Duterte: I would declare martial law quietly, if needed

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte –ACE MORANDANTE/Presidential Photo FILE

CABANATUAN CITY — While insisting that he had no plan to declare martial law, President Duterte said on Wednesday that if he did issue such a proclamation, he would do so quietly.

As of Wednesday, during a public appearance in this city, Mr. Duterte said he agreed with the military that there has been “no compelling reason” to issue such a declaration lately, and reiterated that he would only resort to martial rule as a way to preserve the nation.

But he raised the possibility of threats in the future.

“If you just say peace and order now, the military is correct, there is no compelling reason really,” he said in a speech at the 20th anniversary of the Premiere Medical Center.

“But I will just fill you in in the days to come. It’s ISIS coming in very fast and Mindanao is a pure case of rising nationalism,” he added.

The ISIS, he said, had “contaminated” Mindanao.

Mr. Duterte also chided newspapers for reports on his statements about martial law.

“I will not declare martial law. If I declare martial law, I will not make noise. If asked for the basis, you son of a bitch, I don’t care. Just be quiet all of you,” he said.

No President would ask for the Supreme Court’s approval first before issuing such a proclamation, he further said.

“It is not found in the Constitution. It is not written there. But If I feel as a President that I have to preserve my country, I will declare martial law,” he added.

In his speech, Mr. Duterte also stressed that his issue about Congress and the Supreme Court’s power to review a martial law proclamation stemmed from concerns that the chief executive would become all powerful in case of conflict between the two other branches on the issue.

“Who decides now? It will be me. It will encourage me to become a despot because I now can interpret the law itself and it is final,” he said.

The President’s statements on martial rule have drawn concern and stirred fear among citizens, with some of them pointing out that the framers of the 1987 constitutions included safeguards against such as a proclamation because of the abuses during the rule of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.  SFM