SC affirms own ruling upholding Human Security Act

The Supreme Court has affirmed with finality its ruling upholding the constitutionality of a 2007 law that allows warrantless arrests of terror suspects and their temporary detention without charges. In a two-page resolution, the court en banc denied the motion for reconsideration filed by several cause-oriented groups for their supposed failure to raise new arguments that would warrant a reversal of the tribunal’s Oct. 5, 2010 decision. “The Court resolved to deny with finality the said motion for reconsideration, as the basic issues raised therein have been passed upon by this Court and no substantial arguments nor compelling reason were presented to warrant the reversal of the questioned decision," the SC ruled. The law — the Human Security Act of 2007 or Republic Act 9372 — took effect on July 15, 2007 despite strong opposition from various cause-oriented groups who believed the law would lead to human rights abuses. Those who asked the SC to reconsider its decision were the Southern Hemisphere Engagement Network Inc., the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Karapatan, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and the Bayan-Southern Tagalog chapter. Under the HSA, terrorism charges may be slapped to any person who commits an act punishable under an array of provisions under the Revised Penal Code and other related laws that tend “to sow and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand." Named as respondents in various petitions are the Anti-Terrorism Council, composed of former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as its chairman; former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as vice chairman; Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, former Defense Secretary and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, former Interior and Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno, and former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, as members. All petitions, except that of the IBP, also impleaded former Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and former Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon. Karapatan, Bayan and Bayan-ST also impleaded former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and the support agencies for the anti-terror council, like the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration, Office of Civil Defense, Intelligence Service of the AFP, Anti-Money Laundering Council, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and the PNP intelligence and investigative elements. 2010 SC ruling upholding HSA In its Oct. 5, 2010 decision, the SC, by a unanimous vote, dismissed all six consolidated petitions questioning the validity of the HSA, saying none of the petitioners had any legal standing to file the case since “none of them face any charge" under the said law. (See: SC upholds constitutionality of Human Security Act.) The Court, speaking through Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, said that any suspicion by government or the military that the petitioner-organizations were “communist fronts" did not give them legal standing. The SC added that “there is yet to be filed before the courts an application to declare the CPP and NPA organizations as domestic terrorist or outlawed organizations under RA 9372." On the supposed possibility of abuse of RA 9372, the Court said merely imagined threats of prosecution will not stand and “allegations of abuse must be anchored on real events before courts may step in to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable." Aside from their lack of standing in filing the case, the high court said the petitioners also failed to present an actual case or controversy that would warrant the Court’s intervention, or show that they stand to suffer actual, imminent or direct injury as a result of the implementation of the HSA. – MRT/KBK, GMANews.TV