Elastic

In an effort to capture congressman Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, currently moving from one country to another, Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla is looking into the possibility of labelling the fugitive legislator a “terrorist.” Under the terms of our Anti-Terror Law (ATL), international convention obliges other countries to arrest the fugitive “terrorist.”

This might seem to be a practical step to take to close the net on an elusive fugitive implicated in the gruesome murder of a provincial governor and several of his supporters. But it comes at the risk of making the provisions of the ATL elastic – therefore subject to abuse.

When the ATL was being debated, opponents of the measure warned that it could be subject to abuse. The definition of what constitutes “terrorism” could be stretched to cover all sorts of misdemeanor. That seems to be happening right now.

Once the terrorist label has been attached, normal legal protections evaporate. The subject’s bank accounts could be frozen and warrantless searches may be conducted. International conventions could be invoked to help in the capture of the subject “terrorist.” The sphere of legal protections for the accused could be shrunk drastically.

Teves is implicated in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and several others. The murder was carried out by a band of heavily armed men that managed to gain entry into the victim’s home. Executed with military precision, the gunmen fired on their target and others around him with brutal abandon.

Most of the gunmen who participated in this horrible attack have been arrested. Many of them turned out to be former soldiers trained precisely in conducting such an assault. They were armed with automatic weapons. The murdered governor did not stand a chance.

We have to be shocked with this murder. It is the culmination of so much politically-inspired violence in this forsaken province. It is violence brimming with impunity.

The gunmen now in government custody point to Teves as the mastermind of the assault. Several police raids have been conducted in properties owned by Teves. These raids yielded high-powered firearms.

Teves was abroad, on official leave, when the assault on his political rival happened. He has refused to return even after the House of Representatives suspended him and his own brother appealed for his surrender.

Hiding beyond our boundaries, Teves is out of reach of our police. He could remain abroad indefinitely even after he is charged for the murder. That is exasperating for the authorities.

Remulla thinks the exasperation might be relieved by declaring Teves a terrorist, making his capture an international concern. His department will no doubt try its best to gather evidence that might qualify the congressman to be a terrorist.

Resort to the ATL, however, might be a step too far. It could undermine the credibility of our law among the community of states.

More than that, it could make the categories of crime and classification of criminals too elastic for comfort. The cure might actually be worse than the disease.

Outage

Early morning yesterday, NAIA Terminal 3 suffered a power outage. As a result, many flights were cancelled, magnifying the chaos. As this is being written, the terminal runs on emergency power and the cause of the outage is still being investigated.

On the first day of this year, our air traffic control system collapsed. The cause has been traced to a problem with the system’s power supply. Dozens of flights were disrupted and thousands of passengers were displaced.

The Jan. 1 collapse of our air traffic control system and yesterday’s shutdown of an airport terminal hit passengers precisely on days when air traffic was particularly heavy. The January shutdown happened when people were returning to work from the traditional Christmas break. Yesterday, people were traveling at the end of a long summer weekend.

The chronic failures in our premier airport exact incalculable economic losses and a lot of distress. They certainly undermine all our efforts to attract foreign tourists and encourage domestic tourism. Who would want to holiday in a country whose airports suffer repeated power outages?

These failures happen either because of poor maintenance or a lack of investment in redundant systems. Neither is tolerable. Our airport is the world’s window into how things work in our society. If it constantly succumbs to kinks and bugs, this speaks volumes about our management of critical transport facilities.

Perhaps the NAIA is too old, too rundown and too poorly maintained. That makes this vital facility unreliable. In this interconnected world, transport unreliability is a cardinal sin.

Last week, by chance, a consortium of large conglomerates made an unsolicited offer to upgrade the NAIA and improve its management. They will need about P20 billion to do so. In exchange, they will run the airport and charge the fees that will enable them to recover their investments.

NAIA is a spectacle. It has four terminals that are not linked by commuter transport. For all the flights it is expected to handle, it has only one international grade runway. This deficiency forced planes to queue in the air, waiting for the opportunity to land. Often this adds a full hour to the length of the flight.

If the consortium that wants to manage NAIA manages to take control of the facility, they will have a short horizon to recover their investments – unless they are simply making a play for the precious land. San Miguel is building a real 21st century air facility in nearby Bulacan.