Military defends martial law in Mindanao

The deadly bomb attack on a Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu province, on Sunday showed the need to maintain the enforcement of martial law in Mindanao, the military told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The attack on the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel that killed 21 people and wounded nearly 100 others “demonstrates the continuing danger posed to the public by these terrorist groups while advancing their respective political objectives,” Maj. Gen. Pablo Lorenzo, deputy chief of staff for intelligence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the justices during a hearing on petitions challenging the basis for the continued imposition of martial rule in the whole of Mindanao.

“The factual basis for the extension of martial law is anchored on the continuing rebellion being waged by the communist terrorist groups and the local terrorist groups along with their foreign terrorist allies,” added Lorenzo, who presented the military report on terrorist incidents and terrorist groups operating in Mindanao to justify President Rodrigo Duterte’s imposition of martial law on the island.

Aside from local “terrorist groups” in Mindanao, he said, four foreign terrorists are confirmed to be in the country while about 60 others are on the military’s “watch list.”

The justices were given a copy of the report the military submitted to Congress when it reviewed the President’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao.

The magistrates told Solicitor General Jose Calida to submit a more detailed report of the military on the bombing of the Jolo cathedral on Sunday. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan