{"id":266699,"date":"2020-08-27T06:26:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T10:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=266699"},"modified":"2020-08-27T06:26:53","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T10:26:53","slug":"3-options-being-considered-after-twin-blasts-in-jolo-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/27\/3-options-being-considered-after-twin-blasts-in-jolo-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"3 options being considered after twin blasts in Jolo: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The attacks were reportedly carried out by two Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) suicide bombers. (File photo<\/a>: 11th Infantry Division Explosive Ordnance Demolition via Philippine News Agency\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte has three options to address terrorism in Mindanao in wake of the deadly twin blasts that killed 17 people and injured 75 others in the Jolo, Sulu on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a virtual Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it is best to wait for the President to decide after considering the recommendations of the police, military, and other top officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00a0abangan na lang po natin kung ano ang desisyon pero dalawang pong alternatibo\u2014o tatlo \u2018no<\/em>: as is, martial law or\u00a0iyong<\/em>\u00a0Anti-Terror Law (Let\u2019s just wait for his decision but he has two alternatives or three: as is, martial law, or the Anti-Terror Law),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Roque said Duterte can decide to implement the Anti-Terrorism Law to address terrorism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala naman pong ibang dapat gawin pa kung<\/em>\u00a0Anti-Terror Law\u00a0dahil iyon naman po ay naging batas na at pinatutupad na po natin<\/em>\u00a0(There\u2019s nothing left to do if the President decides to implement the Anti-Terrorism Law because it\u2019s already a law which is already being implemented),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque, in an interview over CNN Philippines on Tuesday, said Duterte needs to be \u201cvery careful\u201d in assessing the recommendation because there should be a \u201clegal and factual\u201d basis to declare martial rule in Sulu.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the recommendation has been made, the President has to be very careful that it will pass the scrutiny of the legislative and the judicial branches of government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even if Duterte failed to tackle the Jolo bombings in his public address last Monday night, Roque said, the President has already directed the top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police during a joint command conference to take appropriate actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he (Duterte) did not say anything, it\u2019s probably because he has given the necessary orders to the top brass of the AFP and the PNP, and you don\u2019t discuss what you intend to do as far as the situation on the ground is (concerned) publicly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Army Chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana proposed the reimposition of martial law in Sulu to control the movement of terrorists.<\/p>\n

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Brig. Gen Bernard Banac, said the police force also backed the proposal, noting that the absence of implementation rules and regulations (IRR) is delaying the enforcement of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.<\/p>\n

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro \u201cTeddyboy\u201d Locsin Jr. also supported the army chief\u2019s proposal saying it would prevent another bombing attack in Sulu.<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as well as the Senate saw no need for martial law in Sulu since the Anti-Terrorism Law is already in effect.<\/p>\n

‘No need for IRR’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enacted last July 3, the anti-terrorism law became effective on July 18.<\/p>\n

Senator Panfilo \u201cPing\u201d Lacson, however, pointed out that the agencies tasked with crafting and issuing the IRR of the law would yet have to do so.<\/p>\n

In an interview over RMN, Roque said an IRR is not necessary to be able to implement the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cKailangan lang po ng<\/em>\u00a0IRR\u00a0kung mayroong mga<\/em>\u00a0specific\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0tasking\u00a0na gagawin ng mga departamento. Pero kung wala naman po, hindi na kinakailangan iyan \u2013 batas po is batas, puwede nang ipatupad<\/em>\u00a0(The IRR is only needed if there is a specific tasking which the department needs to carry out. But if there\u2019s none, it\u2019s not necessary. A law is a law, it can be implemented),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque also said petitions against the law filed before the Supreme Court will not affect the crafting of the IRR.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala hong problema iyon kaya nga ano pang kinakailangan mong<\/em>\u00a0IRR?\u00a0Eh nandoon na naman malinaw kung ano iyong kapangyarihan ng<\/em>\u00a0Anti-Terrorism Council (That\u2019s not a problem that\u2019s why is there a need for an IRR? The powers of the Ani-Terrorism Council are clear),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reports showed that the first explosion happened along Serrantes Street in Walled City village in Jolo at about 11:53 a.m. on Monday, while the second occurred just 100 meters away at 1:06 p.m.<\/p>\n

The attacks were reportedly carried out by two Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) suicide bombers.<\/p>\n

One of the suicide bombers was an Indonesian national who was said to be the wife of 23-year-old Norman Lasuca, the first identified Filipino suicide bomber; while the other was the wife of Talha Jumsah alias Abu Talha, a slain bomb expert who served as the ASG\u2019s liaison to the Islamic State (ISIS).<\/p>\n

Section 18, Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution states that a president can declare martial law and suspend the writ of habeas corpus for a period not exceeding 60 days, in case of invasion or rebellion.<\/p>\n

It also provides that such proclamation of martial law or suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can either be revoked or extended for a period determined by Congress through joint voting.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte has three options to address terrorism in Mindanao in wake of the deadly twin blasts that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":266700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266699","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=266699"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266702,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266699\/revisions\/266702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}