{"id":253125,"date":"2020-04-24T06:56:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T10:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=253125"},"modified":"2020-04-24T06:56:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T10:56:59","slug":"duterte-has-extraordinary-power-to-declare-martial-law-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/04\/24\/duterte-has-extraordinary-power-to-declare-martial-law-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte has \u2018extraordinary\u2019 power to declare martial law: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte updates the nation on the government’s efforts in addressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on March 30, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte can wield his \u201cextraordinary\u201d power to declare martial law, in case the lawlessness of the New People\u2019s Army (NPA) becomes unmanageable, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte would not hesitate to declare martial law should NPA rebels continue to attack government troops who are assisting local officials in distributing emergency assistance to people affected by the crisis driven by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

Roque said the NPA\u2019s relentless attacks against state forces would be Duterte\u2019s legal basis to impose martial rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cGagamitin po niya<\/em>\u00a0(Duterte)\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0(He will use the) extraordinary power of the presidency to declare martial law against this group\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0engaged in an act of rebellion against the government,\u201d he said in a virtual press briefing aired on state-run PTV-4.<\/p>\n

In a taped public address aired on Friday morning, Duterte clarified that he never has the intention to place the country under martial rule.<\/p>\n

The President, however, said the lawless acts of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), might prompt him to declare martial rule.<\/p>\n

Interior Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o backed Roque\u2019s statement, saying that Duterte can take such an \u201cextreme\u201d measure, \u201cif public safety is so required.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o, who joined Roque at the virtual press conference, said Duterte has the right to implement martial law to protect the public against those who intend to sow chaos amid the health crisis in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201dAno ang magiging batayan kung bakit magde<\/em>-declare\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0martial law?\u00a0Kapag nagkaroon ng<\/em>\u00a0massive public disorder\u00a0at kung meron talagang grupo na magti<\/em>-take advantage\u00a0katulad ng<\/em>\u00a0CPP-NPA\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0crisis\u00a0na ito<\/em>\u00a0(What would be the basis for declaring martial law? In case there is massive public disorder and if there are groups that would take advantage of the crisis, such as the CPP-NPA),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 1987 Constitution allows Duterte to declare martial law in case there is \u201cinvasion or rebellion\u201d or \u201cwhen the public safety requires it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NPA\u2019s recent attacks came amid the government\u2019s fight against Covid-19.<\/p>\n

The CPP-NPA is tagged as a terror organization by the Philippines, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o assured the public that the government is on top of the situation.<\/p>\n

He said appropriate measures are in place, while Luzon and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao are under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).<\/p>\n

\u201dSa ngayon naman, kontrolado natin ang mga sitwasyon dito sa<\/em>\u00a0ECQ (As of now, we are still able to control [the areas that are under] ECQ),\u201d A\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00a0makakaasa ang ating mga kababayan na tayo ay sisiguraduhin natin ang kaligtasan ng lahat sa panahon ng krisis na ito<\/em>\u00a0(The public can expect the government to ensure their safety amid this crisis),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte can wield his \u201cextraordinary\u201d power to declare martial law, in case the lawlessness of the New …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":251176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253125","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\/253125","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=253125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253127,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253125\/revisions\/253127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}