Democracy faces 'death by a thousand cuts' with looming anti-terror law – Maria Ressa

'All these kinds of legal acrobatics, the law has been weaponized. And now the question is if it's codified into law, it becomes the norm,' says Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. CourageON HoldTheLine DefendPressFreedom

ANTI-TERROR BILL. Rappler CEO Maria Ressa says the anti-terrorism bill will endanger rights protected under the Constitution. File photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler

At a virtual forum by US documentary program Frontline and the International Center for Journalists, Ressa explained the dangers of the anti-terrorism bill. "This anti-terror bill could essentially codify, institutionalize the abuses – what we used to say of abuses of power…Even the definition of what a terrorist could be expanded. A government critic could now effectively be made a terrorist if the anti-terror council decides you're a terrorist," Ressa said.

If passed, the measure would give the ATC the power to"designate" terrorists. The bill – which was certified as urgent – is awaiting the President Rodrigo Duterte's signature. Duterte may choose to veto it or not do anything at all – and wait for it to lapse into law by July 9.

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