The Department of Justice is considering creating a special task force that will investigate individuals who may be linked to “lawless or terrorist acts” in areas where the government recently sent troops to quell violence, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Saturday.
The justice chief made the statement a day after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the deployment of additional troops to Bicol, Samar and Negros provinces to suppress “lawless violence.”
According to Guevarra, his department is called upon to probe and prosecute those who might be arrested for criminal acts.
In a related development, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said more troops might be deployed to areas controlled by communist guerrilas to suppress “lawless violence” in the runup to the 2019 midterm elections.
Lorenzana’s statement followed President Duterte’s order for more soldiers to be stationed in Bicol, Samar and the Negros provinces citing a “number of [recent] sporadic acts of violence” there.
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Lorenzana said these areas were considered “critical” during elections since the guerrillas stop candidates from campaigning unless they paid the rebels an undisclosed amount of money.
Under Memorandum Order 32, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the executive sent more government forces to Bicol, Samar, and Negros provinces where a “number of sporadic acts of violence” recently occurred.
The order “merely reiterates and reinforces” a similar directive Duterte issued in 2016, Guevarra said.
Duterte issued his third Memo in September 2016 when he declared a “state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao” after a blast in Davao City killed at least 12 people and injured several others.
Officials said the military was still assessing the pre-election scenarios in other areas.
The government earlier canceled peace negotiations with the communist movement following continued attacks on government troops despite current talks.
According to Lorenzana, the suppression of lawless violence might lead to the extension of military rule in Mindanao, Lorenzana said, but added this would not lead to a declaration of a nationwide martial law.
Martial law has been in place in Mindanao since May 2017, at the start of firefights between soldiers and terrorists in Marawi City.
It was extended despite the end of the siege in October last year, with government citing remaining threats in the area. Its extension is set to lapse by the end of the year.
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