Is it time to lift martial law?

While we seemingly enjoyed the Kadayawan Festival last week it seems like we forgot that martial law in Mindanao.

We are not saying that we should not have enjoyed Kadayawan, rather, what we want to convey is it seems like the situation in Mindanao has gotten better with people feeling safer, which allowed them to enjoy the festival more.

Maybe it is time for the government to review martial law in Mindanao -- instead of placing the whole island under it, probably they can limit it on certain areas only?

Despite its benefits for the island in terms of peace and order, it is somehow not helping uplift the island’s image as a whole. For example, there are still firms that are having second thoughts coming here.

Among those affected are businesses into information and communication technology and business process management (ICT-BPM). The industry is known as one of the biggest employers in the services sector here in Davao.

ICT Davao president attorney Samuel Matunog said there are still ICT-BPM firms that are hesitant to enter Davao due to the current martial law in Mindanao.

If ICT-BPM firms are having second thoughts on Davao City, how much more for other locations?

“We hope that the whole martial law issuance can be lifted. If we can do then it will bring in locators to consider again Davao City,” Matunog said.

Probably it is really time for the government to look into the implementation of martial law in Mindanao again. Despite being put in the spotlight, investors will still look into the location as a whole before putting up their business there.

If martial law is lifted, we might probably see more investors coming to Mindanao. Not only from the ICT-BPM industry but other industries as well.