On my bi-weekly quiz night with friends prepared this time by a lawyer classmate, one of the rounds was about half-witted statements made by certain government officials whose unquestioning support for the president of the republic is preposterous at best and alarming at worst. I felt overcome with and debilitated by rage, blood rushing to my head.
While the nation is in the midst of being battered by an invisible enemy, with the ordinary Filipino fighting off death either by the virus or by starvation, the government has deemed it most urgent to pass a bill that effectively curtails its citizens’ freedoms and makes it incredibly easy for men in uniform to label critics and dissenters of the government terrorists.
You have nothing to be afraid of if you’re not a terrorist, they said. But in a now deleted tweet, chief fake news propagator Mocha Uson has precisely proven our fears valid. Imagine if she and several of her kind are to be appointed members of the anti-terrorism council under the proposed law. As vindictive as she is, you can guaranteed kiss your freedom goodbye.
You have no sympathy for the plight of the people in Mindanao, they argued. I do. Mindanao is my home. I know what it’s like living under the throngs of terrorism. I grew up with the sight of military tanks and army checkpoints routine. I felt disappointed when our high school principal prohibited us from celebrating our week-long intramural’s culmination night because the city was under red alert. I was there to comfort a friend and neighbor who lost a brother in a bomb explosion at my city’s public market seventeen years ago. I will never forget the somber and sorrowful mood of that fateful afternoon. I have every reason to hate terrorists as much as you do. There is no place for such barbarism in a civilized society. Yet, our very own Mindanaoan lawmakers expressed disagreement for the bill to be passed and for good reason. Patricia Evangelista in her dissenting piece couldn’t have put it better – The government is correct that this new law is about terror, but it isn’t one that will end it.
You don’t even live in the country anymore, you don’t know anything, they stated. You don’t live in America either but you support the Black Lives Matter movement, even if it’s to only make you look hip, so your argument is moot.
Up until this point, I have only really spoken out about my stand privately with a select group of friends and family. But the other day, I saw news of the detention of six jeepney drivers who were merely protesting for their livelihoods to be re-instated. Their families had nothing to eat. The day after that, a SWAT team violently dispersed and detained a group of students peacefully protesting against this very same bill. Today, the trolls have upped the ante by creating fake Facebook accounts bearing the names of people critical of this fascist regime purportedly to be used to red-tag the same individuals. I have already reported dozens of fake profiles including one of my own. Now tell me I have nothing to fear.
We cannot leave this kind of power in the hands of a government whose track record for impunity is well-documented in all forms of media. My grandmother has warned me against speaking out for fear of backlash. I’m sorry Lola but at this point it is no longer responsible to keep mum while injustice continues to plague the entire world, the universe rather.
Junk Terror Bill Now! Sign the petition below:
https://www.change.org/p/junk-the-anti-terrorism-bill-and-uphold-human-rights
And if you have extra money, please donate to any of these: