MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Malacañang on Monday downplayed the Supreme Court?s ruling against the creation of special courts to try terrorism cases, saying there was no urgent need for it.

And an official of the anti-terrorism council (ATC) said the decision would not affect the government?s campaign to stamp out terrorists.

?Hindi naman kailangan yun [special courts] e. Wala pa ngang ni isang kaso [They really aren?t needed. There isn?t even a single case filed] under that law,? chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said in a phone interview.

Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, ATC spokesman, and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in separate instances, said the high court decision simple means cases for violations of the Human Security Act (HSA), or the anti-terrorism law, can be filed before regular courts.

They also both said the reason the petition was filed was to comply with a provision in the HSA that mandates the ATC to "request the Supreme Court to designate specific divisions of the Court of Appeals and regional trial courts in Manila, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro City as the case may be to handle all cases involving the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism and all matters incident to said crimes."

?Now that the Supreme Court has made a ruling on the matter, of course we will respect that,? Bunye said at a briefing in Malacañang. ?But how will this affect the prosecution of cases? The cases would just have to be filed with the regular courts.?

He added that, at this point, the government is not inclined to appeal the ruling.

?It seems that the anti-terrorism task force will abide by this decision considering the fact that first of all, right now there are not too many cases which are being heard,? he said.

?So it?s not very urgent at this time. But when the circumstances call for it they probably will ask the [Supreme Court] again. But not right now,? Bunye said.

Blancaflor said the HSA will be fully implemented since, unlike last year, it is not an election year.

Under Section 62 of the HSA, "the provisions of this act shall be automatically suspended one month before and two months after the holding of any election."

Apostol said no single case has yet been filed under the HSA because prosecutors themselves have found it difficult to do so.

?It?s not easy to prosecute under this law. It?s not easy to prosecute. Kapag nagkamali ka ng pagsampa, magbabayad ka ng [If you err in filing a case, you will pay] P500,000 a day,? he said, referring to the penalty state officers have to pay for each day a person found not guilty of terrorism is wrongfully detained.

But asked if there was a need to review the law, Apostol answered said there was no need to since it would take about five to 10 years to determine if a law was ineffective or not.