'Public interest' to make Duterte study anti-terror bill more closely -Roque

The "public interest" on the anti-terrorism bill will make President Rodrigo Duterte review the controversial proposed measure more closely before acting on it, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Wednesday.

"The President did certify this as urgent, so he agrees with the principal author of the bill, Senator Ping Lacson, that there is a need for the law," Roque told ANC.

"But let's just say that the public interest on the bill will make the president review the provisions of the bill even more closer," he added.

Congress has transmitted the bill to Malacañang, where officials will review it before making a recommendation to the President. Roque earlier said Duterte has 30 days to either sign or veto the bill. If the President does not act on it within this period, the proposed measure will automatically become law.

The bill hurdled both the Senate and the House of Representatives amid concerns that it could empower the government to go after legitimate dissent. Groups have also said its provision on warrantless arrests and detentions for up to 24 days may violate the Constitution.

The Department of Justice is also reviewing the bill.

Roque said in the television interview that terrorists "did not stop their nefarious activities" despite the COVID-19 crisis.

He also said that no budget bill was signed into law without a "specific veto" from Duterte.

"As a matter of course, the President will not automatically sign a law. It is scrutinized," he said, but added that there can be no line-item veto in "normal legislation."

The 1987 Constitution allows the president to veto a bill passed by Congress. In bills on appropriation, revenue, or tariff, the president may veto particular items in the bill.

The anti-terrorism bill seeks to replace the Human Security Act of 2007, the country's existing law against terrorism. Roque was among those who challenged the constitutionality of the old law before the Supreme Court.

In 2013, the SC ruled that several individuals including Roque had no legal standing to challenge several provisions of the Human Security Act. The court at the time said the "possibility of abuse... remain highly-speculative and merely theorized." --KBK, GMA News