Weapon vs terror

Don’t think for a moment that the foiled bombing plot in London will finally persuade the Senate to pass an anti-terrorism law.

The main concern of those opposing the proposed law is that it could be used for political harassment by the Arroyo administration. More precisely, they are worried that the law will be used against them. And no safeguard built into the law is going to change their mind.

After the insecurity and paranoia that bred Proclamation 1017 and the calibrated preemptive response, the concern is valid. But sitting on the bill will not stop the administration from monitoring the movements of its political enemies. Instead it will allow enemies of all peace-loving people to continue exploiting democratic space and weak laws to sow hatred and fear and commit mass murder.

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Anyone who takes on the government should be prepared for retaliation using every weapon at the state’s disposal. The administration’s response to recent political threats, though widely seen as overkill, was not entirely misplaced. It’s time for the Filipino soldier to disabuse himself from the idea that launching a coup or a mutiny is a basic human right. And private citizens should stop thinking that supporting a coup is among the civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

With all the technological advances in electronic surveillance, everyone should live with the possibility that Big Brother may be watching. Those with nothing to hide should have nothing to fear.

If opposition politicians have not been involved in attempts to overthrow the government and have not been recruiting spies to steal classified information from the United States, what have they got to fear?

We must face the fact that Southeast Asia has bred its own Islamist terror group, Jemaah Islamiyah, and unless we get our act together, our country — already JI’s training center — will be seen as the weakest link in the region’s counterterrorism chain.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong rates terrorism as one of a handful of major threats to the survival of his country and the region. He would not rate each country’s capability to handle the threat, saying only that Southeast Asian countries "are working together." But his country is bracing for a long battle.

"(Terrorists) have used and distorted interpretations of Islam in order... to destroy the international system as we know it," Lee told us in Singapore last week. "It’s a problem that continues... you can be sure that they will not always be caught."

Singapore has long had in place some of the world’s toughest measures to deal with security threats. But it is not resting, assessing new threats as they emerge, such as the use of liquid explosives to blow up planes.

What are we doing to deal with the threat?

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We’re back in the international news again, and the reason is not exactly flattering. After British authorities foiled a plot to bomb at least 10 US-bound flights from London last week, the world was reminded that plans to carry out terrorist attacks on commercial airliners were first uncovered in Manila over a decade ago.

We must work hard to convince a fearful world that we are doing our homework to keep everyone in this country safe — Filipinos and foreigners alike.

Reassuring the world includes passing a law against terrorism — an offense that does not even exist in our statute books. It also includes catching Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.

Our security forces cannot even hold on to arrested terror suspects because, in the absence of an offense called terrorism, bombers are charged with ordinary crimes that often allow them to be released on bail, free once again to launch the next terrorist attack.

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Britain uncovered the latest plot and caught the suspects using laws passed in the period after 9/11 and the London subway attack. The new measures include vast state powers to keep terror suspects and their sympathizers under close surveillance and to limit their mobility.

The measures pending in our Congress have some controversial provisions that need careful consideration, and oversight functions must be built into the law to protect civil liberties even as the state is given more weapons to defend itself.

In considering the provisions, legislators must think beyond politics, and consider instead how the law they are crafting will make the country safe for everything and everyone that they hold dear.

In every country that has faced a terrorist threat or experienced an attack, there are continuing debates on how far citizens are willing to limit freedoms they have long enjoyed in the name of security.

Governments have a common response: terrorists are out to obliterate all those freedoms, so citizens must be prepared to strike certain compromises with the state.

Will the law be open to abuse? Every law in this country can be abused, flouted, misinterpreted. As long as the law is there, however, there is always the chance that its provisions will be properly enforced, and its objective of keeping the nation safe from murderous zealots will be achieved.

Properly crafted, a law can even erase gray areas and limit the powers of the state to curtail civil liberties in the name of national security.

Giving security forces more teeth to fight terrorists can be tricky because the emphasis must be on prevention. Preempting an attack is the reason for tighter security regulations at airports around the globe.

I was fortunate to fly out of Singapore late Friday with the tighter security measures being applied only to passengers on UK-bound flights. There were no long queues for security checks, except perhaps in the areas for UK-bound passengers. I passed through check-in, immigration and baggage check with the usual speed and ease for which Changi airport is renowned.

Arriving at the NAIA was also hassle-free for those on our flight. But measures now being implemented in the wake of the liquid bomb plot are likely to become permanent, just as taking off shoes became a regular security procedure in many airports following the arrest of American "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

Dealing with terror has become a way of life around the globe. We are inconvenienced, we are uncomfortable, and there are those who have allowed themselves to be terrorized. We need all the weapons to fight back.