Just psy ops? Can’t ensure peace? Terror deterrent? Lawmakers on martial law in Mindanao

If martial law cannot ensure peace, then what can?

This was the question raised by Senator Francis Escudero on Tuesday amid security officials' admission that lapses in security measures allowed last Sunday's deadly bombing in Jolo.

“I thought martial law (which was just recently extended) was supposed to ensure the peace and security of Mindanao?” the senator said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Escudero said that this was the promise and guarantee of both the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines when they presented to Congress their proposal to extend martial law in Mindanao for a third time.

“Wasn’t martial law imposed precisely to prevent or avoid security lapses such as this? How can our security forces ensure that there will be no further 'security lapses?' If martial law cannot ensure this, then what can and what is the purpose of martial law if such lapses are still possible under it?” he added.

Escudero was one of the five senators who rejected the extension of martial law in Mindanao for another year.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokesperson Colonel Gerry Besana admitted, in separate interviews, that there had been lapses in security measures in the area.

"Hindi pa natin nabubuo yung buong picture. Ang masasabi lang natin nakalusot yung dalawang bomba sa security protocol natin," Año, a former AFP chief, said Monday.

“Sa atin kapag may ganyang kaganapan, pangyayari o mga insidente, talagang agad-agad po naming in-aadmit na meron yang kapabayaan,” Wesmincom spokesperson Colonel Gerry Besana said in an interview on Balitanghali Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a 60-day state of martial law on the whole of Mindanao on May 23, 2017, the same day the Maute group began its months-long attack on Marawi City.

The lifespan of martial rule in the region has been extended three times since then and will now last at least until the end of December 2019. 

'Psy ops lang'

Senator Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, said that there is really nothing security officials can do with the martial law as it is currently implemented in the region.

“‘Yan ang malungkot kasi wala naman talagang additional powers ang martial law na binibigyan natin. Naroon ang reglamentary period, warrantless arrest na sa regional trial court still in effect, wala naman eh. Psy ops [psychological operations] lang ang martial law,” the former police chief told reporters.

Lacson said it would be better to strengthen the Human Security Act of 2007, which he said “has not been proving itself effective in addressing terrorism in our country."

Earlier this month, Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said that martial law as it is currently implemented in Mindanao is "toothless" and not enough to prevent terrorism. 

Sotto had also added that it was "imperative" that the bill Lacson filed strengthening the Human Security Act be passed.

A 'kind' martial law

"I would not attribute it to a failure of martial law yet," Muntinlupa Representative Ruffy Biazon said of the bombings. 

"The martial law we have right now is a calibrated one, meaning to say, it's designed to be a 'kind' martial law. There is some good brought about by this martial law as far as peace and order in general is concerned," the House's national defense and security committee vice chairperson added.

"These incidents are, by its nature, carried out in a manner that perpetrators go through cracks in the wall of security that state forces enforce under this 'kind' martial law," Biazon said.

Armed Forces spokesperson Noel Detoyato earlier said that as in all cases of terrorism, perpetrators always find "small holes" to conduct atrocities.

“The incident in Jolo is not an exception where, notwithstanding stepped-up security posture, and the many instances where we foiled terrorist attempts, this still happened,” he said in defense of the Armed Forces over Año's assessment of security lapses.

Wesmincom's Besana, however, said this meant that there were really lapses on their part.

“Kahit gaano katindi yung ginawa nating security measures sa isang area, kapag may nakalusot po na isang insidente, ibig sabihin nagkakaroon talaga ng lapse,” he said.

Biazon told GMA News Online that in the wake of the Jolo bombings, "the military and police should now assess how they can intensify measures to secure the populace and installations against similar attacks."

A deterrent or not?

Maguindanao Representative Zajid Mangudadatu thinks that martial law has been an impediment to terrorist violence in the region.

"Imagine how worse can it get without the martial law in place? Martial law, since its implementation in Mindanao, had resulted to lesser extremist violence, which was credited to the massive control and prohibition of carrying and access to firearms," he told GMA News Online.

"With stricter security approaches being taken by the Duterte administration, I am confident that justice will be delivered faster to the victims of the Jolo bombings under the martial law," he added.

Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin, on the other hand, does not think that martial law is addressing the "core problem" in Mindanao that is spawning these attacks on its people. 

"The twin bombings in Jolo happened despite thousands of military forces deployed and checkpoints established all over Jolo and the rest of Mindanao. The idea of increased militarization and control over functions of local civilian governments have further weakened local governance," he said in a message to GMA News Online. 

"Martial law did not provide deterrence but only ignited more hatred and resistance. It set aside real dialogue and genuine peace building with focus only on a military solution to poverty, human rights violations, displacement of homes, and discrimination," he added.

Leadership test

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the bombing in Jolo will be the first leadership test to be faced by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders who are set to assume the reins of the Bangsamoro autonomous government.

He said that solving Sunday’s twin explosions and preventing similar incidents “is no longer the sole responsibility of the national government but a joint venture with the Bangsamoro leaders.”

Recto added that the participation of rebels-turned-government-officials is a must.

“Nothing prevents the MILF, which is a government-in-waiting, from being a government in action. The search for the perpetrators, for justice, for lasting solutions will be made easy with help of Bangsamoro leaders,” he said.

But for these to happen, the senator said, all powers promised in the Bangsamoro Organic Law, including funding, must be given to them within the timetable set by law or in an accelerated fashion.

“We cannot ask them to do this without providing them with resources and authority,” he said.

“Give them the means, so they can accomplish the mission. Once we devolve the funds, we also devolve the task of solving many local problems. That’s the understanding,” he added.

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be formed upon the ratification of the BOL.

Also under the BOL, the BTA will be led by the MILF. It will serve as the de facto government until noon of the 30th of June 2019.

The Bangsamoro government, from the time the BTA will be convened, is assured of a mixture of financial sources, from outright subsidy from the national government to retained revenues.

Estimated at P109 billion, the funding is broken down as follows:

• Annual Block Grant – P62 billion;
• Special Development Fund – P5 billion;
• BTA Fund – P1 billion;
• Retained Taxes – P1.4 billion;
• Funds from National Government Agencies – P15 billion; and
• IRA – P25 billion.

LOOK: The core provisions of the Bangsamoro Organic Law

— BM, GMA News