Duterte martial law declaration transmitted to Congress

The Office of the President has transmitted to Congress Proclamation No. 216, President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in the whole of Mindanao and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

The Office of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez III received a copy of the two-page martial law declaration at 10:26 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Inquirer obtained a copy of Proclamation No. 216 and the transmittal letter from House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas.

In his proclamation, President Duterte said martial law in Mindanao would be in effect not exceeding 60 days.

The President said he was prompted to declare martial law in the entire Mindanao because the Maute terrorist group’s attack in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur on May 23, particularly their “flying the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in several areas,” was an attempt to remove the city from Philippine government allegiance.

It was also an attempt “to deprive the Chief Executive of his powers and prerogatives to enforce the laws of the land and to maintain public order and safety in Mindanao, constituting the crime of rebellion,” Mr. Duterte said.

The proclamation said that the Maute terrorist group “has taken over a hospital in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, established several checkpoints within the City, burned down certain government and private facilities and inflicted casualties on the part of Government forces.”

“Whereas, this recent attack shows the capability of the Maute group and other rebel groups to sow terror and cause death and damage to property not only in Lanao del Sur but also in other parts of Mindanao;”

“Now therefore, I, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and by law, do hereby proclaim, as follows:

“Section 1. There is hereby declared a state of martial law in the Mindanao group of islands for a period not exceeding sixty days, effective as of the date hereof.

“Section 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall likewise be suspended in the aforesaid area for the duration of the state of martial law.

“Done in the Russian Federation, this 23^rd of May in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Seventeen.”

The President also mentioned in his martial law declaration that “part of the reasons” for his issuance of Proclamation No. 55 “was the series of violent acts committed by the Maute terrorist group such as the attack on the military outpost in Butig, Lanao del Sur in February 2016, killing and wounding several soldiers, and the mass jailbreak in Marawi City in August 2016, freeing their arrested comrades and other detainees.”

Below is a copy of the said document.