Emergency powers for Arroyo proposed

Recent bomb attacks in the capital and southern Philippines have prompted lawmakers to propose the granting of emergency powers to President Gloria Arroyo to address the deteriorating law and order situation.

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzales said he will file a measure today that will propose giving Arroyo the necessary powers to impose "extraordinary measures".

"We need extraordinary measures to interdict the upsurge of lawless violence. She should be given ample powers because it is very clear that we have a national emergency situation," he stressed.

One security official explained that the current laws are not adequate to equip authorities with powers to arrest terrorists before they can carry out any act.

"Present laws are reactive in nature and not geared towards addressing the threat posed by terrorists before they can strike," he noted.

The proposal from Gonzales drew strong reactions from leftist groups who are apprehensive of bearing the brunt of such emergency measures.

"Gonzales is hallucinating that granting emergency powers to Arroyo will deter and solve the spate of bombings in the country," said Robert de Castro of the leftist Bayan Muna (people first).

"The government has all the resources and powers to stop the bombing if only they do their job," de Castro added.

"No amount of emergency powers and other fascist-militarist measures will solve the bombings because the problem is the rotten system that breeds terrorism."

The twin bombings at a shopping mall in southern Zamboanga City on Thursday that killed seven and wounded 174, and the explosion inside a bus in Metro Manila that killed two and wounded dozens the following day prompted security officials to urge congress to hurry work on the long-delayed anti-terrorism bill.

A military intelligence official admitted to Gulf News that they have been ordered by the presidential palace to secure copies of the anti-terrorism law proposal in Indonesia and the Internal Security Act of Malaysia.

Both have provisions that allow authorities to detain suspected terrorists over an extended period of time on mere suspicions. "We believe this could be the tool the Philippine government needs to face the terrorist threat," he said.

Indonesia, rocked by bomb attacks in Bali that killed about 200, is rushing in its own anti-terrorism measure.

Malaysia has been largely free from terrorism because of its tough laws against terrorism.
But Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said there was no need for the Philippine government to over-react. He said the government could find itself being lured into a trap if it implements tougher laws at the cost of losing civil liberties.

"The terrorists are tempting the authorities to consider stronger measures," he warned.

But Gonzalez clarified that arrests without warrants from the court would not be part of the powers he would incorporate in the emergency proposal.