A network of 250 church and people’s groups are protesting against the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
The Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), which is a network of more than 250 church-based groups, non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations nationwide has partnered with Misereor, a social development arm of German bishops based in Aachen, Germany in a bid to amplify the people’s call to repeal the controversial law.
https://www.facebook.com/philmisereor/photos/pb.509010999115448.-2207520000../3753471364669379/?type=3&theater
The group accused President Rodrigo Duterte of prioritizing this “despicable” law amid a pandemic. “On the same day that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country breached the 40,000-mark,” wrote PMPI in a public statement. “President Rodrigo Duterte signed the controversial Anti-Terror Bill into law without much regard to the clamor of people for a dialogue and to veto the bill.”
The law, according to the group, would “subvert our fundamental rights and liberties, paving the way for a much worse situation than the Martial Law period.”
PMPI said that they will band together and join other groups that are already questioning the law’s constitutionality. “We, the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), condemns in the strongest sense the signing of this Act. We believe that this law will further assault whatever democracy is left in the country.”
“We are anxious and enraged. We are worried but definitely not cowed,” the group wrote.
Lawyers led by Atty. Howard Calleja and former DepEd Sec. Armin Luistro file the first petition in the Supreme Court on Monday, to challenge the constitutionality of the Anti-Terror Act which was recently signed by President Rodrigo Duterte. 📷 RICHARD A. REYES/PDI pic.twitter.com/trGCdbl8hw
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 6, 2020
[READ: Lawmakers, law profs file more Anti-Terror Law petitions today. Here’s how their arguments stack up]
Only three days after Duterte signed the contested Anti-Terror Bill into law, there have already been three petitions filed against it. Atty. Howard Calleja backed by La Sallian brother and former education secretary Armin Luistro filed an electronic petition over the weekend. Yesterday, July 6, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Far Eastern University (FEU) dean Mel Sta. Maria went to the Supreme Court to file their own.
Header photo courtesy of Lyn Rillon from Inquirer.net
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Read more:
The first petition vs. Anti-Terror Law has been filed. Here’s what it’s arguing
It’s not the end of junking the Anti-Terror Act. Legislators can still amend it
Duterte just signed the Anti-Terror Bill
Writer: THEA TORRES
