Duterte signs contentious anti-terrorism legislation
>>MANILA: President Rodrigo Duterte signed a contentious anti-terrorism bill on Friday aimed at combating Islamic militancy in the south, a measure that critics warned could lead to more widespread human rights abuses.
Muslims living in the southern Philippines have spoken out against the legislation to broaden powers of arrest and detention. On Friday, a regional government in the southern island of Mindanao that includes former separatist rebels urged Mr Duterte’s government not to go through with the measure.
The new law allows for terrorism suspects to be detained without a warrant, prolongs the amount of time that they can be detained without being charged in court, and removes a requirement that police present suspects before a judge to assess whether they have been subjected to physical or mental torture.
Rights groups and activists say the new law is designed to give Mr Duterte’s police and military forces more powers to stifle dissent against his populist rule amid his war on drugs, which has killed thousands of people.
Mr Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, said the new law was necessary to crack down on terrorism.
“Terrorism, as we often said, strikes anytime and anywhere,” Mr Roque said. “It is a crime against the people and humanity. Thus, the fight against terrorism requires a comprehensive approach.”
He stressed that terrorist acts in the Philippines had long “caused unimaginable grief and horror”, and added that the president and his legal team had carefully reviewed the legislation before he signed it into law.
The law was signed days after the police and military forces killed four people believed to be Filipino militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group during a raid in Manila.
The militants were suspected of working as financial conduits for the local branch of the IS, according to the military. Officials said they were working with Mundi Sawadjaan, one of the accused plotters behind the January 2019 bombing of a Catholic cathedral on the southern island of Jolo that killed 23 people.
The attack was carried out by an Indonesian couple who were wearing suicide vests. They were believed to have been directed by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, leader of the IS in the Philippines and also a relative of Mr Sawadjaan.
On Friday, Edre Olalia, of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said the group would challenge the “draconian law”.