Beauty queen and lawyer Patch Magtanong dissects, opposes anti-terror bill

Patch Magtanong joined calls to junk the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act, which is now awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte's signature.

In her Instagram stories, the Miss International Philippines 2019 titleholder and lawyer dissected the bill and highlighted the areas that the public should be concerned about.

She also fired back at critics who say celebrities and beauty queens like her "are whining without even reading the law, I think you are misinformed."

Patch wrote, "Tama naman! To be completely informed, we should all take the time to read the bill...it's 63 pages but here are some of the pertinent sections you may want to look at. Section 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 42, 43, 45, 47."

She also compiled some of the "unconstitutional, contentious, and Draconian" provisions.

Patch said that we'd have to give credit to public figures "and trust that they did their research and understand the implications of the passage of the bill."

She also implored the public to seek news articles, infographics, and analysis by legal experts that may provide a deeper understanding of the bill.

The Anti-Terrorism bill was fast-tracked by the government amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now up for Duterte's approval after the House adopted and approved the Senate's version.

Retired senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said the anti-terrorism bill may immediately be challenged before the Supreme Court once it is signed into law.

—JCB, GMA News