Amid the struggle to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and the calls to request accountability from the government, the Duterte administration decided to sign the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479) into a law, effective last July 3, 2020. The law stipulates that this shall be done to prevent any acts of terrorism that might threaten the national security of the country. According to this, any individual can be branded as a terrorist if caught in acts stated in Section 4 to 12 of the said law given that such acts serve the purpose to intimidate the general public.
(a) Engages in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person,
or endangers a person’s life;
(b) Engages in acts intended to cause extensive damage or deconstruction to a
government or public facility, public place of private property;
(c) Engages in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage or
destruction to critical infrastructure;
(d) Develops, manufactures, possesses, acquires, transports, supplies or uses
weapons, explosives or of biological, nuclear, radiological or chemical
weapons; and
(e) Release of dangerous substances, or causing fire, floods, or explosions.
The definitions of terrorism and its scope presented in this law have become widened to cover all acts of protests to the government. Theoretically so, the law might present some valid points based on its ornate wordings, but this law was made very subjectively to the point that it might be interpreted differently by different public officials and the law-implementing bodies like the police.
Any ‘terrorist’ who will violate the mandates of such law and Including those who might “incite others through speeches, writings, proclamations, emblems, banners, and other representations tending to the same end” will face punishment of up to 12 years, detained up to 24 days, wiretapped for 60 to 90 days and might be given warrantless arrests. This is a clear manifestation of usurpation of the Filipinos’ basic rights to freedom of expression and speech, especially now that the Philippine government is doing everything to monitor and hamper all the dissenters of this administration. Such suppressing tactics can be reminiscent of settings of some dystopian fictions.
The 2nd Class Citizens enumerated some known dystopian fictions where the Philippine situation is reflected:
1. 1984 by George Orwell. Published in the year 1949, this novel follows the story of the central character Winston Smith who was a low ranking member of the ‘Party’. Through the directives of ‘Big Brother’, the nation was under a totalitarian state where most activities and aspects of the lives of people are controlled. ‘Big Brother’ invented a new language to eliminate political rebellion and created a monitoring system called Thoughtcrimes to stop people from thinking or doing things that might be considered a rebellion to the state. Such scenes remind how Philippines is under such rule where mass media is controlled (when President Duterte filed cases against Rappler and its writers after claims of ‘one-sided’ news reports of his war on drugs), government surveillance (when police officials red tag students who speak their voices against the tyranny of this regime), and this administrations’ politicians manipulation to our history.
2. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This features the life of Offred as a handmaid in the fictional Republic of Gilead. Their government controlled people’s actions and decisions, particularly of women’s, such that their role is largely minimized to giving birth. However, those with lesser capacities to survive economically are more assigned as handmaids than those who live in comfort and prestige. The events described in the book define a bleak future withholding the freedom of humans—to choose, to love, to live, to enjoy the simple things, the very essence of being. Such events led most to think that women in the Philippines nowadays, with rampant sexism, misogyny, and normalized rape culture by no other than the President of the Republic himself, can be reminded of how Offred lived in her own society.
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This dystopian novel demonstrates a world where television (and shows) are the preferred merit of “fun” and “family”. It shows a world where people would rather burn books as a means to keep society illiterate and complacent. It illustrates a world where books are rather written not to educate but to not offend the authorities. It exemplifies a world where most information—and misinformation—are brought by televisions and other modern conveniences. Although the Philippines is not yet in this severity of suppressed entertainment sources, Filipinos are very much reminded however of how basic knowledge dissemination and information literacy materials are controlled by the government. The (social) media may also sensationalize important events in society, thereby running the risks of spreading false and fake news that will make vulnerable Filipino demography to believe in these lies.
4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The story tells of Alex, who was a leader of his gang and was later imprisoned after a criminal intent. It tells of the conflict between an individual (given one’s free will) and the state (who must employ any means necessary to preserve its status quo). Readers saw how the society in which Alex lives in seeks to control its citizens through mass-market culture, technological innovation, among others. These instances are very much alike in the Philippines where any form of social phenomenon was done to divert Filipinos attention to lesser important events of the state and thus allowing Filipinos to forget the issues that matter more.
5. Blindness by Jose Saramago. The fictional country of Saramago is hit by an epidemic of “white blindness” where every aspect of society was affected. Everyone suddenly becomes blind and residents see nothing but white flashes of light! Here, the Ministry of Health’s quarantine zone is guarded by armed military forces. Their government has also instituted draconian measures to cope with the situation that time. This occurrence has resulted in more chaos in their society, thus stealing has become rampant too. This situation is very much related to the Philippine society in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Duterte installed his most trusted individuals—the military generals and personnels—to handle most of the functions in the government. Filipinos questioned their expertise in matters like the public health issues that are outside of the realm of these people’s competence. Filipinos also saw how drastic and very strict lockdown measures amidst the pandemic are in a way counterintuitive as cases only increased rather than diminishing, as one might expect to happen. Without proper government interventions, Filipinos today still grapple with the fact that the normal that Filipinos used to experience will not be back anytime soon.
6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This classic read narrates the accounts of a group of schoolboys who found themselves to be left on a deserted island after their plane was shot down. A criticism of the British colonial ideals and powers that time of its writing, Lord of the Flies examines the tension between the dynamics of a group and individuality, between the rational and the emotional reactions, between morality and immorality, and between a human’s free will and a human’s inherent evil especially when the boys navigate their adventures and misadventures together in the deserted island. Metaphorically speaking, this story is a microcosm of the Philippine society nowadays especially when the DDS or the Duterte Die-hard Supporters and the Dilawan (although there is no true dichotomy between the two) verbally fight in social media in defense of their own masters. Such heated altercations point to the Filipinos’ ability to think and act rationally or emotionally in reacting to the political issues that are of importance. These agencies might as well be the basis on how a Filipino might decide whether what he/she considers a social event to be immoral or not.
Dystopian genre offers tales of tragedy and trepidation. But it largely gives the people warning as to what might happen in the near or far future. The Philippines, as evidenced above, has now become an arena of dystopian fiction. Will Filipinos ever survive and be given the resolution that they all deserve? Or will Philippines be just another story with a sad ending? Only time will tell.
To know more about the Anti-Terror Law of 2020, read:
Republic Act No. 11479 2020. (Phi). https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/06jun/20200703-RA-11479-RRD.pdf
Mishra, K. (2020, August 12). Deconstructing Philippines’ New Anti-Terrorism Law. JURIST- Student Commentary. https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/08/kanak-mishra-philippines-anti-terrorism-law/
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