Liza Soberano, Nadine Lustre, and Kathryn Bernardo were among the celebrities who voiced out their opposition to the anti-terrorism bill being pushed by the government. International singer Taylor Swift also used her influence to bring attention and urge her followers to junk the anti-terrorism bill in the Philippines.
House Bill 6875 was approved by the chamber after it was voted by 173 lawmakers in the House of Representatives on final reading with only having 31 negative votes and 29 abstentions.
The bill which seeks to amend the Human Security Act of 2007 for deliberation is feared to repress Filipinos’ basic human rights. This then led thousands of netizens and several celebrities to speak up on social media.
On Twitter, Liza Soberano stated her opposition to the passing of the bill as it accordingly violates human rights.
“Please do not take away our voices, our basic human rights!” Soberano tweeted on Wednesday,
Please do not take away our voices our basic human rights!!!!
— Liza Soberano (@lizasoberano) June 2, 2020
Lustre, meanwhile, shared a post on her Instagram Stories showing an illustration of the Terror Bill cast into a trash bin. Filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone posted a screenshot of her post on Twitter.
Nadine on IG #JUNKTERRORBILLNOW pic.twitter.com/YNf38GXfQu
— Toñet (@tonetjadaone) June 2, 2020
Tweeting the hashtag, #JunkTerrorBillNow, Kathryn also joined the online protest.
https://twitter.com/bernardokath/status/1268069215203819527?s=19
Taylor Swift, on Tuesday, posted a link on her Instagram page requesting her millions of followers to accumulate resources to the Black Lives Matter movement in the US including the anti-terror bill movements in the Philippines and Hong Kong.
TAYLOR SWIFT SAID #JUNKTERRORBILLNOW!!! SWIFTIES PH WHERE U AT??? pic.twitter.com/haS4iEYiLn
— carl (@carlroyales) June 2, 2020
Other personalities like Pia Wurtzbach, Kerwin King, Juan Miguel Severo, Moira dela Torre, Enchong Dee, and Agot Isidro also rallied against the passage of the bill while some urged their followers to sign the petition to junk the Terror Bill.
#JUNKTERRORBILLNOW https://t.co/PucvcwDpNu
— Pia Wurtzbach (@PiaWurtzbach) June 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/imkerwinking/status/1267837024981008386?s=19
https://twitter.com/TheRainBro/status/1268316481957146625?s=19
I know it's scary.. But you are not alone. These trolls only have power when you give them the power to silence you. Don't let them. YOUR VOICE COUNTS. You count. And you are stronger and braver than you think. Sign the petition here. #JUNKTERRORBILLNOW https://t.co/kMr32zmV88
— Moira Dela Torre (@moiradelatorre) June 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/enchongdee777/status/1267668813027274752?s=20
#JunkTerrorBillNOW #JunkTerrorBillNOW #JunkTerrorBillNOW
Only cowards are afraid of dissent. https://t.co/pHPoUDVFYU
— Agot Isidro (@agot_isidro) June 2, 2020
President Rodrigo Duterte certified the measure as urgent “in order to adequately and effectively contain the menace of terrorist acts for the preservation of national security and the promotion of general welfare.”
The controversial new anti-terrorism bill is now up for Duterte’s signature.
Representative Jericho Nograles, an author of the measure, said, “When approved on third reading, it will be an enrolled bill for the action of the President. He may sign, veto any or all provisions, or not act on the measure for it to lapse into law.”
The anti-terrorism legislation gives the Duterte administration the ability to carry out arrests without warrants and to hold suspects without charge for a longer period of time.
Under the Anti-Terror bill, any person that will threaten to commit terrorism, and those who will propose terroristic acts or encourage others to commit terrorism shall suffer a penalty of 12 years in prison.
Any person who will voluntarily and knowingly joins any organization or group of people practicing terroristic acts shall also suffer 12 years of imprisonment. The same penalty will be imposed on any person proven to be an accessory on the commission of terrorism.
The bill also removed the provision payment of Php500,000 damages per day of detention of any person who will be charged but a person can be detained for 14 calendar days, even without a warrant.
