Another petition is set to be filed at the Supreme Court on Wednesday compelling Congress to hold a joint session on President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
The petition will be filed by former Senator Wigberto “Bobby” Tañada, Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, Bishop Pablo David of the Caloocan Diocese, Mother Adelaida Ygrubay of the Order of St. Benedict and student council leaders from different universities, according to a media advisory sent to email by the office of Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday.
Hontiveros was among the six opposition senators whose resolution calling for a joint session of Congress on martial law have been junked by 12 members of the Senate majority bloc.
READ: Voting 12-9, Senate ditches minority’s bid for joint session to tackle martial law
According to the advisory, the filing of the petition was initiated by the Gathering for Civil Liberties (GCL), a multi-tendency, multi-form and multi-sectoral loose formation organized by different personalities, human rights crusaders, sectoral leaders and social activists.
The GCL seeks to provide “safe and informal spaces to consolidate voices, perspectives and initiatives to promote democratic values and vigilance amid threats of creeping authoritarianism.”
In the petition, Tañada pointed out that a plain reading of the 1987 Constitution leads to the “indutable conclusion that a joint session of Congress to review a declaration of martial law by the President is mandatory.”
“The petitioners also said that failure to convene a joint session deprives the public of transparent proceedings within which to be informed of the factual bases of the declaration of martial law,” said the advisory.
The advisory also noted the reported “erroneous” information in the President’s report submitted to Congress regarding his martial law declaration in Mindanao.
“Due to the non-holding of a joint session, there is no way of scrutinizing the said inconsistencies and errors. They now cast a dark cloud of doubt over the legitimacy and proportionality of martial law as a response to the Marawi conflict,” it said.
Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under martial law amid ongoing fighting in Marawi City between government troops and the ISIS-inspired Maute Group. Seventeen of 23 senators backed the martial law declaration, while the six opposition senators wanted Congress to first deliberate on it in joint session.
Aside from Hontiveros, the five other opposition senators are Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima, who has been detained at Camp Crame in Quezo City over drug charges. IDL/rga
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