Only terrorists should fear Anti-Terrorism Act — Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday said only members of terrorist organizations should fear the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act which has been certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Gumagawa ka ba ng bomba? Tumutulong ka ba sa paggawa ng bomba? Ikaw ba ay member ng terrorist organization? 'Yun ang mga dapat matakot, hindi ang taumbayan," Sotto said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

He added that the term "terrorist" was defined by the bill based on the definition of the United Nations Security Council.

Further, Sotto said the passage of the measure is really needed as the Human Security Act which it seeks to repeal has been inffective the past several years.

"Una sa lahat, 'yung Human Security Act hindi na namin inaamyenda, pinapalitan namin ito. 'Yung Human Security Act ng Pilipinas, labindalawang taon na in effect miminsan pa lang nakapag-prosecute, isang beses pa lang," he said.

"Pinakamahina, pinaka-walang kakuwenta-kuwentang Human Security Act sa buong region ngayon at palagay ko maging sa kalahati ng mundo. Tayo lang ang may Human Security Act na pabor sa terrorist," he added.

Sotto said the Philippines will soon be a haven of terrorist organizations if it will not give more teeth to laws deterring such activities.

"Binigyan ng certification ng Presidente kasi sinasabi ng executive department, importanteng-importante na 'yan, kapag tayo ang naiwan dito sa region, tayo ang pupulutungan ng mga terrorist," he said.

Sotto assured the public that the law has enough safeguards.

He even added that most of the amendments of the two senators who voted against it have been accepted by Senator Panfilo Lacson who authored and sponsored the bill.

The proposed Anti-Terrorism Act hurdled the third and final reading in the Senate last February.

The House of Representatives adopted the said version last week.

The bill was approved on second reading at the lower house on Tuesday. House Committee on Public Order and Safety chair Narciso Bravo Jr. declined to accept any amendments to the measure.

Under the said bill, the number of days a suspected person can be detained without a warrant of arrest, is set to 14 days and can be extended by 10 days.

It also allows the police or the military to conduct a 60-day surveillance on suspected terrorists, and can be lengthened to another non-extendable period of 30 days if a judicial authorization has been secured from the Court of Appeals.

The provision on payment of P500,000 damages per day of detention of any person acquitted of terrorism charges has been removed in this bill.

Any law enforcement or military personnel found to have violated the rights of the accused persons will face a jail sentence of 10 years. — RSJ, GMA News