MANILA, Philippines — A party-list group supportive of President Duterte yesterday filed a bill seeking to revive the Anti-Subversion Law that was repealed 28 years ago as well as tag all communists in the country as criminals.
Rep. Ducielle Marie Cardema of the Duterte Youth party-list said she filed House Bill 8231 or the proposed “Act to Outlaw the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front (Anti-CPP-NPA-NDF Act of 2021).”
The Anti-Subversion Act of 1957 or Republic Act 1700 was enacted during the time of former president Carlos Garcia but was repealed in September 1992 when former president Fidel Ramos, a retired military general and former defense minister, was in power.
Republic Act 7636 simply meant that subversion – or acts like recruiting individuals for purposes of undermining an established government – is no longer a crime, although sedition or inciting people to overthrow government through violent means remained illegal.
“If we want peace in this country, we must destroy the capability of the CPP-NPA-NDF to wage war in all their fronts against our government and people,” Cardema said, justifying HB 8231.
She said the measure, which is supported by the state security forces or the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, is “for the Filipino youth and the future of this Republic.”
“With this new and improved Anti-Subversion Law, our proposed Anti-CPP-NPA-NDF Act of 2021 will not only destroy their ability to wage war, but will also give them a second chance to join our peace-loving society in this modern era,” Cardema said.
But left-wing Rep. France Castro of party-list ACT Teachers – who belongs to the six-man militant Makabayan bloc – disagreed with Cardema’s position, saying her “group’s score so far in terms of forwarding the issues of the youth in Congress is zero.”
“Now, here it comes again being the mouthpiece of the Duterte agenda. From its name to its game, it’s very obvious that Duterte Youth merely acts as the tentacles of the Duterte administration in Congress,” the House assistant minority leader reiterated.