Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said that only bad people should be afraid by the controversial anti-terror bill.
In an interview with Daniel Razon, Dela Rosa defended the anti-terror bill saying that they put enough safeguards to it to avoid being misused by anyone.
According to Dela Rosa, if a terror suspect was put under the custody of the authorities, they’re required to report the incident to the court, anti-terrorism Council (ATC), and to the human rights commission.
Law enforcers were also not allowed to label anyone as ‘terrorist’ without the approval of the ATC.
“Additional safeguard ito, dahil baka mamaya hulihin nalang ng pulis ang isang tao at sabihin na terorista ka, pwede kang ikulong ng 14 days so mayroon tayong anti terrorism council na nagbabantay dito,” Dela Rosa said.
The anti-terrorism council is going to be led by the Executive Secretary with the help of the National Security Advisers, PNP, and AFP.
Dela Rosa explained that law enforcers still need to serve a warrant against people who allegedly committed heinous acts and they could only put them under custody without any warrant if the illegal act was done because of terrorism.
The former PNP chief said that he convinced the opposition senators to agree to the 14-day reglementary period under the anti-terror bill after he narrated his encounter with ISIS member Mohammad Reza Kiram during his term as the Davao City police chief.
According to him, they already caught Kiram but was freed because the current law only allowed suspected terrorists to be put under the custody of the police without a warrant for three days.
Later on, they confirmed that Kiram is really a terrorist who pledged his loyalty to ISIS and actively recruiting Filipinos to join their group.
Dela Rosa also slammed the disinformation being spread by the critics of the anti-terror bill, saying that the New People’s Army tried to convince the youth to oppose the controversial measure.
Dela Rosa even said that people could post ‘Mabuhay ang NPA’ on the internet without facing any consequences, but providing the group with weapons might put them in very big trouble.
“Very clear na ang activism is not terrorism, nakalagay ‘yan dito, kahit anong pananaw mo sa buhay walang problema ‘yan, we respect your ideology kung ano ang pinaglalaban mo basta wag ka lang talagang magbigay ng material support sa NPA, wag kang magbigay ng tulong doon, pero mag express ka lang ng dissent, walang problema ‘yan, kahit na sabihin mo ‘gobyerno ay salbahe, Duterte sira ulo’ kahit anong sabihin niyo wala yan,” he said.
The politician was also confident that law-abiding people would celebrate once the anti-terror bill becomes a law.
“Kung ikaw ay law-abiding citizen at ayaw mo ‘yung epekto ng terrorism, when this bill is signed into law, you will rejoice,” Dela Rosa stated.
“Pero kung ikaw ay isang terorista or supporter ng terorista, matakot ka sa batas na ito, yun lang ang napaka simpleng summary sa batas na ito. Ito ay ginawa para protektahan tayo against terorrism, hindi para i terrorize,” he added.