(We yield this space to the statement of the Church People-Workers Solidarity due to its timeliness. – Ed.)
WE JOIN the Filipino people in condemning the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act. We demand the immediate abolition of the said law as it will further endanger the human rights of the Filipino people.
In this hard time amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that our government should prioritize the basic and urgent needs of the people and not the legislation and passage of a law that suppresses the legitimate outcry of people for universal health care, mass testing, protection of frontliners, humane repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), wage subsidy, unemployment benefits, social protection, livelihood of jeepney drivers and respect to human rights and civil liberties.
In the past four months, workers consistently demanded for social protection measures amidst the serious health crisis. Yet, the government has turned a deaf ear on their demands. Millions of workers did not receive the promised financial assistance which left their families starving and homeless. Tens of thousands of workers lost their jobs due to the shutdown of many companies. This concern should be the priority of the government to be resolved and not the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act which basically removes hard won rights of workers and people.
We stand that with the very vague definition of terrorism in the Anti-Terror Act, anyone could be surveilled, arrested and detained on mere suspicion of being a terrorist or for airing complaints to the government. Legitimate protests, strikes and other forms of collective actions by workers demanding just wage, job security, health and safety in the workplace and better working condition can be tagged as a terrorism act under the said law. Therefore, Anti-Terrorism Law would only heighten the repression of trade unions and basic democratic rights of workers and people to free speech and freedom of assembly.
We have witnessed how the existing laws were used to attack workers’ rights to peaceful assembly such as the dispersal of strikes and protest actions in Nutri Asia, Pepmaco, Sumifru Philippines Inc. among others. These incidents happened despite legality and constitutionality of the said protest actions. With the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the creation of the so called Anti-Terrorism Council that exercises the powers of both executive and judiciary and determines who is a terrorist and who will be arrested and detained, we are concerned that there will be more trade unionists and workers’ advocate will be illegally arrested and detained because of their stand for workers’ rights.
Hence, we stressed our call to the government to prioritize the welfare of the Filipino people amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Mass testing, contact tracing, isolation and treatment; Wage Subsidy and unemployment benefits for affected workers; Adequate and decent jobs for those who lost their jobs; Resumption of traditional jeepney operations; humane repatriation of OFWs; Health and safety and better working conditions for workers reporting back to work.
Finally, we appeal to our brothers and sisters to continue our prayers for respect of human rights, peace and justice and without letting up.
