Trillanes thumbs down push to amend anti-terror law

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday added his voice to those opposing the Duterte administration's push to amend the Human Security Act supposedly to address the threat of terrorism.

In a statement, Trillanes, a vocal critic of the administration, noted the 30,000 deaths allegedly related to the government's war on drugs, pointing out that the number is "more deaths than any terrorist has inflicted in history."

"In truth, we should be protected from Duterte first," he said.

Trillanes also questioned whether the administration can locate and apprehend terrorists through that amendment when they "can't even locate and apprehend the riding in tandem killers and Duterte's kumpare drug lords on the loose."

Trillanes also asked why the government is only pushing for the detention of suspected terrorists when it is "summarily killing 'suspected' addicts the past three years."

The former lawmaker also said that while the police force was given subpoena powers in 2017 to effectively investigate crime, "it was only used against the political opposition and critics."

A Navy officer before becoming a senator, Trillanes pointed out that "there is already martial law is declared in Mindanao and yet security forces weren't able to prevent bombings in Basilan and Sulu."

Trillanes said the proper use of intelligence funds, inter-agency cooperation, intel exchanges with foreign intelligence agencies, and vigilance of the public "ultimately" remain one of the keys to effective anti-terror operations.

"Even granting that the anti-terror law should need to be strengthened, it should only happen under an Administration that has clearly demonstrated its desire to protect its people,"  he said.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Trillanes’ claims were baseless.

“We do not respond to nonsensical opposition anchored on baseless grounds, more especially coming from a discredited individual who has a penchant for peddling false news and inciting hate against constituted authorities,” Panelo said in a text message to GMA News Online when asked to comment on the former senator’s statement.

“We have better things to do.” —Margaret Claire Layug and Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News