Lacson vows to monitor abuses of Anti-Terrorism bill if it becomes law
Published Jun 14, 2020 12:00 am
By Hannah Torregoza
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday (June 14) vowed he would closely monitor and call out any potential abuses in the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, should it become a law.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Lacson, author and sponsor of the measure in the Senate, said he is going to be as “eagle-eyed and vigilant” and more in guarding against abuses in the implementation of the measure once it is signed into law by President Duterte. “I will regard any abuse as a bigger challenge, since I am going all in on this…Taya pati pamato na ako rito (I'm staking everything on this), not just because I was the principal sponsor of the measure who painstakingly defended its constitutionality and strict compliance the Bill of Rights with the help of most of my colleagues who interpellated and proposed their amendments to further enhance the safeguards, which I accommodated, as long as we would not come up with another dead-letter law like its predecessor, the Human Security Act of 2007,” Lacson said in a statement. Lacson also said he will not allow anyone to pervert the legislative intent of the bill. Should the anti-terrorism measure be abused upon its implementation, Lacson said he is ready to join critics of the bill in their street protests. “The Anti-Terrorism Bill is the wrong tree to bark at. I vow to join those who are concerned, genuinely or otherwise, about the proposed law’s implementation to be as vigilant in monitoring each and every wrongful implementation by our security forces, even to the point of joining them in street protests, just like what I did before during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” he said. Nevertheless, he said the bill has sufficient safeguards against abuse, such as 10-year jail terms and perpetual disqualification from public service for law enforcers who arrest suspected terrorists but fail to immediately inform the nearest judge and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). “I assure them that I will be the first to stand on the Senate floor and call out those responsible for abuse at the top of my voice in privilege speeches and Senate inquiries, if and when it comes to that, as I have done so before and during this current administration,” he said. Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, pointed out how he took the lead to conduct a Senate legislative inquiry into the abuses committed by law enforcement authorities. “The cops responsible for the murder of Kian delos Santos were convicted, largely because of our Senate inquiries,” he said, pointing to the Senate’s probe into the extrajudicial killings during the height of the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs. “We need a tough anti-terror law but with tougher safeguards to fight and defeat both,” he reiterated.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Lacson, author and sponsor of the measure in the Senate, said he is going to be as “eagle-eyed and vigilant” and more in guarding against abuses in the implementation of the measure once it is signed into law by President Duterte. “I will regard any abuse as a bigger challenge, since I am going all in on this…Taya pati pamato na ako rito (I'm staking everything on this), not just because I was the principal sponsor of the measure who painstakingly defended its constitutionality and strict compliance the Bill of Rights with the help of most of my colleagues who interpellated and proposed their amendments to further enhance the safeguards, which I accommodated, as long as we would not come up with another dead-letter law like its predecessor, the Human Security Act of 2007,” Lacson said in a statement. Lacson also said he will not allow anyone to pervert the legislative intent of the bill. Should the anti-terrorism measure be abused upon its implementation, Lacson said he is ready to join critics of the bill in their street protests. “The Anti-Terrorism Bill is the wrong tree to bark at. I vow to join those who are concerned, genuinely or otherwise, about the proposed law’s implementation to be as vigilant in monitoring each and every wrongful implementation by our security forces, even to the point of joining them in street protests, just like what I did before during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” he said. Nevertheless, he said the bill has sufficient safeguards against abuse, such as 10-year jail terms and perpetual disqualification from public service for law enforcers who arrest suspected terrorists but fail to immediately inform the nearest judge and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). “I assure them that I will be the first to stand on the Senate floor and call out those responsible for abuse at the top of my voice in privilege speeches and Senate inquiries, if and when it comes to that, as I have done so before and during this current administration,” he said. Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, pointed out how he took the lead to conduct a Senate legislative inquiry into the abuses committed by law enforcement authorities. “The cops responsible for the murder of Kian delos Santos were convicted, largely because of our Senate inquiries,” he said, pointing to the Senate’s probe into the extrajudicial killings during the height of the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs. “We need a tough anti-terror law but with tougher safeguards to fight and defeat both,” he reiterated.