How social media users can protect themselves from the anti-terror law
How social media users can protect themselves from the anti-terror law
By Emil Marañon III
Fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette, the controversial and much-opposed Republic Act 11479 or the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020” is set to take effect. While it was framed by the administration as a measure to address terrorism and related threats, its content goes beyond the conventional understanding of “terrorism” and so pervasive that it can cover acts of dissents and legitimate free expressions otherwise guaranteed by the Constitution.
While there are firm assurances from the law’s main proponents that the law will not curtail constitutional rights or be abused, in the ground, legislative intent and actual enforcement could turn to two different animals. In fact, statements from some of the President Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted men are revealing the real motive for its instantaneous passage while the country was (still is) scrambling to survive the pandemic.
National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, in a virtual press briefing on Saturday, July 4, eerily said:
Kung tahimik naman sila, huwag sila mababahala. Kung ang pakay mo bilang aktibista ay magsaad ng iyong mga hinaing, social injustices, or request for better treatment or ideas, papayagan natin ‘yan.
The statement is pregnant with implications.
First, it is a cold and an unmistakable warning that people are “safer” when they stay silent.
Second, Esperon assumes that it is for him to tell which statements will be allowed or not.
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