Anti-terror law takes effect midnight of July 18 —Guevarra

The controversial, much-opposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 will take effect midnight of July 18, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed Friday.

The law states it will take effect 15 days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation. It was published on July 3, making July 18 the 15th day, Guevarra said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the measure on July 3.

"We're just about to start drafting the IRR (implementing rules and regulations)," he said.

The Department of Justice and the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), in consultation with law enforcement and the military, are in charge of promulgating the IRR within 90 days after the law takes effect.

"The law will take effect even without the IRR, because the promulgation of the IRR is not a condition for the effectivity of the law. Some provisions are self-executing, like the organization of the ATC," Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

"But there are provisions where operational details need to be spelled out or standards clearly defined in the IRR for a proper implementation of the law," he said.

Guevarra said however that "it will be more prudent for law enforcement agents to await the promulgation of the IRR."

The new law will take effect amid criticism from lawyers, lawmakers, and human rights advocates that led to the filing of at least nine petitions challenging it before the Supreme Court (SC). The ninth petition was filed by labor groups which said the law has chilling effect on right to organize.

Critics of the law alleged that it defines terrorism in a vague and overbroad way, posing a danger to the constitutionally guaranteed rights to speech and assembly.

While the law exempts protests and work stoppages from the definition of terrorism, this only applies when they are "not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety."

Some petitioners argued that this gives police and military officers wide discretion to interpret what counts as terrorism.

They further claimed that the law provides powers to the ATC that are reserved to the courts. They also objected to the up-to-24-day warrantless detention of suspected terrorists, among other provisions.

The SC has ordered the consolidation of the first eight petitions and directed the respondent government officials to comment.—AOL/LDF, GMA News