IN DECLARING MARTIAL LAW IN MINDANAO, DUTERTE PLAYING WITH FIRE, SAYS JOMA
President Duterte is “playing with fire” with his declaration of martial law in Mindanao, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison said on Wednesday.
“Only those greedy for power or fools will say martial law is good and will solve the problems of the nation,” Sison said in an online interview.
On Tuesday night, Mr. Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao after fighting raged in Marawi City between government forces and militants who pledged support for the Islamic State (IS) group.
Aquino’s view
At the launch of the political almanac Politiko365, former President Benigno Aquino III said he decided against declaring martial law in Sulu after his military commanders told him that it would hardly help in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf.
“I spoke with the security sector [that time] and I asked if it [martial law] would help them. But they said it seemed that it would only give marginal help in Sulu at that point,” Aquino told reporters yesterday.
He contemplated declaring martial law in Sulu several weeks before he stepped down from office on June 30 last year while the Abu Sayyaf was holding Canadian, Norwegian and Filipino hostages.
Negative effect
Sison warned that Mr. Duterte’s military rule in Mindanao would have a “negative effect” on the talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The negotiating panels of the government and NDFP are meeting for the fifth round of talks this week in the Netherlands.
Sison, an NDFP chief political consultant, said the declaration of martial law was baseless or lacked sufficient grounds. “Duterte and his men on the ground contradict ... each other. There is no need for martial law for either Marawi or the whole of Mindanao.”
Sison said the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) declared on Tuesday night that the situation in Marawi was “under full control of the city officials.”
Wesmincom said government forces continued to conduct mopping up operations to clear Marawi of the Maute group and protect residents.
Alarming
“Worse, this will become an excuse to declare martial law in the entire Philippines. The government did this in 1971-1972 when it tried to disarm the Moros also in Marawi,” Sison said.
Konsensya Dabaw, a group of martial law victims in Davao City, said it was alarming that martial law was declared anew, 31 years after Marcos was ousted.
Magz Maglana of Konsensya Dabaw said “the declaration of martial law for the whole of Mindanao is unwarranted,” pointing out that the military described the Marawi situation as a security operation and not an antiterror campaign.
“We are also disappointed that the first Philippine President from Mindanao ... has taken recourse to actions that are reminiscent of the very dark days of martial law under Marcos. We have reasons to worry,” Maglana added.
Poison for Mindanao
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the declaration was poison for Mindanao, “but no problem because we have guns, too.”
BIFF spokesperson Abu Misri Mama said “the Maute group is not our friends, not enemies but we can help them.”
MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal hoped that Mr. Duterte’s declaration would not affect the talks between the government and the MILF.
Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Antonio Cerilles said Mr. Duterte should have imposed martial law only in areas where there was “serious disturbance to peace and order, or serious domestic emergencies as in the case of Marawi City and Lanao del Sur.”
Araceli Ayuste, a resort owner and former Mindanao Tourism Council chair, frowned on the declaration, sayin “[i]t connotes negativity since it (would appear) that we are not a safe destination.”
Presidential Peace Process Adviser Jesus Dureza defended the martial law declaration, saying “it’s not only directed at the Maute terror group but [also at] all private armed groups as well to those all groups that will fight against the government.”