Esperon, who sits as the vice-chair of the terror council, refused to provide Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe the names of those they will designate as terrorists as it may preempt the ATC.

By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Retired general and now the president’s adviser on national security Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said during today’s oral arguments that the Anti-Terrorism Council will publish tomorrow the list of individuals designated as terrorists.

Esperon, who sits as the vice-chair of the terror council, refused to provide Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe the names of those they will designate as terrorists as it may preempt the ATC.

Under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Council may order for the designation of an individual or organization as a terrorist. The Office of the Solicitor General, during the SC oral arguments before the Supreme Court, argued that designation will only lead to freezing of bank assets and not arrests.

Esperon said that the names will be published in the papers tomorrow, May 13.

The Anti-Terrorism Council has been subject of several queries from the Supreme Court magistrates, given what it appears to be an undue delegation of power.

Read: Anti-Terror Council’s ‘undue delegation of power’ questioned

Read: The members of the Anti-Terrorism Council and their track record

The law, too, has been silent on how the ATC will arrive at the conclusion in designating individuals and organizations as terrorists.

So far, the ATC has designated the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist organizations. In February, the ATC said it started looking into 25 alleged members of the CPP-NPA’s central committee to be declared as terrorists.

 Save as PDF