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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Saturday, June 17, 2017
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MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Senate and the House of Representatives to answer the petitions calling the high court to order a joint session of Congress to tackle the declaration of martial law in the entire Mindanao.
SC spokesperson Theodore Te said Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has 10 days to answer the petitions filed by Sen. Leila de Lima and former government officials led by lawyer Alex Padilla.
The petitioners insisted that convening a joint session to review the declaration of martial law in the entire Mindanao is a must as stated in the 1987 Constitution.
It also added that failure to conduct a joint session in the Congress deprives lawmakers a chance to look on the validity of the declaration and to determine if there is factual basis for it.
Both House and Senate has previously rejected the joint session saying they will only convene if ever Duterte will extend the martial law declaration beyond the 60-day period.
Aside from the above petitions, there also petitions before the high court calling for the junking of the martial law declaration in Mindanao since there is no factual basis for it.
Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 from Moscow, Russia following the clash between government troops and the Maute terror group in Marawi City.
The Maute group, also known as the Islamic State of Lanao, is a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas and some foreign fighters./PN
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