BY REGINA BENGCO
PRESIDENT Arroyo is not supporting the
revival of the anti-subversion act and she merely tossed the
matter to Congress, Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the
peace process, said yesterday.
Dureza said he also does not favor the
enactment of a new anti-subversion act.
He said he was present during the Bicol Local
Peace and Security Assembly in Masbate Thursday last week when
Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis told the President about his plan to
file a bill reviving the outlawing of the communist movement.
"Not being ready to take a position on the
matter, PGMA just matter-of-factly passed the matter to Congress
by saying that it would depend on congressional decision. If
okay with Congress and the people, it’s okay with her, she
clearly said," Dureza said.
He said Arroyo usually waits for the Cabinet
security cluster to study such proposals and make
recommendations.
He said there is no bill yet for the Cabinet
to discuss because it was just a verbal proposal of Solis.
But chief presidential legal counsel Sergio
Apostol said he favors the revival of the anti-subversion law (R.A.
1700), which was repealed in 1992 by a bill pushed by then
congressman and now Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
Apostol said revival might have a chance of
passing Congress because "subversion is still very active."
He reiterated his proposal to "modify" the
anti-subversion act to include not just the Left-leaning but
also the rightist groups like the Magdalo group of Sen. Antonio
Trillanes IV.
The Arroyo administration received huge flak
for the reported planned revival of RA 1700, with leftist
lawmakers saying it was part of a plan to declare martial law
and extend Arroyo’s hold on power.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said a
new anti-subversion law will do no good for the administration’s
image.
"It shows how really weak and how truly
nervous and paranoid is the reigning administration in losing
its hold of power and tenure of office," he said.
But Cruz said the public should be prepared
that will be issued by the Arroyo government. The order, he
said, will state: "Thou shalt not speak, thou shalt not move and
thou shalt not breathe." – With Gerard Naval
