MANILA, Philippines -- Critics of the Arroyo administration were told to ?stop doomsday forecasting? after a senator and several groups expressed fears Executive Order (EO) No. 739, which reorganizes the National Peace and Order Council (NPOC), would be a prelude to another declaration of martial law.

?Let's just calm down and, being the responsible public officials that we are, focus on what we are doing,? said Interior secretary Ronaldo Puno at a press conference in Camp Crame on Monday.

Puno was reacting to a statement made by Senator Manuel ?Mar? Roxas II on Sunday saying the new executive order would give Puno ?sweeping powers in the name of enforcing security in the entire country, including sanctions against local executives seen as not kowtowing to Malacañang.?

But the interior secretary belied this: ?An EO cannot vest on any department head or any public official any authority that is not already vested by the Constitution or by provisions of existing law to that public official or the Office of the President.?

?The only thing that EOs can do is to delegate authority that the President possesses to members of her Cabinet. Now, frankly, the EO does not delegate any additional authority to the peace and order council,? he added.

EO 739 mandates the creation of regional offices of the NPOC to ?focus on convergence and the orchestration of internal security operations efforts of civil authorities and agencies, military and police.?

These regional offices, called Regional Peace and Order Councils (RPOC) will be mandated to monitor and recommend projects that will promote peace in the regions. RPOCs will also be mandated to ?apply moral suasion to and/or recommend sanctions against local chief executives who are giving material and political support to the communist rebels,? the EO stated.

Roxas called this part of the EO an alleged attempt by government' to conduct ?witch hunts? to both citizens and local leaders.

Earlier today, the groups Black and White Movement and Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) launched a signature campaign against any attempt by Arroyo to extend her term beyond 2010.

Both groups called EO 739 a ?dangerous move.?

To date, 320 individuals and 23 organizations have signed the online petition.

But Puno said the DILG does not need the executive order to recommend sanctions against local officials because ?the office is already given this authority in the exercise of the powers of the President.?

?The Secretary of DILG, on his own, can do such things without the EO,? he added.

Puno said that the main thrust of the EO was to shift the attention of the NPOC from the national level to the regional level so ?we can turn it to things that are of common concern of the region.?

Meanwhile, Puno called on his critics to visit his office in Camp Crame and look at the past EOs issued pertaining to the NPOC. He also ?flatly denied? that Arroyo will be declaring martial law.