62% oppose martial law extension in Mindanao – SWS

FILE – A Philippine soldier sits on an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) while residents fleeing from Marawi city drive past on a highway going to Marawi, in Balo-i town, in southern island of Mindanao on May 24, 2017. Islamist militants who triggered martial law in the southern Philippines when they rampaged through a city are threatening to kill a priest and other hostages, the Catholic Church said May 24. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE

Sixty-two percent of Filipinos have agreed that there is no need for the government to extend martial law in Mindanao, a latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

According to results of the survey conducted from December 8 to 16, 62% opposed the martial law extension, 26% agreed while 12% were undecided.

Opposition to martial law extension was highest in Metro Manila at 67%, followed by Luzon at 63%, Mindanao at 62%, and Visayas at 55%, the SWS said.

In addition, 66% of Filipinos agreed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can suppress the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups even without a declaration of martial law, survey results showed.

61% of respondents in Mindanao, 66% in Visayas, 67% in Luzon and 70% in Metro Manila believe that the military can quell the rebels without martial law, the SWS said.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide, the SWS said. It has a margin of error of ±3% nationwide, ±4% for Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.

Last May 23, President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao as a way to curb the threats posed by the Maute rebels.

Congress, in a special joint session last Dec. 13, voted 240-27 to approve Duterte’s second request to extend martial law in Mindanao for another year.

Duterte first requested for an extension until the end of 2017 last July 22. Congress voted 261-18 to approve it.