By President Rodrigo Duterte’s own words, “a state of lawlessness exists in the country making necessary emergency measures.”
This was made even more emphatic by Friday’s bombing of Davao City’s night market which killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens . It was an in-your-face challenge to Duterte, a former Davao City mayor who said “we will crush the Abu Sayyaf group in six weeks.” It came two days after the ISIS-linked ASG raided a Lanao provincial jail and freed a detained Maute leader.
More than 7,000 ground troops were deployed to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf bandits who figured in a bloody encounter in Sulu where government soldiers suffered 15 casualties, prompting President Duterte to throw the AFP’s full force against the notorious kidnap-for-ransom Muslim group. This, even as Duterte is waging a relentless nationwide fight against illegal drug traffickers.
The deployment of government forces in Sulu and Basilan, including tanks and other heavy armor to stabilize the tense situation in Mindanao, plus the series of killings of suspected drug pushers by police, according to a political analyst, was an undeclared martial law. These two scenarios are reminiscent of the situation in the 70s that laid the constitutional basis for then-President Ferdinand Marcos to declare Martial Law on Sept. 21, 1972.
It timely and relevant that former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile spoke on the subject of Charter Change, federalism and a proposed parliamentary form of government. In his speech delivered recently at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, Enrile said the Constitution had outlived its potency to serve as an adequate tool to solve the country’s grave social, economic and political problems. But he urged those who will be involved in amending the Constitution to proceed with caution on federalism and the parliamentary form of government. He said these two areas are unfamiliar terrain although he cited the progress of our Asian neighbors who switched from the presidential system to parliamentary form of government.
Although retired from the Senate where he served as Senate president and lastly as Minority Floor Leader, Enrile is still busy in the lecture circuit aside from hosting an early morning political talk program on radio. At the Holiday Inn Hotel where he holds court with members the 365 Club, Enrile is a source of political wisdom. He has been at the vortex of events from the time of the Marcos regime in which he held several positions as customs commissioner, secretary of finance, justice and defense up to the People Power uprising in February 1986.
The 365 is a loose group of journalists, former congressmen, governors, businessmen and a retired ambassador. Members of 365 listen to what Enrile has to say about the current political landscape. They are not nodding heads to what an elder statesman says . The man is a fountainhead of political wisdom with a deep sense of history.
There’s a saying that you’re not current if you don’t have a sense of history. In his year under detention at the Camp Crame PNP hospital, Enrile immersed himself in books on history, government and global politics. Visitors, and they came almost daily, brought him books.
“I’m a post-graduate of the Camp Crame college,” Enrile said in jest during light moments with 365 members. Indeed, one would be amazed and awed by his uncanny memory and the sharpness of mind as he ranged lessons to be drawn from historical events with present-day political problems. This, from a 92-year old man who has his share of enemies and detractors, among them Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Antonio Trillanes and Alan Cayetano.
Does he agree with Duterte’s draconian measures in his relentless war against drugs, thugss and criminality?
“Whether you agree with him or not, it is the President’s sole responsibility under the Constitution to exercise this vast and awesome power ,” said Enrile without any reference to Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law in 1972. September 21 is coming up soon. Foes and supporters of martial law will mark this significant date. Shades of déjà vu cross our minds as we recall the similar circumstances of lawlessness and the rising threat of communist rebellion that Marcos cited for the declaration of Martial Law. Today, the same situation exists—the IS-linked Abu Sayyaf bombing of Davao, the crime surge and a widespread drug menace that is eroding the very fabric of Philippine society and foundation of family life. Is this chain of events a portent of a declaration of martial law?
Asked if he was willing to serve in a Constitutional Commission to amend the Charter, Enrile said he would be honored to serve and be remembered for his final contribution to the laws of the land. He has, after all, authored law books and stand tall with Estelito Mendoza and other local legal luminaries.