AFP chief won’t recommend lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao unless anti-terror act is amended

The military is unlikely to recommend the lifting of martial law in Mindanao unless the Human Security Act or the anti-terrorism law is amended to authorize security forces to detain suspected terrorists for more than three days.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Carlito Galvez made the remark less than one and a half month before the martial law in Mindanao expires on December 31.

Mindanao has been under martial law since May 2017, a move made by President Rodrigo Duterte with the consent of Congress to suppress terrorists such as the Maute group and their sympathizers who took the Islamic city of Marawi under siege from May to October in 2017.

“We have the weakest anti terrorism law in Southeast Asia, and it is also weaker than compared with that of UK and Australia when whey can incarcerate a suspected terrorist for 28 days," Galvez said at  a news conference.

"Here, you need martial law [to be in effect] to detain a suspected terrorist for three days. Without martial law, walang ngipin ang batas,” he added.

Galvez was referring to the proposed amendments to anti-terror law which would allow the detention of suspected terrorists for 30 days without warrant and the scrapping of the P500,000-a-day fine for every wrongful detention.

"(The lifting of martial law) will create a condition that the terrorists can exploit. If our anti-terrorism law is as strong as Singapore, Malaysia where they can detained suspects [of terror acts] for 12 months, then we don't need the martial law,” Galvez said. 

“That is why the CPP-NPA has been there for 50 years. Our laws do not limit their logistics, recruitment and apprehension,” he added, referring to Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army.

Galvez said local government units in Mindanao, which is composed of at least 25 provinces, had expressed their overwhelming support for the extension of martial law.

Under the Constitution, the President can declare martial law in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, for 60 days. The President can request for its extension before Congress.

An implementation of martial law also allows warrantless arrest for those suspected of committing rebellion and other related offenses, but these suspects should be charged within three days or they should be released.

“The LGUs are in favor with the implementation of the martial law. I have not met any LGU official from Mindanao who said we have to stop martial law. That is because they want to sustain the gains that we had in maintaining peace and security,” Galvez said.

"We want to complete our victory, and we want our gains to be irreversible. Without martial law, we cannot sustain and pursue the constriction and containment [of terrorists] and set up checkpoints. If we discontinue martial law, that would be creating space for the enemy to reconstitute,” he added. —Llanesca T. Panti/NB, GMA News