{"id":250891,"date":"2020-04-02T05:05:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T09:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=250891"},"modified":"2020-04-02T05:05:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T09:05:44","slug":"no-martial-law-amid-health-crisis-nograles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/04\/02\/no-martial-law-amid-health-crisis-nograles\/","title":{"rendered":"No martial law amid health crisis: Nograles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Personnel of the Philippine National Police check the temperature of motorists and commuters along Batasan Road in Quezon City during Day 2 of the community quarantine implementation in Metro Manila on Monday (March 16, 2020). (PNA photo by Rico H. Borja)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s arrest order against violators of quarantine protocols to fight coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is not a prelude to the declaration of martial law in the country, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Nograles made the clarification, a day after Duterte threatened to order the arrest of persons who will cause disorder amid government efforts to curb the spread of Covif-19.<\/p>\n

In a virtual press briefing aired on state-run Covid-19, Nograles said there was no discussion about the possible implementation of nationwide martial law to maintain peace and order in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cNgayon<\/em>\u00a0(Now), is martial law an option?\u00a0Hindi natin pinag-uusapan ang<\/em>\u00a0martial law.\u00a0So hindi iyan pinag-uusapan ngayon<\/em>\u00a0(We\u2019re not talking about martial law. It\u2019s not on the agenda now),\u201d Nograles said.<\/p>\n

In a televised nation address on Wednesday night, Duterte said he would order authorities to arrest people who are trying to \u201cmess up\u201d with the government amid the implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.<\/p>\n

Duterte\u2019s pronouncement came after Leftist group\u00a0Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap<\/em>\u00a0(Kadamay) reportedly instigated the arrested individuals in Quezon City to stage a rally on Wednesday and demand for food and other assistance from the government.<\/p>\n

The activists were arrested by Quezon City police for their failure to secure permit from the government to hold such protest.<\/p>\n

Maintaining peace, order<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the Covid-19 outbreak is a public health issue, it is also important to maintain peace and order in the country, Nograles said.<\/p>\n

Nograles said Duterte would not tolerate any unlawful acts that seek to sow chaos amid the health crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow far the President will go to ensure peace and order? Obviously in a state of calamity, there has to be order,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cNapaka<\/em>-importante\u00a0po para kay Pangulong Duterte<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s very important for President Duterte) to keep the peace and order, especially in this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nograles said Duterte merely wanted to stop unscrupulous persons from taking advantage of the situation.<\/p>\n

He said the Covid-19 pandemic also becomes a \u201cpeace and order issue\u201d when people take advantage of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already a public health issue.\u00a0Hahaluan ng<\/em>\u00a0peace and order,\u00a0magkaka<\/em>problema\u00a0tayo<\/em>\u00a0(But we will have a problem if it becomes a peace and order issue). So, let it just remain to be a public health issue and concern, which we are currently managing. Don\u2019t let it be a peace and order problem,\u201d Nograles said.<\/p>\n

Gov\u2019t knows what\u2019s \u2018legal, right\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nograles said it is only necessary for law enforcers to meddle when someone tries to hinder the government\u2019s efforts to stop the further transmission of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

He assured that authorities know \u201cwhat to do and what not to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKung may mag<\/em>-create\u00a0ng chaos at gulo<\/em>\u00a0(If they would create chaos and disorder), then that\u2019s when our peacekeepers and law enforcers have to come in,\u201d Nograles said. \u201cMay protocols and procedures\u00a0po tayo diyan. May<\/em>\u00a0rules of engagement\u00a0po<\/em>\u00a0(We have protocols and procedures there. We have rules of engagement).\u201d<\/p>\n

Nograles also assured the public that the government\u2019s actions would be based on what is \u201clegal\u201d and \u201cright.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will follow the law. The government will follow what is legal. The government will follow what is right. And we ask for the cooperation of everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s arrest order against violators of quarantine protocols to fight coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is not a prelude …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":250892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250893,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250891\/revisions\/250893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}