The Filipino people and the international community will be watching closely how the implementing rules of the Human Security Act of 2007 or the anti-terror law will be drawn up and applied, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, said yesterday.

"The anti-terrorism law is not an excuse to go out and shoot people…to target people for matters not provided in the law," MacDonald said.

The ECP head was in Negros Occidental yesterday to meet with farmers who have benefited from the European Union funded-Small Projects Facility.

The Human Security Act comes into force on July 15 but the implementing rules and regulations have not yet been adopted and that is an important factor in seeing how the law will be actually be practiced, he said

"The Philippine public and international community will be looking attentively to see how these implementing rules are established and to see how the human security act is actually applied," he said.

"There have been some international comment and domestic concerns and fears raised on how the act might be used in the Philippines, MacDondald said, "but many countries in the world also have anti-terror legislation," he added. "The special anti-terrorists legislation is not in itself something of great concern other than for terrorists," he said.

Even in his own country Scotland there is an anti-terror legislation to address the terrorist threat, he said, pointing out that he is from Glasgow where a recent car bomb attack was staged on its airport.

"So many countries in the world have special legislation intended to address the special threat of terrorism. What is important is that legislation is used wisely, effectively and in accordance with the law," he said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines yesterday said it treats as a serious threat to press freedom and the people's right to know Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez's statement that, under the Human Security Act, he may recommend wiretapping journalists government believes to be "co-mingling" with terror suspects.

The NUJP asked what constitutes "co-mingling with terror suspects" Interviewing them? Meeting with them in pursuit of stories?

Meanwhile, MacDonald said the EU is very far from cutting assistance to the Philippines for human rights violations, MacDonald also said.

"There are a number of countries in the world where the human rights situation is extremely bad, the Philippines is not yet within that group," he said.

"We are far from imposing any sanctions, we are far from any discussion on that and I hope that we will never get to that point," he said.

Stopping EU assistance to the Philippines because of human rights violations is not a usual avenue to think about, he said.

"Why should we think of cutting back on our assistance in the health sector, rural development sector in relation to poverty alleviation that would hardly be of any assistance in dealing with the basic issues that the Philippines is facing," he said.

The Philippine government has requested our assistance on how to deal with human rights concerns and we are considering how we can best provide this, he said.

What is important in the Philippines is that the government has acknowledged that there is a human rights problem and sought technical assistance from the EU to help address this concern, he said.

MacDonald said the European Commission to the Philippines and the Philippine Commission on Human Rights have signed a memorandum of agreement to launch a new EC-funded human rights project.

The project that will be implemented by the Philippine CHR together with its sister institutions in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is intended to pave the way for the development of an ASEAN human rights mechanism, he said.

With a grant of P58 million from the European Community, the project is expected to contribute towards the improvement of human rights standards in the four countries, he said.

He said the project is part of the European Union's commitment to supporting and protecting human rights around the world, he said.*CPG

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