PIMENTEL IDENTIFIES MOST DANGEROUS PROVISIONS OF
ANTI-TERROR LAW
MANILA– Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) today described the Human Security Act of
2007 as a dangerous piece of legislation, as he cited
at least five sections of the law which ?may be abused
by the powerful and used as instruments of state
terrorism against the powerless.?
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The International Crisis Group, considered as the best expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia, has released a briefing on Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian terror network that has found its way to the Philippines, particularly Mindanao. The report essentially tells us what the JI has been up to, what is its present structure and whether it remains capable of more attacks in the region.
The report’s section on JI in Mindanao points out that, contrary to what the Philippine military has been saying, the “mainstream JI members” in Mindanao –about nine of them, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek –“have little to do with the ‘fugitives’ working with the Abu Sayyaf Group.”
It also says a dozen or more other “structural” JI members are under the protection of the Moro Islamic Liberation, although these members are said to be inactive and are “under strict orders not to engage in any violence and are considered integrated with MILF forces.”
MANILA –Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) will launch a book on how the Senate
crafted the Human Security Act of 2007, the country?s
version of the anti-terrorism legislation which was
approved after more than six years of deliberations.
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By Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno
Supreme Court
(Delivered on April 18, 2007 on the occasion of the conferment of the
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of the East.)
?Tomorrow begins in the East,? trumpets the motto of this venerable
institution of learning. In his last moments in Bagumbayan, our national
hero Jose Rizal stared at tomorrow in the eye, veered his bullet-riddled
body to the right and fell lifeless on the ground ?face turned towards
the rising sun in the east. From the cradle to the grave, Rizal
consecrated his life to fight for the human rights of our people.
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MANILA — Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno hit the nail on the head.
This was the reaction of the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan after Puno slammed the United States-led war on terror and its particular conduct in the Philippines. The Supreme Court justice criticized the worsening human rights situation in the country as a result of a state that has been weakened by corruption and lack of credibility.