The imposition of martial law is always in reaction to a violent threat to the country’s national security. Whether the reaction is false or exaggerated, the opposition is not supposed to prejudge the decision by questioning the emergency measure. It can never be interpreted as proactive for that would connote dictatorship. It is only until and after the objective has been achieved that one can judge whether there was basis for the imposition of martial law.
This explains why the public could not understand why the framers of that illogical Constitution have accorded Congress the leeway to question how the President would go about implementing martial law. This provision is in fact an attempt to divert the issue of national security to one of political intramural where the opposition, as hecklers, would again make their grandstanding in accusing President Duterte of curtailing the civil liberties of the people.
This is exactly the strategy being followed by the yellow hypocrites. The six opposition senators who filed Resolution No. 390 were Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Risa Honteveros, Antonio Trillanes IV, Bam Aquino and the now detained Leila de Lima. Arguing the usual rhetoric of that statement—“Pursuant to the constitutional mandates of transparency and accountability in government, respecting the right of the citizen to information of public interest,” the six senators wanted to make brouhaha of the bloodletting that is now threatening to spill over to Metro Manila.
Even the one who has been styling herself as vice president, despite questionable mandate, did not waste time visiting the wounded for photo-ops while her cohorts continue to badmouth the administration for imposing martial law.
These brazen hypocrites did not even attempt to express their concern to the 120 casualties killed in the fighting, 61 of whom were identified as militants, 16 civilians and 22 soldiers, 11 of whom died as a result of the accidental bombing by a Cory Aquino-acquired SF260 Marchetti light trainer aircraft on the ground soldiers’ position.
The necessity of imposing martial law in the whole of Mindanao is urgent. The latest to surface is the Maute group also known as the Islamic State of Lanao, composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and some foreign fighters led by Abdullah Maute, the alleged founder of a Dawlah Islamiya, or Islamic State based in Lanao del Sur. It is suspected as the branch of the dreaded ISIS in the Philippines. Many believe that Isnilon Hapilon, a member of the Abu Sayyaf, has sneaked in to join the fighting.
The facts are clear that there are several armed groups operating in Mindanao and committing terrorism in various degrees. They are the New People’s Army, the various Islamic armed groups consequent to the split of the Moro National Liberation Front, beginning with the MILF, and further fragmented by the forming of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Alien indoctrination and influence by Al Qaida gave birth to the dreaded Abu Sayyaf. Others that sprouted are the shadowy Moro Army Committee and the Khilafa Islamiya.
The second sentence of Section 18, Article VII, of the Constitution states: “In case of invasion or rebellion, when public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law.” The yellow opposition, in their attempt to gather wider audience, wanted to hold the hearing of their resolution in joint session. They are relying on the provision which states that, “Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress.”
What the opposition is doing is clipping the power of the President by pre-empting it. Given a limited time frame to make a progress report, one could deduce that this portion of the provision amounts to giving Congress the loophole to castigate the President, and invariably weaken the Republic. As to when peace and order will be restored to warrant the lifting of martial law cannot be resolved by mandating him to report to Congress just as he can never hope to convince the opposition to agree with him.
The opposition is not really out to examine the propriety of the imposition of martial law but to grandstand before their foreign brokers on their malice-laden concern for human rights and the effects in the curtailment of civil and political rights. As one would quip, “if confronted with the same problem, would they not do the same just as what their icon Cory Aquino did to shamelessly beg the US to save her beleaguered government in the 1989 putsch?”
One could clearly see that the yellow opposition has a different perspective of the situation and this is evident in their agenda. They would not care about the price that our people will pay for their political bigotry. The position of Congressman Edcel Lagman, whose brother was gunned downed by the same terrorist group now fighting against the government, is much glaring that he is not out to know on how martial law has progressed to contain the rebellion but to make it appear that it is Duterte’s instrument to curtail the rights of the people.
The traitorous Liberal Party is behaving in a manner short of what the rebels are doing. Nobody from among them, in a gesture of patriotic unity, has extended a hand so that peace and order could be restored fast in Mindanao. On the contrary, they are doing everything, even sell this country to the devil, to regain back their political power at whatever price it will cost to our people.
Because of their distorted ideological perspectives they could no longer distinguish what constitutes human rights violation from the barbaric practice of decapitating the heads of those who disagree to their belief. As former scout ranger Officer Abe Purugganan wrote: “When the nation is at risk or at war, the minority block should be more concern of how to help and support our forces accomplish their mission. They should stop looking for weaknesses in our strategy and disclosing them to the media.”
