On June 3, the House Bill No. 6875 was passed as the man standing below the iconic Philippine Flag that hung in front of the session hall, announced “With 168 affirmative, 36 negative, 29 abstention, House Bill No. 6875 is now proved on third and final reading,” announced the man standing below the country’s symbol of democracy.” These words started an onslaught of comments and opinions about the said bill. But what is this bill? Hi-lites would like to provide a history to how it came to be.

Terrorism, undeniably, is a very serious threat faced by many Filipinos. The siege of Marawi City, the ongoing conflict with leftist organizations, and other foreign threats are bitter wounds that haunt our society. In their efforts to safeguard our nation, Rep. Narciso Bravo, Chairman of Public Order and Safety, pointed out that “during the enactment of the Human Security Act of 2007, the milieu of terrorism was different from the current environment,” thus, the need to amend the act is highly crucial.

The Anti-Terror Bill can be traced back to February 26 when the Senate passed Senate Bill No. 1083 or an “Act to Secure the State and Protect our People from Terrorism”. The bill sought to amend the Human Security Act of 2007. On its third and final reading, 19 senators voted for its passage while only two voted against it—Senators Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan. 

The next day, the Senate sent SB No. 1083 to the House of Representatives. The ball was now in their court.

Lawmakers at the lower house took the ball and on May 30, House Bill No. 6875, otherwise known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, came to be. Soon after, on June 1 as the country braced the impacts of GCQ, President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent while various groups and sectors sounded the alarm, in the streets and on social media with #JunkTerrorBillNow.

Instead of crafting their own version, the Congress decided to fully adopt Senate Bill No. 1083. Despite various proposals of changes to SB 1083, the bill’s sponsors turned everything down. “We have to regretfully decline any proposal for amendments at this time,” said Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles, one of the bill’s sponsors, during the second hearing.

Rep. Narciso Bravo pointed out that adopting SB 1083 meant avoiding a bicameral conference, therefore expediting the passage of HB 6875. In his position, Rep. Ruffy Bianzon, who withdrew as principal author and ultimately voted against the bill, argued that the lower house should have its own version of the bill. He stated: “I understand that they went through the same process that we undergo[sic], but the ability of each member of the house to put in their own work into the crafting of a legislation is something that I hold dear as a matter of principle.”

Without having any amendments and revisions, the HB 6875 remains an unadulterated and faithful copy of the Senate version.

This was where most of the controversies arose. Various lawmakers have sought to amend provisions of the bill that were deemed ‘unconstitutional’. 

Section 4 of HB No. 6875 defines the following acts as terrorism, ranging from endangering a person’s life to mere planning to commit such an act:

• Engaging in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person or endangers a person’s life
• Engaging in acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place, or private property
• Engaging in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage, or destruction to critical infrastructure
• Developing, manufacturing, possessing, acquiring, transporting, supplying or using weapons
• Releasing dangerous substances or causing fire, floods, or explosions when the purpose of such act, by its nature and context, is to intimidate the general public, create an atmosphere to spread a message of fear, provoke or influence by intimidating the government or any international organization, or seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, economic, or social structures in the country, or create a public emergency or seriously undermine public safety

The bill also has provisions of allowing the police and military to secretly wire-tap individuals who are suspected terrorists for a period of 60 days up to 90 days and compelling telcos to disclose their calls and messages.

Suspects can be arrested without any warrants or charges from a court, but with only an authorization from an Anti-Terror Council composed of Cabinet Secretaries and security officials.

Persons found guilty of the following acts will be punished with 12 years of imprisonment:

• Threatening to commit terrorism
• Inciting others to commit terrorist acts
• Voluntarily and knowingly joining any terrorist group or association
• Being an accessory in the commission of terrorism

Rep. Mujiv Hataman shared the terror he and his people experience as Moro citizens, “Terror ang nararamdaman ng bawat Muslim sa tuwing pipigilin siya sa mga checkpoint, paparatangan o aarestuhin dahil lang may kahawig siya ng pangalan, o dahil sa kanyang hitsura, pananamit, o pananalita.”

He further pointed out that under the Anti-Terrorism Bill, “mas pinahahalagahan ng panukala ang pagpapalawak ng saklaw ng kung sino ang puwedeng ituring na terorista kaysa sa pagtukoy at paghuli sa totoong mga terorista.”

Taking into consideration the grippling reality with COVID-19, Rep. Kit Belmonte relays the jeopardy Filipinos are already in, “Sa panahon ng COVID ito, na nasa gitna ng terror talaga ang mga mamamayan natin. Terrorized sila. Dahil pwede silang ma-infect. Terrorized sila kasi hindi nila alam kung may trabaho pa sila. ‘Yung mga may negosyo, terrorized sila kasi hindi nila alam kung may hanapbuhay pa sila pagkatapos nito. Pero sa batas na ‘to, parang hindi ang mga terorista ang tine-terrorize natin.”

Despite many objections against unconstitutional provisions, 173 lawmakers approved of the bill while 31 voted against and 29 abstained (Full list: https://twitter.com/natoreyes/status/1268792101669494784?s=21) . The Anti-Terrorism Bill was passed and the gavel was banged, echoing along the walls where the Philippine flag hung and sending a chill along the spine of our justice system, more so of our democracy.

Despite these uncertain times, our stand and opinions on the state of the country must be firm. You may access the Senate Bill No. 1083 and House Bill No. 6875 through this link: http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/third_18/HBT6875.pdf.

You may also view some Senate and House of Representatives hearings of the Anti-Terror Bill here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrVyTQM02bc (HOR 2nd reading)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ximb_JU3U (HOR 3rd reading)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEaUR4ha85E (Senate)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-TYYenwOok (Senate)