Lagman seeks certified copy of House vote on anti-terrorism bill

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman asked the House secretary-general to provide him with a certified true copy of the results of the nominal voting for the third reading approval of the controversial anti-terrorism bill.

In a letter dated June 6 addressed to House Secretary-General Jose Luis Montales, Lagman stressed the need for a verified certification on the results of the voting on House Bill 6875 as there “appears to be some confusion on the tabulation of votes as evidenced by changes and corrections made in the result of the voting by the attending staff of the Secretariat.”

READ: Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman has asked House Secretary General Jose Luis Montales to furnish him a certified true copy of how lawmakers voted on the controversial new anti-terrorism bill. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/PuE4lt3p6G

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) June 7, 2020

Lagman said the certified true copy of the voting should be “based on the individual voting in the Plenary and by Zoom as recorded in our All Members Viber Community.”

The document he requested should include the names of the lawmakers who voted "yes," "yes" with reservation, "no," and "abstain."

Lagman also asked that the certification include the names of the lawmakers who subsequently changed their votes.

“A public disclosure of the voting record would also afford Representatives to clarify how they actually voted or that they did not vote at all”, he said.

Voting 173 in the affirmative, 31 in the negative, and 29 abstentions, the House on Wednesday approved on third and final reading House Bill 6875, which supporters claimed would strengthen the government’s fight against terrorism and which repealed the Human Security Act of 2007.

But Deputy Speaker Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales announced the next day that a correction was made in the results of their nominal voting on the bill "due to a technical error in the recording of electronic votes."

The votes have since been corrected to 168 in the affirmative and 36 in the negative, while abstentions remained at 29.

Civil liberties

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview on Sunday, Lagman reiterated his opposition to the measure.

"Gusto kong ipahayag na yung existing Human Security Act of 2007 na maraming safeguards para sa karapatang-pantao at iba pang mga civil liberties," he said.

"Yung mga existing penal laws ay sapat na para hulihin, i-prosecute, at i-convict yung mga sinasabi nilang terrorists. At hindi na kailangang palakasin pa at the expense of human rights and civil liberties," he added.

PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles, however, claimed that the proposed law was not against activists, saying that it only targets terrorists and violent extremists.

"Ang bill na ito ay hindi kontra aktibista. No, we want activism. We promote activism. Ang totoo nga dito ang bill na ito, dahil sa mga aktibista," he said.

"Gusto natin na yung mga aktibista mabigyan ng mga mapayapang paraan para mag-campaign ng mga reforms para sa ating bansa. Pero ang kinakalaban ng ating panukalang batas, ang mga terrorists. Sila ang ating kalaban. And mga violent extremists and mga violent na radical," he added. — DVM, GMA News