MANILA – The Malacañang will abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) on the various petitions questioning the constitutionality of the newly-signed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark yesterday as he insisted that the controversial law is at par with the anti-terrorism legislation of the developed countries.
“The Palace will leave it to the SC to decide on these petitions and will abide by whatever the ruling is,” Roque said. “Other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom had more draconian laws compared to the Philippines.”
Albay Representative Edcel Lagman was one of the three petitioners who sought the High Court’s temporary restraining order on the implementation of the controversial law.
Among the issues pointed out by Lagman was the “vague and ambiguous” definition of terrorism, the maximun 24-day detention of suspected terrorists without judicial warrant or charges, up to 90 days technical surveillance and wiretapping, and six-month period of investigation and freezing of the suspect’s assets.
Two other petitions filed before SC yesterday were from a group of lawyers led by Atty. Howard Calleja and a group of Far Eastern University law professors with their dean, Mel Sta. Maria.
More petitions before the High Court are expected to be filed in the days to come, including those of opposition senators Francis Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros as well as losing senatorial candidate Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno./PN
