Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday he would endorse the military recommendation that martial law in Mindanao be extended for another year, but the Commission on Human Rights rejected the proposal, saying President Rodrigo Duterte already had enough powers to deal with the situation in the south.
Ahead of a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Lorenzana said the continued presence of terrorist elements—including remnants of the Maute group that overran Marawi City—justified the extension of military rule.
He also cited reports that foreign terrorist from neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia have entered the country through its southern back door unnoticed.
“There are incursions of terrorists coming from neighboring countries… but we are validating these [reports],” he said.
If martial law is extended when it expires on Dec. 31, 2018, it will be the second extension.
CHR chairman Chito Gascon, meanwhile, said the military and police must justify their proposal to extend martial law because he believed it was unnecessary.
On May 23, 2017, President Duterte imposed martial law in Mindanao due to the Marawi siege.
Congress, in a joint session last year, granted President Duterte’s request to extend the martial law in Mindanao and suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao from Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2018.
Opposition lawmakers rejected an extension.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said another extension would mock the Constitution, given the “wanton absence of actual rebellion.”
Lagman said “rebellion does not persist in Mindanao and consequently public safety is not imperiled.”
He said Armed Forces chief Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. and Lorenzana were dragging their feet in recommending the extension because there was no critical need for it.
Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano also warned that martial law “is for emergency and temporary cases only” and “should never be treated as something ordinary and lasting.”
Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate raised fear that the extension could lead to an expansion of martial law over other parts of the country.
“The problem here is that it may appear as if the declaration of martial law is unlimited depending on the whims and caprice of the military,” Zarate said.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Tuesday rejected plans to extend martial law for another year.
“The proposed second extension of martial law is unconstitutional,” Drilon said.
“There is no basis for a second extension of martial law as there was no ground that necessitated the first extension,” he added.
“The Constitution is clear that martial law may be declared only in cases of actual rebellion when public safety requires it,” he said.
“I may sound like a broken record but for the nth time, I would repeat: There is no actual rebellion. Rebellion no longer persists in Mindanao,” Drilon said.
The former Justice secretary said Galvez’s statement that “terrorism is still lurking in the area” confirmed there was no actual rebellion in Mindanao.
“There may be threats of rebellion, but what the Constitution clearly requires as a ground for declaring and extending martial law is the presence of actual rebellion,” he added.
“Let us not normalize martial law. Instead, let us help bring back normalcy in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Mindanao, Drilon said.
The opposition senator said that the AFP and Philippine National Police can very well exercise their powers under the law without placing the south under martial law.
Even without martial law, I have full confidence in the capability of our military and the police to suppress criminals, rebels and terrorist,” he said
Senator Francis Pangilinan called on the military to match its request for martial law extension with hard and justifiable facts.
For instance, he said it should answer the question: How big and wide is the threat in the region that necessitates it to be placed under such a declaration?
As it is, he said, what have been evident are intimidation and harassment by state forces and paramilitary groups.
The Liberal Party president also said the extension itself is a manifestation of martial law’s failure in the region.
He said this is so because the military might could never solve the people’s woes deeply rooted in poverty, lack of jobs, absence of basic services.
“We should also take note that we are heading toward the midterm elections, and a region under the control of the military could affect the campaigning of opposition candidates and those not allied with the administration,” he said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said he is ready to listen to a briefing to be provided by military officials on the martial law extension.
“We may have to listen to their briefing and answer our questions first for us to find out what good has martial law brought to the people of Mindanao since Congress voted to concur with the President’s proclamation and its subsequent extension,” Lacson said.
“This time around, they should expect harder questions than before,” he added.
Senator Grace Poe said she would inquire as to the presence of actual rebellion, which the Constitution requires before martial law can be imposed.
Also on Tuesday, the House committee on human rights chaired by Zambales Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla approved a bill filed by the Makabayan bloc that say government agencies must act within three days on cases involving human rights violations.
Zarate, the bill’s main proponent, welcomed its approval and appealed to House leader to give the measure priority.
“The passing of this landmark bill which Bayan Muna had been filing since 2007 is historic because it is only now that it has passed the committee level. This is also very timely considering that human rights defenders now are under attack,” said Zarate, citing “the case of the illegal arrest of former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Rep. France Castro and other.