Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — There is no room for Bangsamoro leaders in the Anti-Terrorism Council, but they will be consulted in the implementation of the newly-enacted law, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson said on Monday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque responded to the appeal of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim for their region to have a “representation” in the nine-man council.
He said the Anti-Terrorism Council, led by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, are required under the law’s provisions to hold consultations with the BARMM leaders.
“Hindi nga lang full membership but they are one of the agencies the Anti-Terrorism Council is duty-bound to consult,” he said in a media briefing.
[Translation: They cannot be given a full membership, but they are one of the agencies that the Anti-Terrorism Council is required to consult.]
The council is composed of the national security adviser and the secretaries of foreign affairs, defense, interior, finance, justice, and information and communications technology. They are also joined by the executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. They are set to work on crafting the implementing rules and regulations of the new law.
The Anti-Terrorism Council is controversial as critics sound the alarm over expanding the powers of the executive body. It was created by virtue of the Human Security Act of 2007, which the new law repealed.
Leaders of the BARMM previously appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to veto the Anti-Terrorism Bill.
Ebrahim emphasized that the Anti-Terrorism Bill has a very vague definition of terrorism, surveillance of suspects, interception and recording of communications, and detention without a judicial cause of arrest.
The stance of BARMM leaders echoes the fears of other Mindanaoan lawmakers that the Muslim community will suffer the most from the implementation of the law.
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