Petitioner mulling filing appeal to SC decision upholding martial law in Mindanao

One of the three petitioners is open to the possibility of filing an appeal to the Supreme Court's decision upholding President Rodrigo Duterte's martial law declaration in Mindanao.

In a statement, the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL), which represented the group of militant lawmakers and activists, said it was "mulling if a motion for reconsideration of the formal decision is still in order, realistic or practical."

The petitioners have 15 days under court rules to lodge an appeal to the ruling, which was backed by majority of the 15-man high tribunal.

Disappointed by the ruling, the NUPL insisted there was no sufficient factual basis for the government to resort to martial law in the whole of Mindanao to defeat militants accused of staging rebellion for the purpose of establishing a caliphate for international terror group ISIS.

The group said the decision was "a big letdown and disappointment fraught with even greater dangers as it apparently dilutes the already inadequate constitutional safeguards of the anti-dictatorship 1987 Constitution."

“Now, more than ever, we call on the Filipino people to remain critical and vigilant. If they can declare an expansive martial law in Mindanao based on alternative and magnified facts as well as exaggerated scenarios, they can do the same for the entire Philippines," said NUPL secretary general Ephraim Cortez.

"It is a dangerous precedent not much unlike the Martial Law cases jurisprudence of the dictator Marcos Supreme Court."

With martial law in place, the NUPL said it "leaves the ordinary people to fend for themselves against abuses and excesses of governmental power no matter in whose name it is invoked."

President Rodrigo Duterte, on May 23, placed the entire Mindanao under martial rule after members of the ISIS-inspired Maute group attacked Marawi City, torching houses and establishments and holding several civilians hostage.

Now on its fourth week, the Marawi crisis has resulted in the death of over 400 people, most of them Maute members. It has also driven some 400,000 residents out of their homes. —KG, GMA News