40 Righting Wrongs: Criminal Law Provisions in the Philippines related to National Security and their Impact on Human Rights Defenders delay longer than forty-eight hours must remain absolutely exceptional and be justified under the circumstances.272 D. Recommendations 1. The definition of terrorism in Section 3 of HSA must be amended in order to conform with international standards, including the principle of legality. In keeping with the recommendations of human rights bodies and mechanisms it should only criminalize acts by the perpetrators against the population that are deadly or involve serious violence or hostage taking, used with the intent to cause a state of terror in the general public or to destroy public order or to compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, with the aim of furthering an underlying political or ideological aim. 2. Section 3.a.12(a) of the TFPSA must be amended so that the TFPSA’s definition of terrorist acts is narrowed and linked only to laws and provisions of treaties that that meet the criteria set out by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism. 3. The Government of the Philippines should consider amending the HSA so that it includes a provision expressly stating that the safeguards on human rights embedded in the HSA and other laws in the Philippines shall extend to cooperation with intelligence services of other States. 4. Section 19 of the HSA should be amended so that the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) has no authority to approve the extension of detention of persons suspected to have committed acts of terrorism. Section 19 should require independent and impartial judicial oversight of detention. 5. In order to meet the requirement of promptness set out in Article 9(3) of the ICCPR, the requirement to bring an arrested or detained person before a judge within three days under Sections 18 and 19 of the HSA should be reduced to 48 hours or less. 272 Human Rights Committee General Comment 35, UN Doc. CCPR/C/GC/35, para 33.