Philippines ex-VP wants court to junk terror law

MANILA, July 17 (Reuters) The former vice president asked the Philippine's highest court today to declare a new law to fight terrorism illegal, saying it was a violation of the constitution's bill of rights.

Teofisto Guingona, who was vice president to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 2001 to 2004, wants the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order to stop government from implementing the Human Security Act of 2007.

The law, which took effect on Sunday, allows detention of suspects without charge for up to three days and provides for up to 40 years in jail for anyone convicted of terrorism.

It also allows security forces to eavesdrop on phone calls, read e-mails and pry into bank accounts if permitted by a court order.

Guingona, who filed his petition with a group of left-wing activists, said the law was ''a bludgeon against fundamental rights of individuals and the Filipino people as a whole''.

He the law as an ''extremely dangerous fascist legal instrument'', recalling his experiences during the 20 year rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos until 1986.

Guingona said he was worried the government could use the new law as a weapon against legitimate political dissent, harrassing and persecuting people who may take part in street protests, Arroyo signed the anti-terror legislation into law in March, but postponed its implementation until two months after elections on May 14 to assure her political opponents it would not be used against them.

The country has been fighting communist rebels across the country for nearly 40 years and Islamic militants in the south for almost the same period.

REUTERS SKB KP1648