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[av_heading heading=’Congress OKs M’nao martial law extension ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY PRINCE GOLEZ and ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Congress granted yesterday President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend the martial law in Mindanao for another year.
Voting 240-27 without abstentions, lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives approved the extension along with the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until Dec. 31, 2018.
Fourteen senators agreed to the extension and four objected, while 226 representatives approved it and 23 dissented.
Duterte made the request citing the continuing presence of security threats in the southern region and based on the recommendation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the martial law must be extended to allow government forces to completely stamp out rebellion in Mindanao.
“The terrorists are actively recruiting some Muslim youths in the area. That is what we are saying: rebellion has not stopped in Mindanao, it just moved to another place,” Lorenzana said.
“The situation in Marawi has substantially changed from the time we are fighting ISIS-inspired Maute,” he said using another acronym for the Islamic State. “So now there is post-conflict assessment conducted as (the) situation developed.”
Opposition senators questioned the reasons for extending the military rule in Mindanao.
“Is the martial law extension consistent with the Constitution? Our acts must always be consistent with the law and Constitution,” said Francis Pangilinan. “This is what distinguishes us from terrorists, criminals or rebels who we seek to defeat.”
There is no actual rebellion in Mindanao so extending the martial law is “unconstitutional,” stressed Franklin Drilon.
“The 1987 Constitution is clear that Congress can extend the proclamation of martial law only in cases of actual public uprising and taking arms against the government,” said the Senate minority leader.
Citing threats from the New People’s Army as reason, the Ilonggo senator said, is “alarming and a cause of concern.”
“There is no more state of rebellion as admitted by our resource persons. There are only threats at this point,” he said. “The actual armed uprising is the basic foundation for the continued proclamation of martial law.”
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea clarified that Duterte was not asking for “unlimited martial law,” only lasting peace in Mindanao.
Duterte said the extension will “ensure total eradication of DAESH-Inspired Da’awatul Islamiyah Waliyatui Masriq, other like-minded Local/Foreign Terrorist Groups and Armed Lawless Groups, and the communist terrorists and their coddlers, supporters and financiers.”
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian favored the extension. He said it would uphold the country’s sovereignty and defend Mindanaoans from the “vicious attacks of rebel terrorists.”
“Martial law may be a severe means of achieving peace, but desperate times like these call for desperate measures,” he said.
Malacañang welcomed Congress’ decision. “Public safety is our primordial concern,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
“We ask the public to stand behind the administration and rally behind our defenders to quell the continuing rebellion in Mindanao…and ensure the unhampered rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi and the lives of its residents,” he said.
Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law on May 23 after the Maute group laid siege in Marawi in an attempt to create an Islamic State caliphate in the Philippines.
Under the Constitution the proclamation was good for only 60 days but Congress extended it until the end of this year, also upon Duterte’s request./PN
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