MANILA, Philippines — An international watchdog group today warned against provisions in the controversial anti-terrorism bill which would allow presidential appointees to usurp court powers.
"The draft law creates a new Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), consisting of members appointed by the executive, that would permit the authorities to arrest people it designates as 'terrorists' without a judicial warrant," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.
This new body would be composed mainly of Cabinet officials.
The report also highlighted sweeping definitions of terrorism which could sentence those convicted with up to life in prison without parole. The proposed measure leaves it entirely to the appointed council to determine whether a threat should be considered serious.
"While the definition also includes aims often associated with terrorism, such as seeking to 'seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental social, economic or political structures of the country, it does not require such intent," the group said.
For example, a provision in the draft law that makes 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” is quoted in the report.
HRW warned that this would pose a serious threat to both press freedom and the freedom of expression.
“The Philippine people are about to face an Anti-Terrorism Council that will be prosecutor, judge, jury, and jailer,” HRW Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said in a statement.
The group added that the draft law allows terrorism suspects to be held for 24 days before they must be presented before a judicial authority.
Under the existing Human Rights Act, terrorism suspects can only be held for three days before facing a judge. HRW said it believes that detainees should “appear before a judge within 48 hours” of their arrest.
The group added that the proposed anti-terror law also “relaxes accountability for law enforcement agents who violate the rights of suspects, particularly those in detention” as it does away with the P500,000 penalty for every unlawful day of detention.
Inter-agency task forces placed under the Anti-Terrorism Council
The report also drew attention to the existing National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the government’s main intelligence body, which would be directly run by the Anti-Terror Council’s secretariat under the draft bill.
HRW said NICA has a history of "carrying out a long-running surveillance, harassment, and suppression [campaigns] against activists and groups that operate openly and legally."
The group referenced a UN Human Rights Office in Geneva report released on June 4 which said "248 activists have been killed between 2015 and 2019 in relation to their work."
HRW added that the military, the police, and their inter-agency forms such as NICA and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict frequently accuse activist groups of "being front organizations, members, or supporters of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines."
DILG claims anti-terror bill will not be used to silence dissent
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday thanked Congress for working on the passage of the controversial bill and claimed it would not be used to silence dissent.
"As government officials, we are used to that. In fact, we welcome them because this is the essence of a democratic government," he said in Filipino in a statement. "There is no provision [to silence dissent] in this bill."
Despite these reassurances, the interior department in April said it would file criminal complaints against activists who had volunteered for a relief mission in Norzagaray, Bulacan, saying they had attempted to hold a mass gathering and hand out propaganda critical of the government.
The department's spokesman also said that same month that a spontaneous protest by residents of Sitio San Roque who were asking for food and aid was part of "a political agenda to agitate and mobilize the people."
The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening approved the proposed “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020” (House Bill 6875) on its third and final reading. The controversial anti-terrorism bill now only needs President Rodrigo Duterte's signature to become a law.