Arroyo pleads for support of terror law

MANILA, Philippines — Stressing that terrorism is a scourge that threatens the country’s sovereignty, democracy, compassionate and decent way of life, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called on the people today to give the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 a chance to prove its importance to national security.

The President sounded the call as she led the launch of the new law — also known as Republic Act (RA) 9372 — this morning in Malacanang.

She also paid tribute to those who have fought vigorously against terrorism, which she branded as an “ideology of evil.”

“Today, we raise the bar in our campaign against terrorists who kill, bomb and maim to enforce an ideology of evil,” she said. “Talk is cheap. It is action that counts. I ask the public to give the Human Security Act a chance,” the President said.

She pointed out, however, that human security could best be achieved through economic and social development.

“Only equitable and sustainable growth can free us from want and fear. Poverty, though not the cause, abets terrorism,” she said.

The President said that with the HSA, the government’s fight against terrorism now has the “legal muscle to help end the paralysis of fear,” as it is now “empowered with a law that identifies terrorism and penalizes it, a law that preserves and protects freedom.”

Saying that the country had come face to face with the scourge of “terrorism ahead of the rest of the world,” a number of lives would not have been lost to terrorist attacks had an anti-terror law been passed a few years back.

“One can imagine the possibilities had we passed this law (HSA) earlier. Perhaps, the Dos Palmas incident would not have happened, and Gracia Burnham would not have lost her husband, Martin. Many Filipino lives could have been spared had the State been equipped with the legal arsenal to flush out evil before it could do harm,” the President said.

She recalled that the first anti-terror bill was filed by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile in January 1996, a good five years ahead of the Sept. 9, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York that galvanized global action against terrorism.

The Chief Executive said the Dos Palmas incident, the Rizal Day bombing and the Super Ferry attack may not have happened had the Enrile terror bill hurdled the legislature when it was first filed.

The Rizal Day bombing in 2000, which occurred in five places almost simultaneously in the span of an hour, claimed the lives of 24 people.

On the other hand, the Dos Palmos terrorist kidnapping on Feb. 26, 2004 of 16 people, including Gracia Burnham and her evangelist husband Martin, ended in the death of Martin, Filipino nurse Edivora Yap and Guillermo Soberon, an American.

Gracia, who has written a book about her ordeal, was held for more than one year.

The most devastating of the terrorist attacks in terms of human lives lost was the Super Ferry bombing on Feb. 26, 2004. The attack claimed 116 lives and left more than 100 other persons injured.

The President stressed that the government’s resolve to criminalize and penalize terrorism through an anti-terror law was not an offshoot of the 2001 World Trade Center. “We had come face to face with this scourge ahead of the rest of the world,” she said.

She also said funding support and investments in crushing terrorism would be significantly increased in the next three years.

“We must invest in peace and order,” she said.

“The next three years will see record levels of well-thought out and generous funding for investments in crushing terrorism wherever it threatens, regardless of ideology; and in putting a stop to human rights abuses whatever the excuse,” the President said.

The President signed into law RA 9372 or “An Act to Secure the State and Protect Our People from Terrorism,” also known as the Human Security Act of 2007, on March 6, 2007.

The law took effect on July 15, 2007 or two months after the May 2007 midterm elections.