The Duterte administration\nwants an anti-terrorism law giving it unchecked power to surveil, harass,\narrest and detain government critics under the pretext of fighting terrorism.\nIt has been on a trajectory of violating human rights, due process, rule of law,\nand accountability since the start of its term. With the new law, the\ngovernment will achieve authoritarianism unmatched since Martial Law in the\n1970s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such power threatens to be\nabused for self-serving political ends especially as the 2022 elections near.\nThe crackdown on perceived critics and political opposition will set back\ndemocracy further and herald even more and worse human rights violations. It\nwill further divide the country and destabilize the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our nation can ill afford\nthis \u2013 it is already suffering from COVID-19 and reeling from the worst\neconomic collapse in its history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet while the immediate\nsituation is dire, the long-term impacts are arguably even more far-reaching.\nThe proposed anti-terror law creates conditions for the State\u2019s vast powers to\nbe used to favor big business cronies and to entrench economic policies\nprofiting a few at the expense of Filipinos and national development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is because the Duterte\nadministration seeks to cripple the most determined forces struggling for\ndemocratic socioeconomic reforms \u2013 social activists, organizations of the basic\nsectors, and progressives in and out of government. If passed, the anti-terror\nlaw will be used against the fiercest critics of neoliberal economic policies,\ncorruption and cronyism that disadvantage the many to profit a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cause of development will\nfalter without critical voices challenging the status quo of elitist and\nforeign-biased economic policies. The government will be unhindered in its\nefforts to preserve monopolies on land and rural resources, cheapen wages and\nmake work insecure, raise taxes on the poor while lowering those on the rich,\nprivatize social services and public utilities, liberalize agriculture and\nworsen food insecurity, pander to foreign investors and stifle Filipino\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will entrench poverty\nand structural inequality. Domestic agriculture and domestic industry will\nremain backward, and overdependence on foreign capital and economies will\npersist. The environment will continue to be despoiled and degrade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even the urgent response to\nthe COVID-19 crisis will be affected. As it is, the government is giving\ninadequate emergency relief and denying social protection amid economic\ndistress. It is also stumbling in its efforts to contain the coronavirus, treat\neveryone falling sick, and help those who have lost their loved ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The perceived critics who\nwill be silenced are among the most tenacious in pressing for a bigger and\nbetter response. They also strive to provide as much relief as possible with\nwhatever resources are at hand. The fight against COVID-19 and economic\ncatastrophe is better-served by having as many individuals, groups and\norganizations as possible join the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IBON was founded during the dark years of Martial Law as part of a surging movement against dictatorship and for social justice. For over 40 years now, we have persisted in our advocacies for social and economic reforms to build an economy that serves the interest of the people most of all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we wholeheartedly join all the Filipinos opposing the proposed anti-terror law, asserting the people\u2019s civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, and bravely resisting tyranny and terror. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STATEMENT | The Duterte administration wants an anti-terrorism law giving it unchecked power to surveil, harass, arrest and detain government critics under the pretext of fighting terrorism. It has been on a trajectory of violating human rights, due process, rule of law, and accountability since the start of its term. With the new law, the government will achieve authoritarianism unmatched since Martial Law in the 1970s. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[2048,3,961],"tags":[2181,2178,1230,2199,347,205],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9787"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9791,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9787\/revisions\/9791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}