Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 22) — The records of surveillance on suspected terrorists will be inaccessible to government offices and the general public in pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020, according to the latest memorandum issued by Malacañang.
Memorandum Circular No. 15, which was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on behalf of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last March 17, updates the list of exceptions to the right to the access of information under Executive Order No. 2 (series of 2016) or the Freedom of Information policy.
Also covered by the exemption are interception and recording of communications acquired by law enforcement agents or military personnel in line with the controversial ATA. Under Section 16 of the anti-terrorism law, “a law enforcement agent or military personnel may, upon a written order of the Court of Appeals, secretly wiretap, overhear and listen to, intercept, screen, read, surveil, record or collect, with the use of any mode, form, kind of type of electronic, mechanical or other equipment or device or technology.” Surveillance of proscribed, designated, and suspected terrorists could last up to 90 days under the measure, compared to the 60-day period in the Human Security Act.Matters classified as confidential under the ATA and its implementing rules and regulations are also exempted from the right to the access of information.The anti-terrorism law, which was signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2020, repealed the Human Security Act of 2007.
