MANILA, Philippines — The government should not be perceived as the enemy but a guardian of the Filipino people and their constitutional rights, Solicitor General Jose Calida said on Saturday after the Malaybalay City police tagged eight people protesting the closure of television network ABS-CBN as “terrorists.”
Calida issued the statement as Republic Act No. 11479, or Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, came into effect on Saturday.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has submitted to the Supreme Court a 233-page consolidated comment on several petitions challenging the constitutionality of RA 11479.
‘Utter lack of merit’
At least eight parties have asked the high court to junk the law for gravely flawed provisions violative of civil rights and judicial process.
The petitioners include Rep. Edcel Lagman; the Makabayan bloc in the House; 1986 Constitutional Commission members Christian Monsod and Felicitas Aquino-Arroyo; several labor groups; De La Salle Brothers Inc., represented by former Education Secretary Armin Luistro; and lawyers Howard Calleja, Melencio Sta. Maria and Robert Philip Jurado.
In its comment on the petitions, the OSG urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the pleas for “utter lack of merit.”
Among other arguments, the OSG said the petitioners had no legal standing, that there was no actual justiciable case arising from the law and that the wisdom and necessity behind the enactment of the law were political questions beyond the ambit of judicial scrutiny.
The OSG argued against the arguments in the petitions, especially Section 29 which authorizes the Anti-Terrorism Council to order the detention for up to 14 days, subject to 10-day extension, of an individual suspected of committing terrorism.
14-day detention
The OSG said the 14-day detention was neither arbitrary nor unjustified and quoted Sen. Panfilo Lacson, one of the proponents of the law, that other countries have similar or longer detentions periods such as 14 days in Sri Lanka and Australia; Bangladesh, 15 days; Indonesia, 21; Pakistan, 30; Malaysia, 59; and Singapore, 730.
Lacson himself said in a separate statement that he would not allow the law to be perverted or abused.
“As the one who painstakingly sponsored the measure in the Senate, I will not allow anyone to pervert the legislative intent of the law, thus my commitment to go the extra mile in guarding against possible abuse in its implementation,” he said.
But the Malaybalay City police had not yet heard the lofty rhetoric of Lacson or the government lawyers when they posted on Facebook on Thursday an infographic tagging supporters of ABS-CBN and press freedom advocates as terrorists.
The infographic showed eight individuals holding placards with the words “Defend Press Freedom.”
The infographic stated: “Malalaman mong sila ay para sa Terorismo; Papatulan lahat ng isyu; Basta laban sa Gobyerno. No to rebellion. No to terrorism.” (You will know they are for terrorism; they will ride on all issues; especially if it is against the government.)
Police Col. Jerry Tambis, Malaybalay police chief, admitted that “we made a mistake and we are sorry for it” and later had the infographic removed.
—With reports from Leila Salaverria and Nestor Corrales