http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,7706,
I was having my breakfast at my hotel in SG when I came by this commentary on the Straits Times. Apparently, the Human Security Act of 2007 will be enacted the following day.
Straits Times (14 July 2007) - Manila's anti-terror law kicks in tomorrow
July 14, 2007
Manila's anti-terror law kicks in tomorrow
Law is packed with safeguards against abuse of powers by security forces
By Alastair McIndoe
MANILA - THE hard-fought law to specifically combat terrorism in the Philippines - the first of its kind - takes effect tomorrow.
Packed with checks and safeguards, it gives the authorities wider powers - though not enough for some security hawks - to tackle this country's longstanding terrorism blight.
President Gloria Arroyo has said it will be deployed on three fronts: Against armed religious extremists, communist rebels and rogue members of the military and police.
The Human Security Act of 2007 allows terror suspects to be held for up to three days without charge, and electronic surveillance after court approval. The bank accounts of suspects can be probed and seized.
The military brass, according to one senator who worked on the law, wanted a 20-day detention period.
The new law should plug gaps in legislation which saw Jemaah Islamiah's Father Roman Al-Ghozi tried only for possessing illegal explosives for his role in the Manila bombings that killed 22 people in December 2000.
Al-Ghozi was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment - under the new law, he would have received 40 years' jail without parole.
The many provisions in the law to prevent misuse reflect the hand of those lawmakers determined to prevent the civil liberty abuses committed by the Marcos regime from happening again in the Philippines.
'Government institutions are still weak, and we need a system of checks and balances to prevent abuses,' said Senator Aquilino Pimentel.
Among the checks and balances are: a grievance committee, generous damages - S$16,500 a day - for anyone detained without a warrant, and jail terms of up to 12 years for members of the security forces on anti-terrorist operations who abuse their powers.
'I think the counterterrorism law is very weak, but the government has to implement it,' said Dr Rohan Gunaratna, who heads the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.
But he added that it was still a 'good starting point'.
Opponents of President Arroyo fear the law will be used to crack down on her enemies.
In a statement on Thursday, the palace said it would not be used against 'members of the opposition and civil society, who air their views in the spirit of democracy'.
Coup attempts and rebellion in the military, which have both been headaches for President Arroyo, are terrorist offences if they sow 'fear and panic' among the people.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales said this week the courts will be asked to classify the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, as terrorist organisations.
amcindoe@yahoo.com
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Obviously, what to expect but the usual anti-Government coterie, and the so-called progressive militants like the Bayan Muna would raise a howl about a law which I think is very weak and insufficient. In my opinion, the law has been watered down so much that it doesnt have any actual teeth. To honestly tell you, Id rather lose some of my personal freedoms in exchange for being safe. AND I DONT FEEL SAFE WITH BAYAN MUNA AND THE COMMUNISTS RUNNING AROUND US. No wonder the European Union and the United States refuse to let go of the terror tag on their underground counterparts- the Communist Party of the Philippines (ran by remote control from Utrecht, the Netherlands) and its armed wing (the New People's Army (with "New" being an oxymoron in itself, since it has been running one of the longest insurgencies in Asia, long after their Maoist sponsors in China has embraced the merits of capitalism). The CPP-NPA and its legal front - the National Democratic Front has waged a protracted struggle in small pockets in the farflung reaches of the archipelago - engaging in recruiting child warriors, engaging in bribery and extortion, and outright economic and political sabotage. On the surface, with the advent of the extremely flawed party-list representation (which I totally I wanted to suport its abolition): its front organizations- Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Kabataan, Gabriela, Pamalakaya, etc. has engaged in an anti-development, anti-government efforts, abusing every democratic space accorded to them under the Constitution. However, weak the HSA of 2007, I still strongly support it. For those of us who has witnessed the horrors of terrorism, the strongest arm of the law should be used to punish severely those who threaten our way of life. Those who try to exclaim that the current laws reflect dictatorial, Marcosian shadows of the past are just either too naive or too selfish to realize that we live in a world were terror knows no borders, discriminate targets, or specify locations. For the criminals, beware then.
It's our patriotic duty to report criminals and terrorists of all religious, political and ideological persuasions.
From an email to the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
HSA is not about Arroyo
Inquirer
Last updated 02:36am (Mla time) 07/24/2007
Going over the list of those opposing the Human Security Act (HAS), one can easily see that most, if not all, belong to the usual anti-Arroyo cabal and militant organizations. These are the people who are wont to oppose anything that they perceive to be Malacañang-sponsored.
The antiterror law actually is no longer the original administration-sponsored bill. It has undergone more than 100 amendments. While it is still called the Human Security Act it is everything but what the administration had hoped for. Gov. Douglas “Dodo” Cagas of Davao del Sur, an outspoken member of the last Congress, describes the law as “inutile.” Indeed, after its radical “legislative mastectomy” in the hands of opposition legislators, the law has been effectively defanged. Those in the know suggest that it would be more apt to describe the law as “opposition-sponsored.”
We who have seen the face of terror and have not forgotten the savagery it has wrought upon mankind see no reason why some quarters are still in stoic denial of a need for the HSA. There may be some perceived threats to human rights, but these ought not to subordinate individual and state security, for we know too well that the forces of terror lurk near where our shield against them is weakest.
It is our view that there are sufficient safeguards and guarantees for the protection of our rights. In fact, we just have so much liberty to the point that we no longer can distinguish between freedom and mob rule.
We recognize the contempt of the mainstream political opposition members, militants and the communists against the President, but they should not consider the law a personification of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The anti-Arroyo forces may have their own political agenda to promote, but we have our own safety to worry about. We ought to give the law and the law enforcers a chance to prove that the antiterror law is meant for the people’s well-being.
MENARDO WENCESLAO (via email)
To get a copy of the law go to this link:
http://www.inquirer.net/verbatim/RA09372.pdf
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