Duterte to declare martial law in Negros Oriental if recommended by AFP, LGUs —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte will surely place Negros Oriental under martial law if the military and local government units in the province will so recommend, Malacañang said on Thursday.

At least 20 people were reported killed in the province over the past days including a lawyer, public school officials, a rebel returnee, and police intelligence officers who were allegedly summarily executed by communists rebels.

“Certainly," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said when asked if he would declare military rule in the province if the authorities suggested it.

"He always follow the advice of those people in the know,” he added.

The Philippine National Police has already ordered the deployment more than 300 troops from the Special Action Force to help the local police and the military there in securing the area.

Panelo, however, said the number of security forces there may not be enough to quell lawless violence.

“From the judgment of the President, it appears to be so. Especially he mentioned last night that mas marami ang sumusuporta ngayon sa mga NPA [New People’s Army]. They are taking advantage nga doon sa pagkakagulo ng mga away sa lupa,” Panelo said.

Panelo said on Tuesday night that Duterte warned the “enemies of the state“ in Negros that he will use his emergency powers under the Constitution “to quell the lawless violence engulfing the island, as well as to crush all forms of threats aimed to destroy the government.”

“The President will obey the constitutional command to serve and protect the Filipino people at any cost, and to fiercely save the Republic from imminent ruin,” Panelo said.

Panelo said Duterte vowed to “replicate the atrocious acts done by the communist rebels to the civilians, the barangay officials and the law enforcers against these murderers in defense of our countrymen.”

He said Duterte could use his emergency powers “soon.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday said that it was “studying" the situation in Negros Oriental to see if there was a need to recommend the declaration of martial law amid the recent spate of killings.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the President is empowered to declare martial law in times of invasion and rebellion when the public safety requires it.

Duterte used this power in 2017 in quelling rebellion in Mindanao by extremist groups accused of plotting a caliphate for international terror group ISIS. 

Initially valid for only 60 days, Congress, upon the request of the President, approved the extension of martial law in the region thrice, and is due to end on December 31 this year.

The human rights watchdog group Karapatan has expressed concern over suggestions that Duterte declare martial law in Negros Oriental over the spate of killings in the province.

"As what we have seen in the course of martial law implementation in Mindanao, we foresee extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, forced surrender, forcible evacuation and other rights violations that will wantonly be committed by State forces once martial law is declared in Negros," Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

"We call on Negrenses and the Filipino people to oppose this spiraling descent to full-blown dictatorship in the country," she added. —NB, GMA News