“It seems the Supreme Court justices saw what may be in store under the HSA,” Beltran said, “and went in a hurry at dismissing the charges against us before the law could be applied on our case.”

Beltran had been arrested without warrant in February last year in connection with an alleged conspiracy between the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the dissident soldiers’ group Makabayang Kawal Pilipino (MKP or Patriotic Filipino Soldiers) to topple the Arroyo government. He was subsequently charged with rebellion, and confined under police custody at the Philippine Heart Center.

Beltran’s arrest took place during the effectivity of Presidential Proclamation No. 1017, which declared a “state of national emergency” in the country.

Meanwhile, the Batasan 5 sought protective custody at the House of Representatives to elude the possibility of unlawful arrest.

The information against Beltran was later amended to include the Batasan 5, as well as other personalities – among them Jose Maria Sison, Vicente Ladlad, Rafael Baylosis, Randall Echanis, Rey Claro Casambre, and Elisa “Tita” Lubi.

The evidences used by the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the case against Beltran, the Batasan 5, and other personalities were based on the premise of a supposed organizational linkage between the underground CPP, New People’s Army (NPA) and National Democratic Front (NDF) and the legal cause-oriented groups. The 492 documents filed by the government span the entire history of what is broadly termed the national-democratic movement, from 1968 to the filing of the information last year.

In justifying Beltran’s warrantless arrest, the government used the theory of rebellion as “continuing crime,” which figures most prominently in the 1991 Supreme Court decision on the case of Roberto Umil v. Fidel V. Ramos, which involved among other things the warrantless arrest of alleged NPA member Rolando Dural who was undergoing treatment at the St. Agnes Hospital in Quezon City when seized by state forces.

The Supreme Court ruled that Dural’s warrantless arrest was lawful. It cited the NPA as an organization with an “ideological base which compels the repetition of the same acts of lawlessness and violence until the overriding objective of overthrowing organized government is attained.” The High Tribunal ruled that Dural did not cease to be an NPA member when he underwent medical treatment.

Art. 134 of the Revised Penal Code defines rebellion or insurrection thus:

“The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising publicly and taking arms against the Government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said Government or its laws, the territory of the Philippine Islands or any part thereof, of any body of land, naval or other armed forces, depriving the Chief Executive or the Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.”

“The real reason I was arrested is because I was actively campaigning for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ouster and against the administration’s charter change drive,” Beltran said. “Is that an armed uprising? The only weapon used there is saliva.”

HSA and human rights

Under the HSA, the elements of terrorism are: commission of the crimes of rebellion or insurrection, coup d’ etat, murder, arson, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, crimes involving destruction, arson, piracy and highway robbery among others, “thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand.”

But there is nothing in the HSA that prevents unarmed and legal cause-oriented or opposition groups like the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) and the United Opposition (UNO) from being accused of fronting for “communist” or “rebel military” organizations – as the Arroyo administration has repeatedly done. Likewise there is nothing in the said law that prevents journalists covering “insurgency” or even legal mass actions from being accused of “conspiracy to commit terrorism.”

The HSA legalizes the warrantless arrest and prolonged detention of people just suspected – not even caught in the act – of committing “terrorism” or “conspiring to commit terrorism” as defined in the said law.

Using the same theory of rebellion as “continuing crime” and the definition of “terrorism” under the HSA, the government could have used the said law to justify keeping Beltran

“The HSA does not choose its targets,” Beltran said. “Once you’re tagged as a member of the CPP-NPA or any of its ‘front organizations,’ the weight of state force will be upon you. There can be no doubt about it, this law is martial law.”

Because of this, Beltran said, one of his first legislative measures has been the filing of a bill repealing the HSA. A similar bill has been filed in the Senate by Sen. Jamby Madrigal – one of only two senators who voted against the Anti-Terrorism Bill last February, the other being Sen. Mar Roxas.

Beltran said he also supports the petition filed at the Supreme Court to have the HSA declared as unconstitutional. The said petition was filed two weeks ago by several personalities and organizations, including former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. and National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera.

The labor-leader-turned-lawmaker said human rights issues will be prominent on the agenda of the progressive party-list bloc in the 14th Congress.

“Our battlecry is the same: land, wages, jobs, and rights,” Beltran said. “In the 14th Congress we will place particular focus on rights, because we can see that (the government has) worked on us (activists) so much.”(Bulatlat.com)

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