Sison says Duterte already engaged in 'de facto martial law nationwide'

Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison on Friday said that if President Rodrigo Duterte makes good on his threat to engage in a revolutionary way, it will only further enrage the people.

In a statement, Sison said that Duterte is already "engaged in de facto martial law nationwide and in the de facto suspension of the writ of habeas corpus."

"He is increasingly engaged in mass intimidation, mass arrests and mass murders. The people are therefore already rising up against his reign of greed and terror," he said.

Sison added that "formally" proclaiming the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus or martial law nationwide would only incite the people to "wage all forms of revolutionary resistance."

"The real revolutionary war is against his ongoing counterrevolutionary war," he said.

Duterte had threatened to declare a revolutionary war if he is "pushed to the wall," after opposition Senator Franklin Drilon advised the government to exercise caution in implementing the President’s directive to review all contracts and loan agreements including those with China.

"I have enough problems with criminality, drugs, rebellion and all pero pag ako ang pinaabot ninyo ng sagad, I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and I will arrest all of you," Duterte said. —Jessica Bartolome/KG, GMA News