Special session on ML to be held

President Duterte yesterday called the Senate and the House of Representatives to a special session on July 22, for purposes of extending the 60-day martial law he declared in the entire Mindanao.

“The President will call the Congress to a special session on Saturday at 9 a.m. to consider the extension of martial law,” House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas informed the 294-member House.

Proclamation 216, the legal basis for the declaration of military rule in the war-torn region, will expire on July 22,

two months after security forces attempted to arrest local terrorist Isnilon Hapilon of the Maute group in Marawi City, which the terrorists planned to take over.

House insiders say Duterte is asking senators and congressmen for another two months.

The Supreme Court earlier upheld Duterte’s martial law declaration by an 11-3-1 vote, with three magistrates claiming it should have covered only Marawi and nearby provinces, while Justice Marvic Leonen found no factual and legal basis for the declaration.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier renewed his call for Duterte to extend the 60-day martial law he declared in the entire region of Mindanao until June 2022, or until he finishes his fixed six-year term.

“Ako bilang taga-Mindanao sinusuportahan ko iyung martial law even until up to 2022 para lang matapos itong gulong ito (I, being from Mindanao, support martial law to finish all the mess),” the Davao del Norte congressman said, expressing exasperation at how decades of conflict have adversely affected the region.

He clarified, however, that this is just his personal sentiment and not of the entire 294-member House.

“Iyung rebellion kung hindi nila naintindihan mahigit 40 years na iyan. Hanggang ngayon hindi pa tapos (The rebellion, if they don’t understand, has existed for 40 years now),” the PDP-Laban stalwart said.

He said ISIS is not the only problem and it’s not the only rebellion. “There’s the NPA which has existed for years. They want to oust the government; hindi ba rebellion iyan (Isn’t that rebellion)?” Alvarez asked, referring to the communist New People’s Army.

Duterte has received the defense department’s recommendation on whether to extend martial law in Mindanao.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the department submitted its recommendation last Thursday.

“The President will go through the matter and will make a decision on it,” Abella said.

“As we all know, the President listens and he considers the position not only of the military and of the police but also the interests of vital stakeholders,” he added.