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Sen. Tito Sotto praises Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez; strikes back those who opposes the Anti-Terror Bill

Rochelle PamotonganBy 1 Comment3 Mins Read

The debate on the Anti-Terror Bill became more prevalent after it passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate and submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for final approval.

Despite the many contradictions that led to protests to discard the bill, the government still insists on its relevance and enactment.

Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III has been actively hitting back at critics who are asking for its dismissal.

Recently, Sotto took to Twitter his praises for Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez for defending the bill.

In an Instagram post, Gomez shared clarifications on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. She urged critics to read the measure first and not rely on second-hand opinions who may have twisted the interpretation of the actual sections of the bill just to suit their accusations.

To explain the importance of the bill, she cited the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church bombing  in Jolo back in 2019 where the incident could have been prevented if the Human Security Act of 2007, which the Anti-Terror bill seeks to amend, facilitated the arrest of foreign nationals suspected of terrorism.

This makes the country incapable of arresting or prosecuting terrorists before an unlawful act occurs.

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She further clarified that the bill is meant for terrorists and not for activists, which has been the very root of protests against the bill.

Although she agreed that the timing of putting the bill could be better since the country is still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, consideration must be taken since terrorism can happen anytime, and the bill already went through many hearings before it reached the plenary.

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As Sotto recognized supporters of the bill, he as well fires back at its critics. He even previously labeled them as ‘epal’ since they are misinformed about the details of the bill.

In addition, he assures the public should not fear anything since it has a lot of safeguards against abuse of the measure and that rights for public expression will not be violated.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBS-NQMHgHK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

However, many still want the discard of the bill for they are specifically alarmed on the possibility of abuses since the provision seemed to be imprecise and poorly worded.

This could be used as weapons against people who can be mistaken as a terrorist or is accused of terrorism after criticizing the government.

Artists also joined in the call to junk the controversial bill.

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray shared that people should not turn a blind eye and be silent on this matter for the bill is susceptible to potential abuse of power and human rights violations.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach also shared the same view of having the bill revised.

Anne Curtis took a stand as she considers the bill vague which can take away a person’s basic rights and freedom.

Kathryn Bernardo, Maris Racal, and Liza Soberano as well went against the bill by resharing the #JUNKTERRORBILL.

But despite the public clamor to junk the terror bill, Congress already submitted the enrolled copy of the bill to Malacañang and now awaits the signature of the President for it to become a law.

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