THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the constitutionality of the congressional approval on the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.
In a 99-page memorandum, Solicitor General Jose Calida also challenged the petitioners to prove to the SC that the government had not successfully quelled rebellion, even as he sought for the dismissal of the petitions against the martial law extension for lack of merit.
Calida argued that the high court already ruled that President Rodrigo Duterte had “sufficient factual bases” to show that actual rebellion existed in the region.
“In any event, the Court had already declared that there is rebellion in Mindanao, the onus lies on the petitioners to show that the rebellion has been completely quelled,” Calida stressed.
“Since petitioners have not shown facts to the contrary, they cannot ask the Court to set aside the extension of the proclamation and suspension,” the chief state lawyer said.
Besides, the Solicitor General said there was no need for the government to show the magnitude of the rebellion.
“Placing the requirement of public safety on a scale, or even continuum, will not only prevent the application of the laws but undermine the Constitution,” Calida said.
“Martial law as an option of the President exists precisely to address a rebellion that endangers public safety,” the Solicitor General said, in justifying his plea for SC to dismiss the four petitions seeking to declare the martial law extension in Mindanao as unconstitutional.
In a nutshell, the petitioners argued that the extension, which was approved by Congress in a joint session last December, lacked sufficient factual basis as Marawi City was already liberated and key leaders of the rebellion were reported dead.
However, Calida insisted that the liberation of Marawi City did not signal the end of the rebellion in the whole of Mindanao.