By FERDIE MAGLALANG
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. joined yesterday his colleagues in expressing reservation to the passage into law of the Anti-Terrorism Bill which he feared might be abused by some quarters out to harass the opposition and other government critics.
Sounding an alarm over the growing incidence of human rights violations in the country, Pimentel said the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill, one of the priority measures President Arroyo has certified as urgent, now faces an even rougher sailing in the Senate.
"This will definitely affect the passage of the measure," he said, mindful of the recent human rights violations allegedly committed by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) involving five supporters of former President Joseph Estrada.
ISAFP is now under fire for its involvement in the "warrantless" arrest, illegal detention, and alleged torture accorded to five members of the United Movement for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), a group identified with Estrada.
ISAFP earlier accused the five Estrada supporters of plotting to assassinate President Arroyo and five of her key Cabinet officials, including Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.
The Senate is scheduled to conduct a public hearing at 11 a.m. today to look into the affair. Senators said their approval of the proposed R47-billion budget of the Department of National Defense and the AFP will depend on the result of their investigation.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga and ISAFP chief Commodore Leandro Calderon are expected to submit their report on the case of the five Estrada supporters and the alleged assassination plot against Mrs. Arroyo.
Pimentel explained that the warrantless arrest of the five Estrada supporters has sparked fears over a potential escalation of human rights violations that may eventually arise from the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Bill once it is enacted into law.
The proposed measure, he said, might be taken advantage of by some "unscrupulous elements of the administration" to harass and trample upon the rights of the opposition and administration’s critics under the guise of eliminating threats to security.
"We don’t have an Anti-Terrorism Law yet but some elements of ISAFP are already behaving as if the country is under a fascist rule," Pimentel said.
He also noted the alarming increase in killings and incidents of harassment and intimidation among journalists and leftist militants since the Arroyo administration assumed power in 2001.
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