Palace: Duterte rules out martial law in Negros

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the oath-taking ceremony of the newly appointed officials at the Malacañan Palace on August 5, 2019. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte will not declare martial law in Negros Island amid the rampant killings in the area, Malacañang said Tuesday.

In a Palace briefing, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that there must be a state of rebellion in Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental to merit the declaration of martial law.

“I asked him [Duterte] last night about Negros and he said, ‘You and I are lawyers. We know we cannot just impose martial law unless the requirements are there,” Panelo said.

The Palace official said that there were only “unbridled killings” on the island and these do not require martial law declaration.

Asked if Duterte is ruling out declaring martial law in Negros to quell the spate of killings, Panelo said: “Sa ngayon.”

But the President can still invoke other emergency powers such as deploying more military troops to Negros, Panelo added.

At least 21 people have been killed in Negros Oriental from July 18 to 27, including a lawyer, a barangay captain, a city councilor, a former mayor, and a one-year-old child.

Meanwhile, Defend Negros #StoptheKillings network has recorded 83 victims of extrajudicial killings in the whole of Negros Island from January 2017 to July this year, fuelling fears for martial declaration which has been in effect in Mindanao since 2017.

The President declared last week that he would do something “drastic” that may not sit well with most Filipinos. However, he did not elaborate on his pronouncement. /je

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