News Roundup 02 February 2021
Feb 02, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH logs 1,583 new COVID-19 cases as total hits 528,853 | PHILSTAR.COM – Individuals infected with the new coronavirus in the Philippines reached 528,853 with 1,583 more cases reported Tuesday. Latest data from the Department of Health showed that the number of active cases in the country stands at 30,368 or 5.7% of the total. The DOH also logged 39 additional recoveries, pushing the total number of COVID-19 survivors in the country to 487,611. The death toll rose to 10,874 after 67 more people succumbed to COVID-19.
Diokno to SC justices: Social media posts may be considered terrorism under anti-terror law | PHILSTAR.COM – Even ordinary citizens who exercise their basic rights on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter may be put at risk because of the anti-terrorism law, a human rights lawyer said as he urged the Supreme Court to strike down the controversial law. The Supreme Court held Tuesday oral arguments on the 37 petitions challenging Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. Chel Diokno, one of the seven lawyers who presented the positions of the petitioners, said the measure gives law enforcers the power to arrest any citizen based on their subjective impression of his or her intent. The law provides that terrorism does not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights. But it stressed these activities should not be intended to “cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person’s life or to create a serious risk to public safety.” “No other law makes the exercise of constitutional rights a crime when actuated by a certain intent. No other law empowers the State to arrest its people for exercising rights guaranteed by the Constitution based solely on a law enforcer’s subjective opinion of their state of mind,” Diokno said. The chair of the Free Legal Assistance Group stressed that anyone who exercises basic rights may be found liable for terrorism crimes. “Anyone, therefore, who tweets for people to attend a peaceful rally could be arrested for engaging in acts intended to endanger a person’s life due to the danger of [COVID-19] infection,” Diokno said. “Anyone who posts on Facebook for the people to boycott a digital services company owned by someone close to the president or who engages in a transport strike, could be arrested for engaging in acts intended to cause extensive interference with critical infrastructure since the term includes ‘system[s] affecting telecommunications… and transportation,’” he added.
Anti-terror law challengers to SC: Laws to fight ‘real terrorism’ already in place | INQUIRER.NET – Where the rights of individuals are concerned, “the end does not justify the means,” National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) chairman Neri Colmenares told Supreme Court Justices on the first day of debate on the legality of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Seven lawyers argued for the petitioners maintained that the law is constitutionally infirm. Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) National President Jose Anselmo Cadiz said the government, to stop terrorism, has allowed the following:
• warrantless arrests and prolonged detention,
• unreasonable searches and seizures
• unwarranted intrusion into private communications and correspondence
• curtailment of expression and assembly
• denial of bail, the presumption of innocence and access to public information
“These sanctioned intrusions on our civil liberties are strictly enjoined by the Constitution. To paraphrase People vs. Sapla, this battle waged against terror that tramples upon the rights of the people is actually a war against the people,” the petitioners said. In fact, the new law, according to Rep. Edcel Lagman, has sent the country back to the draconian times when compared to the 122-year-old Malolos Constitution that requires the delivery of a detainee to the judicial authority within 24 hours following arrest. Now, detention can be done for up to 24 days.
Coast Guard has no authority to allow Chinese vessel to stay in PHL waters – Locsin | Manila Bulletin – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has “zero authority” to allow Chinese survey vessel, Jia Geng, to stay in Philippine waters since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) only gave the ship “emergency shelter” at the behest of the Chinese Embassy in Manila. Locsin made this clarification in the wake of reports that Jia Geng anchored off Catanduanes waters for three days – from January 29 to February 1. “DFA never gave permit to Jia Geng. But for humanitarian considerations, we ok’d Chinese embassy request for shelter against bad weather. The Coast Guard has zero authority to allow it. Only DFA. Not to stay. But seek shelter. Period. P_____ I__,” the DFA secretary said in a tweet.
