With the digital age’s follower count mattering in terms of influence and spreading awareness, several artists have joined the call for #JunkTerrorBill to their millions of followers.
It is just a hashtag with three words but even without elaborate and long statements, posting it is a clear stand against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which President Rodrigo Roa Duterte certified as urgent and has slipped through the third reading in the lower chamber. Without disagreements with the Senate version, a bicameral conference is no longer needed and it is on its way to the Executive branch. This means that just a signature from Duterte and the bill becomes a law.
Actresses like Bea Alonzo, Kathryn Bernardo, Nadine Lustre, posted the #JunkTerrorBill hashtag to their respective accounts.
Angel Locsin was a bit more elaborate through an Instagram post, by sharing a photo set of protesters, captioned “Not a terrorist.”
Anne Curtis Smith-Heusaff, meanwhile, took it to Twitter to air out a statement describing the bill to be “vague and broad.” She said that this could open different interpretations “which could potentially take away each person’s basic rights of freedom of speech and acts of even peaceful protests.”
https://t.co/7vaE77TOlf #JunkTerrorBill pic.twitter.com/uuKDv61sgb
— Anne Curtis-Smith (@annecurtissmith) June 4, 2020
Vice Ganda also tweeted a series of photos that unveil his “fear” of the bill. He said that while he believes in the importance of a law that protects the people from terrorism, there should be no human rights stepped on and neglected.
Ladies and chumenemen!
I believe!
And I …………….zenkyowww! pic.twitter.com/pvYlWb7CKw— jose marie viceral (@vicegandako) June 4, 2020
“Kung depektibo o kulang sa kalinawan ang pagkakalahad nito ay maaaring magresulta ito sa pangaabuso ng autoridad na syang nagbibigay sa akin ng malaking takot na baka matanggalan ako ng mga karapatan sa kalayaan (If the way its written is defective or lacking in clarity, it may result to the abuse by authorities which gives me a huge fear that I may lose my rights and freedom),” he wrote.
He then emphasized that “Ang kailangan ng mga Pilipino sa ngayon ay makaramdam ng proteksyon at di anumang uri ng takot (What the Filipinos need right now is to feel a sense of protection and not any more fear)” before ending it with the hashtag.
Meanwhile, award-winning Fil-Am actor Darren Criss also tweeted his stand against the bill.
And sadly, meanwhile, in other parts of the world, injustice continues to thrive off the slippery rhetoric of peace maintenance… aka preying on the fears of the voting majority… https://t.co/eyIaboWZ7q https://t.co/kwGrp8EJbD
— Darren Criss (@DarrenCriss) June 3, 2020
He quote retweeted a post that said “I’m from the philippines and we, filipinos, are going through a lot rn. i won’t be posting for a while, i will be busy fighting for our human rights. thank you for understanding. #JUNKTERRORBILLNOW”
Criss added that “‘Anti-Terrorism’ may sound promising but that title does not include the idea that it maximizes criminality for ANYONE who shows any kind of civil opposition- without a warrant, not to mention enforces totalitarian surveillance to uphold said insanity. I’d be in jail by now.”