Senators say terror law applicable to Jolo blasts

The police can use the new Anti-Terrorism Act to file cases against the coconspirators of the suspects behind Monday’s twin bombings in Jolo even if the implementation rules for the law have not been handed down, several senators said on Thursday.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the main sponsor of the measure, said the law could already be applied.

“The [law] is already effective so it can already be applied for the purpose of filing cases against the coconspirators and other living participants in the recent Jolo bombings,” Lacson said in a text message.

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bomb maker Mundi Sawadjaan —FILE PHOTO FROM WESTMINCOM CHIEF MAJ. GEN. CORLETO VINLUAN JR.

Missed opportunity

He, however, said the absence of implementation rules could have affected efforts to prevent the bombings, which killed 17 people and injured 75 others.

“What was probably missed by the law enforcement authorities was the opportunity to preempt or prevent the bombings,” he said.

The implementation rules could have guided the actions of the authorities in conducting electronic surveillance and helped them arrest the conspirators at the planning, preparation, recruitment or training stages prior to the actual bombing attacks, he said.

“We have made ‘inchoate offenses’ already punishable under the new antiterror law,” he added.

He called on officials not to exhaust the 90-day period for the preparation of the rules.

“Even if the law is in place but there are no guidelines, they would have a difficult time. How would they implement the [law]?” he said in a radio interview.

Powerful law

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the police should not wait for martial law to move against the perpetrators of the bombings.

“Why are they asking for martial law when the [antiterrorism law] is so powerful? What are they waiting for, Christmas?” Sotto said in a text message.

He also pointed out in a Twitter post that the law is in effect even without the implementation rules.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros also opposed the proposal to impose martial law in Sulu province, saying the military is strong and capable enough to pursue terrorists, as seen in the Army’s case buildup against two suspected suicide bombers.

But four Army intelligence officers were killed by the police while they were tracking down the suspects.

“They were able to intercept calls, track locations, analyze the movements of those suspected terrorists. They could have stopped them had they not been killed for reasons we still don’t know,” Hontiveros said in a television interview.

The government should exhaust the powers available to it first, she said.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said President Duterte was studying the proposals for the reimposition of martial law in Sulu and the use of the terrorism law for going after the perpetrators of the Jolo bombings.

“The President is considering all recommendations … So let’s just wait for the decision,” Roque said.

He said the government was already implementing the terrorism law so choosing that recommendation would be like leaving things unchanged in Jolo.

Hontiveros on Wednesday called for the relief of the entire Jolo police force to clear the way for an investigation of the killing of the four Army intelligence agents and Monday’s bombings.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon supported Hontiveros’ proposal, saying “there appears to be a collusion between the Jolo police force personnel and the terrorists.”

The Philippine National Police on Thursday rejected Hontiveros’ proposal.

“Unless there is sufficient evidence establishing criminal involvement or administrative lapses leading to the attack, the PNP maintains full confidence in our ground personnel,” Police Gen. Archie Gamboa, the PNP chief, said in a statement.

Gamboa told a Senate hearing on Aug. 19 that he did not have the power to suspend the nine policemen involved in what the Army described as “murder” because they had not been proven guilty.

“They are not administratively suspended because we cannot do so. The chief PNP’s power is only restrictive custody. That is the most that we can do under our regulation. We cannot even detain them. We cannot even preventively suspend them unless there’s due process,” Gamboa said.

The nine Jolo policemen involved in the killing of the military intelligence agents have been under restrictive custody at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, since July 7.

The National Bureau of Investigation has recommended to the Department of Justice the filing of charges for murder and planting of evidence against the officers.

Expedite charges

Speaking in a television interview on Thursday, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, the military chief of staff, said the link to Monday’s bombings of the police killing of the four Army intelligence agents remained a speculation until proven in court.

But Gapay pressed for the immediate filing of charges against the nine policemen to end speculation that they killed the soldiers because they were close to capturing the Abu Sayyaf bomb maker Mundi Sawadjaan and the two female suicide bombers.

He also said the military was closing in on Sawadjaan, who is believed to be the brains behind the Jolo blasts. —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTOR CORRALES, JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE, AND JULIE M. AURELIO