New antiterror bill defended, questioned

MANILA, Philippines ± The country’s top security officials on Sunday tried to appease objections to the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 which critics decried as a threat to civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution.

“The people need not fear,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, dismissing the criticism of people he described as “mostly Reds and their allies” who picked “some provisions and adding their own interpretations to scare people.”

“The proposed law [has] safeguards of civil liberties and sanctions to law enforcement agencies. This bill was deliberated lengthily by both houses [of Congress] and all sectors were invited as resource persons during these deliberations. All sides were heard.”

But human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, chair of the Free Legal Assistance Group, said the new antiterror bill, an amended version of the Republic Act No. 9372, or the Human Security Act of 2007, authorizes politicians to usurp powers granted exclusively to the courts.

The antiterror bill would allow the Anti-Terror Council (ATC) to order people it has designated as terrorists, a function reserved for courts.

The ATC would also be allowed to order the arrest of anyone deemed a terrorist even without warrant, an act the courts usually frown upon.

The bill also exempts law enforcers from liability for illegal detention or failing to present an arrested person to a court with the prescribed period.

But national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. disputed the claim and said “the bill provides for measures that will preclude or minimize abuses in implementing the law.” \