President Rodrigo Duterte said he would not impose martial law on the entire country after ordering the deployment of more troops to parts of the Visayas and Southern Luzon to suppress “lawless violence.”
“I won’t declare martial law. Why would I declare martial law? I can just arrest [you]. I can even kill you,” Duterte said in a speech during the 35th founding anniversary of the Philippine Army Reserve Command in Tanza, Cavite Thursday evening.
His remark comes a month before military rule in Mindanao will expire.
The President also said he has no plans to extend his stay in office.
“I am ordering you now. If I were to overshoot even an hour in my term, arrest me and put [me before a] firing squad,” the President told soldiers and army reservists.
“That’s why your loyalty should not lie [with] me. You remain loyal to the flag. That is what is democracy is all about,” he said.
On Friday morning, the Palace announced that Duterte ordered additional troops sent to several parts of the country to repress acts of lawless violence, citing a “number of sporadic acts of violence.”
In his Memorandum Order No. 32, President called for the deployment of additional police and military forces to the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and even the Bicol Region in a bid to “prevent such violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the country.”
“There is a need to reinforce the directive of the President in order to prevent further loss of innocent lives and destruction of property and bring the whole country back to a state of complete normalcy as quick as possible,” the memorandum read, citing a spate of violent acts “committed by lawless groups.”
Duterte also tasked the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Justice, and other law enforcement agencies to “intensify their local and transnational intelligence operations against individuals or groups suspected of committing or conspiring to commit lawless violence.”
The memorandum, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, also said the military and police are “enjoined to observe existing rules and jurisprudence in instances that may justify the implementation of warrantless arrests, searches and seizures, as well as ensure compliance with guidelines for police and military checkpoints and stop-and-frisk situations.”
“Any AFP or PNP personnel found violating any of the foregoing constitutional rights shall be held administratively, civilly or criminally liable, therefore,” it added.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said there has been “a wave of lawless violence” in recent months, in which uniformed personnel has been attacked and in which civilians and local officials have been murdered.
In one instance, he said, soldiers providing relief to victims of a typhoon in Northern Samar were ambushed.
In Negros Oriental, he said, a police chief was murdered and there were reports of heavy equipment being torched and police detachments being attacked.
He also cited the massacre of nine farmers in Sagay, Negros Occidental.
“The order reflects the President’s assurance to our people that authorities will continue respecting and giving due regard to the constitutional rights of all individuals while it is in place. Civil and political rights, as well as all existing rules and applicable jurisprudence during a state of national emergency, shall remain observed by agents of the AFP and PNP,” Panelo said.
He added that the order was related to Duterte’s earlier proclamation declaring a state of national emergency in the Philippines to curb lawless violence.
In September 2016, the President released Proclamation No. 55 which put the country in a state of national emergency, ordering the AFP and PNP not just to suppress any and all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao but also to prevent such lawless violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the Philippines.
