MANILA — Government lawyers have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss the three new petitions questioning the validity of the extension of martial law in Mindanao.
In a manifestation filed over the weekend, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the SC to dismiss the petitions filed by Makabayan bloc led by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, the group led by former Commission on Elections chair Christian Monsod, and the petition lodged by a group of Indigenous People’s teachers and students represented by the Free Legal Assistance Group.
The OSG earlier sought a ruling from the high court to throw out the original petition filed by lawmakers led by Albay (1st District) Rep. Edcel Lagman.
Oral arguments on the cases have been set by the court on Tuesday (January 29).
Calida explained that all four suits encapsulate the same arguments and should be dismissed for lack of merit.
Calida cited an official report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines about the “ongoing rebellion of the Daesh-Inspired groups and its local and foreign allies, particularly the Daulah Islamiyah (DI) and also of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) forces in Mindanao.”
He said “Daesh- inspired groups have shifted their strategy from establishing a Wilayat to global insurgency or rebellion” and that “they continue their recruitment and radicalization activities teaching their new members how to launch deadlier attacks and to sow chaos and instability that will extremely endanger the public.”
Calida also cited the attacks by the said groups from January to December last year as well as the “consistent influx of foreign terrorists in the country who are primarily responsible for the conduct of trainings to local terrorist fighters, especially in making improvised explosive devices and motivating locals to serve as suicide bombers.”
The solicitor general also submitted the confidential report of the military that was used as basis for the extension of martial law for another year or until December 2019.