Opposition lawmakers felt vindicated by the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showing 62 percent of Mindanao folk were against the extension of martial law.
Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said “the results of the recent poll vindicate our stand that the 1-year extension of martial law is not necessary.”
The SWS’ survey, held from Dec. 8 to 16, showed that 67 percent of respondents in Metro Manila, 63 percent in the rest of Luzon and 55 percent in the Visayas also opposed the move. The average for all four areas is 62 percent.
“Majority of the Filipinos, even those from [the] Visayas and Mindanao, share the same sentiment and can see the fact that the war in Marawi City is already over,” Alejano said.
Separately, Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin said: “Sixty-two percent of Filipinos are not dumb to buy the idea of martial law as good for everyone.”
“Even Mindanaoans don’t support [martial law] as it only brings tragedy and pain. It is not martial law that will solve our problems rather it becomes the problem,” Villarin said.
The same SWS survey also showed 66 percent of respondents agreed the military can handle security threats even without martial law.
For Alejano, the survey disproved the claim of lawmakers that they had to support martial law because of its popular support in Mindanao.
At least nine congressmen claimed during the Dec. 13 session that Mindanao folk “generally support martial law,” as Anak Mindanao Rep. Makmod Mending Jr. put it.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Mauyag Papandayan Jr. and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. also asked the government to go after the armed group’s financiers and improve intelligence-gathering.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Ansaruddin Adiong, who represents Marawi City, said martial law was needed for reconstruction because it helped in “eradicating extremism, restoring relationships and promoting peace and justice.”
Neophyte Kusug-Tausug Rep. Shernee Tan, even asked: “If martial law is good for Mindanao, isn’t martial law good also for Luzon and [the] Visayas?”