By Black Hammer

The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte marked a new wave of neocolonialism when he became president in 2016.

Alongside Trump, his white supremacist friend and puppet-master, Rodrigo Duterte has taken his hate a step further with Republic Act 11479.

This act, which was recently signed into law, has been incorrectly nicknamed the “Anti-terrorism Act of 2020,” because Duterte claims it will fight terrorism in the Philippines. Read the full-text PDF here.

In reality, this law IS the act of terrorism, and it works to silence all Filipinos who do not agree with Duterte’s neocolonialism.

This new law grants Duterte unquestioned authority, unlimited power, and serves only to terrorize and silence colonized people of the Philippines.

Duterte’s new law also targets hate toward Muslim Filipinos.

Democracy no longer lives in the Philippines! Duterte now has the freedom to imprison or murder anyone who fights against this reign of terror.

The Law

The “Anti-terrorism Act of 2020” broadly defines a terrorist as someone who does any of the following in an attempt to “intimidate the public… influence the government… or destroy the political, economic, or social structures of the country”:

• Engages in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life;

• Engages in acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place or private property;
• Engages in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage, or destruction to critical infrastructure;
• Develops, manufactures, possesses, acquires, transports, supplies, or uses weapons;
• Releases dangerous substances or causes fire, floods or explosions.

This law gives President Duterte the power to hand-pick a special anti-terrorism council that officially marks people as terrorists.

Let us examine why this law grossly violates the human rights of Filipino people.

1. Citizens can now be arrested without a warrant and held up to 24 days with no charges filed, and placed under surveillance for up to 90 days.
2. The anti-terrorism council can label any person inside or outside the Philippines a terrorist and arrest citizens at random.
3. The Philippines had a safeguard against wrongful detention, which passed in 2007. It monetarily compensated anyone who was imprisoned but proven to be innocent. This safeguard has now been completely removed.
4. The most terrifying part of this law is the expanded definition of “terrorism” that allows law enforcement and the military to falsely accuse and imprison anyone without fear of consequence, while targeting the Muslim community and those who fight against fascism.

The Anti-terrorism Act 2020 uses the phrase “engaging in acts” to intentionally equate actual terrorism with anything that criticizes the government, including posting memes on social media or stating an opinion.

Remnants of Colonization

Duterte and his followers are afraid of resistance from colonized people organizing to overthrow his colonial puppet government.In truth, this law does nothing to stop terrorism, but it allows the state to engage in acts of terrorism against its citizens.

Filipinos are not new to the idea of being oppressed. They have dealt with it and remained strong since being colonized by the spanish in the 1500’s until 1898, and by the united snakes immediately after.

This law will drive more people into anti-government groups, especially to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA), who has been fighting oppression in the Philippines for over half a century, and to Makabayan, a coalition of left-wing organizations in the country.

The blackout of resistance movements has already begun

At the time of this article’s posting, nearly all websites with a Filipino domain related to a left-wing organization have been taken down.

Duterte is the textbook definition of a neocolonialist. A puppet for white power. In 2018, with his anti-tambay campaign, he gave clearance to execute suspected drug users and dealers on the street. This campaign also rounded-up houseless people, and people who are “loitering”, to place them in cages.

If you want to know what the united snakes will look like if fascism and state oppression continues to deepen, look at the Philippines. It has been amerikkka’s testing center for violent social experiments for over a century.

Black Hammer also stands in solidarity with the Communist Party of the Philippines and Makabayan in their fight to organize the people and present a broad front to oust the Duterte regime and decolonize their beautiful homeland.Black Hammer Organization also supports the NPA’s use of revolutionary base areas to protect Colonized Revolutionaries. Black Hammer is creating such a space with Hammer City! Please donate to our CashApp $buildhammercity (PayPal/GoFundme)to help build a city where no colonized person lives at the expense of another.

Only when Colonized Poor and Working Class people have have complete dictatorship over our lives, labor, land, and resources can white power, capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and all its symptomatic offspring be smashed in the Philippines!

Pinoy Power!

Black Power!

DUTERTE TUNAY NA TAMBAY!

MABUHAY ANG KABATAANG MAKABAYAN!

Black Hammer Times publishes articles in line with our princples of unity! Email us at [email protected] and support our the BHT thru our CashApp $BHTimes