NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
www.nujp.org

A MEDIA PETITION AGAINST THE ANTI-TERRORISM BILLS

Anti-terrorism bill assaults democracy

We cannot save democracy by killing it.

The proposed anti-terrorism bill, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has certified as an urgent legislative measure, underscores the perils faced by democracy from its purported saviors.

The anti-terrorism bill, simply put, seeks to "protect" Filipinos from the scourge of terrorism by stripping them of their Constitutional rights.

The Constitution provides Filipinos these basic rights:

• To life, liberty, or property;
• To be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature;
• To privacy of communication and correspondence;
• To freedom of speech, of expression, of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly;
• To establish and practice religion;
• To information on matters of public concern;
• To free access to courts and quasi-judicial bodies, and to adequate legal assistance;
• To be informed of one's right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel; and
• To be free of torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate free will.

All these are rights, not privileges to be dispensed or withdrawn at the whims of the powers that be. Respect for these rights marks the difference between democracies and dictatorships.

Under the Constitution, press freedom is a basic right. It is no coincidence that the Bill of Rights places the right to press freedom side by side with the rights to free speech, expression and peaceful assembly. A free press aids in strengthening democracy, by providing information on important public concerns. A free press helps ensure that all other basic rights are respected. A free press is part of a people's arsenal for redress when they face assaults on their civil liberties.

A gagged, silent press is a primary component of a repressive society. Curtailment of press freedom makes it easier to clamp down on other basic rights.

In this context, it is no surprise to find in the anti-terrorism bill provisions that impinge on press freedom. The proposed measure, for one, drastically curtails the right to access to information. It also hampers operations of media by exposing journalists and broadcasters to unwarranted surveillance by violating the right to privileged communications.

On top of these, officials also want the press to be party to assaults on the right to free speech and expression by banning interviews with suspected terrorists. The outcry that followed the proposal raised by Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Edilberto Adan, saw some backpedaling on the part of government. But the aftermath of the recent Camp Bagong Diwa uprising betrayed the prevailing government mindset, with an undersecretary for anti-terrorism campaigns stating that media's refusal to cover conflict events would dampen the zeal of terrorists. Minutes of congressional committee deliberations also show the government proposing a ban on media coverage of terrorist trials.

The right to a free press is a major casualty of the anti-terrorism bill. This is so because the proposed law seeks to deprive suspected terrorists of their basic civil liberties. They can be arrested without warrants. They can be detained without the benefit of counsel or access to kin for as long as 30 days. Sleuths can probe into their bank accounts and other property records without court orders; they can monitor communications at will.

It is a classic an-eye-for-an-eye mindset. As far as the government is concerned, no mercy can be shown people who show no mercy for innocents. The government is telling Filipinos that suspected terrorists do not deserve to be accorded constitutional rights.

It is bad enough to treat suspects as convicts; our laws state explicitly that people are presumed innocent unless proven otherwise by means of a conviction. The major flaw of the anti-terrorism campaign, however, lies in the dangerously vague definition of terrorism and the potential for abuse in a government that seeks to expand coverage of the term to include even those engaged in legitimate dissent. Indeed, the government wants the Anti-Terrorism Council to have full powers to determine which groups of dissenters are terrorists or involved in abetting terrorist organizations.

In effect, the anti-terrorism bill would allow a small group of people to short-circuit democratic legal processes and cast as wide a net as possible to justify full-scale attacks on civil liberties.

We journalists and media organizations reject any government suggestion that blames media for conflicts that have their roots in injustice in this country. We reject the suggestion that the coverage of the roots and consequence of injustice helps breed terrorism. We reiterate that a free press plays an important role in efforts to resolve festering conflicts that have fanned the flames of terrorism.

We reject any measure that purports to save democracy by stomping on the same civil liberties that are its very foundation.

We reject the anti-terrorism bill. In its provisions lies the death of democracy.

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