State forces to say when ML ends — DU30

From the Daily Tribune (May 29): State forces to say when ML ends — DU30

"I will not listen to others"

It will be the police and the armed forces and not the Supreme Court nor Congress that will determine the length of martial law declaration in Mindanao, President Duterte said yesterday before soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade HQ in Iligan City.

Duterte last Tuesday imposed martial law in the Mindanao region, home to 20 million people, following deadly clashes in Marawi City involving militants he said were trying to establish a caliphate for the Islamic State group.

“Until the police and the armed forces say the Philippines is safe, this martial law will continue. I will not listen to others. The Supreme Court, Congress, they are not here,” Duterte said.

“Are they the ones dying and losing blood, bleeding, hemorrhaging because there is no help, no reinforcement? It’s not them,” he added.

Mr. Duterte also addressed the Supreme Court and a few lawmakerswho are poised to question and oppose his Proclamation no. 216 placing the entire Mindanao group of islands under military rule.
Mr. Duterte’s pronouncement came a day after Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s statement that subtly warns of possible abuses that could be committed under martial law.

“The Supreme Court will say they will examine into the factual (basis). Why I don’t know. They are not soldiers. They do not know what is happening on the ground,” Mr. Duterte said.

The President also said that he will only subscribe to what state security forces would recommend to him. Naysayers, he pointed out, are not competent enough to suggest what he should do.

The 1987 constitution imposes limits on martial law to prevent a repeat of the abuses carried out under the regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was deposed by a famous “People Power” revolution the previous year.

The constitution requires congress to approve a president’s declaration of martial law, and limits military rule for 60 days. If a president wants to extend it, he or she must again get congressional endorsement.

The Supreme Court can also rule on martial law’s legality.

Sereno’s veiled warning

In a commencement speech at the Ateneo De Manila University on Friday, the country’s chief magistrate, Sereno, took exception of Mr. Duterte’s claim that his brand of martial law will be no different to that of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ way.

“If President Duterte and the government authorities avoid the gross historical sins of Mister Marcos and his agents, then our country might reap the benefits of the legitimate use of the provision on martial law in the 1987 Constitution,” Sereno said.

“Suffice it to say that the martial law power is an immense power that can be used for good, to solve defined emergencies; but all earthly powers when abused can result in oppression,” she added.

Most of the legislators, on the other hand, that oppose Mr. Duterte’s decree are arguing on its necessity which appears to belittle military officials’ claim that the “government remains on the top of the situation”.

Critics of Mr. Duterte also questioned the imposition saying that previous presidents did not declare martial law despite insurgency crises in Mindanao such as then President Joseph Estrada’s all-out war against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels which successfully led to the government overruning the separatists’ largest base, Camp Abu Bakr. Also, President Aquino did not opt for military rule to quell the Moro National Liberation Front’s (MNLF) attempt to seize Zamboanga City.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, moreover, said that Mr. Duterte has no time to attend to what critics has to say.

“The President’s focus is on addressing the terrorist threat in Mindanao, not on the misguided commentaries of critics,” Abella said in a text message to Palace reporters.

“He is committed to succeed in this mission and to restoring peace and order so that people throughout Mindanao can fully participate in our nation’s development,” he added.

Duterte also told soldiers on Friday they would be allowed to conduct searches and arrests without warrants.

“During martial law, your commanders, you, you can arrest any person, search any house. There is no more warrant needed,” Duterte told troops on Friday.

Duterte’s comments contradicted a government statement released on Saturday to explain martial law.

“Warrants of arrest or search warrants should be issued,” the statement from the government’s information agency said.

“No person may be arrested and detained without orders coming from these civil courts.”

Duterte has overwhelming support in congress, which is this week widely expected to endorse his initial declaration of martial law.

However the Supreme Court chief justice, Maria Lourdes Serreno, on Friday expressed concerns about martial law.

Palace to name Maranao spokesman

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) will appoint a civilian Maranao spokesman to specifically address the Lanao region on updates on the government’s ongoing offensive against the Maute terror group in Marawi City.

The move is part of the PCOO’s establishment of the “Mindanao Hour” Communications Center in Davao City which will serve as the main source of accurate and reliable information on the declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

“In this time of crisis, it is strategically wise for us to expand our communications language from national to regional in order to avoid marginalizing those who are most affected by the declaration of Martial Law,” PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said.

Communication flow will emanate from this center to and from the national government, including information released to the media.

All processed information from conflict areas will be relayed to the Mindanao Hour Communications Center in Davao and to Malacañang for the regular press briefings in Manila and Davao.

The Mindanao Hour Communications Center in Davao will be headed by Andanar while the Iligan Mindanao Hour Communications Center will be headed by Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Director General Harold Clavite.

The PCOO and its attached agencies including PIA, People’s Television (PTV), Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS), Philippine News Agency (PNA) and Radio TV Malacanang (RTVM) will be on board and daily press briefings will be organized at the Mindanao Hour Communications Center in Davao.

The Mindanao Hour Daily Briefings will be aired live on PCOO’s attached agencies and on their Facebook pages.

“The Mindanao Hour” and “The Maranao Hour Segment” updates will be available online through PIA’s Mindanao Hour microsite and Mindanao Hour Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and is scheduled to air starting on first week of June.

Rape joke sick — critics

Mr. Duterte’s critics in the Senate, meanwhile, slammed Mr. Duterte over his latest faux pas, joking about answering for soldiers misdeed including rape under his declared martial law in Mindanao.

Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV chastised the President’s pronouncements, describing him as a sick man who could even poke fun of rape, in this trying time.

“Duterte’s statement assuring legal absolution for soldiers who commit rape during martial law is as dangerous as it is sick. At a time when our people are looking for assurances that the abuses of the past martial rule would not resurface anymore, the Commander in Chief, in fact, does the opposite. How I long for the day the people would realize that they have a madman for President,” Trillanes said.

De Lima said the same as she urged the public to express outrage over this latest rape joke of the President.

“My fellow Filipinos, why do we allow him to get away with so much?” she asked in a statement.
“Speak up. Do not allow this to continue. This is not right. Say so, for the sake of all that we hold as sacred and deserving of respect, do not be passive in the face of monstrosity. Otherwise, in the end, we might find that his sickness has become ours and our children’s,” De Lima said.

In giving a pep talk to soldiers last Friday, the President joked about soldiers committing rape with impunity under martial law.

“I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women) I will say that I did it. But if you marry four, son of a whore you will be beaten up,” he was quoted saying.

De Lima noted how the President about all the people he killed and had killed, even telling copes to commit more killings.

“He curses at and disrespects people and institutions just because they ask him to respect the law and deliver justice, and not respond to every problem with even more heinous criminal acts. He promises to defend our sovereignty, but willingly surrenders more and more of our rights, territories and even the future of our children to foreign powers,” she said.

“Now, he jokes about allowing soldiers to get away with raping women. The more, the better. In the middle of a crisis that he himself has characterized as being of such gravity that it necessitated the declaration of Martial Law over the whole of Mindanao, he insults women, soldiers and our entire nation with a sick “joke” that once again draws back the curtain and allows us to see the beast that lurks behind,” she added.

In a radio interview, Trillanes said the President cannot claim that he made the comment in jest saying that issues such as martial law and rape are not taken lightly especially by a Commander in Chief.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, in a separate interview, said Duterte should get used to fact that he’s the president and anything he says is a reflection of his presidency.

Escudero said that while the public should get the hang of it, the way the President speaks in public, Duterte himself should also get accustomed to the fact that everything he says could easily be given color .

While the President was obviously not egging the soldiers to commit rape and was not serious what he uttered those words, the senator said it’s unfortunate that Duterte has to crack a joke about a highly sensitive issue such rape.

War veterans back Rody

The Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP), however, declared its full support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to place Mindanao under Martial Law.

This was part of VFP president ret. Col. Bonifacio de Garcia’s statement on Sunday in the recently concluded National Presidents’ Convention (CY-2017) participated in by the country’s veterans’ leaders from Regions 1 to 13, including Cordillera Administrative Region, NCR, Charter, and Affiliate Organizations of the government-owned and -controlled corporation.

De Gracia, speaking before veterans’ presidents, said that the President “(He) may not have been here physically, but we can greatly feel his presence and concerns about veterans. Through the power vested in him by the people, as head of the state, he has pushed for the expedition of AFP Retirees’ pension. And as of late, his decision to declare Mindanao under Martial Law is one of the best decisions ever for the welfare of the people.”

Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana was the guest of honor and speaker of the event hosted by the VFP which was also participated in by World War II veterans and their descendants.

The Secretary also quoted former President Carlos P. Garcia’s words spoken during the organization’s first ever National Convention in 1958 when he said, “Obstacles can never be overcome if the various organizations continue to exist serving their own individual ends and working, more often than not, at cross purposes.”

“VFP has its set of ups and downs, but it is the truth and unity that save you from all the trials such as the criminal case filed against the VFP that was formally dismissed by the Ombudsman last January 2016' Lorenzana said

“At the end, it is the truth and your genuine service to the veterans that prevailed.”he added.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/state-forces-to-say-when-ml-ends-du30