Mali na, malisyoso pa! Ping scores Anti-Terror Law’s foes for confusing public by interchanging 2 key terms

By liberally interchanging two key terms, critics of the Anti-Terrorism Law are trying to dupe the public into thinking the law allows the Executive Branch to give itself judicial powers, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.

Lacson, who sponsored the measure in the Senate, said these critics claim mere designation may result in arrest and detention – which is not the case.

“Unfortunately, designation and proscription have been used interchangeably – and conveniently at that – by critics of the Anti-Terrorism Law to advance their purpose of asserting that mere designation may result in arrest and detention, thus giving the ATC judicial powers under RA 11479 – which is wrong, if not malicious,” he said in a statement.

He said there is a difference between designation and proscription, with designation being administrative and can be exercised by the Executive Branch through the Anti-Terrorism Council.

Lacson said President Rodrigo Duterte, in claiming the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army is a terrorist group, was referring to the group’s designation by the ATC in late 2017.

This designation was authorized by Sec. 11 of Republic Act 10168, the Terrorist Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, following the standards set by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, he noted.

Also, it paved the way for the filing of a proscription case by the DOJ, which is now pending before a Manila Regional Trial Court, he said.

“Thus, there is nothing illegal in the action by the Chief Executive to proclaim that the CPP-NPA is a designated terrorist organization after the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has ruled on the matter,” Lacson said.

Meanwhile, proscription is judicial which only the RTC (under the now-repealed Human Security Act of 2007) and the Court of Appeals (under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020) has the power to decide.

“In the case of proscription, the burden of proof lies with the Department of Justice. Even membership of a proscribed terrorist organization undergoes the same due process of law – meaning the Court of Appeals will decide who may be identified as members and subsequently arrested,” Lacson noted.

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