Nationwide martial law divides the nation, says Duterte

When he warned for “radical changes” to come in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte was not thinking of declaring martial law to achieve this.

Because of the widespread criminality in the Philippines, the president had said that he will end such by using his emergency powers “to the hilt” to put things in order, but imposing martial law nationwide is not one of his options.

“No, martial law is not feasible. It won’t work. First of all, it’s going to be a divided nation. So, I don’t know if everybody will agree. It’s going to divide the nation,” Duterte said Thursday night during a press briefing at the inauguration of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2 in Lapu-Lapu City.

Duterte, when asked if he is inclined to declare a state of national emergency, responded: “No. I have declared national emergency already, it’s existing. In other countries, [a] national emergency is equated with martial law.”

He, however, explained that his style of handling a national emergency is unique, citing the way he handled the Filipino workers in Kuwait as an example.

Duterte also said that he is going to weed out corruption from the government, starting off with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and proceed to the local government officials who are manifesting “complacency and nonchalant attitudes towards the problem of criminality.”

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 06/ 08 /18)