Duterte should listen to Congress, says Tomas

Regardless of their difference in opinion, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that President Rodrigo Duterte should still listen to the Supreme Court (SC) and Congress.

This came after Duterte, in a speech last Sunday before soldiers of Jolo, Sulu, said he will ignore the SC and Congress in implementing martial law throughout Mindanao despite the Constitution giving them oversight.

While the 1987 Constitution grants the president the power to declare martial law, it narrows the grounds for its imposition and gives the two other branches of government the power to review and dismiss the chief executive’s proclamation, if necessary.

With this, Mayor Osmeña suggested that Duterte listen to what the SC and Congress have to say, saying no harm will be done in hearing their reasons.

“The best quality of a leader is an ability to listen, that’s all I can say. My suggestion is you listen,” Osmeña said.

But in a press briefing yesterday, Malacañang clarified that the president will not defy Congress and the SC on the implementation of martial law.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, though, pointed out that Duterte will ultimately rely on advice from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in deciding whether to extend or lift it.

For his part, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma sees no problem with the declaration of martial law in Mindanao but disagrees with a plan to extend it in the Visayas.

In an interview after the requi- em for Cebuano Monsignor Alfeo Manalili at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Palma expressed his respect for the pastoral statement of Cardinal Quevido approving of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao while opposing a plan to extend it in the Visayas.

“I would not really want that martial law be extended to Visayas. I think it is to premature to say that, knowing the complications and difficulties that it would infer in the Visayas. To extend it to Visayas may not be appropriate,” Palma said.

Palma hopes for coordination between government authorities and the people of Marawi to avoid violations of human rights.

“There are always possibilities (human rights violations). We just hope that both the government authorities and the people will coordinate so that human rights will always be respected in the time of martial law,” he said.

The Cebu Archdiocese is mobilizing efforts to collect donations from parishes and religious groups for the victims of the Marawi crisis.