Passage of anti-terror bill casts a blanket of fear over trade unionism

The passage of the anti-terror bill at the House of Representatives is a high act of betrayal of the democratic principles of the Constitution. Ostensibly, its target will be terrorists, but we fear that with the ambiguity and over-breadth of the measure, labor unions will feel the full wrath of the proposed law arising from provisions relating to proscriptions of terrorist organizations and the redundancy and confusion of crimes already provided for and punished under the Revised Penal Code.

The definition of terrorism under the bill is the creation or attempt to introduce a state of danger, fear, panic, or chaos to the general public or group of persons. The government and capitalists can use this definition against the workers and unions fighting for their rights, decent wages, favorable working conditions, and other benefits.

For instance, should deadlock CBA negotiations be deemed as economic sabotage or should capitalists instigate lockouts and in a possible ensuing melee charge unionists with instigating against bystanders, the proposed measure can be used as a refuge for capitalists for union busting and harassing union leaders.

Labor activists who are also at the forefront of criticizing the administration are also at risk of being labeled as terrorists and arrested. With the calibrated preemptive response policy firmly in place, we have already seen the brute force of the state being employed against peaceful demonstrations and mobilizations in an attempt to stifle legitimate political dissent. With the anti-terror bill, the possibility of police brutality reaching new heights becomes inevitable.

The proposed bill casts as wide a net as possible by giving greater discretion among law enforcers in application and implementation of the proposed law. Warrantless arrests, and in turn, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings will heighten with lowering of standards of issuing such arrests and search and seizures in Section 14, from personal knowledge of a crime being committed to mere "probable cause".

On surveillance and wiretapping, the standard stipulated in the proposed bill is merely "relevance" for the application for a search or a wiretap, which again goes against certain provisions of the Constitution.

GMA wants a terror bill because it is the only way she can earn brownie points for military assistance from the US, which in turn can assure herself of continued support from the AFP. At the same time, she can employ the proposed law against her enemies. Nobody wins in this bill except the biggest lawbreaker in the nation today.

The anti-terror bill, if enacted into law, will only lead to more human rights violations thus worsening the problem of terrorism. If this government is sincere in curtailing terrorism then it must finally address the root causes of terrorism: joblessness, landlessness, extreme poverty, racial and religious discrimination, etc. As long as her draconian and pro-big business policies are in place, workers will continue to suffer from neglect and poverty, and with an anti-terror bill amply supplying government with unnecessary and undue police powers, workers will only continue suffering.