MANILA, Philippines — Laws may be abused, Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez (Leyte) said Wednesday, but that risk is “not a valid reason” to reject the anti-terrorism bill, which faces opposition from lawyers, academics, human rights and civil society groups.
The controversial bill, which is now being reviewed by President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team, allows the warrantless pre-trial detention of suspected persons for up to 24 days.
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Torres-Gomez is one of the lawmakers who voted to approve the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in the lower house but is not a member of the panels that eventually adopted the Senate version of the proposed legislation.
"The fear that the bill can be abused or the law can be abused is not unfounded. We have seen how laws have been used in the years, not just under the reign of President Duterte but even the reigns of other presidents," the representative from Leyte said in an interview on ABS-CBN Channel.
"But fear of abuse is not a valid reason to reject a bill outright. It’s not a valid reason to reject needed legislation like the anti-terrorism bill because theoretically speaking, all laws can be abused even social welfare laws that are very benign and charitable, they can be abused," she added.
Critics of the proposed measure fear it would infringe on people’s basic rights and fundamental freedoms, with the vague and overly broad definitions of terrorism and acts of terrorism. They also sounded alarm on the legalization of surveillance activities, extended period of detention without warrant and the powers given to the Anti-Terrorism Council.
The ATC is a special body composed of presidential appointees that would permit law enforcement authorities to arrest people it designates as terrorists.
Torres-Gomez said there are “safeguards in place” to prevent abuses from happening.
In a letter to the Department of Justice last June 16, rights group Karapatan said activists are not assured of the supposed safeguard on the non-inclusion of advocacy, protest, dissent and other exercises of civil and political rights among acts of terrorism “for the simple reason that at least 619 of those who conduct such actions are in jail as political prisoners.”
‘Dead letter’ law
Torres-Gomez said the current Human Security Act of 2007 is a “dead letter law.”
“We do not have a measure to prevent terrorism. It was all innocent until proven guilty. By that time, it does not apply to a crime like terrorism because if we use that argument, it will already be detonated if it’s a bomb,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“I think a law on anti-terrorism should be not just reactive but also preventive,” she added.
In a report on the human rights situation in the Philippines, the United Nations rights office said the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 “slated to replace the already problematic Human Security Act, dilutes human rights safeguards.”
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is “inclined to” sign the proposed measure, noting that the president marked the bill as urgent.