Panelo tells Drilon: Don’t interpret Constitution literally

The President’s legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Thursday hit back at Sen. Franklin Drilon who chided him for claiming that the magnitude of drug cases may warrant the declaration of martial law.

Panelo reiterated that President Rodrigo Duterte could declare martial law “if public safety requires it.”

“What am I saying is right now, we have a situation which is akin to an invasion or to a rebellion because public safety is imminently in danger. And therefore, we cannot be chained into literally reading the constitutional provision as it expresses itself like invasion or rebellion,” Panelo said in an interview with reporters.

READ: Illegal drugs danger enough grounds for martial law–Panelo

Panelo said Drilon should interpret the Constitution with depth.

“We have to go beyond that. We have to look at whether or not the situation requires a declaration because the safety of the Filipino nation is at stake. The Supreme Court does not really rule on the literal provisions of the Constitution. It depends on the situation,” he said.

Drilon had said that even a freshman law student could “easily debunk” Panelo’s claims, pointing out that it had no legal basis.

But Panelo asserted that Drilon was missing “a very important operative act” on the grounds for declaring a martial law.

“Now he says that I’m missing an element in my statement. Because according to him, under the Constitution, only when there is invasion or rebellion that you can declare martial law,” he said.

READ: Drilon to Panelo on martial law: Review basic legal principles

“I agree. Except that he forgets the very important operative act, which is when public safety requires it. In other words, even when there is an invasion or rebellion, but public safety does not require a declaration of martial law, you cannot,” he added.

Panelo said his statements were based on the “Duterte Constitution.”

“The former Senate President Drilon is asking what Constitution I was referring to or reading when I made the statement that when public safety requires it, the President has duty and the right to declare martial law. May I inform the good senator that I am reading the Duterte constitution, which is actually the Philippine Constitution of 1987,” he said.