Legislators on Tuesday said the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act (HRDPA) will protect human rights advocates and not terrorists.
Reps. Bienvenido Abante Jr of Manila, chair of the House human rights committee, and Edcel Lagman of Albay also assured the public and the country’s security forces that the proposed measure could not be used by members of terrorist groups to evade capture and prosecution.
“The distinction between a human rights defender and a terrorist is clear, and these are apparent in the definitions of the former and the latter in House Bill No. (HB) 77 and Republic Act No. (RA) 11479, respectively,” explained Abante.
According to Abante, Section 4 of HB 77 or the HRDPA defines a human rights defender as “any person who, individually or in association with others, acts or seeks to act to protect, promote or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms and welfare of the people at the local, national, regional, and international levels.”
Section 3 of RA 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, on the other hand, defines a terrorist individual as any person who engages in the following: (1) acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life; (2) acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place or private property; (3) acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage or destruction to critical infrastructure; (4) the development, manufacturing, possession, acquisition, transportation, supply, or use of weapons, explosives or of biological, nuclear, radiological or chemical weapons; and (5) release of dangerous substances, or causing fire, floods, or explosions.
Lagman echoed Abante’s defense of the bill’s imminent approval on third and final reading at the lower chamber amid criticism from the government’s anti-insurgency task force, which called it a “grave, vicious, and insidious threat” against democracy.
Lagman made the statement in reaction to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) urging to the public to “unequivocally reject” House Bill No. 77 and to “enjoin their District Representatives to junk the said Bill on sight, upon its introduction in the plenary for its second reading.
“The NTF-ELCAC is hallucinating of an increased communist-terrorist menace to be fueled by the approval of the proposed Human Rights Defenders Protection Act,” Lagman said in a statement, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
As of press time, the NTF-ELCAC has yet to response to Lagman’s assertion in defense of the measure.
According to Lagman, NTF-ELCAC’s “hyperbolic assault” on the proponents of the bill justifies the enactment of such law. Lagman is among the authors of the proposed Human Rights Defenders Protection Act or House Bill 77.
“The NTF-ELCAC’s hyperbolic assault of red-tagging the authors and supporters of HB No. 77, as well as authentic HRDs (human rights defenders), is the best argument for the immediate enactment of the law protecting HRDs from the intimidation, harassment, and liquidation by agents of the State,” he said.
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 also defines a terrorist as any person who provides material support to any terrorist individual or terrorist organization, association, or group of persons committing terrorist acts.
“If someone who claims to be a human rights defender commits a terrorist act, or provides material support to terrorist groups, then he or she will be considered a terrorist, and will no longer be covered by the HRDPA,” Abante pointed out.
The legislator emphasized that “we acknowledge the concerns of our security sector, and we in Congress understand that they want to protect our people from terrorist threats.”
“This is why the House passed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in the 18th Congress, and why we continue to support initiatives intended to keep our people safe,” Abante added.
“That being said, the advancement of human rights and the security of the state are not mutually exclusive; and it is my belief that our democracy is strengthened when we promote human rights side-by-side with efforts to ensure the security of our citizens.”