#JUNKTERRORBILLNOW: Constitutional Law and Statutory Construction Crash Course

Disclaimer: Further research needed; lacks proper citation

What is the so-called Anti-Terror Bill?

Basically, it seeks to amend RA No. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007 (the OG terror law). It also creates an Anti-
Terrorism Committee.

Note: Senate version is Senate Bill No. 1083

We often hear/read the terms “House bill” or “Senate bill”, this simply states which house the bill originated from.

What is a bill?

A bill is a draft of a proposed legislation presented by/to the legislature for deliberation and inquiry. Once the bill
undergoes all prescribed stages, it will be enacted as a law. The new law may also be called as a “statute”.

What is the prescribed process of the passage of a bill under Philippine law?1

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE BILL

Proposed legislation will be introduced by a member of Congress, usually the principal author of the bill. The bill
may either originate from either chambers of the Congress or both. Both means the bill has a joint sponsorship
(several representatives and senators as authors); in this case, companion bills (same bill, two drafts) are
introduced simultaneously to speed up the passage.
The bill will then be signed by its authors and filed with the Office of the Secretary.
Note: “Congress” refers to both houses – House of Representatives and the Senate
2. FIRST READING
Secretary reports the bill for first reading. The number and title are read. The bill is then referred to the
appropriate committee for study and recommendation. The committee holds the public hearings and the
committee submits its report and recommendations for the second reading.
3. SECOND READING
The bill is read in full, including the recommendations of the committee. If copies are distributed, the reading may
be dispensed with. In this stage, the bill will be subject to debates, motions, and amendments. The bill will be
voted on—yeas or nays.
4. THIRD READING
Another round of voting (final) of yeas and nays.
5. The bill approved on the third reading from the “original” House will be transmitted to the “other House”. It will
go through three readings again.
Ex. If the bill originates from the House of Representatives, it will go through three readings there. If approved, it
will go through the same process in the Senate. (vice versa)
6. No amendments by the “other House”—proceed to next step
“Other House” introduces new amendments, disagreements arise—it will be settled by the Conference
Committees of both Houses
Settled differences and recommendations of the committees will have to approved by both Houses before it
proceeds to the next step.
7. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (Final stage)
The President may either:
a) Approve by signing it—bill becomes a law
b) Veto the bill (within 30 days after receipt)—it will be sent back to the House where it originated with
recommendation

1
Statutory Construction by Ruben E. Agpalo
 -2/3 of all members approve, it will be sent to the other house for approval
-2/3 of the other house approve, it shall become a law
c) Does not do anything within 30 days after receipt (inaction)—bill becomes a law

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is required that the three readings be done in three different/separate dates.

Where is the ATB now? (Stage in passage process)

As of writing, the bill is awaiting the President’s signature or veto, readings by both houses of Congress were already done.
If the President does not do anything within 30 days after receipt (neither signs nor vetoes it), the bill will lapse into law.

Why are they saying that the ATB was “railroaded”?

The bill was certified as “urgent” by the President. This means some steps in the passage of this bill were bypassed and/or
the passage was expedited. Due to this certification, the House of Representatives merely adopted the Senate version of
the bill which was approved last February. Votes were cast in the HoR without further deliberation or debates. It was
allegedly transmitted to the Office of the President when two more withdrawals of YEA votes were needed to retract the
bill back to the HoR for deliberation. Under House rules, reconsideration of a bill can only be done during session. Congress
has adjourned sine die on June 5.2 (Withdrawal of YEA votes may be considered as useless now, especially when this bill
was certified as urgent.)

Does the President have the authority to certify a bill as urgent?

Some may argue that the President has the power to expedite the passage of legislation given his emergency powers
(which ended last June 5, extension is being applied for right now; he certified the bill as urgent on June 1). It is his
discretion to certify it as urgent, and it is purely a political question (means only the legislature may settle this issue if it is
raised; courts cannot interfere).

Article 6, Section 23(2) provides: “In times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the
President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper
to carry out a declared national policy.” How is COVID-19 (the actual national emergency) related to terrorism right now?

AMENDMENTS TO HSA

What are considered as terrorist acts under PH law?

HSA 2007

Under Section 3, acts punishable under any of the following provisions of the Revised Penal Code are considered as
terrorism:

• Piracy in General and Mutiny in the High Seas or • Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention;
in the Philippine Waters); • Crimes Involving Destruction (arson,
• Rebellion or Insurrection; toxic/nuclear substances, hijacking, illegal
• Coup d’Etat; possession of arms)
• Murder;

2 conditions sine qua non for an act to be considered as “terroristic”:

(1) sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order
(2) to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand

2
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/6/8/Lawmakers-Congress-cant-withdraw-yes-votes-anti-terrorism-bill-Lacson.html
SEC. 4. Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism. — Persons who conspire to commit the crime of terrorism shall suffer the penalty
of forty (40) years of imprisonment.
There is conspiracy when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of the crime of terrorism
as defined in Section 3 hereof and decide to commit the same.

ATB 2020 (HB 6875)

Sec. 10 – Recruitment to and Membership in a Terrorist

Organization

They added “new” crimes or acts of terror in the ATB.

Under Section 9, any person who, WITHOUT TAKING ANY DIRECT PART in the commission of terrorism may be punished.
It implies that MERE SUSPICION of a commission of terrorism holds a person criminally liable.
It should also be noted that there is still no universally accepted definition for “terrorism”. The UN gave states the
discretion to define “terrorism” in their own context (this was after 9/11).

LOOK: They also changed the conditions. To “coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand” is no longer
there. Provocation and influence by intimidation will suffice to declare an act as terroristic.
Warrant of arrest

HSA – follows procedure as prescribed in the Constitution and Rules of Court (warrant is issued by a judge when conditions
are met); exceptions: hot pursuit and in flagrante delicto (caught in the act)
ATB – the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) is authorized to arrest without prior authorization from a judge

Detention

HSA – if the authorities fail to deliver a person suspected of terrorism to the proper judicial authorities in 36 hours,
detainees may be released and officers will be penalized (Art 125, RPC)
ATB – from 36 hours, it was changed to 14 days and may be extended for an additional 10 days

Is two weeks a long time to be detained?

Yes hahaha. Imagine your liberty is deprived for 14 to 254 days and you/they do not know why yet.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
The ATC is composed of department heads and other executive officials, and are given quasi-judicial powers
(specifically, to authorize arrests). So what? This explicitly dishonors the coequality of the three branches of
government. It strips the judiciary its power to authorize and issue warrants.

***More provisions were added and changed from HSA. It is best to read it side by side with ATB***
The provisions are vague and broad; and further deliberation on its application and interpretation is needed.

What is the danger in enacting laws with vague provisions?

Since the definitions found in this bill are broad and vague, its application and interpretation may be abused by authorities.
The Bill of Rights may be dispensed with even when its guarantee is to prevent abuse by the State.

The President does not veto ATB and the bill is passed into law, what can we do to junk it?
1. Facial challenge – this remedy can be invoked when laws or statutes violate freedom of speech (in some cases,
other freedoms too); the law will be challenged by any person or group with legal standing (basta taxpayer ata,
may legal standing na) in its face (kahit wala pang nacoconvict of a crime under this act, it can be challenged
already)
All we need are A LOT of petitions to pressure the Supreme Court to check this law, as well as good lawyers to
prevent dismissal on technical grounds or lack of merit (trauma from the dismissed petitions against HSA when it
was approved).
Well, dapat talaga nila icheck kasi pati powers nila nasasagaan nitong bill.
2. People’s Initiative (RA 6735) – logistically not plausible but it EXISTS!
Requirements:
(a) To exercise the power of initiative or referendum, at least ten per centum (10%) of the total number of the registered
voters, of which every legislative district is represented by at least three per centum (3%) of the registered voters thereof,
shall sign a petition for the purpose and register the same with the Commission.

(b) A petition for an initiative on the 1987 Constitution must have at least twelve per centum (12%) of the total number of
registered voters as signatories, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum (3%) of
the registered voters therein. Initiative on the Constitution may be exercised only after five (5) years from the ratification of
the 1987 Constitution and only once every five (5) years thereafter.

(c) The petition shall state the following:

c.1. contents or text of the proposed law sought to be enacted, approved or rejected, amended or repealed, as the case may
be;
c.2. the proposition;
c.3. the reason or reasons therefor;
c.4. that it is not one of the exceptions provided herein;
c.5. signatures of the petitioners or registered voters; and
c.6. an abstract or summary in not more than one hundred (100) words which shall be legibly written or printed at the top of
every page of the petition.

(d) A referendum or initiative affecting a law, resolution or ordinance passed by the legislative assembly of an autonomous
region, province or city is deemed validly initiated if the petition thereof is signed by at least ten per centum (10%) of the
registered voters in the province or city, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum
(3%) of the registered voters therein; Provided, however, That if the province or city is composed only of one (1) legislative
district, then at least each municipality in a province or each barangay in a city should be represented by at least three per
centum (3%) of the registered voters therein.

DAMING HANASH. So mahirap talaga.

The SC, as the final arbiter, is our only hope right now.

jvcm