SOLICITOR General Jose Calida justified Tuesday the legality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to extend martial law in Mindanao for one year, with Malacañang confident it could muster support for its extension.
Calida stressed the extension had legal basis contrary to the claim of his predecessor, former solicitor general Florin Hilbay, that such extension would violate the Constitution because there was no more existing rebellion in the region after Duterte’s announcement the Maute terrorist group had been neutralized by government troops.
In Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said “We look forward to the support which has been given in the past by Congress.”
He added: “We have factual basis for the declaration of martial law and we see no reason why Congress will not give its usual support to this initiative of the Chief Executive.”
In related developments:
• Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday said he expected Congress to approve the request of Duterte for a one-year extension of martial law.
“Being a Mindanaoan, I do not see any reason why
Congress will not approve his request for extension,” Alvarez said at a news conference.
The House of Representatives and the Senate are set to convene in a joint session today (Wednesday) to decide on whether or not to approve Duterte’s request for a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.
•In the Senate, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the extension of the state of emergency was justified since there was rebellion on the ground and public safety required it.
“And in their assessment, that’s somewhat subjective. They need a year to address the root causes of rebellion but nothing was sure there,” he said.
He said the manifestation of rebellion in Mindanao was the siege in Marawi— the rebels are still there- the Daiwa Ismaliyah or Daesh affiliate, the Maute group.With John Paolo Bencito, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
According to Calida, while Marawi was already liberated, rebellion was still on-going in several parts of Mindanao.
“The President cited compelling reasons in his request to extend the proclamation of martial law, as well as the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, in the whole of Mindanao,” Calida said, referring to the letter request dated Dec. 8, 2017 transmitted to Congress.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are set to hold a joint session today to deliberate on Duterte’s request.
Under the Constitution, Congress, in a joint vote, may revoke or extend the martial law declaration while any citizen may challenge the proclamation before the Supreme Court on the ground of lack of sufficient factual basis.
Earlier, Hilbay said there was no legal justification for the Chief Executive to order the extension of martial law for one year, pointing out that the 1987 Constitution only allowed martial rule if there was an actual invasion or rebellion and when public safety required it.
“We need to clarify what martial law is all about. There’s no such thing as preventive martial law,” he stressed.
On May 23, Duterte declared martial law over Mindanao following Maute’s attack in Marawi City.
The initial declaration was supposed to end after 60 days, but Congress, in a joint session on July 22, approved Duterte’s request to extend it until Dec. 31.
Last October, Duterte declared Marawi free from terrorists following the killings of terror leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.
However, the President recently announced his plan to extend martial law, upon the military and police’s recommendations, due to continuing terrorist recruitment, increasing violence from the communist rebels and the rehabilitation of Marawi.
Alvarez said that personally, he believed the extension of martial law was necessary since rebellion was continuing in Mindanao.
Alvarez also pointed out that communist rebels and other armed groups in Mindanao were continuing their extortion activities against plantations, mining firms, bus companies, contractors, and other big businesses.
Alvarez stressed the people of Mindanao felt safer with martial law in place.
Alvarez allayed concerns the continued imposition of martial law in Mindanao would have a negative impact on the region’s economy.
Alvarez said majority of the businesses in Mindanao supported the extension of martial law. He said the critics of martial law could easily verify this in a survey.
The House held a majority and minority caucus to listen to a briefing of Malacañang officials on the basis of Duterte’s request for extension of martial law.
In the Senate, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the Armed Forces of the Philippines had recommended the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao because of its “psychological impact.”
He said: “Apparently, the Armed Forces has recommended the extension of martial law for its psychological impact. I’m afraid that is not a valid basis for the extension or martial law.”
Drilon and the other senators attended the briefing of Palace and security officials at the Senate.
Among those who briefed the senators about the martial law extension were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, and Local Government Undersecretary Eduardo Año.
Drilon cited the continuing threat from the New People’s Army, which was recently declared as terrorist organization by Duterte himself, was not a “sufficient ground” to justify the martial law extension.
He said the NPA threat was one of the five reasons cited by Duterte when he asked Congress to approve the martial law extension.
“We note that the first reason occupied one page of the request. The citation of the fifth reason, which is the NPA threat, constitutes one whole page. The issue as raised: why, if it’s an extension of an original six-month period or martial law, the NPA is not a factor then?” Drilon asked.
Sen. JV Ejercito said he was convinced that martial law in Mindanao should be extended for another year or even for two years.
He said his main concern was Mindanao’s long problem of loose firearms, which was not a “conducive atmosphere” for business and tourism.
He said authorities had estimated that the number of loose firearms in the region had reached about 500,000 or as high as one million but only 50,000 firearms had so far been recovered. With John Paolo Bencito, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta