Senate OKs on 3rd reading proposed Anti-Terrorism Act

Voting 19-2, the Senate approved on third and final reading Wednesday a bill seeking to strengthen the country’s anti-terrorism law.

Senate Bill 1083 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2019, authored and sponsored by Senator Panfilo Lacson, seeks to virtually repeal the Human Security Act of 2007 which has produced only one conviction and one proscription since its passage.

Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan voted against the measure.

Lacson earlier said with the passage of Senate Bill 1083 the Philippines will be at par with other countries in the fight against terrorism.

“The country will no longer be a safe haven of terrorists because we can deal with them with the same force of the law that other countries have been applying for a long time,” he said.

He said the senators made sure that human rights abuses will not be tolerated in the measure.

“Having said that, we made sure that the safeguards against human rights abuses by law enforcers and the state are retained, if not enhanced,” he said. —KG, GMA News