TOP officials of the police and military on Monday said terror groups are drawn to the Philippines as the country enjoys too much "democratic space."
"You know the country enjoys so much democratic space that is being exploited by terror groups and also criminal groups," Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Eduardo Año said in a press conference after a joint police-military command conference in Quezon City.
He noted the strict internal security laws being observed in Singapore, United States, Malaysia, Australia, are deterrent to terrorism.
In these four countries, Año said, their laws allow them to detain a person on suspicion that they are involved in criminal activities.
Año said in relation to such, they are pushing for amendments to the country's Human Security Act as they believe that the law in its present form is not enough to address the threats of terrorism in the country.
He, however, did not elaborate on the matter.
Philippines National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa, for his part, said the county's democratic space is sometimes leading to bordering indiscipline.
He cited two things in the country's laws that make the operation of the terrorists easier: the absence of the national identification system and the unregulated use of mobile phones and cyberspace, which is a necessity for tracking purposes.
"We have been clamoring for that (national ID system) but it's a very uphill battle," said Dela Rosa.
"Those recommendations having in the air for quite so long but mahirap talaga 'yung utak ng Pilipino mahirap nating kalabanin. So yun libre sila dito, masyado raw sila maluwag," he added.
[Those recommendations having in the air for quite so long but it is really hard to go against what's in the mind of the Filipinos. So there, they are free here.] (VoxPop Philippines)
