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…the so-called Human Security Act of the Philippines for being the most wonderful source of absurdity and comical relief — if only Filipinos wouldn’t literally die laughing about it. I’ve combined and modified two of my previous posts on it for those who want to learn more about this anti-terror law. SHAME ON YOU GEORGE AND GLORIA! CAT SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP!

Scared and insecure
That’s how I feel these days, because George & Gloria have done it again. The amazing tandem has delivered a deadly blow to its opponents. The Human Security Act has finally risen from its murky depths. Hark to their proponents for their steely determination and unrelenting pursuit of power! Woe to opposing ideas and discontent, woe to disquiet and protest! The real terror is upon us.

I am a Martial Law baby, the concept of tyranny a vague one in my youth even if I have lived under its rule ‘officially’ for nine years and in reality, 15 years. That my father was a victim of this oppressive era only became a clearer concept to me during the EDSA Revolution. But the moment I heard that the anti-terror law was finally enforced, the first words that appeared in my mind were ‘Martial Law’. It was like déjà vu, with memories of my own making, or those inherited from my father or transferred from stories, stirring in the corners of my mind. It has now become crystal-clear: this Martial Law baby is facing the reincarnation of Martial Law.

Orwellian Newspeak
The so-called Human Security Act and Martial Law are one of the same. In this case, the act of renaming has not changed the essence. It has only confirmed the fact that when Orwellian Newspeak starts floating around, tyranny is just around the corner.

For what else would you call the act of giving legal muscle to terrorizing ones own people? The HSA says it aims to combat terrorists, those who create “a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand.” It will empower enforcers …”to crush the terrorist movement in the country … while at the same time ensuring that civil rights are protected,” said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.

Gee, that sure beats Groucho Marx’ famous quote: ‘military intelligence is a contradiction in terms´. In these days, my brain just refuses to function when I hear ´fighting terror´ and ´protecting civil liberties´ in one breath.

First of all, who are these terrorists? Those with long hair and beards? Those who like junkies and no good doers? Those wearing red shirts and tubao with arms raised and fists clenched? Those who would rather join NGO’s and work with the urban poor, or teach farmers not only about better farming techniques, but also about fighting for their rights? Those freedom-fighters during Martial Law, who now, even as elected Representatives get thrown into jail? What about artists, writers or bloggers, who merely state in creative ways the obvious failure of the government to protect its own people?

´Fighting terror´ and ´protecting civil liberties´ just doesn’t compute when at the whim of administration officials and the military, anyone and at anytime, can be falsely labelled ‘terrorists’, put under surveillance, their communication wiretapped, their assets seized and their movements limited WITHOUT any judicial proceeding.

Who’s terrorizing who?
´Fighting terror´ and ´protecting civil liberties´ will not work in a country where the notion of military rule over civilian empowerment still holds sway, and the idea of involving the opposition in governance, such as the Progressive Left, still an alien and undesirable option.

Remember, this is a country where terrorists = communists and communists = activists / opposition even before Bush began his war on terror. This is also a country, whose government encouraged the Philippine Left to join the elections – which it topped in the Party-List proportional representation in 2002 – but started putting the same progressive left in the line of fire. Some 800 plus journalists and members of the Progressive Left have been victims of extra judicial killings since Arroyo came into power in 2001.

It’s also the same government, which recently has been exposed to have allegedly planned the neutralisation of the Left and, thus, may have begun the wave of extra-judicial killings. The paper, titled “The Bayan Muna Party-list Victory and the Prospects for its Wider National and Local Political Participation”, calls for the use of massive “special intelligence operations” to counter the “grassroots clout” of Bayan Muna and its allied organizations.

But what probably is the most glaring reason why ´fighting terror´ and ´protecting civil liberties´ is a paradox in the Philippines is that the military lack genuine awareness of the breadth and depth of human rights. No less than Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the EU Needs Assessment Mission (EU-NAM), which met with various government agencies and civil society organisations during its 10-day mission in June, had this to say about the Philippine Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police:

“…(T)here is a great need for more awareness of human rights laws, of international humanitarian laws, of the law of armed conflict, of how to deal with civilians who are not bearing arms caught up in the conflict or the counterinsurgency campaign.”

Human Insecurity Act
The HSA is, contrary to its name, a major source of insecurity and fear amidst these trying times. It would have actually been a source of comic relief if it weren’t for the fact that we could literally die laughing. In a time of extreme makeovers and pimp-ups, changing the name of a vague and redundant law into the liberal-sounding ‘Human Security Act’ still failed to hide its true colours. To borrow from Conrado de Quiros: how can anything be for the security of the Filipino people if it’s something that was conceived by Juan Ponce Enrile in the Senate, to be executed by Norberto Gonzales, to be interpreted by Raul Gonzalez, and affirmed by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?

The HSA hasn’t only given legal muscle to the US-backed Philippine war on terror — it has given it long claws to strike out at those who are ‘against us’. It has been given the sense of sight, but only to distinguish the shape of dissent and quell it. Woe to its creators who think they can control a monster. Courage to the rest of us in these dark, grave times.

Filed under: QBs & Sangga, cat slap, cat slap award, deseparecidos, extrajudicial killings, human rights, Human Security Act, war on terror