Local execs blame Senate for delay in passage of anti-terror bill

Local officials blamed the Senate for the delay in the passage of the Anti-Terror Bill, citing the spate of bombing attacks in central Mindanao which had claimed the lives of six people last Tuesday.

League of Municipalities of the Philippines president and Binalonan, Pangasinan Mayor Ramon Guico Jr., said "some members" of the Senate should be blamed for the delay.

Without naming the lawmakers, Guico said the efforts of some senators to block the passage of the anti-terror bill clearly indicates why "this legislative chamber has degenerated into the country’s most expensive debating club."

"Instead of responding to the crisis at hand, and serving as catalysts, some members of the Senate are becoming major obstacles to genuine reforms," he said.

Guico said his 1,502 colleagues noted the penchant of some senators to block all efforts to address the global threat by citing their concerns of possible persecution of critics and human rights violations in utilizing the anti-terrorism law.

Guico, however, pointed out the more pressing issue of containing the threat of terrorism which may put more lives at risk.

"We cannot even legally detain and try in court the wife of a member of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah who already confessed of her husband’s involvement in planning bombing attacks in the country in cahoots with the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

For his part, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn, as chairman of the League of Cities of the Philippines, also blamed the Senate for the absence of an anti-terror law in dealing with extremist groups.

Hagedorn warned the Senate might face the "wrath of the Filipino electorate" in their failure to enact the anti-terror law in the face of the bombing attacks rocking Mindanao.

"We’ll never know where and when this will spread. I strictly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Hagedorn said.

LMP spokesman and Naval, Biliran Mayor Gerry Espina said the Philippines, as a US ally, cannot escape being targeted by Muslim extremists.

Espina said the country must rely on its own resources and strength in dealing with terrorism.

"We cannot always lean on the Americans to provide us succor on this respect," Espina said.

"That is why it is necessary for Congress to enact the proper mechanisms to respond to the alarming situation," he said.

Espina though conceded the government, despite its limited resources and the absence of an anti-terror law, is exerting all efforts to address the threat.

"If the Americans, equipped with advanced satellite technology, failed to prevent the Sept. 11 New York tragedy themselves, how much more with this government that does not have the legislative armory to counter these brutal attacks?" he said.

Philippine Councilors League president Carlo Fortuna chided the Senate for its failure to pass the anti-terror bill before going on a two-week Halloween break.

"This recalcitrant and obstructionist behavior of the Senate is a very compelling reason why we should abolish it and adopt in its place a gridlock-free unicameral parliamentary system," Fortuna stressed.

Fortuna said the unicameral parliamentary form of government suits the temperament and culture of the Filipino people since it will cut down the bureaucratic circuits that has stunted the economic growth of the country for 70 years.

Albay Vice Gov. James Calisin, chairman of the Vice Governors League of the Philippines, said the dilly-dallying in the passage of the anti-terrorism bill in the Senate is an inherent nature of the character of Filipino leaders who laggardly wait until "a small fire becomes a tragic conflagration."

"Our legislative machinery is not working for the welfare of the greater majority of the people. As you can see, innocent civilians, young and old, are the victims.

Calisin, spokesman for the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), batted to change the "failed" political system for a unicameral parliamentary government.

The local officials issued their statements following a warning by the US government that it has "credible information" on bomb attacks in central Mindanao "over the next several days."

The Australian government also warned its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution because of the "high threat of terrorist attack" in some parts of the Philippines, possibly even in Manila.

The warnings came just hours ahead of three separate bombings in North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat that killed six people and injured scores of others in the attacks believed to have been staged by al-Qaeda linked Jemayaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf.

Security officials did not rule out the possibility of terror attacks occurring in Metro Manila.

He said the spate of bombings in Mindanao might have been carried out in retaliatation for the capture of the wife of Dulmatin, a JI militant wanted for the Bali bombings in 2001.

The local officials also noted the country remained extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks largely because of "the continuing impasse between the Senate and House of Representatives not only on the anti-terrorism bill but on other urgent legislative measures."

They said the gridlock between the two legislative chambers with the executive branch of the government "has become the rule rather than the exception under the conflict-wracked bicameral presidential system."

Instead of being an asset, "the Senate has become a major liability to the nation, with taxpayers shelling out billions of pesos each year for the upkeep of the country’s most expensive debating club and non-performing legislative mill," the local officials said in a joint statement.