Lacson tells IBP: Anti-Terrorism Council has no judicial power

The author and sponsor of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill in the upper chamber of Congress clarified anew that the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has no judicial power or authority in response to questions raised by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday maintained that the measure “speaks clear of our swift, effective, and constitutional policy against these acts of terror and against no one else but its perpetrators.”

In a letter-reply to IBP president Domingo Egon Cayosa, Lacson explained that the ATC cannot determine the period of detention in cases of warrantless arrest nor decide on its extension.

"If the ATC has no authority to order the arrest, much more does it have the authority to determine the period of detention of the person arrested," he said, adding that the extension of detention "remains with the courts."

"We need not wait for similar events to occur before we realize that a three-day investigation is not enough," Lacson added.

The senator also said that the bill does not give law enforcement officials the power to arrest, surveil, or restrict the travel of an individual or group designated as a terrorist or terrorist organization by the ATC.

"Let me reiterate that designation is a preventive measure intended to trigger the issuance of a freeze order to prevent designated terrorists from accessing funds that can be used to carry out a terrorist attack," he explained.

Lacson added that Section 45 of the bill is unequivocal in saying that “nowhere herein shall be interpreted to empower the ATC to exercise any judicial or quasi-judicial power or authority."

The senator has previously responded to the IBP’s warning against possible “constitutional infirmities” in the measure, saying that the ATC will not have the power to authorize arrests. —LDF, GMA News