Ping corrects IBP misconception in anti-terror bill

Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday corrected a misconception by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines on a provision in the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Lacson, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, referred to a reported claim by the IBP about the role of the Anti-Terrorism Council in the anti-terrorism bill.

In a post on his Twitter account, Lacson said that when the ATC designates a terrorist or terrorist group, it is only to request the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze the account, or to request the Court of Appeals to issue an order to wiretap but – not an excuse to arrest the suspect.

“IBP: If the ATC designates you as a terrorist or terrorist organization, based on probable cause, that is a signal and excuse now for law enforcers to arrest,..xxx
NO SIR! It is ONLY to request the AMLC to freeze the accounts and the CA to issue an order to wiretap, NOT arrest,” he said.

IBP: If the ATC designates you as a terrorist or terrorist organization, based on probable cause, that is a signal and excuse now for law enforcers to arrest,..xxx
NO SIR! It is ONLY to request the AMLC to freeze the accounts and the CA to issue an order to wiretap, NOT arrest.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) June 9, 2020

Lacson earlier scored disinformation by some sectors to drum up opposition to the passage of the measure, which President Rodrigo Duterte had certified as urgent.

He said the disinformation included claims that the ATC can be weaponized against the administration’s political foes, and that it has the power to order their arrest.

But Lacson said the ATC’s role is merely administrative, and that it does not have judicial or quasi-judicial powers.

Congress has transmitted the bill to Malacanang for Duterte to either sign into law, veto, or allow to lapse into law after 30 days.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)