ALBAY Rep. Edcel Lagman said Sunday he will file a petition questioning the extension of martial law in Mindanao before the Supreme Court this week.
Lagman, who had filed a losing petition challenging President Rodrigo Duterte’s original martial law declaration, said he would question the factual basis for the extension, as well as its scope of coverage and the length of time involved.
“It’s not right that the entire Mindanao will be included in the extension, because the rebellion, if there is one, cannot be extrapolated to the entire region,” he said in Filipino.
He also said the five-month extension was too long, being even longer than the original 60-day coverage.
Lagman questioned claims by security officials during the joint session on Saturday that no human rights violations were committed during the initial implementation of martial law in Mindanao.
Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, a Duterte supporter, said Lagman’s move was expected.
“I guess they are doing their job in their role as an independent bloc,” he told dzBB in a separate interview.
But he said the Supreme Court had already resolved some of the arguments that Lagman would raise in his new petition.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, meanwhile, said he was disappointed that his colleagues in Congress did not support his proposal to extend martial law in Mindanao by five years or until the end of Duterte’s term.
Also on Sunday, Senator Grace Poe said it was “stupidity” to consider placing the entire country under martial law because excessive power will open the gates to abuses.
“Why don’t we like martial law? Because martial law gives additional power and reduces the right to scrutinize,” said Poe.
She added that Congress would revoke martial law if it can be proven that there were human rights abuses committed under military rule.
Senator Miguel Zubiri justified the extension of martial law, saying the threat of terrorism in Mindanao has not been resolved.
He also said it made sense to include the entire island of Mindanao.
“Why the whole Mindanao? Where were the Maute Group Arrested? In Davao, Zamboanga, and Cagayan de Oro because the boundaries are so porous that we need to protect all our citizens from the spread of this disease of terrorism.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said he would have preferred a more limited scope and period for martial law.
“I would have also preferred a shorter period, to prod an earlier end, because a protracted war only prolongs the agony of civilians caught in the vise-grip of war,” he added.
Senator Richard J. Gordon said he voted in favor of extending martial law imposed in Mindanao following the siege in Marawi City because he does not want the Philippines to go the way of Syria and Iraq.
“Nobody wants martial law, that’s the nature of man. Nobody wants strong leadership that can affect our rights. But this was not something that we wanted, it was placed upon us. . This is about containment—we have to contain the malady,” Gordon said.
Duterte placed all of Mindanao under martial law on May 23, after members of the Maute group, an alleged supporter of the ISIS international terrorist group, attacked Marawi City.
With 261 affirmative votes from both houses, Congress overwhelmingly approved Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao by five more months or until Dec. 31, 2017. The vote came hours before Duterte’s 60-day martial law proclamation lapsed on Saturday night.