AFP welcomes passage of anti-terror bill at Congress

By Ronron
February 20, 2007

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) welcomed on Tuesday the passage by Congress of the anti-terrorism bill, saying it is a good start than having nothing at all.

“We certainly welcome the passage of the anti-terrorism bill in the bicameral committee of Congress. It’s an excellent starting point rather than having no anti-terrorism bill at all,” AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. told reporters yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo.

“Just imagine, we have been subjected to the terrorist’s depredations, and yet we have no law, we have no specific law on terrorism. So, again, I must say, it’s an excellent start,” he said.

The military chief recalled that when the Philippines signed on the covenant against terrorism during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cebu last December, the country had no anti-terrorism law yet to boast of.

This, even as the Philippines has long declared its partnership with the US government in the latter’s global war on terror.

Told that the law could lead to abuses of the civil liberties of ordinary people, Esperon replied: “Well, in other countries, they could detain suspected terrorists for as long as 20 days. Our proposal initially was 15 days but it has been lowered to three days, with several safeguards, including a fine of P500,000 for every day that somebody is detained if he is proven not to be a terrorist.”

While he admits that that could be hard on the part of the military and other law enforcement agencies, Esperon said “it also tells us to be more efficient in identifying suspects before we grab them.”

The bicameral committee of Philippine Congress approved the anti-terrorism bill during its special session on Monday./DMS