MANILA, Philippines — The contentious anti-terrorism bill is now with the office of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the final stage of review by President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.
In a briefing at the Palace, Roque said the proposed new anti-terrorism law has been transmitted to Medialdea’s office from the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (DESLA).
Related Stories
“This means there is now a memorandum recommending a course of action for the president,” the palace spokesman said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Roque said that the recommendation from DESLA may be subject to Medialdea’s approval. “Then it will be brought to the president’s desk,” he added.
If Duterte would not veto the bill in a week, it will automatically lapse into law on July 9 and repeal the Human Security Act of 2007 with a law said to be much harsher and with provisions that are unconstitutional and prone to abuse.
RELATED: UN rights chief raises anti-terror bill's 'chilling effect' on humanitarian work
Palace legal team review
Although he marked the bill as urgent—allowing the Congress to pass it on second and final reading on the same day—Duterte said the bill was still subjected to his legal team’s review.
The Department of Justice, Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Office of the Presidential Legal Counsel are among the agencies that sent their review to the Palace.
Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said his office recommended Duterte to sign it, while the IBP, consistent with its public statements, urged for the veto of the bill.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has kept his department’s review private and said it is the OES that has discretion of disclosing it. Roque also said he is not privy to DOJ’s review, which is covered by executive privilege.
The only detail that Guevarra disclosed on his department's recommendation is that the Philippine Constitution served as its main parameter in the review.
The president can only enact it or veto the proposed legislation as a whole, as the Constitution only allows line-item veto in appropriation, revenue or tariff bills. This means that even if only one provision fails the Constitutionality test, Duterte must veto the whole anti-terrorism bill.
RELATED: Roque: Duterte OK with pre-trial detention up to 24 days under anti-terrorism bill
Whether Duterte would enact the bill, or let it lapse, into law, Filipino lawyers have manifested that they will surely challenge the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 before the Supreme Court. Among them, the National Union of Peoples Lawyers and no less than retired SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.