Searching for Pablo

Sleeping better at night

April 17, 2007

The long-awaited anti-terror bill, now euphemistically dubbed Human Security Act after the Senate supposedly defanged it, was finally signed into law by President Gloria. Sen. Franklin Drilon harped on how senators took extra care to ensure that civil liberties won't be trampled with the implementation of the law.

Come again? The problem with our senators and the opposition is they habitually underestimate Gloria and her minions to fiddle with a few laws to do what they want. She wouldn't have survived this long otherwise.

Sure, on paper the law seems toothless; sure, the ambivalence as to the definition of a terrorist was reduced, but look at the composition of the Anti-Terrorism Council tasked to oversee the implementation of the law:

1. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita
2. Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales
3. Foreign Sec. Alberto Romulo
4. DILG Sec. Ronaldo Puno
5. Finance Sec. Margarito Teves
6. NSA Sec. Norberto Gonzales

Leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, doesn't it?

Two of those members were allegedly responsible for crafting a death plan for communist insurgents and legal fronts allied with the left. Those same members also pushed for an all-out war against the NPA. A war which was savagely defended by the other Gonzales. Yes, the same one who, irony or ironies, mans our scales of justice. (When asked what to do if civilians are caught in the crossfire in the all-out war vs. communist rebels, Gonzales remarked: "You can't avoid collateral damage…sometimes there are bombings and civilians might get hurt). Still, another of the council's members engineered the greatest coup of all — wresting the presidency from FPJ, a very popular actor who would have been our president. Not the greatest perhaps, but definitely not much (much!) worse.

The next obvious question is: do you expect this body to follow the rules because the Senate said so?

Posted by searchingforpablo at 8:42 pm | permalink

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