Imee Marcos backs Proclamation 216

ILOCOS NORTE Governor Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos is the latest to voice support for President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Proclamation 216 declaring martial law over Mindanao and its island groups.

“Tulad sa nakararami, siyempre nananalig tayo sa President. Kapag matters of national security, we always refer to the Executive (Like many, of course, we have faith in the President. On matters of national security, we always refer to the Executive),” Ms. Marcos said in a chance interview on Monday, June 5.

“At sa nakikita natin, sa video footage, sa mga kwento ng ating mga kapatid na Muslim, talagang nanganganib ang kanilang buhay, at kinakailangan talagang tulungan ang ating Pangulo at ang ating kasandaluhan para sugpuin ang threat na ito (And from what we are seeing, in the video footage, from the stories of our Muslim brothers and sisters, their lives are really in danger, and we really need to help our President and our armed forces to eliminate this threat),” she added.

Ms. Marcos’s father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. declared martial law during his second term as President in 1972, thus establishing a dictatorship for 14 years, amid intensified resistance by both the Muslim and communist insurgencies.

Photos and video footages of said members of the Maute terrorist group hoisting black flags and bearing firearms while roaming around Marawi City surfaced in social media late afternoon of March 24.

Photos of burning home amid the continuing firefight also surfaced in social media platforms. Mr. Duterte by then, while on an official visit to Russia, declared martial law in Mindanao.