Duterte believes 14- to 24-day detention sans arrest warrant legal –Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte believes in the legality of detaining a suspect without a warrant for 14 to 24 days as provided under the proposed anti-terrorism bill, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday.

“As a trial fiscal, there’s one issue that he has no problems with, and that is pre-trial detention. He does not feel that the 14-day period is actually a violation of the Constitutional provision that a warrant of arrest can only be issued by a judge because the law does not change that constitutional rule,” Roque said in an ANC interview.

The anti-terrorism bill has drawn sharp opposition across the sectors of activists, human rights workers, academe, journalists, business groups, among others, over fears that authorities can use it to crackdown on government critics since it allows authorities to detain a person for 14 to 24 days without a warrant and based on suspicion that such an individual is a terrorist.

The 14- to 24-day period in the new bill is longer than the three-day warrantless detention provided in the Constitution under martial law.

Roque, however, argued that the Revised Penal Code allows a 36-hour pre-trial detention to prevent evasion or destruction of evidence.

“After the pre-trial detention of 14 days, extendable for 10 days, notice has to be given to the judge, and it is still the court who will be issuing warrant of arrest for the purposes of arresting the person or the court acquiring jurisdiction of the person,” Roque, a lawyer, said of the new bill.

In addition, Roque also disputed the contention of retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio that the anti-terrorism bill in unconstitutional since it gives the anti-terrorism council the power to identify suspected terrorists.

Roque cited that the authority to proscribe a terrorist remains with the court, specifically the Court of Appeals, under the anti-terror bill — a situation in contrast with the United States wherein the Department of State can proscribe a group as a terrorist without judicial intervention.

The anti-terrorism bill, which seeks to replace the Human Security Act, the country's existing law against terrorism, is being reviewed by Malacañang after it was passed by Congress amid concerns on some of its provisions.

Critics have said that the proposed law may empower the government to go after legitimate dissent. They have also warned against the up-to 24-day warrantless detention period for suspected terrorists, and the alleged authority of the Anti-Terrorism Council, a body created under the law, to authorize in writing the arrest of terrorism suspects.

The council, under the bill, will be composed of presidential appointees namely: Executive Secretary, National Security Adviser, Foreign Affairs Secretary, Defense Secretary, Interior and Local Government Secretary, Finance Secretary, Justice Secretary, Information and Communications Secretary as well as the Executive Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat.

Under existing law, only the courts can rule if certain individuals or organizations are engaged in terrorism. —KBK, GMA News