On July 27th in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) to millions of Filipino families in the archipelago and thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who have been enduring neglect, brutality, and his opportunistic power moves in the midst of a global health crisis still yet to be resolved. In response, the Malaya Movement and BAYAN USA, co-hosted this year’s People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) in 14 US cities from Boston to Honolulu under the theme: “Makibaka! Huwag Matakot! Fight Duterte’s Fascist Dictatorship!”.

As brutal and bloody as they were, the past four years under Duterte might have only been a preamble to a more ruthless and unrelenting rule. Almost as soon as Duterte signed the Anti-Terror Law (ATL), repression and fascism have run rampant, seemingly picking up speed by the day!

As many of you already know, President Duterte signed the Anti-Terror Law this past July 3rd, ushering in a new dark era for democracy and civil liberties in the Philippines. Despite the widespread criticism and concern from legal experts and renown human rights organizations, Duterte has chosen, yet again, the way of brutality and authoritarian rule by enacting a law that threatens to institutionalize his Martial Law-style dictatorship and place a chilling effect on the practice of democratic rights and constitutional freedoms.

Malaya Movement condemns in the strongest possible terms the passage of Duterte’s reprehensible Anti-Terror Law he signed on July 3rd in the Philippines. Republic Act 11479 or “The Anti-Terror Act of 2020” plunges the nation into further danger, posing a serious threat to human rights defenders who have long been critical of the government’s bloody drug war, attacks on press freedom, and crackdown on opposition and dissent. While the COVID-19 pandemic remains unresolved and record-breaking unemployment challenges working class families to put food on the table, Duterte’s weak stomach for criticism and bloodthirst for unquestioned power has put the health and wellness of Filipinos last on his list of priorities.