Duterte "inclined" to sign anti-terror bill, says Roque
President Rodrigo Duterte is "inclined" to sign the enrolled anti-terror bill despite the strong opposition against it by some human rights groups and lawmakers, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
In a television interview, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is taking a final look at the bill, which Congress forwarded to the Office of the President last week.
"He (Duterte) spoke and rhetorically he said he was waiting for Senator (Panfilo) Lacson to finish his commas and his periods. But that was rhetorical because, of course, the enrolled bill is now in his desk. So let's just say that he's taking a final look at it but I think he is inclined to sign it," he said.
Lacson is the main author of the bill in the Senate.
But in a press briefing later in the day, Roque said the enrolled bill could still be with the Office of the Executive Secretary for study.
He said the bill has not yet reached the President's table as Duterte only arrived in Manila on Sunday.
Roque, quoting Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduaro Año, said that more local government officials have expressed support to the anti-terror bill.
To date, he said 784 local chief executives, including 43 governors, 68 city mayors, and 673 municipal mayors, have been supporting the proposed measure.
According to some quarters, the anti-terror bill, once it becomes a law, could be used by the authorities against the critics of the government. Celerina Monte/DMS
