Lacson on SC vote on anti-terror law: ‘Peace wins over terror’

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the petitions that sought to invalidate the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

During its en banc session on Tuesday, the high tribunal ruled as unconstitutional a qualifier in Section 4 and the second paragraph of Section 25 of Republic Act 11479.

Section 4 of the law states that terrorism shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights.

However, the SC voided a qualifier stating dissent is not considered terrorism, provided that it is not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety for being "overbroad and violative of freedom of expression."

The SC also declared unconstitutional the method of designating individuals or groups as terrorists through a “request for designation by other jurisdictions of supranational jurisdictions.”

“Para sa akin, balewala sa akin ‘yung dalawang issues… na na-declare na unconstitutional. ‘Yun lang ang na-strike out sa pagkakaalam ko kaya peace wins over terror,” Lacson, one of the law's authors, said at a press conference.

(For me, the two issues which were declared unconstitutional don't matter. Only two parts [of the law] were struck down. Peace wins over terror.)

With the decision, the presidential aspirant said he expects an improvement in the Philippines' ranking in the Global Terrorism Index. The Philippines placed 10th last year.  

“Sa tingin ko sa pagkapasa nito, maaalis na tayo sa [countries na high risk sa] Global Terrorism Index… Kaya nga natin ito pinasa e kasi walang kalaban-laban ang mga peace-loving citizens. Ang ayaw nito ‘yung mga naghahangad na mamayagpag ‘yung terorismo sa ating bansa,” Lacson said.

(With the decision, I think we will be removed from the list of countries tagged as high risk in the Global Terrorism Index…that's why we passed this to protect our peace-loving citizens. Those who dislike this law are those who want terrorism to persist in our country.)

Lacson’s running mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, lauded the SC for its ruling.

“Hail, hail Supreme Court and beware of the terrorists,” said Sotto, a co-author of the law.

Senator Leila de Lima expressed relief that the high court declared unconstitutional a portion of Section 4 “that would have otherwise made the exercise of free speech a terrorist act.”

Senator Francis Pangilinan called the decision a “partial victory” even as the “dangerous provisions of the law remain.”

“For instance, the provisions on prolonged detention and warrantless arrests we believe run contrary to the Bill of Rights and can be abused by law enforcers. It would have been a meaningful gift in celebration of International Human Rights Day to have the dangerous provisions stricken out,” he said.

"As we await the full decision, we will not rest until we have achieved our goal. We want a law that will protect the people against terrorism, not one that will terrorize them.”

Senator Risa Hontiveros reminded those who will implement the law that it does not give them "the license to suppress dissent and trample on fundamental rights."

“The Senate can and will use its oversight functions to protect Filipinos from state-sanctioned abuses and misdeeds,” she said. — VBL, GMA News