Martial law gains more support It will help gov’t efforts to achieve peace and stability – Esperon

Senators have agreed to support President Duterte’s proposal to extend the martial law in Mindanao but they have qualms whether stretching its period until December of this year would be viable.

Likewise, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II expressed support for President Duterte’s call to extend martial law.

Aguirre said the 60-day period is not enough to douse the terrorist threat in Mindanao.

“Talaga naman hindi natin matatapos ng 60 days (It won’t end within 60 days),” Aguirre told reporters.

On Wednesday, members of the government’s security cluster trooped to the Senate on Wednesday to discuss with senators Duterte’s proposal to extend his martial law declaration in Mindanao until December, 2017.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperson Jr. defended the President’s request, saying it would help the government in its efforts to achieve peace and stability in Mindanao.

“The bottom line here is, we want peace and stability in Mindanao, and martial law contributes a lot to this effort. Without peace and stability in Mindanao, we won’t be able to achieve our aspirations for Mindanao,” Esperon said in an interview.

Apart from Esperon, present during the closed-door security briefing were Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año, who would later admitted that the military recommended the extension of martial law.

Also present were members of the Senate majority bloc, led by Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and the Senate minority bloc, led by Sen. Franklin Drilon.

“Mukhang majority would agree that we need to extend but the period would be debated upon more tediously than what we had a while ago,” Sen. Joel Villanueva told reporters after the briefing.

Villanueva said some senators have asked the security officials to submit additional data on Saturday, July 22, when Congress would hold a special joint session on Proclamation No. 216 in order to see for themselves whether the request is justifiable.

“There were information that we cannot divulge but these info were very telling. There’s some videos (presented), at the end of the day, we want to protect our soldiers. If we want to make sure that we’ll be in a far better position than before,” Villanueva said.

“When it comes to extension, I think majority of us, the way I look at it, would support it. But the number of days or months, especially until December of this year, needs careful study,” he said.

For instance, Villanueva said, he asked security officials to provide lawmakers by Saturday, data that would show the economic effects of extending the martial law, because some business groups in the tourism sector are already asking for a lifting of the declaration.

“By Saturday, they promise to give us all these information that we are asking and looking for,” Villanueva said.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said he is not yet convinced over Duterte’s proposal.

“But as to the need for extension, yes; I am inclined to support that, but insofar as the length and the coverage, let’s debate on that,” Drilon said.

Nevertheless, Drilon said he proposed during the meeting for Congress to come up with a supplemental budget specifically for the rehabilitation of Marawi City and in support of the armed forces.

“Personally, I support our soldiers and what they are doing in the Armed Forces of the Philippines in implementing the martial law in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao. As you will note, there is no report of any significant human rights violation. In that sense we must commend them and we must continue to support them,” he said.

“Having said that, we are, in general, in support of the extension of the martial law. I’m inclined to support, but we debate on the length of the extension and the coverage, so that that is where the debate will center,” Drilon added.

Sen. Grace Poe also explained why she didn’t easily agree to the proposal, saying it is still unclear whether it is necessary for the government to protract martial law in Mindanao.

“In the first place, the question is, is it needed? Second, is it going to be 60 days or until December? We do support our soldiers but I also understand the predicament of our IDPs (internally displaced persons). We’re also asking them to provide us a blueprint on how they are going to rebuild Marawi City. That’s very important,” Poe said also in a separate interview.

But Poe said she would agree to whatever proposal that would deem fit to resolve the problem of rebellion in Mindanao.

“If they need an extension, I’m for it, but I need additional details on how they are going to do that. Why they need the martial law for a longer period,” Poe explained.

Reconstruction plan

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said he favors the imposition of a Congress-sanctioned martial law which is limited only to directly affected areas and one “with a shorter expiry date.”

Recto said Malacañang should draft a “detailed and budgeted” Marawi reconstruction plan and make it one of the centerpieces of the President’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.

“This should be the accompanying measure of the martial law declaration. Without it, the government might be accused of lacking a post-conflict strategy,” Recto said.

“So that reconstruction can begin soon, blueprints should have been drafted by now. Pre-construction activities can begin, such as needs assessment. Before we can build, build, build, we should brainstorm first. And then with a plan to guide us, we can then bid, bid, bid,” Recto said.

Recto said there are billions of pesos in unspent calamity fund waiting to be tapped to bring relief to displaced civilians and rehabilitate areas and commerce destroyed by fighting between government troops and terrorists.

In fact, he said, some of the calamity funds are supposed to have been released in the beginning of the year to the five agencies tagged under the 2017 national budget as recipients of “Quick Response Fund” (QRF).

According to Esperon, a martial law extension would help the government shepherd its peace process with secessionist groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples’ Army (CPP-NPA).

He also said the government is seeking to pursue the construction of railways systems, bridges and roads, seaports, and developments in the agricultural sector.

“This is a serious problem in Mindanao, as even revealed by our operations against the terrorists in Marawi. And of course, our structural reforms, which is federalism,” Esperon said.

Congress will convene in a joint session on Saturday, July 22 – the same day Duterte’s Proclamation No. 216 is set to lapse – to discuss the martial law extension proposal.

Senators Richard Gordon and Miguel Zubiri also said they are inclined to support the President’s request.

“If we really want to rebuild it immediately, we need to protect the area. I’m in favor and I feel it is necessary. It is more than enough to weed out its armed elements,” Zubiri said.

Gordon, for his part, said he would have preferred to extend martial law for only another 60 days, but said he understands where Duterte is coming from.

“You may need certain amount of powers, so the citizens there would finally feel comfort. That’s very important,” Gordon said.

‘CPP has nothing to fear’

Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said the possible extension of martial law in Mindanao will not affect the ongoing peace talks between the government (GRP) and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

He stressed this after CPP founding chairman Joma Sison expressed fear that the martial law is also targeting the NPA and other rebel groups in Mindanao.

Panelo, in an interview over Brigada News FM early Wednesday morning, said the CPP has nothing to worry about because Duterte would have cancelled the formal peace talks in Norway if the President is going after the NPA.

He also said that the rebels are probably already tired with fighting against the government for the last 50 years.

“Fifty years na silang lumalaban, tumanda na sila riyan. Pagod na pagod na rin wala namang nangyayari (They have already gotten old fighting for the last 50 years for nothing),” Panelo said over Brigada News FM.

According to Duterte’s chief legal counsel, it would be better if the CPP would just cooperate with the government and take advantage of the opportunity given to them to work for the country.

“Kung sila ang puntirya, eh ‘di wala na sana peace process. Pati nga mga kasama sa ideolohiya nila miyembro ng Gabinete eh. Doon pa lang masisira na ang argumento na iyon (If they are the target of the extension then the peace process would have already been cancelled. Even individuals who share their ideology are members of the Cabinet. That alone invalidates their argument),” he added.

Panelo was referring to leftist members of the Duterte Cabinet including Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, and National Anti-Poverty Commission Chair Liza Maza. (With reports from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos and Francis T. Wakefield)