FBANC Statement Against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020
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The Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) stands against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “The Anti-Terrorism Act”). FBANC holds eminent the rule of law in our distinguished profession. Thus, we call on U.S. Legislators to join several members of Congress in urging President Duterte to repeal this law and demand more comprehensive consultation with the Filipino public.
The Anti-Terrorism Act Allows for Detention Without Judicial Warrant
The Philippine Constitution guarantees as inalienable the fundamental right against unreasonable searches and seizures except upon probable cause to be determined by a judge. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also promises a right to liberty and security of the person. The Anti-Terrorism Act undermines the Philippine Constitution and international law by including a provision that allows for detention without a judicial warrant of arrest. The Philippine Constitution grants the authority to issue warrants of arrests only to judges, and the proposed bill gives a purely executive, non-independent Anti-Terrorism Council the power to authorize warrantless arrests of persons suspected of terrorism.
The Anti-Terrorism Act Creates Chilling Effect on the Exercise of Freedoms of Speech, of Expression, and of Peacable Assembly
The Anti-Terrorism Act threatens freedom of expression and freedom of association by providing a broad definition of terrorism, which, if left unchecked by a judicial body, could result in the labeling of dissenters as terrorists. Further, it gives broad authority to the Anti-Terrorism Council to designate an individual or organization as a terrorist or as people engaged in terrorism, arrest individuals, and detain them for up to 24 days without due process of the law. The Anti-Terrorism Act does exempt advocacy, work stoppages, and humanitarian action from the definition of terrorism, but the language of the proposed legislation does not go far enough to ensure the protection of the freedom of expression and association. In the current climate, where activists and journalists are targeted because of their work, we believe that stronger protections for these freedoms are required.
The Anti-Terrorism Act puts at imminent risk the freedom of speech, as the bill would also make it a criminal offense to “incite others” to commit terrorism “by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations tending to the same end.” FBANC condemns the Anti-Terrorism Act’s chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of speech, compounded by the government-ordered shutdown of the Philippines’ leading broadcast network and the conviction of the Philippine American journalist Maria Ressa of libel. Maria Ressa was one of a group of journalists honored by Time magazine as Person of the Year in 2018.
We stand with our sisters and brothers in the Philippines, who hold inviolable the rule of law in executing justice.
Contact Mari Bandoma Callado, FBANC President maribandoma@fbanc.org and/or Maribeth Charvet FBANC Mentorship Director maribethcharvet@fbanc.org for more information.