Justices grill government lawyers on Anti-Terror Act’s ‘vagueness’
Justices grill government lawyers on Anti-Terror Act’s ‘vagueness’
“It is not merely provocation. What I fear about is the phrase ‘provoke the government’ is too vague so as to include any kind of provocation. It did not say that to provoke a government to do or to abstain from doing an act. Just it stated that to provoke the government.”
By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Supreme Court justices raised questions on the vague provisions of the Anti-Terror Law, and the possible dangers of the law on red-tagged groups and individuals during the oral arguments Tuesday, May 11.
Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda asked why lawmakers did not use a “modifier” on the phrase “provoke the government” when the law defined what will constitute acts of terrorism. Other countries, he added, used terms such as “coercing or forcing the government to carry out an act.”
“It is not merely provocation. What I fear about is the phrase ‘provoke the government’ is too vague so as to include any kind of provocation. It did not say that to provoke a government to do or to abstain from doing an act. Just it stated that to provoke the government,” said Zalameda.
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