Carpio ‘mistaken’ on several material points of anti-terror bill—Lacson

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said several provisions of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act had been misunderstood by retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio.

"With all due respect to former Justice Antonio Carpio, who I continue to admire and respect, he is mistaken on several material points in his interpretation on the contents of the Anti-Terrorism Bill," Lacson said in a statement.

"I think he has made up his mind on his interpretation, so in the meantime I will leave it at that," he added.

An author and principal sponsor of the bill, Lacson said he already addressed Carpio's concerns in a letter he previously sent to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

The senator also committed to respond "point by point to the constitutional issues" raised by Carpio, as he disclosed that he is scheduled to speak before the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) membership meeting on June 24.

The MAP also hosted the webinar on Wednesday wherein Carpio enumerated his various concerns on the proposed bill.

Carpio said the Philippines will "permanently" be in a situation "worse than martial law" if the measure becomes a law.

The Anti-Terrorism Council's supposed authority to order arrests of terrorism suspects and to proscribe a group for being involved in acts of terrorism; and the "too broad" definition of terrorism in the bill were among the issues raised by Carpio.

Lacson, for his part, has previously said the ATC does not have the judicial authority to order arrests, and that enough safeguards were placed in the proposed law.—LDF, GMA News