Saturday, 05 December 2009
-
Martial law in Maguindanao
The whole Philippines was rocked again last Saturday morning when the news of "President" Gloria M. Arroyo latest proclamation:Here is the full text of President Arroyo’s declaration placing Maguindanao under martial law:
PROCLAMATION NO. 1959
PROCLAIMING A STATE OF MARTIAL LAW AND
SUSPENDING THE PRIVILEGE OF THE WRIT OF
HABEAS CORPUS IN THE PROVINCE OF
MAGUINDANAO, EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN AREASWHEREAS, Proclamation 1946 was issued on 24 November 2009 declaring a state of emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and the City of Cotabato for the purpose of preventing and suppressing lawless violence in the aforesaid areas;
WHEREAS, Section 18 , Article VII of the Constitution provides that ” x x x In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety so requires it, (the President) may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law, x x x “
WHEREAS, R.A. No. 6986 provides that the crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising publicly and taking arms against the Government for the purpose of xxx depriving the Chief Executive or the Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.”
WHEREAS, heavily armed groups in the province of Maguindanao have established positions to resist government troops, thereby depriving the Executive of its powers and prerogatives to enforce the laws of the land and to maintain public order and safety;
WHEREAS, the condition of peace and order in the province of Maguindanao has deteriorated to the extent that the local judicial system and other government mechanisms in the province are not functioning, thus endangering public safety;
WHEREAS, the Implementing Operational Guidelines of the GRP-MILF Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities dated 14 November 1997 provides the following is considered a prohibited act: ” x x x establishment of checkpoints except those necessary for the GRP’s enforcement and maintainance of peace and order; and for the defense and security of the MILF in their identified areas, as jointly determined by the GRP and the MILF, x x x “
NOW, THEREFORE, I , GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and by law, do hereby proclaim as follows:
SECTION 1. There is hereby declared a state of martial law in the province of Maguindanao, except for the identified areas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as referred to in the Implementing Operational Guidelines of the GRP-MILF Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities.
SECTION 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall likewise be suspended in the aforesaid area for the duration of the state of martial law.
DONE in the City of Manila, this 4th day of December in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Nine.
GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO
By the President:
EDUARDO R. ERMITA
Executive SecretaryOkay, at the surface this might mean that the government is serious on apprehending the suspects in the ghastly murders of 57 people in Maguindanao about 3 weeks ago. While to me, when the government declared a State of Emergency in the area was most welcome, in my mind it was enough to do the job. Although I think a State of Lawlessness would be more apt given the circumstances now. What would drive the government into declaring martial law? The constitution provides the answer:
ARTICLE VII
Section 18. The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion. In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress. The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its Members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.
The Congress, if not in session, shall, within twenty-four hours following such proclamation or suspension, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call.
The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.
A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the Constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function, nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.
The suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall apply only to persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in, or directly connected with, invasion.
During the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, any person thus arrested or detained shall be judicially charged within three days, otherwise he shall be released.
The constitution provides this provision for the declaration of Martial law. There must be lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.So far there is no clear picture of invasion or rebellion and IMHO lawless violence could have been avoided early on if the government didn't support the warlord of that region.
So why all the fuzz now? The country looks to be divided again on the issue of PGMA's latest decision. Some are for it others like me are against it.
The Ampatuan massacre (Maguindanao Massacre) as it is known set a bad precedent on the country, while people like me want justice to be done, government seem to be doing short-cuts on their jobs. It was Justice Secretary Devenadera who wrote the observation that there was a, take note, LOOMING REBELLION. A virtual rebellion since the AFP and PNP have found caches of firearms that could arm battalions on the properties of the Ampatuans (the suspects). Still we have enough laws to suppress this unless government is covering up another thing.
The arms found with the Ampatuans (who are the ruling clan in the region) have government markings from the AFP, Dept of National Defense and the PNP. Which leave the question: How did they get there? Who provided these guns to these people? The answer was Gloria Arroyo herself.
EO 546 allows local officials and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to deputize barangay tanods as 'force multipliers' in the fight against insurgents. In practice, the EO allows local officials to convert and fund their private armed groups as legal entities with a tame and altruistic sounding name: civilian volunteer organizations CVOs.(Civilian Volunteer Organizations)
So either this proclamation of martial law is genuine or a cover-up is up to the people to decide. One could also note that Maguindanao is where this adminstration got most of its votes in the 2004 and the 2007 elections. This government to me is testing the waters. Martial law was the last resort of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos when he couldn't run for President anymore. Now it's being tested again by another unpopular president. I would not be surprised if one day when people would be caught by surprise again and see this country under martial rule.
God help us.
NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW, NEVER AGAIN TO GLORIA ARROYO.
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
email
- sent 0
- like
Post a Comment