Senator Panfilo Lacson urges American lawmakers to stop criticizing the Philippines for its Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) of 2020 - "unless they admit to being a bunch of hypocrites.’’
Lacson, principal sponsor of the Anti-Terrorism bill, was reacting to the US legislators led by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky who called on the Duterte administration to repeal immediately the ATL that they claimed "risks further undermining human rights in the Philippines.’’
"I wonder how many among those 50 or so members of the US Congress voted in favor of their own country's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001,’’ Lacson, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, stressed.
Lacson stated a report of Amnesty International that revealed supposed violations of the Due Process Clause of the US Constitution.
"Unlike their version, our Republic Act 11479 has no provision for a Guantánamo Bay-like detention facility where indefinite detention without trial of suspected terrorists, on top of torture and breach of human rights, suicides and suicide attempts have been reported by Amnesty International,” said Lacson.
"And unlike their Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, our law does not allow one-party consent in the conduct of electronic or technical surveillance’” added Lacson.
Lacson reiterates that United States’ own anti-terrorism law can be considered as compared to that of the Philippines.
"While our Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is replete with safeguards to ensure that human rights of suspected terrorists are observed and protected, what the US Congress passed as their version of an Anti-Terrorism law is much stronger, even cruel to some extent because their policy makers and citizenry give the highest premium to the security of their country and the protection of US citizens stationed anywhere in the world,” said Lacson.
"That said, these US Congress members should shut up unless they admit to being a bunch of hypocrites,” ended Lacson.