Faces of the news

SC Justice Marvic Leonen

He was the lone magistrate who voted to grant the three petitions challenging President Duterte’s martial law proclamation all over Mindanao, and this didn’t come as a surprise to some. In the oral arguments, Marvic Leonen said the military had the capability to deal with the Islamic State-linked terrorists that had rampaged through the lakeside city without resorting to martial law. If at all, the way forward was the implementation of the peace accord he had negotiated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the previous Aquino administration, he said. In his dissenting opinion, Leonen said imposing martial law to fight terrorism was a “fallacy.” “Never again should we fall victim to a false narrative that a vague declaration of martial law is good for us no matter the circumstances,” he said.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa

They concurred with 11 of their colleagues who voted to uphold President Duterte’s Proclamation No. 216, but argued that that martial law should be restricted to Marawi and several other provinces, but not the whole island of Mindanao. The rest of Mindanao was peaceful, they said during the oral arguments. A common thread ran through their arguments: a warning against a return to the Marcos era martial law. In her opinion, Maria Lourdes Sereno said the Constitution set a geographical restriction on the President’s prerogative to place the archipelago or any part of it under martial law. She said Mr. Duterte did not have “unbridled discretion as to when, where and how martial law is to be declared.” And neither could he broaden its use “to solve other social ills.” “The danger of misusing martial law is related to the need to protect the military from returning its misshapen role during the Marcos martial law (era),” the chief magistrate said. Antonio Carpio observed that the Commander in Chief’s admission that the armed conflict could spill over to other areas of Mindanao only proved that there was no actual rebellion outside of Marawi. He cautioned his colleagues against playing fire with martial law, lest this would turn the Constitution “into ashes.” “The court must never allow the 1972 debacle to be ever repeated again,” the senior associate justice said. The court, he added, should not “mercilessly inflict on the Filipino people the constant fear of a recurrence of the nightmarish martial law Marcos.” For Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, other areas in Mindanao were only under “imminent threat” of rebellion, which framers of the 1987 Constitution dropped as a requisite for a martial law declaration to avoid a repeat of the abuses committed by the Marcos regime. “There is insufficient showing that the requirements of public safety necessitated the declaration of martial law over the entire Mindanao,” he said. In the majority ruling, the high tribunal recognized Mr. Duterte’s “sole discretion” to extend the geographical scope of martial law order beyond the place where an actual rebellion was happening. The magistrates allayed the fears of the petitioners, saying the Charter has spelled out ample safeguards to prevent Mr. Duterte from abusing his power. “The significance of martial law should not be undermined by unjustified fears and past experience,” read a part of the ruling.

Freddie Roach

Manny Pacquiao’s legendary boxing trainer had it all wrong this time. Expecting his prized ward to score a knockout, Freddie Roach had predicted a “short and sweet” fight when Pacquiao clashed with Australian Jeff Horn for the world welterweight title. But the bout turned out to be just the opposite as the little known Horn shocked Pacquiao via a unanimous 12-round decision in a bloody Brisbane battle. The controversial match—which prompted the World Boxing Organization to rescore (but not reverse) the fight—had Roach pondering Pacquiao’s future. The seven-time trainer of the year suggested Pacquiao should either retire or go for one last rematch against Horn before walking away from boxing for good. But perhaps, Roach needs that rematch too after Horn’s corner had him badly beaten.

Bob Arum

After all the commotion following the “Battle of Brisbane,” the questions lingering in people’s minds are: Is Bob Arum still looking after Manny Pacquiao’s interests? Is Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank expiring? Did Arum do enough to ensure Pacquiao would get fair treatment in his fight against Jeff Horn? The answers are conflicting depending on who you’re talking to. While the Pacquiao camp has been reporting cracks in the relationship, Arum said Pacquiao and Top Rank are still tight. One thing’s for sure though. The fact that Arum’s name continues to be in the middle of these debates proves that he is a major force in boxing. And with Pacquiao’s future and a rematch with Horn hanging in the balance, expect Arum’s name to continue hitting the headlines.