Palace confident Congress will extend Mindanao martial law

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Saturday said Malacañang trusts that Congress will recognize the need to extend martial law in Mindanao.

"We trust Congress to recognize the gravity of the situation and support the Executive Department in declaring that the factual and legal basis upon which martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus was upheld is continuing and still persists," Abella said in a statement.

Members of Senate and the House of Representatives has convened in a joint session to tackle President Rodrigo Duterte's request to extend martial law in Mindanao until December 31 of this year.

The President placed the entire Mindanao under martial law after the ISIS-inspired Maute group attacked Marawi City.

The declaration was effective for 60 days or until Saturday, July 22.

Abella said that the "primary objective" of the proposed martial law extension is to allow government forces to "continue in their swift and decisive action in liberating Marawi."

"As authorities follow through with their operations, they need to be on guard in preventing the spillover of lawlessness and violent extremism in other parts of Mindanao and maintain peace and stability in the entire island, owing to the cohesion, bond of comradeship and affinity of the personalities involved, which run deep and complex and have created a network that could stretch in all corners of Mindanao," he added.

More than 500 people, mostly militants, have been killed and at least 400,000 have been displaced in the ongoing conflict in Marawi City. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/ALG, GMA News