Progressive groups in Negros Occidental yesterday slammed the Arroyo administration for implementing the Human Security Act, or Republic Act 9372 of 2007, despite claims that the law will curtail the basic civil liberties of the masses.

At a sectoral press briefing at the Negros Media Center in Bacolod City yesterday, Fr. Romeo Tagud of the Promotion of Church People's Response, and representatives from allied organizations, said the law is "a recipe for undeclared martial law."

Lawyer Archie Baribar, meanwhile tagged the statute the "grandmother of all repressive laws," in the country.

He said the law does not define human security but focuses mainly on terrorism, which subject matter is "very dangerous," and its continued implementation will be an occasion to legalize state terrorism. Baribar said provisions of the law tend to affect the Bill of Rights enshrined in the 1987 Constitution laying down the safeguards on the rights to due process and privacy, among others, of Filipinos.

Archie Gumban, education committee head of PCPR, said there is no more need for the government to enact the law, since the felonies now categorized in the catch-all term "terrorism," are already punishable under the 75-year-old Revised Penal Code.

He questioned the forceful and harsh implementation of the law, adding that even the international community has no single definition of what is terrorism.

It's vague, broad, and can be easily abused, Gumban stressed, adding that sections 18 and 19 of the HSA, are highly questionable.

Its provisions state that anyone merely suspected of being a terrorist can be placed ex-parte on surveillance by law enforcement agencies, detained without the benefit of a warrant of arrest and absence of formal criminal complaint for three days, and, in cases of house arrest, is prohibited from using phone, computers, or any communication facilities, Baribar said.

Any "suspect" subsequently found innocent, would be indemnified P500,000 for each day of detention, RA 9372 also states.

The PCPR questioned the credibility of the composition of the Anti-Terrorism Council, saying they are allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose previous acts or issuances have been declared as "unconstitutional" by the Supreme Court. With about cases of 800 extra-judicial killings, and 200 of forced disappearances linked to the Arroyo regime, the PCPR said the law is just part of the United States-led war on terror, of which the Philippines has been used as a tool by US President George Bush, Gumban stressed.

The PCPR is urging the public to resist and defy state terrorism, expose and oppose human rights violations, continue to exercise civil rights, and question the law before the Supreme Court.

Also present at yesterday's press briefing were representatives of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan and its youth arm, League of Filipino Students, and Karapatan Negros Occidental led by its secretary-general, Fred Caña.*GCT

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