Thread by @PhilstarNews

On anti-terror bill, @iampinglacson said: "We defined terrorism, qualified that its intent and purpose is clear... advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, mass action or other similar exercises of civil and political rights are not included.”

Read: philstar.com/headlines/2020…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: Back in Dec 2017, Duterte declared the CPP-NPA as a "terrorist organization" which allowed the government to also go after alleged supporters of the rebel group and label them as terrorists.

philstar.com/headlines/2017…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: Duterte previously had a conspiracy theory that certain activist groups are "legal fronts of the CPP" and that they are also committing rebellion against the government.

philstar.com/headlines/2017…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: In October 2018. the military released to the public unverified information to claim that universities are being used by the NPA to recruit students in the alleged "Red October" plot to kick Duterte out of office.

philstar.com/headlines/2018…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: Universities responded to the military after soldiers alleged that their students are being recruited by communist rebels to join unsubstantiated plots to throw the Duterte administration out of office.

philstar.com/headlines/2018…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: In December 2018, party-list representatives have been accused of being "legal fronts" of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

philstar.com/headlines/2018…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: In January 2019, the government's news agency echoed accusations that a journalist organization is a "legal front" of the CPP-NPA.

philstar.com/headlines/2019…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: Ignoring the legal principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty, the former head of the PNP challenged an activist group to prove that they are not communists.

The PNP is the primary government agency that enforces laws.

philstar.com/headlines/2019…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: During the May 2019 elections, policemen were recorded on camera distributing their official newsletter that accused party-list groups as "NPA supporters."

They also distributed inside an elementary school even though it is prohibited.

philstar.com/nation/2019/05…

@iampinglacson CONTEXT: In November 2019, the local arm of international humanitarian group Oxfam @oxfamph was label by the DND as a "communist terrorist group"

philstar.com/headlines/2019…

@iampinglacson @oxfamph CONTEXT: Mocha Uson, a controversial "blogger" supporting President Duterte and a repeat appointee official who lost in the 2019 partylist race, has recently called anti-terrorism bill protesters as terrorists

philstar.com/entertainment/…

@iampinglacson @oxfamph CONTEXT: Hundreds of people in the legal sector, from students and professors to practitioners, have expressed their opposition to the anti-terrorism bill.

philstar.com/headlines/2020…

@iampinglacson @oxfamph CONTEXT: Law professors from top schools have published a position paper against the anti-terrorism bill saying its ambiguity widened the risks of abuse of authority and that it did not sufficiently protect the rights of the accused.

philstar.com/headlines/2020…