Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 15) — A bill was filed in the House of Representatives seeking to revive the Anti-Subversion Law and officially declare as illegal the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing, the New People’s Army, and its political arm, the National Democratic Front.
Duterte Youth Partylist Rep. Ducielle Cardema on Monday filed House Bill 8231, which seeks to outlaw the CPP, NPA and NDF and organizations supporting them in their recruitment, operations, and financial transactions for their “organized conspiracy to overthrow” the government.
Under the proposed measure, the following acts constitute “prima facie evidence” membership in the communist organizations:
– Allowing oneself to be listed as a member of these organizations in written, printed, or digital form
– Subjecting oneself to the discipline of these organizations in any form
– Giving financial contribution to such association or organization dues, loans, or in any other forms
– Executing orders, plans, directives of any kind of such association or organization
– Acting as an agent, courier, messenger, correspondent, organizer, or any other capacity, on behalf of the group
– Conferring with officers or other members in furtherance of any plan or enterprise
– Transmitting orders, directives, or plans in writing, printed, digital, or by other means of signal or coded communication
– Preparing documents, pamphlets, leaflets, books, or online posts promoting the objectives of the organization
– Mailing or sending physically through the use of electronic devices, digital or social media, and through any internet material or propaganda of any kind
– Advising, counselling, or giving instruction, information, suggestions, or recommendations to officers or members to further the objectives of the group
– Participating in any way in the activities, planning, actions, objectives, or purposes of such group
– Recruiting from schools or communities, physical or online, for the CPP-NPA-NDF using a different organization name as a main excuse for not being weapon carrying-members of the groups
Under the measure, a jail time of six to 12 years, permanent disqualification from public office, and confiscation of real and personal property will be imposed against violators. For the second conviction, one may be jailed for 12 to 20 years, and 20 to 40 years for the third conviction.
Makabayan lawmakers on Tuesday slammed Cardema’s move.
Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Ferdinand Gaite called it “another lame and desperate effort to legitimize and institutionalize the Duterte administration’s practice of red-tagging the opposition.”
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, on the other hand, slammed Duterte Youth’s inaction over numerous youth issues in Congress, and instead, allowed itself to be the “mouthpiece of the Duterte agenda.”
“This group’s score so far in terms of forwarding the issues of the youth in Congress is zero…from its name to its game, it’s very obvious that Duterte Youth merely acts as the tentacles of the Duterte administration in Congress,” Castro said.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself accused the Makabayan bloc of being a legal front of communist groups, which the bloc had repeatedly denied in the past.
Then-President Fidel Ramos repealed Republic Act 7636 or the Anti-Subversion Law in 1992, which meant that subversion is no longer a criminal offense. Sedition, however, remained a crime.
