Lacson twits lawmakers trying to withdraw ‘yes’ votes for anti-terrorism bill 

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ping Lacson on Monday slammed House lawmakers for withdrawing their support for the controversial anti-terrorism bill that the chamber passed on third and final reading last week. 

Lacson tweeted in Filipino: ”What do you call a lawmaker who votes in favor of a bill without first reading it and then withdraws their support for the same bill that they still have not read?” 

Ano ang tawag sa mambabatas na bumoto ng pabor sa isang panukalang batas na hindi muna niya binasa at pagkatapos ay umatras sa pagsuporta sa parehong panukalang batas nang hindi pa rin niya binabasa?

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) June 8, 2020

Rep. Joey Salceda (Albay) was among those who sought to withdraw their “yes" votes for the widely-criticized bill, with some saying that deliberations on it had been rushed. 

Rep. Raffy Biazon (Muntinlupa), originally a sponsor of the bill, withdrew as its author and voted against it last week. He said that he had hoped the House would be allowed to introduce amendments to the bill that had been adopted from the Senate.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Lacson said that it is not even possible for the lawmakers to withdraw their votes. 

"They can recall their votes to the media but [not in] Congress because they already passed the measure on its third and final reading. They cannot do anything but to claim to the media that they have withdrawn their votes,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

Lacson added that the Senate and the House of Representatives will transmit the measure to the Palace on Monday, leaving it to President Rodrigo Duterte’s final approval. The chief executive previously called on the House to fast-track the approval of the bill, certifying it as urgent. 

Disinformation campaign? 

During the same interview, the senator also speculated that recent reports of netizens’ Facebook accounts being cloned may be part of a disinformation campaign against the controversial bill.

“Its concerning in the sense that this can be included in scare tactics. For all we know, it is dissenters [of the bill] who are spreading this to scare people by dishing out disinformation” he said.  

He did not offer any evidence to back up this claim. 

A pattern suggests that it is actually critics of the government who are vocal online that are being targetted by these clone accounts. 

Activists in Cebu who were recently arrested during a peaceful protest against the anti-terrorism bill were the first to report such instances of cloning. Reports from non-student activists regarding their accounts being duplicated followed soon after. 

The National Bureau of Investigation has chalked up the occurrence to a technical glitch.  

Lacson went on to reiterate his previous statements defending the controversial bill which he co-authored and sponsored. 

The senator, who is also a former PNP chief, said that provisions in the measure adequately safeguard against human rights abuses. He added that it is more lenient than its counterparts in other countries in the region. 

History of abuse by state forces

Despite the former PNP chief’s claims, critics of the bill warned against its consolidation of the executive branch’s power — citing a history of abuses committed by both the military and the police. 

In a recent statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) pointed out security forces have a history of "carrying out a long-running surveillance, harassment, and suppression [campaigns] against activists and groups that operate openly and legally." 

HRW added that both the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency 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.”