Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 6) – Albay second district Rep. Joey Salceda joined some of his colleagues who withdrew their vote for the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill for lack of a meeting with senators to thresh out what he calls vague provisions.

“Without a bicameral conference, there will be no opportunity for House members to help address the abovementioned reservations,” Salceda said in a letter to House Secretary-General Jose Luis Montales, where he also asked that his vote be registered as an abstention.

Salceda said some sections of the bill may affect the right to privacy of individuals.

“Section 3(i) thereof includes the tracking of individuals, and not just members of organizations declared as terrorist. Section 16 of the measure also expands the list of persons who may be subjected to surveillance or wiretapping by including persons who are merely ‘suspected’ of committing any of the crimes penalized under the proposed law,” he said.

He said the creation of an Anti-Terrorism Council, composed of Cabinet officials with powers to order the arrest of suspected terrorists, may violate the separation of powers in particular with the Judiciary’s functions.

The lawmaker pointed out another possible constitutional issue on the detention of suspected terrorists.

“Under Section 29 of the measure, a person suspected of violating the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act may be detained for 14 days, extendible for another 10 days. Article 7, Section 18 of the Constitution, provides that even when the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended, the maximum period that a person can be detained without charges is three days,” Salceda said.

Other lawmakers who reversed their previous votes were Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun, and Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon.

READ: Lawmakers deny co-authoring anti-terrorism bill