MANILA, Philippines?With their moves to declare Proclamation 1959 unconstitutional, critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s martial law in Maguindanao have taken the side of the Ampatuan clan, the suspects in the massacre of 57 people in the province, a top Palace aide said Friday.
Lashing at the President?s detractors, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the crisis in Maguindanao ?has become a fresh fodder for their political agenda.?
?Are they now shedding copious tears in sympathy with Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., others in the clan, and some 160 individuals who have been arrested or are about to be arrested for planning or for participating in the gruesome massacre?? Remonde said in a prepared statement.
Several lawmakers and lawyers groups have asked the Supreme Court to stop Malacañang from implementing the proclamation, saying there was no justification for it. The Ampatuan clan, who was alleged to be behind the grisly massacre on November 23, had also filed a similar petition before the high tribunal.
The number of petitions filed with the Supreme Court questioning the martial law proclamation now totals seven.
?It is understandable that the Ampatuan clan should petition the Supreme Court to declare the Maguindanao martial law unconstitutional. Their awesome power to defy lawful authority is slipping away, and their ability to evade criminal responsibility is in jeopardy. But what are we to make of the politicians who have taken the side of this powerful family?? Remonde said
?They do not say it out loud, but a Supreme Court decision favorable to their cause could nullify the arrest of the suspects and may render the evidence against them inadmissible,? he said.
Remonde dismissed the argument by some petitioners that martial rule in the area would lead to human rights abuses. He said the police and the military are running only after those who have participated in the mass murder.
?So, are they now so concerned about the welfare and well-being of the suspects in this gruesome crime? Actually, the minority need not fret about the human rights of the suspects. The government is taking care that the rights of all, including the suspected perpetrators of the massacre, are protected and upheld with equally firm resolve,? he said.
The Palace official said that after six days of implementation of martial law in Maguindanao, not a single abuse was committed by the police and military in the hunt for the suspects.
Congress convened in joint session since Thursday to deliberate on the proclamation.
Under scrutiny by both the Supreme Court and Congress, Remonde expressed confidence Arroyo?s proclamation would hurdle both test.
?Under the prevailing circumstances in Maguindanao, I sincerely believe Congress and the Supreme Court will uphold the right of the President to declare martial law,? he said.
He said it was the ?duty and responsibility? of the President to use all means ?to quell an armed rebellion and suppress lawless violence.?
Remonde reiterated the situation in Maguindanao presented ?extraordinary problems that called for extraordinary solutions.?
The petitions against Proclamation 1959 before the Supreme Court were filed by Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and a former chair of the Commission on Elections and Ateneo de Manila University lawyer Carlos Medina Jr.; lawyers led by University of the Philippines law dean Marvic Leonen, Akbayan party list representatives and residents of Maguindanao;
Lawyers led by former Senate President Jovito Salonga, former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan and Harry Roque Jr.; Ampatuan defense counsel Sigfrid Fortun and fellow lawyer Albert Lee Angeles; Maguindanao Representative Didagen Dilangalen (1st district); the National Union of People?s Lawyers and leftist groups; and law student Joseph Nelson Loyola.
