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Philippines lacks ‘good’ police work, intelligence in fighting terrorism —petitioners
By VIRGIL LOPEZ,GMA NewsOpponents of the anti-terror law said Tuesday the Philippines should improve its defense against terrorism as they reiterated their plea to the Supreme Court (SC) to scrap the measure due to alleged constitutional infirmities.
Jose Anselmo Cadiz, counsel for some of the petitioners, told the high court that any law “which contradicts the Constitution must be struck down and that is what the anti-terror law is all about.”
“What is really lacking is good police work and good intelligence work. I think these are sorely lacking in our jurisdiction,” said Cadiz, a former solicitor general, when asked by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda whether there was a need for the Philippines to have an anti-terror legislation.
Cadiz added the repealed Human Security Act of 2007 would have been sufficient to address terrorism.
“We all live in an imperfect world. There will be imperfections. We cannot guarantee a terror free country. No country will be able to guarantee that, Your Honor. But in balancing our individual rights stated in the Bill of Rights, Your Honor, I think the Human Security Act is the better law,” he said.
A total of 37 petitions were filed assailing the anti-terrorism law, making it one of the most challenged Philippine laws.
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Retired SC justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales are among its critics, as well as lawmakers, activists, teachers, students, artists, and journalists, who argued that it could violate basic rights and legitimize supposed state attacks against government critics.
Critics have also warned against the up to 24 days of warrantless detention period for suspected terrorists and the alleged authority of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) to authorize in writing the arrest of terrorism suspects.
Asked by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier if the ATC will act “justly and fairly” in acting on applications for detention authority, Alfredo Molo III, another lawyer for the petitioners, conceded that officials enjoy the presumption of regularity in the performance of their functions.
“I would take that to mean that you respect and expect the ATC to properly discharge its functions in processing the applications for detention authority,” Javier said.
Molo also said a court of law can review the factual basis of detention sanctioned by the ATC.
Javier, however, warned against disclosure of state secrets affecting national security.
“They fall within the category of executive privilege which is beyond judicial scrutiny,” she said.—LDF, GMA News