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Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Anti-terror bill to be amended to prevent abuse
By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill now pending before Congress would be amended to prevent feared abuses.
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said he would propose that anybody, especially military officers and politicians who use the anti-terrorism bill to harass civilians, also be branded as terrorists and meted with the same penalties.
"If they are public officials they would also be banned perpetually from holding office," Nograles said.
He said with the proposed amendments, they hope those opposing the passage of the bill would finally change their mind.
"I am confident that this provision would assuage the fears that this administration would use the anti-terrorism bill to stifle the opposition," Nograles said.
He admitted the bill could be stringent and harsh but it is very much needed especially amid the growing threat of terrorism worldwide.
Bayan Muna Representative Joel Virador, however, reserved his comment on the proposal saying they would have to see first the exact provision entered into the bill draft.
Virador maintained they still firmly believe that the anti-terrorism bill is a very potent weapon of the administration in oppressing the people.
He said the country does not actually need the bill, considering that the existing Revised Penal Code could very well address the problem on terrorism.
Virador said the problem does not lie with the absence of law against terrorism but on the efficiency of law enforcers to implement the existing laws.
Human rights commissioner Dominador Calamba, meanwhile, stressed the importance of placing safeguards in the provisions of anti-terrorism bill to ensure that the rights of the people would be protected from abuses.
The Commission on Human Rights had been asking a copy of the bill from Congress but until now they were not given any since there is still no final version of the anti-terrorism bill.
(December 6, 2005 issue)
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