Lacson: Be wary of disinformation drive vs. Anti-Terror Act

Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the public not to believe in the “massive disinformation campaign” being waged by critics against the Anti-Terrorism Bill, stressing that the measure’s only aim is to protect Filipinos from discriminate terrorist acts, and not to destroy basic human rights and liberties.

“Terrorism knows no timing nor borders. Some of our country’s policy-makers, especially our people, should know better than just criticizing and believing the massive disinformation campaign against a measure that can secure and protect us as well as our families and loved ones from terrorist acts perpetrated in a manner so sudden, least expected and indiscriminate – as in any time, probably even today, tomorrow or next week,” Lacson said in a statement.

He said the public should not also be taken in by the critics’ arguments that Senate Bill 1083, or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, is open to abuse and, once enacted, could be used to stifle dissent.

In a succeeding interview, Lacson said that when the bill was tackled at the committee level last year, and up to its final approval in the Senate in February, their reference was the Bill of Rights enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

It could not also be said that not all stakeholders were represented during the public hearings, since the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the academe, Philippine Judges Association, the Department of Justice (DOJ), among others, were present, he said.

The chair of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation also noted that most of the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism laws of other strong democracies like Australia and the United States were incorporated into the bill, guided further by the standards set by the United Nations.

“With the help of many of my colleagues who interpellated and proposed their individual amendments, including all the members of the Minority Bloc, I was more than accommodating to accept their amendments as long as we would not end up with another dead-letter law such as the Human Security Act of 2007, which has so far resulted in just one conviction after more than a decade of its implementation and just one proscribed terrorist organization such as the Abu Sayyaf Group,” he said.

Among the provisions being opposed by critics is the 14-day reglementary period of detention without a judicial warrant, which they said is “too long” and may open the accused to torture.

Lacson pointed out that the 14-day reglementary period is the “shortest time” compared to other countries in the region, like Thailand which has a reglementary period of up to 30 days, Malaysia, up to two years; Singapore at 720 days, which could be extended to indefinite detention without formal charges; and Indonesia, with up to 120 additional days.

“Also, safeguards have been put in place to ensure the rights of those detained,” he said.

Under SB 1083, law enforcement officers who effected the warrantless arrest are bound to immediately notify a judge nearest the place of arrest. They are also bound to immediately inform the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the arrest.

Visitation rights are also protected and there is no limit on lawyer’s visits.

To further prevent abuses, the measure provides that any law enforcement or military personnel found to have violated the rights of the accused persons shall be penalized with imprisonment of 10 years.

Lacson also stressed that SB 1083 cannot be used to stifle dissent and silence government critics since the measure clearly does not include the “exercise of legitimate dissent” as an act of terror.

Labor strikes, assembly, and protests against duly constituted authority are also not included, he said.

“So mali. Kasi maraming kumakalat ng disinformation kaya dapat maging maingat ang publiko (So they are wrong. The public should be careful because there’s a lot of misinformation circulating),” he said.

“And to the critics, I dare say: I hope the day will not come when you or any of your loved ones will be at the receiving end of a terrorist attack, so much so that it will be too late for you to regret convincing the Filipino people to junk this landmark legislation,” Lacson said.* (Jose Cielito Reganit)