what can you say about this new law?

* REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9372 - AN ACT TO SECURE THE STATE AND PROTECT OUR PEOPLE FROM TERRORISM.

according to the authors of this law, this will be our shield against terrorism....

Terrorism as defined here:

...SEC. 3. Terrorism. – Any person who commits an act punishable under any of the following provisions of the Revised Penal Code:

Article 122 (Piracy in General and Mutiny in the High Seas or in the Philippine Waters);
Article 134 (Rebellion or Insurrection);
Article 134-a (Coup d‘Etat), including acts committed by private persons;
Article 248 (Murder);
Article 267 (Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention);
Article 324 (Crimes Involving Destruction,

or under

Presidential Decree No. 1613 (The Law on Arson);
Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990);
Republic Act No. 5207, (Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968);
Republic Act No. 6235 (Anti-Hijacking Law);
Presidential Decree No. 532 (Anti-piracy and Anti-highway Robbery Law of 1974); and,
Presidential Decree No. 1866, as amended (Decree Codifying the Laws on Illegal and Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or Disposition of Firearms, Ammunitions or Explosives)
thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand shall be guilty of the crime of terrorism and shall suffer the penalty of forty (40) years of imprisonment, without the benefit of parole as provided for under Act No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended.

give your comments... 

PNP set to enforce terror law today
By Jaime Laude
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Police said yesterday they are prepared to enforce the anti-terror law amid concerns that law enforcers may have as much to worry about as the terrorists themselves because of the steep penalty for wrong arrests.

“It’s all systems go,” Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, told The STAR. The law takes effect today.

“We want our policemen to be careful and almost precise in all their actions while implementing the anti-terror law,” the PNP spokesman added. Under the law, a law enforcer may be fined P500,000 for each day of wrongful detention.

President Arroyo signed the anti-terror law, contained in Human Security Act of 2007, two months ago. The Arroyo administration is determined to implement the law beginning today despite reminders from some lawmakers that it needs implementing rules and guidelines first before it can be enforced.   

Pagdilao said the police have been trained to implement the law properly, with emphasis on ensuring that rights of suspects are also protected. He said the PNP conducted a massive information campaign, including symposia and seminars for the country’s 120,000 policemen. Police stations have been provided copies of the anti-terror law.

“We want our policemen to be knowledgeable about the new law. We don’t want them to commit mistakes,” Pagdilao said. He warned that it would be costly for arresting policemen to “cause unnecessary injuries” to terror suspects.

The law allows the detention of terror suspects for three days without charges. Some police officials said the penalty is too harsh and may discourage enforcers from making arrests.

“I am afraid that all my retirement benefits will just end up paying penalty after penalty and my men aren’t also ready to pay penalties considering their meager salaries,” Caraga Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Antonio Dator Nañas told members of the Butuan Press Club.

The main targets of HSA are the Abu Sayyaf, the Rajah Sulaiman Islamic Movement (RSIM) and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah.

Mrs. Arroyo, along with top officials including Interior and Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno and PNP chief, Director Gen. Oscar Calderon, was in Cagayan de Oro on Monday for the regional forum on HSA.

Pagdilao stressed that even without HSA, the PNP through its anti-terror Task Force Sanlahi, is already on its toes dealing with the Abu Sayyaf, the RSIM and JIs.

“The only difference now is that HSA of 2007 has criminalized acts of terror. We now have a law to combat this menace,” he said.

To prevent abuses, Calderon ordered the strengthening of the PNP’s Human Rights Affairs Office or HRAO.

It is the task of HRAO, headed by Chief Supt. German Doria, to monitor and supervise the enforcement of the anti-terror law.

Pagdilao also assured critics that the law is not a license for law enforcers to wiretap or eavesdrop on suspected terrorists.

He said such operations should have the endorsement of the Anti-Terrorism Council and subject to approval of the Court of Appeals.

“Actually the law is clear that the ATC is just a recommendatory body with the CA as the approving authority before any wiretapping operations can be done,” Pagdilao said. 

HSA weaknesses

Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia said the HSA does not cover suicide bombers who just intend to carry out their attacks without making public demands.

Garcia of the pro-administration Kampi said the terrorist defined under the law is “anybody sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand.”

“The terrorists who attacked New York and London did not make any demand, they just carry out their attacks” Garcia said at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo.

He said even if law enforcement agents arrest a suspected suicide bomber who is about to strike, he cannot be charged under the anti-terror law unless he is proven to have made unlawful demands from the government.

“The provisions on widespread fear and the unlawful demand must be deleted,” Garcia said, adding that he would seek a review of the law .

Garcia also said the provision on the compensation of P 500,000 for each day of wrongful detention would also deter police from enforcing the law.

Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis, who was also present at the forum, agreed and said the amount to be paid to the victims of wrongful arrest might be deducted from the budget of the law enforcement agency, which made the arrest.

“With the state of our law enforcement system, it is possible that their annual budget will just go to the victims of wrongful arrest,” he said.

Earlier, the head of PNP’s directorate for Investigation and Management Robert Po expressed doubts on the capability of police to properly enforce the law.

“It is very difficult because every provision that we could use against a suspected terrorist, there are a number of safeguards to make sure his rights are not violated as well,” he said.

“We have to be sure because the penalty is so high. Imagine half a million pesos for every one day you detain a person until he is not found guilty,” he said. “And we still have to have the Implementing Rules and Regulations. This is what we are waiting for,” he pointed out.

Protests

In Butuan City, militant groups including Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis and Kabataan Party said the Arroyo administration was pandering to the wishes of the US when it adopted the anti-terror law.

But Rohan Gunaratna, who heads the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said the HSA will help the government battle al Qaeda-linked militants more effectively. He said the law has enough safeguards to protect human rights.

He said that “people living outside the Philippines are shocked that the country did not have anti-terrorism legislation.” Gunaratna is the author of the 2002 book “Inside al-Qaeda.”

“It’s a license to kill,” Caraga Gabriela leader Atel Hijos said. “In the hands of an abusive government, it all the more becomes a dangerous law.” With Perseus Echeminada and Ben

Sir I think that this law will only make the police to be afraid of catching terrorists because of P 500,000. It is better to be safer than to catch a criminal and become a criminal like him.

how are terrorists classified in this law? gangsters in the kantos are also terrorists, and so are rapists and burglars.

this is what i mean, miss Gerry.  : this is already martial law, it is like a warrantless arrest and easy for suspected terorists like you and i to be arrested.

no, i dont see the law like that. Every law before enactement have to undergo several stages of reading and it will only be approved and becomes a law if the purpose is for the goodness of society. I like to believe that this law has all the goodness to shield us from terroristic activities of the criminals. opinion lang po 

good of the society? let's give it a chance whatever tha government will do anyways is always involving money.

do you have a book on this that we can read herE? whoever made this law studied in the ranch of George Bush. i don't like Bush anymore. i think he is influencing many governments like the Philippines.

terrorists can be classified into three (3) elements:

1. there is an act punishable under Revised Penal Code or Under Special Laws
2. sowing a condition of widespread and extra ordinary fear and panic among populace.
3. order to coherce the government to give into unlawful demand.

sir it is posible that the soldier and police over there power of that act. for short what are the best way to punish of over power, of the law enforcers?

ok. lets give it a chance. somehow it will deter terrorists

how about wiretapping? or is hacking included?

what is the ersponsibility of the DILG on this?

The law was made for a special purpose and this is to deter terrorism and crime. There is no excuse for this law we need it.

:o

More info I gather:

Inquirer
Last updated 06:16am (Mla time) 07/29/2007


CAMP DANGWA, Benguet, Philippines—The police have admitted that they cannot afford to enforce the antiterror law because it prescribes harsh penalties and jail time for law enforcers who inadvertently pursue the wrong terror suspects.

What’s worse for the police is that they must enforce a law that has an obscure definition for terrorism, which increases the odds that law enforcers would end up making mistakes, said Senior Insp. John Ekid, a lawyer.

“The second element [to establish] terrorism [is the act of] creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace. Parang mahirap i-distinguish kung ano ang (It seems difficult to distinguish between) extraordinary fear and panic and ordinary fear and panic,” said Ekid, who is the Cordillera police’s only legal officer.

“Para matawag na widespread… kailangan bang buong Pilipinas merong fear sa mga tao natin o… nararamdaman lang ng isang barangay (To be referred to as widespread fear, should terrorism affect the whole Philippines or is it already terrorism even if it is felt only by a barangay?),” he asked reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

Police doubts

Ekid said this is an example of why police also fear the antiterror law or Republic Act No. 9827.

At a human rights forum last week, lawyer Harry Roque, director of the University of the Philippines Institute of International Legal Studies, predicted this problem.

“Even if the government disseminates what the law is all about, the police will not understand it as long as there is no standard definition. This is the same condition confronting all people with average intelligence,” Roque said.

During the press briefing, Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, Cordillera police director, said the Philippine National Police directorate for operations and its legal affairs division have asked a study group to determine how vulnerable policemen have become in confronting terrorism.

He said this is the only antiterror law in the world where subjects of surveillance must first be advised about police investigations before law enforcers can proceed with their work.

Stiff costs

Section 50 of the law has been criticized because it requires the police to pay a suspect acquitted by the court P500,000 “for every day that he or she has been detained or deprived of liberty or arrested without a warrant as a result of such an accusation.”

Section 41 of the law requires the police or the Anti-Terror Council, that oversees enforcement, to pay an acquitted suspect P500,000 for every day pieces of his or her properties or assets were confiscated as evidence by the state.

“We still do not know where to get that [amount],” Gonzales said.

The law also demands a six-month jail term for the arresting officers should the release of an acquitted suspect is delayed.

Gonzales said the police study group’s conclusions could either convince the 14th Congress to amend the law or refine a working manual that would guide the police in pursuing terrorists. Vincent Cabreza, with a report from Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon



Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



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a widespread information (thru lecture series) on this law should be undertaken by the govenment so that the police and agencies concerned would come to a point of acceptance and understanding. 

there must be money involved somewhere down the line.......argh

this law is made to protect GMA? my hunch

Whatever the pros and cons of this law, hope it will do something better for us in the business sector!

who is the person/s who introduced this bill?

So in the first place,  they have to redefine"  Widespread Terrorism".....

HSA 2007 is not very clear in how PNP will apprehend criminals. how about judge warrantS?