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Philippines charges suspects under new terror law
By JIM GOMEZ,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, November 28
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine police charged three bombing suspects with terrorism, a prosecutor said Thursday _ the first time authorities have relied on a new law that mandates excessive fines for improper detention.
Three members of the Al Khobar group were charged with violating the Human Security Act for their alleged involvement in a bombing that injured seven people last May in Midsayap township in southern Northern Cotabato province, state prosecutor Al Calica said.
Al Khobar is a known extortion gang. It is not specifically linked to any militant group in the volatile southern Philippines, which has been riven by a Muslim separatist rebellion for decades.
The three suspects remain at large and will be hunted down once the court in Midsayap issues arrest warrants, Calica said.
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the case would serve as a test case for the anti-terror law.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a key backer of the U.S.-led global war on terrorism, signed the law in July 2007 to bolster the campaign against al-Qaida-linked militants, particularly in the south.
The law defines terrorism as any of at least 12 violent crimes, including rebellion, bombings, murder and kidnappings for ransom, that cause widespread fear and are designed to force the government to give in to an unlawful demand.
The Midsayap bombing stirred public fear and anger. The militants demanded a monthly payment of 100,000 pesos ($2,000) from the local government to spare the town from bombings _ two elements police should prove before they can declare a crime an act of terrorism, Calica said.
Many law enforcers have been wary of trying for convictions under the anti-terror law because of a 500,000 peso ($10,200) fine that can be imposed on individual officers for each day of wrongful detention, Calica said. The fine is intended as a safeguard against police abuses.
Police have instead charged terror suspects with common crimes like murder, he said.
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