Two former senators welcomed the rules set by the Supreme Court on the Rules on the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 and related laws which is set to take effect on Jan. 15, 2024.
Among the rules set by the SC on Republic Act No. 11479 include mandating law enforcers to secure an order first from the Court of Appeals (CA) to secretly conduct surveillance, including wiretapping conversations, intercepting, recording or collecting any private communications of suspected terrorist individuals or groups.
According to the SC, the law shall also apply to petitions and applications regarding detentions without judicial warrants of arrest, surveillance orders, freeze orders, restrictions on travel, designations, proscriptions, and other court issuances promulgated to implement the ATA and other related laws.
Also, under the rules, a person suspected of committing any acts stated under the law, or any member of the group, organization or association proscribed under the same law, can be arrested or detained by law enforcers without a judicial warrant of arrest, provided that their confinement follows the prescribed period in the Revised Penal Code.
“It appears balanced. Protected both rights of arresting officers and suspecting terrorists,” former Senate President Vicente Sotto III said.
“But the law gave arresting officers more ‘liberty’ to arrest and file violation of anti-terror law against suspected terrorists without the fear of being charged of an offense,” Sotto said.
“On a personal note, as long as it does not make our law the weakest in the region, (it is) fine!” he pointed out.
As an author and principal sponsor of the measure, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson welcomed the SC’s interpretation of the law.
“As an author and principal sponsor of the measure, I could not agree more with the Supreme Court ruling in its interpretation of the law,” Lacson said.
“Aside from the other safeguards provided in the Anti Terrorism Act of 2020 against possible abuse by law enforcement agents, we have effectively amended the Anti Wiretapping Law which only requires a regional trial court judge to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct technical surveillance on persons suspected of committing certain crimes,” he added.
As far as violations of the ATA, Lacson pointed out that a division of the Court of Appeals now has the authority to issue that judicial warrant.
“The arrest and detention without judicial warrant is akin to citizen’s arrest which is already allowed under existing jurisprudence,” he pointed out.
“We merely extended the allowable period of detention due to the unusual nature of the crime of terrorism which could arbitrarily endanger the lives of innocent civilians more than the violations of the Revised Penal Code and other special laws,” Lacson explained.
Compared to other jurisdictions, the former lawmaker noted that the country’s anti-terrorism law still has one of the shortest reglementary periods of detention of arrested terrorists.