know or have all the answers to everything, but one of the best things we can do is be informed and keep reading up on developments and continue to fight for our rights.

They will not silence us. They will try, but they won’t succeed.

Read up on the some resources here:

JUNK THE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL AND UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS!: https://www.change.org/p/junk-the-anti-terrorism-bill-and-uphold-human-rights?recruiter=49398322&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=4e9d9c20-9692-0130-069d-3c764e044346

Palace defends Duterte push for Anti-Terrorism Law amendments: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/02/20/palace-defends-duterte-push-for-anti-terrorism-law-amendments

Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties Statement: https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1267651090788388865?s=20