Former Senator Ping Lacson: “That being said, any attempt to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act is a disrespect to our comrades-in-arms”
PING LACSON — Former Senator Panfilo Lacson said that any attempt to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act is “a disrespect to our comrades-in-arms” as well as civilians who fell victims to the atrocities of leftist groups that has lost its ideological principles over the years.
Lacson, who is a former Senate national defense committee chairman, authored and sponsored an “almost single-handedly defended the legislative measure in the Senate plenary, as well as in the battle for public opinion in many fora including the media”.
The former senator emphasized in his statement that he wouldn’t hesitate to be part of the opposition in order to thwart moves to amend the said law in its substantive form which the Supreme Court has declared as constitutional.
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Lacson also slammed Senator Legarda for saying that the leftist groups — the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the New Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF) — are “not an enemy of the State”.
According to him, Senator Legarda is his friend and he respects her opinion, but he can’t agree with her stand.
“Simply put, an armed terrorist group —already designated not only by the government of the Republic of the Philippines but also by the European Union, the United States of America and four other countries (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand)—is unequivocally an enemy of the state,” the former senator said.
Lacson’s statement came after Senator Legarda said that she had worked with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and also explained the importance of peace talks with rebels.
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