Senate to tackle terror bill after Lenten break

The Senate is set to tackle the anti-terrorism bill as a priority measure when Congress resumes session following the Lenten break, Senate President Franklin Drilon announced yesterday.

"The Senate was crafting an anti-terrorism law even if it meant going into murky legal waters because terrorism is not specifically defined in our present laws," Drilon said.

He said the Senate is in the final stage of consolidating several versions of the anti-terror bill for floor deliberation.

Drilon made the announcement a day after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte tagged the Jakarta-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) as responsible for the Sasa wharf blast in the city that killed 16 people last week.

The JI, a regional Islamic group linked by Western intelligence agencies to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, carried out the deadly bombings in Bali, Indonesia which killed 189 people last Oct. 12.

He said the bombers, operating independently from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) but still part of the rebel organization, represented the JI terror cell in the Philippines.

Congress leaders are exerting efforts to enact an anti-terrorism bill to address these problems.

A committee at the House of Representatives approved last month its version of anti-terrorism bill for plenary debates.

At the Senate, the chairman of the committee on public order, Sen. Robert Barbers said recommendations of various sectors are being incorporated in the preparation of the proposed measure.

Barbers stressed the bill is intended to provide law enforcement agencies additional powers to cope with the scourge of local and international terrorism.

He said many of the provisions of the bill have been patterned after the anti-terrorism law of the United States.

Under the bill, acts of terrorism will be defined and will be classified as heinous crimes against humanity punishable by death. The bill also provides that in addition to consummated acts of terrorism, conspiracy and mere proposal to commit acts of terror will also be punishable.

Barbers said the anti-terrorism bill will authorize law enforcers to undertake secret searches of the homes or hiding places of suspected terrorists as well as conduct electronic and other forms of surveillance.

The bill will also authorize law enforcers to look into local and foreign currency bank accounts of suspected terrorists. Government officials are also authorized to deport, or deny entry to foreign nationals suspected of being involved in terrorism.

Barbers added the bill provides for the creation of the Anti-Terrorism Commission (ATC).

Drilon, for his part, said the fight against terrorism is now on a global scale.

"It is for this reason that the Philippine government is extending political and moral support to the campaign to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. The unresolved issue of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction places the stability of the Middle East in peril and could be a direct threat to all the people in the Middle East, particularly our countrymen working there," he said. – With AFP