Nagkaisa Urges Duterte to Veto Anti-Terror Bill for being unconstitutional; calls Anti-Terror Protest on Independence Day!

The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition including 40 of its affiliate trade centers, federations and associations calls on President Rodrigo Duterte to use his veto power under Sec 27(1) of Article VI to prevent the enactment into law of a proposal which runs afoul with our constitution.

Comes Independence Day, the biggest labor Coalition in the country calls on every citizen to manifest protest on the assault on our fundamental rights allowed with alacrity by the newly passed Anti-Terror Bill. The bill attacks the core of the Constitution by wrecking havoc on the structure of government, particularly separation of powers. Its overbroad and vague definition of terrorist acts also terrorizes the provisions of the Bills of Rights. This is detrimental to democracy and repugnant to human rights, particularly the rights to life and liberty of our people.

The Anti-Terror Bill authorizes the executive department to usurp the power of the judiciary. Specifically, a mere administrative order, issued by the would be created Anti-Terrorism Council alone, may be used to arrest and detain people on the basis of mere suspicion alone.

This is highly scandalous and shocking to conscience in a civilized society. An executive office arrogating unto itself a judicial power (see Sec 29 of Anti Terrorist Bills ).

Such an executive act alone is clearly an illegal authorization, overreaching the province of the judicial branch which is recklessly drafted and repugnant to the 1987 Constitution!

Sec. 29 of the Bill grants authority to law enforcers to arrest any person suspected of committing any terrorist act and detain him for 24 days at the behest of the executive department alone. This is outside the plenary power of Congress and, therefore, clearly unconstitutional.

Sec. 29 is also repugnant to Article III, Section 2 of the fundamental law. Section 2, Article III of the Constitution states that a search warrant or warrant of arrest can only be issued upon showing of:

(1) a probable cause to be determined personally by the judge,

(2) after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce,

(3) and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

It is basic in Constitutional Law that it is only a judge who may issue a warrant for the arrest of any person. In the case of Salazar vs. Achacoso, 183 SCRA 145, the Supreme Court categorically stated thus –

“x x x it is only a judge who may issue warrants of search and arrest and reaffirming the following principles

“1. Under Article III Sec. 2 of the 1987 Constitution, it is only judges and no other, who may issue warrants of arrests and search;"

President Duterte is a lawyer and a former city prosecutor in Davao City. He knows very well the architecture of separation of powers.

Nagkaisa holds that an unconstitutional act of Congress is not a law; such act confers no rights; it imposes no duties. As enshrined in jurisprudence, such unconstitutional act affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as inoperative as though it had never been passed.

Nagakaisa and other democratic organizations and believers of human rights are calling on President Duterte to veto the proposal.

Lastly, Nagkaisa with other democratic groups call on all citizens to manifest their protest against the enactment into law of this anti-democratic bill.

Trabaho, Pagkain, Kalayaan! Hindi Terror Bill!

Ipaglaban ang Kalayaan; ibasura ang Anti-Terror Bill.

BIGGEST LABOR COALITION SLAMS ANTI-TERROR BILLS; LOOK AT THE BILLS AS REPUGNANT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW AND THEY RUN CONTRARY TO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITMENTS

The biggest labor coalition in the country urges all women and men of goodwill at the House of Representatives to reject the passage of House Bill 6875 (Anti-Terror Bill) which President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent. HB 6875 adopts the provisions of Senate Bill 1083 seeking to amend the Human Security Act of 2007. It is now subject to debate before the plenary in the large chamber.

Despite the assurance of both the Secretaries of the National Defense and the Interior and Local Government that “there is nothing to fear” with the proposals in Congress, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition cannot support the proposals that, no matter how seductive, are reckless and run contrary to the fundamental law and our international commitment. The approval in the Senate in February 2020 and the hasty passage of the Anti-Terror Bill in the joint house committees of the House of Representatives last week were ominous. They are premonitions of the return of dark days under Presidential Proclamation 1081 in 1972. PP 1081 paved the way for warrantless arrests, extra-legal killings, police and military abuses, and other terror acts of Martial Law until 1986.

Nagkaisa holds that countering terrorism and protecting human rights as mutually reinforcing goals. Fundamental to us is the understanding that terrorism is a denial of democracy and of human rights to life and liberty. Our members are committed to combating all acts of terrorism, without exception, and that includes the protection of all individuals from terror acts, whether it comes from the state or those groups who advocate violent extremism that leads to terrorism.

Nagkaisa holds that warrantless arrest, extended detention without probable cause, guilt by association, among others, are real threats to the life and liberty of our people. These are real threats not from “terrorists” but emanating from the proposed anti-terror bills.

With all due respect to our policy-makers, Senate Bill 1083 and HB 6875 are threats to life and liberty of the Filipino people like what “terrorists” wanted to achieve. They run contrary to the fundamental law of the Philippines and repugnant to the UN International Conventions on Civil and Political Rights (UN ICCPR).

Firstly, recklessly running contrary to the constitutional protection in Section 2 of Article III of the Bill of Rights prohibiting warrantless arrest and Article 14 (2) of the UN ICCPR on the right to presumption of innocence, SB 1083 (Sec 29) and HB 6875 allow warrantless arrest by a mere suspicion that a person committed any terrorist acts defined in the bills. The enforcement authorities have the power to arrest any suspect without personal knowledge or probable cause. The only requirement for enforcer is to merely notify a judge without the latter examining the police or his witnesses and, thereby, no finding of probable cause as required by the fundamental law.

SB 1083 and HB 6875 also propose to amend the existing Human Security Act (9372) by extending the days of detention from the present three (3) days to 14, with an option to extend for another 10 days, if necessary, purportedly to preserve evidence, prevent an upcoming terrorist attack, or properly conclude an investigation.

Secondly, blatantly disregarding freedom of expression guaranteed by Section 4 of the Bill of Rights and Article 19 (1) of the UN ICCPR, SB 1083 (Sec 9) and HB 6875 also consider it as a crime for any person who, without taking direct part in the commission of terrorism, shall express an opinion or show emblems, banners or other representations perceive to favor individuals or groups tagged as terrorists and shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of twelve (12) years.

Thirdly, any citizen can be considered a criminal by association under Section 10 of SB 1083 as well as HB 6875. Mere membership to an association tagged as a terrorist group is also dangerous to one’s life and liberty as it entails a penalty of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole. SB 1083 resurrects the doctrine laid down in Cold War-era anti-subversion law (RA 1700) which was already repealed by President Fidel Ramos in 1992. By repealing the anti-subversion law, Ramos invited the communist party to a peace talk and bring its advocacies into the open and compete in the marketplace of ideas.

Fourthly, the SB 1083 and HB 6875 also drop the provision on damages for an unproven charge of terrorism under Sec. 50 of the Human Security Act (RA 9372), which entitles any person wrongfully accused of terrorism to P500,000 for every day spent in detention. Thus, police’s negligence or blatant disregard of one’s constitutional right has no more deterrent tort liability as it is now removed from the proposed bills.

Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Let us remember that the former dictatorial regime held-on to power for 14 years primarily on the pretext that terrorism and the terroristic acts of the communist and Moro insurgents awaited our people -- while Marcos and his cohorts unleashed their brand of terror and terrorized the Filipino people.

End the madness of transport policy during GCQ! Nagkaisa bats for safe and free public transportation!

Nagkaisa assailed the national government, particularly the DOTr and the MMDA, for its massive failure to provide adequate public transportation on the first day of GCQ in Metro Manila.

Nagkaisa is highly disappointed with DOTr for its failure to perform its primary mandate to provide "efficient, and dependable transportation systems.” Chaos and confusion now reigns in the streets of Metro Manila as hundreds of thousands of workers scramble to get to work.

Contrary to MMDA’s arrogant claims of its full readiness for June 1, physical distancing was completely compromised as commuters waited for transport services. For many, the wait was in vain as the MMDA did not provide bus stops from Quezon Ave to Ayala Ave.

In its mad rush to jump start a stalled economy without due consideration to the safety and welfare of workers, the national government has once again succeeded in heaping more unnecessary burdens to the working class.

Worst, with this transport fiasco, the DOTr and the MMDA risks wasting all the sacrifices forced on everyone for more than 2 months of lockdown to stop Covid-19.

Nagkaisa believes that all these could have been avoided had the national government provided “safe and free” transportation by implementing service contracting of PUVs that could have augmented the limited public transportation that we have.

Proposed by Move As One coalition, service contracting of PUVs would not only ensure adequate public transportation in areas under the general community quarantine (GCQ), but also protect thousands of transport workers as they earn much needed livelihood.

Nagkaisa and its affiliates are members of the We Move As One coalition.

Under service contracting, the government pays the operators and drivers to run pre-determined routes to ferry workers. This is far different from the prevailing “boundary system,” in which earnings are based on the number of passengers ferried.

Nagkaisa calls on the DOTr, the MMDA and the national government to immediately address this dangerous situation or risk worsening the continuous rise in Covid-19 cases!

NAGKAISA Labor Coalition slams Congress for railroading of the Monster Anti-Terrorism Bill

We mince no words in denouncing the hasty passage of the Anti-Terrorism Bill in the House of Representatives last Friday. It could be remembered that the same measure was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate last February 26, 2020, with only two (2) Senators registering their disapproval. The House of Representatives did no better with a vote of 40-2 in the Committee last May 29, 2020, which adopted the Senate version of the bill. The passage into law of this Monster bill would be an acceleration to an already slow and steady descent into fascism of our country today.

We take particular exception in the extremely broad definitions of “terrorism” in the Monster bill, which would virtually criminalize almost all forms of dissent. Another equally appalling provision would be the warrantless arrests and detention of suspects, which basically overturns every Filipino’s right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Moreover, the provisions equating the mere threat to property to terrorism does not serve the interest of the working class who is bereft of any property to speak of in the first place. Clearly, the Monster bill does not have working class interests in mind.

Instead of focusing on how to effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, or to help the 11,000 ABS-CBN employees, as well as the projected 10 million working class Filipinos keep their much-needed jobs, our Honorable lawmakers saw it fit to invest their time into crafting more laws that would possibly endanger more the already grim human rights situation in our country today.

Nagkaisa calls on all working class Filipinos to make their voices heard and oppose this Monster bill and call on their legislators to prevent this bill from passing.