The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 takes effect today, July 18, even without its Implementing Rules and Regulations as two senators defended the measure amid criticisms from US lawmakers.
“We’re just about to start drafting the IRR. We have to finish this in 90 days. (But) the promulgation of the IRR is not a condition for the effectivity of the law,” said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Some provisions, such as the establishment of the Anti-Terrorism Council, are self-executing, he said.
There are other provisions, however, where operational details need to be spelled out, he conceded.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, advised US lawmakers who were critical of the anti-terrorism law he sponsored, to “shut up.”
“I wonder how many among those 50 or so members of the US Congress voted in favor of their own country’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001,” said Lacson.
Unlike the US version of the Anti-Terror Law, Lacson said, Republic Act No. 11479 has no provision for a Guantánamo Bay-like detention facility where indefinite detention without trial of suspected terrorists, on top of torture and breach of human rights, suicides and suicide attempts have been reported by Amnesty International – all in violation of the due process clause of the US Constitution.
And unlike their Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, Lacson said, the Philippine law does not allow one-party consent in the conduct of electronic or technical surveillance.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, for his part, said the US lawmakers should look at their own draconian law before criticizing the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
“Mind your own business and scratch your own mange,” Sotto said.
Guevarra said the Anti-Terrorism Council, in consultation with law enforcement agencies and the military that will come up with the IRR within 90 days.
At the same time, the Justice secretary said protest actions are not covered by the definition of terrorism under Section 4 of the law, “as long as they are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person’s life, or to create a serious risk to public safety.”
He acknowledged, however, that this is one area where the IRR may go into greater detail.
“In addition, and as a precautionary measure, any such protest action should necessarily comply with local ordinances and existing health protocols, considering that the NCR (National Capital Region) is still under GCQ (general community quarantine),” he said.
Guevarra’s statement comes as more protest rallies are expected against the controversial law in the run-up to President Rodrigo Duterte’s 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27.
Nine separate petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the anti-terror law. The latest was filed by labor groups, who said the law violated their rights to organize and conduct activities to petition the government for redress of grievances.
In a separate development, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo said he would file a bill that provides for an information technology-based modernization for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).
“For crime enforcement, we need a system that would readily provide a single, flexible collaborative environment that would assist law enforcement, defense, government agencies, and commercial private sector businesses to disrupt criminal, terrorist, and fraudulent activities,” Arroyo said.
A reliable IT system, he said, “would serve as a basis for more informed decision making, by identifying when pertinent operational data is available or altered for improved reaction times. Suspicious activity reports, 911-style calls and other incoming reports of unlawful or unusual occurrences can contain useful information, but only if recognized by the system.”
