65% of Pinoys want end to martial law in Mindanao

Majority of Filipinos agree that martial law in Mindanao should expire by the end of 2019, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The results of the survey, conducted from Dec. 13 to 16, showed that 65 percent of 1,200 respondents said martial law should end on Dec. 31 while 34 percent said it should be extended for a longer period. One percent did not give an answer.

By areas, those who called for the termination of martial law by the end of 2019 was high in all areas: 67 percent in Metro Manila, 67 percent in Visayas, 66 percent in Luzon outside of Manila, and 61 percent in Mindanao.

President Rodrigo Duterte first declared martial law over the whole of Mindanao on May 23, 2017 after local Muslim extremists led by the Maute group who were seeking to establish an enclave in Southeast Asia for the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the Middle East attacked and occupied Marawi City.

The fighting in Marawi, which destroyed most of the city and displaced more than 200,000 residents, ended after five months of battle between government forces and the IS-inspired extremists.

Mr. Duterte asked Congress to extend martial law on the island to enable the government to crush the remnants of the IS-inspired groups that had seized the city.

Military rule in Mindanao was extended three times upon the President’s request, first until the end of 2017, then until the end of 2018, and once more until the end of 2019.

The noncommissioned nationwide poll had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Malacañang on Monday hailed the results of the survey that most Filipinos do not want military rule in the region to last beyond Dec. 31.

But presidential spokesperson Salvador Panel said President Duterte’s decision not to extend martial law in Mindanao beyond 2019 was firmly anchored on his constitutional duty, and not on whether people agree with him or not.

“His decision is always based on the constitutional mandate directing him to serve and protect the Filipino people. He couldn’t care less whether anyone agrees or disagrees with him,” said Panelo.

The President has decided not to extend martial law in Mindanao because of the weakened terrorism and extremist rebellion in the region.—Inquirer Research with a report from Julie M. Aurelio