Further, Sec. 7 legalizes surveillance of terror suspects. Authorities may intercept and record all communications of suspected terrorists and their alleged conspirators. Opposition Senators claim to have inserted certain provisions which can prevent abuses of this power but these may prove ineffective given the track record of the state when it comes to wiretapping and eavesdropping. We only have the “Hello, Garci” scandal to remind us of how wiretapping has been abused in the past.

Under Sec 27, bank deposits, accounts and records of suspected terrorists and their alleged conspirators may be examined by authorities. The key concept here is that even suspects can be subjected to bank examinations. All pertinent information involving a suspected account, including transactions with other accounts, can be opened up.

3. Anti-Terrorism Council

Sec. 53 provides for the creation of the Anti-Terrorism Council. The members of the Council are the Executive Secretary; Secretary of Justice; Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Secretary of National Defense; Secretary of the Interior and Local Government; Secretary of Finance; and the National Security Adviser. The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) shall serve as its secretariat.

The Council’s functions include directing the speedy investigation and prosecution of all persons accused or detained for the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism; freezing bank accounts, funds of suspected terrorists; and establishing and maintaining a database on terrorism.

Most of the members of the Anti-Terrorism Council are already part of the notorious cabinet cluster on security. As members of the Cabinet Oversight Committee for Internal Security (COC-IS), Eduardo Ermita, Raul Gonzalez, Norberto Gonzales are the masterminds of repressive policies and measures such as the Oplan Bantay Laya, Presidential Proclamation No. 1017, calibrated preemptive response and Executive Order No. 464. The three are now joined by newly appointed defense secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, a retired general linked to the “Hello, Garci” scandal.

Indeed, the most notorious implementers of human rights violations will be given additional powers via the Anti-Terrorism Council.

4. Peace talks

The enactment of the ATB will result in the collapse of peace negotiations between the Arroyo administration and the NDF, MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Despite not being tagged yet as terrorists, the MILF and MNLF have in the past been linked by the government to the Abu Sayyaf and Jamaah Islamiya, especially when the government tried to gain leverage in peace negotiations.

The same squeeze play is being used against the NDF and its chief political consultant. The Philippine government lobbied for the inclusion in European terrorist lists of the NPA and Jose Maria Sison. This has become a stumbling block to peace negotiations under the Arroyo regime. With the passage of an anti-terror law, the Philippines would use the local terrorist listing to further pressure the NDF to capitulate.

5. State terrorism

The anti-terror law will nourish the monster that is state terrorism.

Arroyo is itching to sign it into law to intensify and complement the existing all-out war policy against the Filipino people.

Within the context of Bush regime’s global war of terror, Arroyo’s own “anti-terror” campaign is itself a worse form of terrorism. The law contemplates a state of fascist rule experienced during martial law.

No amount of safety nets can make the ATB less malevolent. In the hands of a regime with a poor human rights record, the terror measure can and will be easily abused to serve the campaign of repression of the regime. Taken in the broader context of the crisis of the Arroyo presidency, the terror measure is both a move to get continued US support for the Arroyo administration and a move to suppress the most effective critics of the administration. Posted by(Bulatlat.com)

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