'Mother of all Red-Tagging': Paglathala ng 'terrorist list' inalmahan

MAYNILA — "Mother of all Red-Tagging."

Ito ang tingin ng abogadong si Neri Colmenares ng National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers sa balak na paglathala ng anti-terrorism council (ATC) sa pangalan ng mga tao at grupong ide-designate o ituturing nilang terorista.

• Anti-terror law IRR nagtatakda ng limitasyon sa warrantless arrest

Nakalagay kasi sa bagong labas na implementing rules and regulations (IRR) ng Anti-Terrorism Act na ilalathala sa diyaryo, sa internet, at sa website ng ATC ang listahan ng designated persons or entities.

May 15 araw naman ang mga mapapangalanan para hilingin sa ATC na alisin ang kanilang pangalan kung mapapatunayang hindi sila terorista.

Pero sa pananaw ni Colmenares, maraming inosente ang posibleng mabiktima dahil kahit walang abiso, puwedeng mapasama sa listahan.

"Kahit wala kang pending criminal case, designated ka na... We can imagine, maraming na-red-tag, puwede makasama sa designated kasi they don’t need to file in court," paliwanag ni Colmenares. 

Ganito rin ang pangamba ni Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) national president Domingo Cayosa.

"The ex-parte nature of this will expose possibly innocent people being included in the list and they will be subjected to attacks, discrimination and all kinds of prejudice until they eventually clear themselves of the allegation of the law enforcement or security forces," aniya.

Para sa Amnesty International-Philippines, malalabag nito ang due process at presumption of innocence.

"It also arbitrarily flips a basic tenet of our justice system by pre-judging one as 'guilty until proven innocent.' Such a change will be prone to abuse, given the government's penchant for 'red-tagging' particularly human rights defenders and activists in Mindanao," anila.

Depensa ng ATC at ng Anti-Money Laundering Council, may prosesong pinagdadaanan ang designation pero hindi puwedeng ipaalam ito sa mga pinagdududahang terorista.

"A hearing would defeat the purpose of the seizure or the freezing of the assets as it would give designated persons or entities the opportunity to conceal said funds and assets," ani ATC spokesman Adrian Sugay.

Pero ito mismo ang kinukwestiyon ni Colmenares.

"What probable cause can you expect when in fact the leadership of the anti-terror council has already, not only just pre-judged you, practically declared you in public na ikaw ay isang terorista before the anti-terror law, before the IRR," sabi niya.

Ang tingin ni Cayosa, tanging korte lang at hindi ATC na binubuo ng mga miyembro ng ehekutibo, ang dapat magdeklara kung sino ang terorista, matapos mapakinggan ang panig ng inaakusahan.

"The judicial branch is supposed to ask questions, ascertain, deliberate, look at all evidence and balancing the interest and the countervailing evidence of both parties in a process where everyone is heard before there is a listing," aniya.

Tingin pa ni Cayosa, isyu rin ang kawalan ng tiwala ng tao sa paraan ng pagpapatupad ng Anti-Terrorism Act. 

Pero umaasa naman si Sugay na sapat na ang kanilang inilagay na mga safeguards sa IRR para maiwasan ang anumang pang-aabuso. —Ulat ni Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News