A group of lawyers has opposed a bill that would outlaw the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and all other organizations that support their recruitment, operations, and financial transactions.
“This is objectively a bigoted and repressive ill-conceived piece of legislation that dressed up the pernicious fixation of red tagging even as it unduly and dangerously extends the reach of the already draconian ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act),” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said in a statement.
House Bill No. 4324 was filed by DUTERTE Youth Party-List Rep. Drixie Mae Cardema.
In filing the bill, Cardema had said: “For the defense of our Republic and protection of the Filipino youth from being recruited as terrorist fighters, it is imperative that we provide this strong legal measure to support our government, our government troops, and the millions of peace-loving Filipinos in securing our society from the said terrorist activities.”
Under the bill, those who continue to be a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF and any organization that supports them will be punished with imprisonment, have their properties confiscated, and disqualified from holding public office.
NUPL President Edre U. Olalia said the bill is “a crude attempt to circumvent evidentiary rules and standards.”
“The bill is inherently infirm as it is replete with badges of a bill of attainder despite the token formality of supposed judicial oversight and determination of guilt, especially with the unilateral particularization of specific organizations,” Olalia pointed out.
He also said the bill is “riddled with legally illiterate deficiencies as it uses a lower standard of proof i.e. prima facie instead of probable cause.”
“Worse, conviction need not be based on the universal requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt because mere testimonies of two witnesses, no matter how dubious, are enough,” he lamented.
“Further, there is no crucial element of criminal intent in the so-called prima facie ‘evidence’ even as the scope of the acts and omissions are overly broad, amorphous and nebulous,” he added.