Independent minority bloc assails Duterte’s martial law before SC

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and President Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTOS

The independent minority bloc in the House of Representatives went to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

In a statement on Monday, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Duterte’s Proclamation No. 216 that imposed martial law and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus was bereft of sufficient factual basis and thus should be nullified.

Lagman and the other members of the bloc  said there is no sufficient factual anchorage for Proclamation No. 216 because there is no rebellion or invasion where  public safety requires it in Marawi City, where the terror group Maute laid siege on the city that prompted Duterte to declare martial law in the whole Mindanao.

The other grounds are:

1. Mere conclusions of fact and law on the pretended existence of rebellion and/or invasion will not serve as sufficient basis since errant conclusions have no legal pedigree.
2. No less than the military establishment has admitted that the current armed conflict in Marawi City was government-initiated and the armed confrontation was precipitated by the military operation to neutralize or capture Isnilon Hapilon, a high profile terrorist commander, which was resisted by the Maute Group of terrorists.
3. Consequently, the alleged “siege” of Marawi City was actually an armed resistance by the Maute Group to shield Hapilon from capture, not to overrun Marawi and remove its allegiance from the Republic.
4. The proffered rebellion and/or invasion is at most a threat akin to “imminent danger” which has been obliterated from the 1987 Constitution as an alternative ground for the declaration of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.
5. The alleged facts contained in Proclamation No. 216 and the President’s Report justifying the imposition of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus turned out to be mostly inaccurate, simulated, false and/or hyperbolic and the list of terrorist acts or incidents of violence are either distant or have been earlier solved with the apprehension and prosecution of the suspected culprits.

The petitioners also cited the “fatal inaccuracies and falsities” in the President’s martial law report to Congress, such as the alleged ransacking of a hospital, bank, university, and the city hall, and the alleged beheading of a Lanao Del Sur police chief, which all turned out to be false.

LOOK: Duterte’s martial law report to Congress

According to the petition:

• Contrary to the President’s Report, the Amai Pakpak Medical Center (APMC) was not overrun by the Maute Group according to Dr. Amer Saber, APMC’s Medical Director, and the medical facility remains operational.
• The Landbank of the Philippines said that its branch in Marawi City was not ransacked by the terrorists, contradicting the President’s Report.
• The Senator Ninoy Aquino College Foundation was intact as of May 24 2017 and Marawi City Schools Division Assistant Superintendent Ana Alonto said that the Marawi Central Elementary Pilot School was not burned by the terrorists, thus belying the President’s Report.
• The Police Chief of Malabang in Lanao del Sur, Senior Inspector Romeo Enriquez, is alive and was not beheaded by the terrorists, contrary to the claim of President Duterte upon his arrival from Russia on May 24 2017.
•  Contradicting Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s press briefing in Moscow on May 23, 2017, the Armed Forces of the Philippines denied that the Marawi City Hall was occupied and Mindanao State University (MSU) Vice President for academic affairs Alma Berowa assured that MSU has not been occupied.

READ: Town police chief not beheaded. says: ‘Am still alive’ 

The petitioners also said President Duterte acted alone without any recommendation from his Cabinet in the declaration of martial law, as confirmed by Lorenzana to lawmakers during the Cabinet’s briefing with the Committee of the Whole House.

The petition was filed by Lagman, Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, Capiz Rep. Emmanuel Billones, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, and Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice.

The petition was filed pursuant to the checks and balances provided in the 1987 Constitution that the Supreme Court may review any petition filed by a citizen questioning the factual basis of a martial law declaration.

READ: House committee holds executive session for martial law report 

The Supreme Court must promulgate its decision within thirty days from filing, the Constitution states.

Duterte declared martial law and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao following the attack of the Maute group in Marawi city, where buildings were burnt, people taken hostage, and flags of the Islamic State (ISIS) hoisted in the siege carried out by the ISIS-inspired terror group.

Both the lower House and the Senate passed resolutions supporting the declaration of martial law in Mindanao and finding no reason to revoke it. JE/rga

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