"Where are the other big groups that also stand to suffer from an unstable political, economic and social situation?"
"Where are the other big groups that also stand to suffer from an unstable political, economic and social situation?"
Not surprisingly, nor unexpectedly, the business sector, or at least a part of it, has openly expressed objections to the passage by Congress of a draconian anti-terrorism bill.
It's about time.
In a statement issued on June 5, eight business groups voiced "in the strongest possible terms" their opposition to the enactment of House Bill 6875 or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, passed by the House of Representatives last week.
The groups said "current threats to national security" do not require new legislation as they are already "well addressed" by existing laws and policies.
"And the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is highly divisive—because it poses a clear and present danger to human rights enshrined in our Constitution—at a time when our nation needs to come together as one," they pointed out.
Those who signed the statement are: Bishops-Businessmen's Conference for Human Development; Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines; Investment House Association of the Philippines; Judicial Reform Initiative; Management Association of the Philippines; Makati Business Club; Philippine Business for Education; and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Incorporated.
Their statement reads in part: "We are all suffering and fighting for survival: businesses are closing down, people are losing their jobs, those who still have jobs find it impossible to find safe transportation to work, our children are going hungry and the continuity of their education is under threat. We need to come together, united around a set of relief and recovery measures that will help us come out of this pandemic a stronger and more resilient nation."
The business groups also called for both national leaders and the private sector to focus on developing policies that would address "multiple socio-economic shocks," strengthen the country's health systems, and improve the investment climate to create more jobs, especially with thousands of overseas Filipino workers returning home.
I fully agree with the sentiments of this particular bloc of the business sector. Will the Duterte government listen to what that they are saying?
In any event, we must also ask: Where are the other big business groups that also stand to suffer from an unstable political, economic and social situation once the proposed law goes into effect?
UN calls out PH on "widespread" human rights abuses
Our business sector is on the right track in pointing out that the anti-terrorism bill "poses a clear and present danger to human rights enshrined in our Constitution."
What they should have probably said instead is that the proposed anti-terrorism law would further worsen the already dismal human rights situation in this country.
A report released by U.N. Human Rights Office last week upbraided the Philippines for “serious human rights violations,” including killings, arbitrary detentions, and the “vilification of dissent.”
The report, mandated by a UN Human Rights Council resolution, said many of the human rights concerns it has documented have been there long before, but have become more acute in recent years.
The global human rights body noted what it described as the “widespread and systematic killing of thousands of alleged drug suspects,” as well as the alleged killings of many human rights activists over the past five years.
The report said that since the Philippine government launched its campaign against illegal drugs in 2016, official figures indicate that at least 8,663 people have been killed.
Human rights groups, however, insist that the death toll is much higher.
The U.N. Human Rights Office has also documented that, between 2015 and 2019, at least 248 human rights defenders, legal professionals, journalists and trade unionists have been killed because of their work.
The report emphasized that given the failure of domestic mechanisms to ensure accountability, there is a need for “independent, impartial, credible investigations” into all allegations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Malacañang has chosen to dismiss the UN report and says the recommendations of the international body are unenforceable in the country. But if the Philippine government has nothing to hide, why obstruct UN efforts to get to the bottom of this issue?