Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison has claimed that the lives of 100,000 social activists are in danger as he criticized President Duterte over the passage at the House committee level of a controversial bill that gives stronger teeth to the government’s anti-terrorism measures.
In a statement on Saturday night, Sison said the House’s adoption of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 by the Senate was a “clear” indication that the administration “is engaged in the killing of leading social activists as a high priority of state terrorism.”
Sison cited “insiders” in the administration in claiming that there was a “consensus” to “wipe out” cause-oriented groups “by murdering “Tokhang-style” 100,000 social activists “in the name of anti-communism,” referring to the Oplan Tokhang anti-illegal drug operation by the Philippine National Police (PNP), which was blamed for the death of thousands of suspected drug personalities.
Last Friday, the House Committees on Public Order and Safety and on National Defense and Security adopted the Senate version of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Senate Bill 1083) to repeal the Human Security Act of 2007. The bill will then be subjected to plenary debates.
Among the notable amendments in the new bill include an expanded definition of “terrorist acts,” an extended amount of time a suspected terrorist can be detained after a warrantless arrest, the removal of the P500,000 fine for law enforcers who detained a suspect acquitted of terrorism, and the prolonged period that an individual’s communications be put under surveillance.
The Palace has yet to issue a statement on the latest tirade of Sison against Duterte.
However, Defense Secetary Delfin Lorenzana ealier welcomed the approval of the proposed anti-terrorism bill.
“The Human Security Act of 2007 is no longer responsive to the evolving nature of the threats we face, hence, the need for a new law,” Lorenzana stated. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
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