PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, whose request for extension of martial law in Mindanao was approved by Congress Wednesday, issued a thrashing warning he was also considering options against the communist New People’s Army should it continue with its predatory attacks.
During a chance interview at Fort Bonifacio, Duterte said: “If the NPAs say we are recruiting in mass numbers, and they create trouble, and they are armed, and they will destroy government—[the government] will not wait until the dying days of its existence.”
Should “terrorist” activities of the NPAs continue, he said his parameters of declaring nationwide martial law would have reached a point of no return.
In related developments:
• Congress, in a joint session, granted Wednesday Duterte’s desire to extend martial law in Mindanao for another year to enable him to put an end to threats of terrorism and allow the rebuilding and rehabilitation of the region.
Voting 240-27, the House of Representatives and the Senate voted separately on Resolution of Both Houses 13 which called for the extension of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until the end of next year.
The Senate voted 14-4, while the House voted 226-23.
The lawmakers were convinced that the Palace’s request for the need to extend martial law in Mindanao had factual basis.
EXTENDED. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (inset) lead the joint session of Congress which discussed and debated Wednesday the one-year extension, as requested by President Duterte, of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Ver Noveno
• Malacañang welcomed the move of Congress to extend martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, with Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque saying “public safety is our primordial concern; thus, we ask the public to stand behind the administration and rally behind our defenders to quell the continuing rebellion in Mindanao.”
“This is everyone’s shared responsibility. Together, we will prevail,” he added.
• The ruling Liberal Party under the previous administration issued a resolution opposing the one-year extension of martial law for “lack of legal and actual basis.”
A copy of the resolution dated Dec. 13, 2017, signed by Senator Francis Pangilinan as party president and LP’s secretary-general, Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte, was released to the media shortly after Congress granted the extension.
The resolution said after receiving Duterte’s letter-request last Dec. 11, Pangilinan instructed its party members to hold a consultation to ascertain their sentiment on the issue.
“At this time, all options are on the table. Only one rationale remains—the existence of the Republic of the Philippines,” Duterte told reporters.
“You threaten the existence of the republic of the Philippines—and I am sure everybody will react and will do [everything] to prevent it,” he added.
Duterte insisted there was actual rebellion in Mindanao amid criticisms the latest extension, from Jan. 1, 2018 to the end of the year was unconstitutional.
“There is actually rebellion in Mindanao. There is fighting going on. Ano ba naman klaseng ***** ‘yan.”
“I will not wait for the 25th hour strikes, for the bells to toll and sound the knell of grief.”
In his speech, Duterte said the congressional approval provides the government a “big window” in its fight against terrorism in Mindanao.
“There’s a one-year [extension]. It’s a big window actually for all of us. I’m not a dreamer but the reality is if the extension is one year, the enemies of the state would run out of bullets,” said Duterte, who was grateful to Congress for the extension.
He also noted that martial law would enable state troops to easily run after terrorists and their coddlers.
“Without the martial powers, the ancillary powers attached to the implementors, the implementing agency, [we would find it difficult to fight against the terrorists].”
“[How long can we detain a person?] The longest is 36 hours. You think you can really solve the problem, the crime [with that time span]?”
In May, Duterte imposed military rule and suspended the writ—a constitutional guarantee against warrantless arrests—across the region of 20 million people, hours after armed Islamic militants seized the southern city of Marawi.
The initial period of martial law was limited by the Constitution to 60 days.
However, in July Congress authorized Duterte to extend martial law until the last day of 2017 as he moved to retake the city from hundreds of gunmen he accused of plotting to turn Marawi into a regional base for the Islamic State group.
Duterte declared Marawi “liberated” in October after a five-month US-backed bombing campaign that claimed more than 1,100 lives and left large areas of the city in ruins.
But on Monday he warned that those who escaped were regrouping.
Duterte, who called off peace talks last month with communist rebels, also warned one of Asia’s longest armed rebellions had stepped up “terrorist acts.”
His request added to critics’ fears he was seeking to steer the Philippines back into dictatorship like the late president Ferdinand Marcos did in 1972.
Marcos, guided by the 1935 Constitution, declared martial law in September 1972 to check what he called was a state of rebellion and subversion. He lifted the emergency in January 1981, on Constitution Day, three months before he called for a presidential election where he beat challenger former Defense Secretary Alejo Santos.
Opposition legislators said Wednesday that martial law was illegal because Duterte had declared the liberation of Marawi and described the communists as a “spent force.”
“It is clear that this is a tool of repression leading to a dictatorship,” Rep. Emmi De Jesus said, explaining her vote.
“Is this now a prelude to declaring martial law nationwide?” said Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
Duterte has repeatedly said he may impose martial law across the entire nation to save the Philippines from narcotics, crime and terrorism-induced anarchy.
But his Cabinet members downplayed those fears.
“We do not ask for unlimited martial law. What we are seeking is unlimited peace,” Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea told the joint session.
“In sum, the factual basis that compelled the President to declare martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao, as affirmed by the Congress and validated by the Supreme Court, continues to exist,” Medialdea told the joint session of Congress.
Medialdea said the President did “not ask for unlimited martial law” but only “unlimited peace,” saying the threats of rebellion continued in Mindanao despite the improved situation in Marawi City.
“Public safety requires a further extension of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao, in order to quell this rebellion completely.”
Medialdea cited four main reasons as the basis of President Duterte’s request for Congress to extend the existing martial law in Mindanao for one year.
Medialdea said despite the death of Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers, the known leaders of the Daesh-inspired Da’awatul Islamiyah Waliyatul Masriq, remnants of their groups have continued to rebuild their organization through recruitment and training of new members, as well as financial and logistical build up in Central Mindanao in preparation for a new wave of attacks.
Medialdea said among those listed in the arrest order were 185 suspected jihadists who were likely consolidating their forces now.
He also said Hapilon’s potential successor as Amir of the Daesh in the Philippines and Southeast Asis, Turaifie, had organized a group monitored to be planning to launch bombings, possibly in Cotabato.
Medialdea said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters continued to commit acts of lawless violence.
The remnants of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi also remain a serious security concern.
Moreover, he pointed out that the New People’s Army had taken advantage of the situation by intensifying its attacks not only against government forces but also against civilians and private entities, which prompted Duterte to cancel the peace talks with the communist rebels.
“These atrocities compelled the President to declare the NDF-CPP-NPA [National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army] as terrorist organization,” he said.
During the joint session, Drilon said the President’s request to impose martial rule in Mindanao for another year was baseless even as he asked if the inclusion of the NPA as one of the reasons in the President’s request could trigger a nationwide martial law.
“Is the request for extension a prelude to the declaration of martial law nationwide?” Drilon asked.
“The Constitution is clear that Congress can only extend the proclamation of martial law in case of actual, public uprising and taking arms against the government,” said Drilon.
Opposition lawmakers also rejected the joint session’s approval of the President’s request to prolong the military rule in Mindanao.
Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano said the extension of martial law would run counter to the provisions of 1987 Constitution, which states that martial law would be declared when there is actual rebellion or invasion and when public safety requires it.
“Extending martial law for one year is an admission that civilian authority is not anymore functioning which necessitates military rule. I believe this is not the case,” Alejano said.
Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza questioned the constitutional basis for the request of the President to extend martial law in Mindanao for one year.
“We are asking for a clarification from the Executive and the military on the provisions of the Constitution—Article VII, Section 18 clearly limits the power of the President, any President to declare Martial Law, if needed, and to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for a maximum not to exceed 60 days,” Atienza, who was the first to interpellate on the part of the House of Representatives during the special joint session of Congress.
“With that well-defined limitation, how can the request for extension before Congress go beyond what has been defined?” Atienza asked.
Atienza stressed that Congress should follow and respect the limitations provided for by the Constitution.
“We maintain, therefore, that Congress, in performing its task, after having been requested by the President, should limit its extension within the bounds of the 60-day period. One week, two weeks, one month, 60 days—not beyond 60 days…Congress may decide to extend, but aren’t we supposed to respect the limitations set forth by the Constitution? We should and we must,” Atienza said.
For her part, Kusug Tausug Party-list Rep. Shernee Tan suggested a nationwide declaration of martial law, saying the presence of NPA in Luzon and Visayas, and thus, urged that martial law be declared all over the country.
“Mr. Speaker, there are still NPA [New People’s Army], and they could also make a tax in Luzon and Visayas, therefore, as representative of Kusug Tausug party-list, I reiterate my stand that martial law should be extended not just in Mindanao but also in Luzon and in Visayas if it serves the best interest of our nation,” said Tan.
But Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the threats posed by the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Luzon and Visayas had been contained.
“I think the reason why the NPA in Mindanao are included is because of the intensity…45 percent of the NPA in the whole Philippines are in Mindanao. And they are creating havoc, especially in eastern Mindanao,” Lorenzana said. With AFP and Macon Ramos-Araneta
