Senate President Tito Sotto appealed to the public on Monday to give the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 a chance.
He also said that the law can be repealed.
“Hintayin mo munang may ginawang masama (Let’s wait for something wrong to happen),” Sotto said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
“Pag nakita nating inabuso (Once we see there has been abuse) and we mistrust the government in implementing and executing this, then repeal the law,” he added.
“Pero now nandoon pa lang tayo sa implementation (But right now we are just starting to implement it),” Sotto said.
Sotto believes that the Supreme Court (SC) will rule in favor of the Anti-Terrorism Law and dismiss all petitions which sought to declare it as unconstitutional and stop its implementation.
“Pinakamaganda (It is better) is for us to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court because we are very confident that if they read through the law and look into the records of the journal of both houses of Congress, they will see that it is a very plain sight law that is targeted specifically for terrorism,” he said.
Compared to the anti-terrorism laws of other countries, Sotto boasted that the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is the most conservative and has safeguards not found in other nations.
"It’s only in the Philippines this kind of safeguard which says that if a person is arrested for terrorism, the arresting officer must inform immediately the nearest court and the Commission on Human Rights,” he said.
“If he does not, hindi lang siya masasabit pati superiors niya masasabit (the arresting officer will not only be the one held liable but also his superior officer),” he added.
Because of this, Sotto said he is puzzled why foreigners, including United States congressmen, have been asking that the Anti-Terrorism Law be repealed.
“'Yung atin ang pinaka-conservative. Nagtataka nga ako may nakikisama na mga foreigner na nagko-complain (We have the most conservative anti-terrorism law. I am confused why these foreigners are joining in the complaints),” he said.
Sotto said the US Homeland Security Law is harsher and suspected terrorists can end up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba which has been known for torturing suspected terrorists.
“These US congressmen must investigate their Homeland Security Law where they can be arrested by the mere itsura pa lang (by their mere looks),” he said.