Philippine president again urges legislature to pass anti-terror law

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Saturday again called on the Philippine Congress to pass an anti-terrorism bill, one day after a local court sentenced three men to death for a terrorist attack early this year.

"We could bring more terrorists to justice if we had an anti- terrorism law in place," her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

"We therefore reiterate the president's urgent call for congressional action on a most vital piece of legislation involving national and global security," he said.

He said the sentencing to death by a regional trial court of three Valentine's Day bombers on Friday showed the Philippine criminal justice system was fully consolidated in the fight against terrorism.

A trial court in Makati City, Metro Manila, sentenced to death three bombers -- one Indonesian and two Filipinos -- who were convicted of staging a bombing attack on a passenger bus in Makati on the Feb. 14 Valentine's Day this year, in which four were killed and about 100 wounded.

The government earlier hailed the verdict as "another victory in our relentless fight against terrorism."

This was the first time a member of the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network was convicted by a Filipino court.

The condemned Indonesian national, Rohmat Abdurrohim, admitted being a member of the JI but pleaded not guilty in the attack.

But he admitted having trained his two Filipino co-convicted Gammal Baharan and Khalil Trinidad, and a third suspect who testified against them during their trial.

Source: Xinhua