Global Research, February 20, 2007
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
With majority of congressmen heeding Malacañang’s call for Congress to hold a special session, the anti-terrorism bill was finally ratified by the House of Representatives through a voice vote last night. Civil libertarians though are gearing up for another round of legal battle: Once the bill is signed into law, they will challenge its constitutionality before the Supreme Court.
University of the Philippines professor Harry Roque, director of the Law Center’s Institute of International Legal Studies, said they will be questioning the constitutionality of certain provisions of the anti-terror law, otherwise known as the Human Security Act of 2007. Roque referred to the recent decision of the Supreme Court on David v Arroyo as the “biggest obstacle” to the measure.
The 2006 Supreme Court decision declared Presidential Proclamation 1017 and General Order No. 5 as unconstitutional in the absence of an internationally accepted definition of terrorism. Both presidential orders directed the the police and military to “immediately carry out the necessary and appropriate actions and measures to suppress and prevent acts of terrorism and lawless violence.”
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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=OLA20070220&articleId=4872
