Various progressive groups expressed opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend Martial Law in Mindanao for another year.
“The massacre of eight indigenous peoples in South Cotabato and the enforced disappearances of six more T’boli and Dulangan Manobo farmers on December 3, 2017 is the real face of martial law; the destruction of the lives and livelihood of those in Marawi and the Moro people is the real face of martial law; the killing of activists, farmers, leaders and members of progressive organizations, and bombing and evacuation of entire communities is the real face of martial law,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay on the approval of martial law’s one year extension in Mindanao.
Karapatan gathered the report that on December 3 in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, soldiers belonging to the 27th IB killed eight Lumads led by Datu Victor Dayan who opposed DMCI’s encroachment on their ancestral lands for expansion of coffee plantations and mining operations.
Palabay said that “a benevolent martial law, or martial law with a heart (a term used by Senator Grace Poe and then borrowed by Presidential Spokesperson Atty. Harry Roque) only exists in the walls of gated villages and mansions where politicians who approved this policy are safely guarded. The only people to celebrate this are the instigators of State terrorism.”
The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) said that Martial Law in Mindanao would ease land-grabbing and result to more massacres against indigenous peoples and farmers opposing expansion of plantations, such as what happened in Lake Sebu.
“[UMA] condemns the extension of martial law in Mindanao for another year by President Duterte’s new cronies in Congress. This will ensure the expansion of plantations in Mindanao and impinge on the rights of agricultural workers, farmers and indigenous peoples. The US-Duterte regime which is becoming a dictatorship is adhering to neo-liberal policies, one of which, is the targeted expansion of 1.6 million hectares of plantations, most of which would be in Mindanao. Other than opening this up to [transnational corporations], this would also benefit Duterte cronies like Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation and Peter Laviña of the Philippine Palm Oil Development Council Inc.,” UMA said in a statement.
Fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) said that aside from President Rodrigo Duterte’s tyrannical aspirations, the real score behind the extension of martial law is to push through its destructive projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program that would benefit local and foreign investors and developers.
“The Filipino people have nothing to gain from the martial law in Mindanao, only giant oligarchs who have business interests in the region and Duterte who aspires for the concentration of power will benefit from the military rule,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA Chairperson said in a statement.
PAMALAKAYA said that 3 of the 36 big-ticket infrastructure projects under the BBB are in the Mindanao region, including the P40.57 billion expansion of the Davao City airport, P14.6 billion for the Laguindingan airport, and the P31.54 billion Tagum-Davao-Digos segment of the Mindanao railway.
Meanwhile, the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) said the extension of martial law is an orchestrated attack on trade union and human rights enshrined in the Philippine Constitution. Citing data from Center for Trade Union and Human Rights show an increased number in cases of threats, harassment and intimidations towards workers and the urban poor: from 88 in former President Benigno Aquino III’s six-year term to 500 in the first year of Duterte alone. There also have been 602 documented cases of assaults in the picket lines of workers with 86 arbitrary arrests and detentions.
EILER also condemned the President’s stigmatization of transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON), militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and human rights network Karapatan as legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the subsequent declaration of the latter as terrorist organization under Proclamation 374 on December 5.
Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) said the extension of martial law imposition in Mindanao is “patently unconstitutional and a threat to democracy and peace in the whole country.”
“It is unconstitutional because the proposed extension of martial law fails to meet the constitutional requirements of an actual rebellion or invasion, if public safety requires it. In fact, President Duterte himself declared Marawi liberated from ISIS in October. This was followed by the end of all combat operations and the start of the city’s rehabilitation. As to the supposed heightened activities of the New People’s Army, this is nothing new and is better addressed through comprehensive peace negotiations rather than all-out war,” said MAT in a statement.
Interpellations or rubber stamp?
On November 13, with a vote of 240-27, the House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippine Congress approved the Martial Law extension.
Duterte’s supermajority in Congress was called by Martial Law critics as a ‘mere rubber stamp’ to the president’s request, many saying it was a done deal even before the joint session.
The president’s political party PDP-Laban held a Christmas party at Sofitel that evening, even as the House of Representatives session was still ongoing, with Duterte himself present.
In the half-day joint session, Executive Secretary Salvador Meldialdea, National Security Adviser Delfin Lorenzana, Department of Interior and Local Government Officer-in-Charge Catalino Cuy and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Rey Leonardo Guerrero were among the representatives of the executive branch that requested the Martial Law extension.
Mostly those who were set to oppose the request of the president spoke and asked questions in the interpellations, for which they were given a quick three minutes each and some one to two-minute extensions. Those who spoke in favor of the extension were mostly allies of the president from Mindanao who all said that their constituents are in favor of Martial Law.
Given the experience in Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., Lorenzana assured and maintained that there were no human rights violations during the Martial Law in Mindanao and again there would not be. Makabayan congressmen, however, refuted this statement with replete examples.
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago said the Regional Human Rights Commission of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao gathered more than 14,000 testimonies of human rights violations during the fighting in Marawi. Also in a National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission, reports of five cases of indiscriminate firing, six illegal arrests, and 16 cases of threats and intimidation perpetrated by the military were gathered.
Throughout Elago’s interpellations, Lorenzana denied that there were human rights violations as the military has strict rules and that none of these reports have reached them.
Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao requested for some witnesses to spoke, which was not allowed by the House speaker and the Senate president.
Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas, in her three minutes, cited as many day-to-day human rights violations in Mindanao as she could, saying she did so as witnesses were not allowed to speak on the floor to be heard.
In the July interpellations for the first Martial Law extension requested by Duterte, Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, a former member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, was allowed to speak when Senator Grace Poe gave her time for her testimony. She recounted some human rights violations Moro people experienced from government forces during the Marawi crisis, including the torture of 20-year old special needs boy. At that time, her testimony was a lone, resonating plea that begged to expose the rubber stamp Congress was, as an overwhelming majority still did approve the extension, according to Makabayan legislators.
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro was able to extract the Martial Law spending of government, with Lorenzana answering that the AFP spent P4 billion. Pressed further, Lorenzana said the government is not yet sure how much more would be spent in another year of Martial Law. Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin mentioned that government agencies spent in total as much as P 500 billion for the Martial Law in Mindanao since May.
Voting tally
While Duterte has declared Marawi liberated prior to the Association of South East Nations summit held in Manila on November 12 to 14 and government authorities declared an end to the war, Duterte cited continuing threats of ISIS-inspired terrorists, local terrorists groups and the New People’s Army as reasons for seeking a one-year extension in his letter addressed to Congress.
The Senate voted 14-4 while the House voted 226-23 in favor of extending the declaration for another year during a joint session in the Congress Wednesday.
Voting against the extension from the Senate were Senators Bam Aquino, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan, all from the Senate minority bloc.
Senator Chiz Escudero and Senator Cynthia Villar were present in the joint session, but were unable to vote. In the second roll call for the vote, Senator Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III mentioned that Escudero would have voted in the affirmative.
Martial Law in Mindanao was declared on May 23 by Duterte while in Moscow, in the first few hours into the Maute attack in Marawi. After the 60 days allowed in the Constitution, Duterte sought a six-month extension that was approved by Congress in July, and would have ended on December 31 this year.
Martial law presidents
Duterte is the third president to declare Martial Law in the country.
Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. declared Martial Law over the entire country on September 21, 1972, citing also reasons for the growing strength of the New People’s Army, coup d’etat rumors as well as what would be contested as ‘staged’ ambush on his Defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile. It would be declared ended on January 17, 1981, but existed in practice until the overthrow of Marcos in the People Power Revolution in February 1986. The 14-year dictatorial rule of Marcos saw tens of thousands of human rights violations that were eventually pinned to the Marcoses in the class suit filed by the victims in a Hawaii court, entitling them to compensation that they started receiving only this year.
Following the Maguindanao massacre that killed 58, including 34 journalists, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared Martial Law over Maguindanao, a town dominated by her closest allies in the province, the Ampatuan clan. It lasted from December 4 to 13 in 2009, amid public outcry against military rule in the time of Arroyo’s consistently negative public satisfaction ratings. The Maguindanao massacre hearings are still ongoing and justice has not been served to the victims the victims and their families after eight years.
