MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros said Thursday she has no regrets in not supporting the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, with the recent twin bombings in Jolo, Sulu that killed 15 individuals and injured 75 others. “No regrets and my position on that has been clear,” she told ABS-CBN News Channel when asked if she has any regrets about not voting for the passage of the then anti-terror bill in the Senate. Voting 19-2, the Senate approved in February the then anti-terror bill that sought to toughen the country’s policies against terrorism. Only Hontiveros and Senator Francis Pangilinan voted against the measure. Hontiveros made this remark after pro-administration Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief, asked critics of the anti-terror law if they have yet to outgrow their “imagined threats” under the measure, citing the Jolo bombings.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer August 27, 2020 03:00 UTC