Precedent

members of the Ampatuan clan led by then Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

As is the case in governments post-Marcos, the then Arroyo administration controlled both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress, upon which the 1987 Constitution has given the task to review a president’s martial law declaration, was not expected to go against the move. But before it could convene, Arroyo already lifted the martial law proclamation on Dec. 12, 2009, claiming that order had laready been restored in Maguindanao.

Even the Supreme Court, which received seven cases questioning the constitutionality of the martial law declaration, was overtaken by the said development. Because of the lifting of the proclamation, the High Court dismissed the cases as these had been rendered moot and academic. The dissenting opinions of Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Presbitero Velasco Jr. noted, however, that the court failed to grab the opportunity to guide future presidents on the proper way of imposing military rule.

Nevertheless, it was obvious that the Arroyo administration was careful in the martial law declaration, limiting the area affected to where the commission of violent acts were most pronounced (Maguindanao) and resisting the urge to impose military rule in Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City where the state emergency was also imposed. And when the basis for such a declaration was no longer present, it was promptly lifted.

Can we eventually say the same of the recently declared martial law in Mindanao?

— Sunnex