A joint panel in the House of Representatives on Monday created a technical working group that will work on proposed amendments to Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007.
Among the proposed amendment to be considered by the joint House committees on public order and safety, and national defense and security include retitling of the law as the “Prevention of Terrorism Act.”
The proposal embodied in the bill filed by Pangasinan Rep. Amado Espino Jr. said the title has to be changed to jibe with the motive of terrorism such as attempts to “compel a government, an international organization or any person or entity to do or to abstain from doing any act.”
This means that authorities can conduct surveillance on individuals merely on the “reasonable ground of suspicion on the part of the law enforcement or military personnel.”
“Under the present law, authorities will only have to prove probable cause… based on personal knowledge,” Espino, chairperson of the House committee on national defense and security, said.
But human rights group Karapatan denounced Espino’s proposal, calling it a “wholesale disregard of human and people’s rights enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.”
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the bill’s intent was “very dangerous” because it “implies that anyone can be arbitrarily proscribed and considered as a ‘terrorist’” on mere suspicion.
During the hearing Monday, Palabay also questioned the provision in the bill which allows the Justice department to file a unilateral application for a freeze order on the assets of suspected terrorists without requiring the suspect to be heard.
“This means, a suspect, not yet convicted of a crime, loses his freedom and his material wealth, if any, as soon as one is proscribed as a terrorist,” she said.
Espino’s bill also proposes the repeal of various provisions pertaining to the rights of detainees, requiring an official custodial logbook, prohibiting torture during investigation and interrogation, and penalizing the violations of these provisions.
The bill also proposes the repeal of provisions on “speedy trial, barring a separate prosecution for a terrorism-related felony, granting damages to persons acquitted of terrorism charges, recording the name and address of informants, defining the role of the Commission on Human Rights, and creating a grievance committee.”
Also, the bill extends to 30 ‘working days’ the period during which a person may be detained without an arrest warrant, from the current three calendar days.
The bill maintains that the penalty for terrorist acts is life imprisonment.