WE CONDEMN the recent repressive actions of the government in summoning people for alleged violation of the Bayanihan Law and arresting people for demanding the delivery of food and aid to their communities. More outrageously, the President himself has taken to threatening leftists and “troublemakers” arrested and ordering quarantine violators shot dead.
Many are hungry and angry because government failed to efficiently deliver the promised aid during the lockdown; repression will not solve the problem and would, in fact, worsen the situation. The solution to this crisis-within-a-crisis is the speedy, efficient, and effective delivery of basic goods to all, as well as financial assistance to the many who have lost their source of livelihood during the lockdown.
We condemn the act of government agencies summoning people to personally explain their supposed violations of RA 11469 or the Bayanihan Law, especially for acts committed before it became effective on March 26, 2020. Most of the personalities being summoned are constructively and well-meaningly involved in providing aid to the people, an act that deeply politicizes the issue and breaks momentum of the wellspring of initiative. The state of national emergency does not suspend constitutional rights, including criminal law principles that prohibit the retroactive application of penal laws. In a touch of irony, ordering the people to leave their homes and violate the lockdown policy in order to appear before the NBI certainly adds to the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
We are deeply concerned that Section 6 (f) of RA 11469, which penalizes people for the spread of false information on social media and other platforms, as well as other laws curtailing speech and expression, could be misused to penalize legitimate criticism of President Duterte’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis. The state of emergency does not justify any infringement of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression. Instead, government must use any criticism as a feedback mechanism to develop ways to ensure the safety and security of all, during and after the Covid-19 crisis.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s Report to Congress had declared that, out of the P70 billion allocation for local government units in the 2020 budget, he has only managed to release P5.9 billion so far. There are many more budgetary items that have not been utilized for the Covid-19 response. Government has declared that it is still preparing the master list of those who will receive financial assistance despite the President himself promising this as early as March 16, 2020 when he announced the lockdown. Government should admit that it has failed to timely and effectively provide for food, services, and aid in response to the hunger being suffered by the people in the midst of the lockdown. Arresting those who point this out is not only a violation of constitutional rights, but also not the solution to the problem.
We view with great distress the arrests and potential arrest of frontline workers, starving poor, disgruntled citizens, progressives, and dissenters, particularly where the law and its application run against reason and justice. We commit to help provide legal services to those in need, in whatever way we can during the lockdown. We will continue to guard against the trampling of civil liberties through legal advisories and other legal actions. We remain steadfast in our position to defend human rights and contest any violation committed in the name of “national emergency.” (By Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties)