Is the Anti-Terrorism Act clear to lawmen? DOJ exec says seminars needed

MANILA, Philippines – Law enforcers need to undergo seminars to understand better the Anti-Terrorism Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, an official from the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

“I think this has to be made very clear to them, yung provisions ng batas na ito (the provisions of this law),” said DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay.

He said, while crafting the IRR, the definition “terrorism” is clear to them.

“We have a very clear concept of what a terrorist is, and I would like to hope that we can disseminate this concept to law enforcement agencies, and to whoever will be implementing this,” Sugay, the ATA-IRR spokesperson said.

The Anti-Terrorism Act’s IRR was published over the weekend after the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) approved the draft crafted by the DOJ with inputs from the Philippine National Police (AFP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The ATA is a highly contested law with over 30 petitions pending before the Supreme Court asking to stop its implementation and crafting of the IRR. The high court has set an oral argument supposedly in the third week of September but did not push through. [ac]