Lorenzana: Nothing to fear with antiterrorism bill

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday said the public has nothing to fear about the antiterrorism bill which would be given priority by Congress after the President certified it as urgent.

On Monday’s online briefing in Malacañang, Lorenzana announced that having been certified as urgent, the bill “can be completed before Congress goes on recess on June 5.”

Lorenzana maintained that opposition to the proposed law was “baseless” as it has sufficient provisions to protect human rights and punish abuse by law enforcement agencies.

For his part, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año described the antiterrorism bill as “very timely” for the new normal.

“The bill has long been discussed, has long been desired to be passed because this [terrorism] is a real threat here and around the world. Terrorists continue to hatch plots even if we are under quarantine and are faced with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic,” Año said at the same press briefing.

‘Very timely’

He further pointed out that the proposed law would be “very timely so if we return to the new normal, we would already have a law to be enforced and we would no longer have terrorism as a problem.”

“This [law] is for everyone’s safety and this was carefully thought out,” he said, assuring that no abuse would be committed, as he urged the public to support the bill.

The House of Representatives joint committees on public order and safety and on national defense and security passed last week on first reading the antiterrorism bill which would adopt a Senate version of the proposed law seeking to repeal the Human Security Act of 2007.

The Senate version defines as terrorism acts regardless of the stage of execution that intends to cause death or injury to persons and property, including developing biological and chemical weapons as well as releasing dangerous substances, with the ultimate goal of intimidating the general public.

Allows wiretapping

It also seeks to create an antiterrorism council, to be headed by the Executive Secretary, that would implement the proposed law including the identification of terrorists. The proposed law also removes the daily P500,000 penalty on law enforcers who wrongfully detain a person for terrorism.

The bill also provides for longer detention periods for suspected terrorists and allows wiretapping and bank record examination as long as approved by a court and the involvement of the military in surveillance operations.