EMERGENCY POWERS

THERE is no quibbling about it. There is no more compelling reason to declare a state of national emergency than the existence of a global pandemic that threatens the very existence of everyone. And logic dictates that a state of national emergency would require that the President should be granted emergency powers so long as these are within the Constitution. It doesn’t take rocket science to understand the logic. And it should not even be a partisan issue.

A state of national emergency is an extraordinary situation that demands that the Chief Executive be given enough latitude to expedite disbursement of funds, mobilize government resources and take extraordinary measures to combat the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). It is not logical that an extraordinary condition will be matched by a president that is straitjacketed to operate under a business-as-usual management regimen.

Ideally, it is logical for President Rodrigo Duterte to be given emergency powers in the face of this global Covid- 19 pandemic. In fact, it is necessary. Granting emergency powers is not a new concept. Other countries have adopted different configurations of what amounts to the same thing — that their chief executives are given powers they would not normally have under ordinary conditions. And the existence of a global pandemic is not an ordinary condition.

In the Philippines, the Constitution specifies several layers of extraordinary powers granted to the President. These include the declaration of martial law, the suspension of the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus and the calling out of the Armed Forces. However, the Constitution prohibits the deployment of these extraordinary measures outside the existence of a rebellion, invasion or lawless violence. The existence of the Covid- 19 pandemic doesn’t rise to any of these preconditions. What is allowed is for Congress to declare a state of emergency and to grant the President emergency powers.

It, therefore, begs explaining why there is opposition to the granting of emergency powers to the President from many quarters, strong enough for Malacañang to retreat and recalibrate its original proposal for the President to be given the power to temporarily take over private businesses, including utilities. Instead, he is now just authorized to “direct the operation of any privately owned hospitals and medical and health facilities, including other establishments,” but only for the purpose of either housing health workers or serving as quarantine areas or aid distribution locations. This also applies

to public transportation, but not to telecommunications entities. The only time Duterte is allowed to take over private establishments is when they unjustifiably refuse or when they signify that they are no longer capable of operating their enterprises.

There are groups that oppose the President on the ground that he might use his emergency powers to further what to them are his dictatorial tendencies. These are mainly from those who have been critical of his alleged human rights violations in his war on drugs, and in his attack on freedom of expression in relation to his war with media entities like Rappler and ABS- CBN Corp. These groups pounced on the idea of a takeover of private enterprise, ever suspicious that this may open a space for him to exact vengeance on those he labeled as greedy oligarchs, even as it may also enable his so- called preferred and “good” oligarchs to make a move and take advantage of the opportunity. These apprehensions are coming from people who have been critical of the President since the start of his term and could, therefore, be considered as the usual suspects.

But there are new groups of people who have not been usually critical of the President, but are now voicing their opposition to granting him emergency powers. Some of them are even usually supportive of him and are not part of the political opposition, but have expressed strong reservations. And the source of their discomfort lies in their loss of trust in the President concerning his ability to manage the crisis brought about by Covid- 19. They are terribly uncomfortable with the thought of granting emergency powers to a president whom they have seen to be incoherent and disorganized in his press conferences, despite these being pre- taped, and failing to project a reassuring image at a time when Filipinos need a steady and reliable leader.

One can easily understand the source of discomfort. It is hard to grant extraordinary powers to someone to combat a disease that he earlier belittled, but against which he later admitted that we are helpless. Many people cannot reconcile giving emergency powers to a leader whose men and women keep contradicting each other, and appear to be bereft of a relatively stable playbook. They cannot completely trust giving someone extraordinary powers when what they see is a government that issues orders that are fluid and ever- changing. They are frightened by the thought of too much power being wielded by a leader who doesn’t have a clear plan.

Also steeped in the minds of people from these groups is the image of a president who was initially dismissive of the threat of the virus and hesitated in acting decisively to ban flights from mainland China. It would have been more forgivable had such decision been a product simply of an underestimation of the threat, considering that other countries also failed to respond proactively. However, what made the President’s hesitation offensive to many Filipinos is that it was articulated more as an accommodation of China, driven by the fear of offending its leaders if the Philippines were to ban direct flights from its mainland.

While many Duterte supporters remain blindly loyal, there is now a growing number of people who can no longer uncritically trust the President. This is no longer his war on drugs. This is a different kind of war. If the President is not careful, the standing and legacy of his presidency may just become casualties of this global pandemic.