From the Office of Rep. Crispin Beltran

South Wing Room 602 House of Representatives

Constitution Hills 1126 Quezon City, Philippines

Reference: Rep.Crispin Beltran (+63)9278711080

Ina Alleco R. Silverio, chief of staff  931.6615, 09195065269

 

 News Release   Tuesday, January 16, 2007

 

Solon says the Senate should junk senate version of anti-terror bill and deny Malacanang another weapon it can wield against civil rights and democratic freedoms

  

Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran today said that the anti-terrorism bill pending at the senate should be junked because if passed into law, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will use it against the legal and democratic peoples' organizations and their civilian leaders, members and sympathizers.

 

"It has already been established that Macapagal-Arroyo makes use of laws on security to protect itself on one hand, while attacking the democratic, political and human rights of the citizenry. Under Macapagal-Arroyo, any anti-terrorism law will be wielded like a weapon to violate civil and political rights, and the mercenary institutions of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be even more emboldened to conduct more operations that undermine the civil liberties and democratic rights of  civilians. An anti-terrorism bill will only be abused by the administration and used against its legitimate critics," he said.

 

The activist lawmaker said that if proponents of the anti-terror bill only seek to have the bill approved for the sake of appearances and in accordance with the demands of the US that its allied countries in the Asia-Pacific impose an anti-terrorism law, then it was not a good enough reason.

 

 "The horrific wave of extra-judicial killings of political and human rights activists and other civilian sympathizers continues, but has the Macapagal-Arroyo administration done anything about it? Pres. Arroyo created nothing but a toothless commission and the Task Force Usig wherein the military plays a part in the conduct of investigation. This is terrorism being done by the government itself through its armed forces," he said.

 

 

Beltran said that the senate should instead conduct investigations into this relentless series of political and extra-judicial killings, as well as the strong allegations that the top brass officials of the AFP are the masterminds behind the bombings in the various provinces, lately in Mindanao. The recent  bombings in Mindanao have been  exposed by the rebel military officers as having been orchestrated by former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes with the knowledge and approval of Malacanang.

 

Beltran also said that Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) Convention on Counterrorism can and most likely will be  abused and wielded even against legitimate political dissenters and innocent civilians. He urged civil libertarians and the Senate to look into the nature of the said Convention because the Arroyo government appears to consider the Convention as legally binding law which in implementation could cover a myriad of security issues.

 

He also warned against Malacanang's possible use of the  Convention in lieu of  the  anti-terrorism bill. He said that the ASEAN Convention on Counterrorism cannot be made to supersede existing Philippine laws governing criminal activity and subsequent punishment for law breakers, even acts pointing towards terrorism. #