De Lima sees hope amid growing pushback against Anti-Terror Bill

Sen. Leila de Lima. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Leila De Lima expressed hope amid the growing opposition against the controversial Anti-Terror Bill which is now in Malacañang.

“May pag-asa pa (there’s still hope),” said De Lima in her dispatch that was coursed through Camp Crame Wednesday.

“Ang lumalaking pagtutol ng mga Filipino laban sa tinatawag na ‘Terror Bill’ ay ang tinig ng isang bansa na ngayon ay nagigising na sa pang-aabuso ng nasa kapangyarihan laban sa karaniwang taong nagpapahayag ng hinaing at saloobin patungkol sa ating gobyerno.”

(The growing dissent of the Filipinos against the “Terror Bill” is the voice of a country who is slowly waking up to the abuses of those in power against normal people who are voicing out their thoughts about the government.)

Members of the opposition, artists, athletes, and the academe became one voice in expressing their displeasure and dissent against the Anti-Terror Bill that is only awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

De Lima said that Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and human rights lawyers Chel Diokno and Theodore Te are the voices in the legal profession while personalities in the show business and sports fronts “are an equally persuasive force” that have the attention of the masses.

University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo, University of the Philippines, and De La Salle all decried the Anti-Terror Bill while numerous celebrities and athletes also voiced out their opposition to the bill.

De Lima said that activists, like those of those students from UP-Cebu and the PISTON members, were forcibly detained for voicing out during protests while NCRPO Chief Debold Sinas remain unpunished for violating quarantine protocols that were put in place to curb the effects of COVID-19.

“Did the main proponents of the bill, and Malacañang, misread or miscalculate the public pulse? Perhaps, they saw in the current crisis situation a ‘strategic’ opportunity to push for such a draconian measure, thinking that people are too preoccupied and overburdened by COVID-related concerns and challenges; they are under too much mental, physical and economic duress to care about other issues, let alone to resist,” said De Lima.