Binay, Saguisag ask Supreme Court to nullify anti-terror law

Former vice president Jejomar Binay, former senator Rene Saguisag and other lawyers on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to declare the anti-terrorism law null and void.

The Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties (CLCL) filed at least the 25th petition against the controversial new law, alleging it is unconstitutional due to its provisions that are "vague" and violative of the right to due process and the equal protection clause.

They also asked for a temporary restraining order to prevent the implementation of the law while the case is pending.

For one, CLCL argued that the definition of a "designated person" under the law cross-references another law, making it "void for vagueness."

Like the other groups that have also challenged the law, CLCL said the vagueness of the language of the law creates a "chilling effect" and gives law enforcers "unbridled discretion" in implementing its provisions.

In addition, CLCL argued that the supposed power of the Anti-Terrorism Council to authorize law enforcement or the military to "take custody" of suspected terrorists is a form of arrest, supplanting the exclusive power of the courts to order arrests.

"The authority issued by the ATC to arrest suspected terrorists is not a substitute to the warrant of arrest under the Constitution. It short-circuits the right to due process under the Bill of Rights and must be impugned as a repugnant violation of fundamental rights," the lawyers said.

While warrantless arrests are allowed under certain conditions, CLCL said they "cannot be based on mere suspicion."

They further claimed that the detention period of up to 24 days of arrested suspects without criminal charges violates the right to due process and is a "definite case of prolonged investigation" meant to extract a confession from the suspect.

"When the interrogation of a suspect is extended under such intimidating and unwholesome circumstances, it is highly probable that the suspect would be cornered into making an unwilling admission of guilt," CLCL said.

They added that the law's restrictions on the freedom of a suspect are "unconstitutional limitations" on the right to bail.

CLCL also argued that "there is no public interest served by the special classification for suspected terrorists under the ATA especially when the law's provisions would deny due process to suspected terrorists."

"The ATA is unnecessarily and unjustifiably carving out the crime of terrorism as outside the realm of the criminal justice system, particularly on arrest and detention, which violates the guaranty of the equal protection of the law," they said.

Former University of the Philippines law dean Pacifico Agabin, Adamson law dean Anna Maria Abad, Wesleyan University-Philippines law dean J.V. Bautista, National Union of Peoples' Lawyers president Edre Olalia, University of Cebu law professor Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, and lawyers Anacleto Rei Lacanilao III and Emmanuel Jabla also joined the petition.

Retired justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales, several lawyers, lawmakers, human rights advocates, youth groups, labor rights groups, journalists, and artists have also filed petitions against the law. — RSJ, GMA News