Malacañang has responded anew to the petitions filed before the Supreme Court regarding the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“All petitions should be dismissed for utter lack of merit on procedural and substantive grounds,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo claimed.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has also recently expressed its objection to the new law. Panelo answered that the “CBCP only has to trust our judicial system given that adopting an opposite mindset only undermines the legal institutions.”
“The CBCP likens us to ‘the proverbial frog swimming in a pot of slowly boiling water.’ For its education, we have been in a far worse situation for years,” he added.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday responded to the question on whether the recent move of the CBCP is considered a violation on the separation of the Church and State.
“Ang separation po ay dalawang bagay: Iyong non-establishment, ibig sabihin, hindi magbibigay ng pabor ang estado sa kahit anong pananampalataya, at saka iyong free exercise which is the freedom to believe (The separation is of two things: The non-establishment, which means the state cannot favor any religion. And the free exercise, which is the freedom to believe),” Roque stated.
“So, iyon lang po iyong dalawang bagay na ginagarantiyahan ng ating Saligang Batas doon sa separation of church and state (So these are the only two things guaranteed by the Constitution on the separation of Church and State),” he added. – Report from Mela Lesmoras
