Senate minority: No to martial law extension

FILE: Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon (Photo: Franklin Drilon/Facebook)

Following the recommendations of the military and the police to extend the martial law in Mindanao, Senate minority members express their opposition on Friday.

“We members of the minority, support the position of Mindanaoans for no martial law extension in their home island,” Senators Franklin Drilon, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, and Antonio Trillanes IV said in a joint statement.

The senators stressed that martial law is what gave the people fear to return to their homes even in cleared areas.
“Lifting military rule, specifically in Marawi, will hasten the return of affected residents to their homes, according to its citizens,” the statement read.

In line with the proposed extension, the senators then questioned the role of the citizens in the proclaimed liberation of Marawi and focus on its rehabilitation. For the senators, a military rule over the island would only get in the way of a “people-centered rebuilding and rehabilitating” city.

“What guarantees do they have that they can return to their old location and start life anew?” they added.
Senate Minority Leader Drilon in a separate statement, mentioned that the recommendation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are ‘patently unconstitutional.’

“There is no legal basis for the AFP and PNP to recommend and extension of martial law in Mindanao,” he said.
Drilon went on by saying, “We cannot continuosly place Mindanao under martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ without an actual rebellion in the region.”

He emphasized that the Constitution required the existence of an actual rebellion or actual invasion that threatened public safety by citing Section 18, Article VII.

“The mandate of the Constitution is clear — martial law may be declared if actual rebellion exists and Congress may extend the declaration if the rebellion persists,” he continued.

The AFP and PNP recommended the martial law extension in Mindanao after receiving reports of “increasing” violent activities in the southern region.

(Read: AFP backs PNP on Mindanao martial law extension)

“As we see it today, however, the grounds for a continued martial law in Mindanao, as cited by the AFP and PNP in the media, do not meet the requirements of the Constitution,” Drilon said.

To establish if a rebellion persists, Drilon said that “it requires an examination of acts, not just to show the persistence of rebellion but also that there is danger to public safety.” He added that given the current scenario, the military and police can exercise their powers without the need for a martial law extension.