A security analyst believes the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 will be of great help in the country’s campaign against terrorism.
“In fact, ‘yung IRR mas lalo niyang clinarify ‘yung mga issues kung saan may mga anxieties ‘yung mga tao, at ini-specify ‘yung mga provisions sa law na hindi na-elaborate (The IRR clarified the issues that cause anxiety to the public, and specified the provisions of the law which were not elaborated),” Prof. Rommel Banlaoi explained.
“Tama itong IRR na ito. Pinalambot nang kaunti ‘yung batas. Gesture ito ng Philippine government na walang intensyon ang pamahalaan na labagin ang karapatang pantao ng mga mamamayan (The IRR has been [done] right. It softened the law a bit. It is the Philippine government’s gesture to prove that it is does not want to suppress human rights),” Banlaoi continued.
The IRR has been registered with the Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR) and was published in newspapers of general circulation.
However, some quarters said the IRR “is the blindsided way to cure by way of afterthought, a defective and unconstitutional law ab initio.”
“The IRR is ultra vires. As we have said time and again, water cannot rise above its source,” National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Pres. Atty. Edre Olalia said.
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Pres. Domingo Cayosa raised that the IRR “may therefore be hounded by the same questions surrounding RA 11479 itself.”
Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) Spokesperson USec. Adrian Sugay responded that they will “work under the presumption that everything is valid” and will ensure the proper implementation of the law until the SC declares that its portions are invalid or unconstitutional. – Report from Kenneth Paciente
