SC mum on Duterte’s martial law threat

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday shrugged off President Duterte’s remarks that not even the high court could stop him from declaring martial law if the illegal drug problem continued to worsen.

“We don’t respond to political statements,” Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said.

Speaking to businessmen in Davao City on Saturday night, Mr. Duterte threatened to ignore the Constitution and declare martial law if the drug problem became “really virulent.”

“I don’t care about the Supreme Court, because the thing, the right to preserve one’s life and my nation, my country transcends everything else even the limitation. If I want to and it will deteriorate into something really virulent, I will declare martial law if I wanted to. Nobody can stop me,” he said.

Under the Constitution, the President can impose martial law on the country for 60 days in case of invasion or rebellion.

Both the Supreme Court and Congress have the power to review and veto the martial law proclamation.

The Constitution, however, does not cite illegal drugs as justification for the imposition of martial law.

Senators, although already accustomed to Mr. Duterte’s impulsiveness, on Monday cautioned the President against making such statements.

But Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Mr. Duterte’s right-hand man in the House of Representatives, wondered what the fuss was about.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Alvarez expressed amazement at how people liked talking about the possibility of Mr. Duterte declaring martial law when it was “very clear” that the President had no intention to impose authoritarian rule on the country.

Alvarez urged the public to stop talking about martial law.

He noted that Mr. Duterte used the word “if,” indicating a condition.

“It’s just like that song, ‘If a picture paints a thousand words.’ It means that it is impossible to happen. It is unlikely to happen. So let’s not talk about it. If we are interested to have martial law, then let’s talk about it,” Alvarez said.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also sought to play down Mr. Duterte’s comments.

“The President’s statement that he would declare martial law should the problem in the illegal drug trade become virulent is but a dramatic and graphic presentation of an exercise of presidential power and duty imposed on him by the Constitution,” Panelo said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said Mr. Duterte’s words should not be taken as an “imminent exercise of emergency power” but as a warning to those “bent on destroying the fabric of society.” —WITH REPORTS FROM NIKKO DIZON AND MARLON RAMOS