Police stand guard outside the Cotabato City Hall on Tuesday (Dec. 15) during the turnover of supervision of the city to the BARMM. PHOTO BY FERDINAND CABRERA
MANILA, Philippines — It would be premature judge whether or not the Anti-Terror Law is effective in addressing terrorism threats in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said Friday.
“So far, the Anti-Terrorism Law, we see that it is still early to judge whether it will really address [the issue]. But on our side, we have assured the President that we will be helping the national government in implementing this Anti-Terrorism Law,” Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim, whois also chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the new autonomous government has so far decommissioned 13,500 combatants in the region.
“These decommissioned combatants have already turned over their firearms and they are under safekeeping by the independent decommissioning body,” Ebrahim said.
A part of the peace process is the provision of monetary and non-monetary assistance to decommissioned combatants that includes cash advances, housing packages, socio-economic and livelihood assistance programs.
Despite massive opposition, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the controversial anti-terror bill into law in July 2020.
The new law seeks to strengthen the Human Security Act of 2007 and criminalizes incitement of terrorism “by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations.”
But lawyer groups, human rights advocates, and even some lawmakers have opposed the bill which they feared could be used as a potential state weapon against dissent.