Lea Salonga joined other celebrities from opposing the anti-terror bill.
In her Facebook post on June 15, Salonga made a cryptic Facebook post that turned out to be a criticism against the controversial measure.
“Dear Pilipinas, p***** ina, ang hirap mong mahalin,” Salonga said.
Like other celebrities, the ABS-CBN talent also questioned if the anti-terror bill has enough safeguards so the government would not misuse it to anyone.
“My problem is how unspecific and loose these definitions are. Ibig sabihin, any of us could be thrown in jail for doing anything. I get that we need a bill to help curtail the growth of actual terrorist groups, but seriously? E kung pumunta ako ng True Value at bumili ng kutsilyo, terorista na ba ako? Sa ganda kong ito? Paano ka e, ang handsome mo?” Salonga said.
“Here’s my problem… I don’t possess a lot of trust in the things I see and read, even if and when the sources are supposed to be those in which we should be able to have unquestionable trust. Second, I house a conspiracy theorist in my head, one that I do try to quell in order to stay focused on the long game. Third, there is always a sense of fear that if anyone pisses off the wrong guy, one can get shot in broad daylight,” she also said.
Salonga also said that people should be allowed to criticize without any worries of being put in detention because of the anti-terror bill.
“Criticism of one’s government shouldn’t be considered an expression of hatred, but one of love and a desire to see the country succeed. I would like to think that in a functioning democracy, this should never be anyone’s fear, that their criticism would land them in jail, or worse, a corpse lying on a curb,” Salonga stated.
The post of Salonga reached 3,000 shares as of writing and Twitter users even made a topic about her to express their support to the world-class singer.
Authors of the anti-terror bill already assured several times that they put enough safeguards to the measure.
Senator Ping Lacson that the proposed reglementary period of detention for the Philippines is shorter compared to “Thailand with up to 30 days; Malaysia, up to two years; Singapore at 720 days extendible to an indefinite period of detention without formal charges; and Indonesia, up to 120 additional days,”
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa also assured that activism would not be affected by the bill.
“Very clear na ang activism is not terrorism, nakalagay ‘yan dito, kahit anong pananaw mo sa buhay walang problema ‘yan, we respect your ideology kung ano ang pinaglalaban mo basta wag ka lang talagang magbigay ng material support sa NPA,” Dela Rosa stated.