Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO/RYAN LEAGOGO
An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday slammed the spokespersons of President Rodrigo Duterte and some members of his Cabinet for supposedly “deodorizing” his remarks on declaring martial law in the country.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Duterte himself should clearly state that he would not declare martial law instead of his men repeatedly clarifying his pronouncements.
“President Duterte himself must state that he does not intend to declare martial law outside the parameters and restrictions of the Constitution, instead of his subalterns making the clarifications who could misread the President’s mindset,” Lagman said in a statement.
Duterte over the weekend said nobody can stop him from declaring martial rule if the drug problem “deteriorates into something really virulent.” He earlier said he wanted to amend the Constitution to allow the President to have the sole prerogative in declaring martial law without the approval of the Supreme Court or the Congress.
READ: Duterte to declare martial law if situation in PH turns ‘virulent’
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Duterte’s latest martial law remark was just an “angry expression” from the President, saying the latter was just “exasperated” by the seizure of 890 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” in San Juan.
READ: On threat to impose martial law, Duterte just frustrated—Aguirre
Presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, meanwhile, justified Duterte’s remark by saying that it is the President’s constitutional duty to declare martial law if the drug problem “becomes virulent and it is really needed.” But the 1987 Constitution states that the President may declare martial law only in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it.
“However, neither Aguirre nor Panelo were consulted by the President before he declared his latest resolve to impose martial law at all costs if the drug problem becomes virulent,” Lagman said.
“The after-the-fact clarifications of Duterte’s men are meant to minimize and deodorize the adverse impact of the President’s outbursts, but cannot obliterate the perilous import of his categorical pronouncement,” he added.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar also slammed the media for supposedly “misreporting” Duterte’s remarks on declaring martial law “if he wants to,” saying such headlines “sow panic and confusion to many.” RAM