DINEPENSAHAN ni Justice Secretary sa harap ng international community ang pagkakapasa ng bagong Anti -Terror Law (ATL) sa Pilipinas.
Nasa Geneva, Switzerland pa rin ngayon ang delegasyon ng Pilipinas para sa 136th Session ng United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Ang delegasyon ay pinangungunahan ni Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
Sa pagharap ng kalihim sa international community, denepensahan ng kalihim ang pagkakapasa ng bagong Anti-Terror Law kung saan iginiit nito na pinag-isipang mabuti ang pagkakagawa ng batas.
“The Anti-Terror Law was passed in consultation with the civil society organizations throughout the Philippines. This was not passed over night. The first Anti-Terror Law, the Human Security Act, was passed 2007. It took us 13 years to craft a better anti-terrorism response through a legislation,” pahayag ni Remulla.
Itinanggi nito na ang pagprotesta ay itinuturing na terorismo sa ilalim ng Anti-Terror Law.
“Section 4 of the law itself is very clear. It says ‘it excludes advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action and other similar exercises of civil and political rights from the definition of terrorism. This is a misplaced impression given to our friends here,” ayon kay Remulla.
Itinuwid din ng kalihim ang bilang ng araw na maaring ma-detain ang mga pinaghihinalaang terorista sa ilalim ng ATL.
Kasunod ang paglalahad ng mas mahabang detention period na umiiral sa ibang mga bansa.
“It is that we can detain people for 24 days without any liability or without any warrant of arrest but it’s actually 14 days extendable by 10 days. In Bangladesh is 15 days, Indonesia 21 days which can be extended for another 120 days, in Pakistan is for 30 days, Malaysia can detain people without a warrant for 59 days extendable up to 2 years. Singapore can detain a person for 730 days to indefinite period of detention of suspects deemed to be threats to national security,” ani Remulla.
Sinabi rin ni Remulla na mayroon nang ginagawang hakbang ang ahensiya para hindi matakot ang publiko sa ATL.
Samantala, dumako pa ang kalihim sa usapin ng red-tagging na para sa kanya ay maaring parte ito ng essence ng demokrasya sa bansa.
Iginiit niya na ang mga kritiko ay kailangan ding tumanggap ng kritisismo, hindi lamang ang gobyerno lalo pa’t kung ang kritiko na ito ay tumutulong sa mga maling tao.
“That for me is probably the essence of democracy. Are we not allowed to criticized our critics too? It is a one way street? That is probably a one way to look at red-tagging because it’s always be a one way debate and people like me help to speak back about this issue of red-tagging,” ani Remulla.
Naniniwala si Remulla na ang red-tagging ay ginagamit lamang ng makakaliwa para protektahan ang mga makakaliwa sa bansa.
“So when people are criticized for being critics or when people being criticized for helping the wrong people, why is red-tagging the issue? It is because it is the defense of the left to protect the left in our country,” dagdag ni Remulla.
