Arroyo voices support for Mindanao martial law amid talks of extension

Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday expressed support to the martial law declaration in Mindanao, after Malacañang floated the idea of further extending it following the recent bombing incident in Sultan Kudarat.

"I support martial law in Mindanao," she said.

"I support what the President does because I've been President and I believe that he (President Rodrigo Duterte) doesn't need a peanut gallery to tell him what to do."

In 2009, then-President Arroyo placed Maguindanao under martial law following the massacre of 58 people by men linked to the powerful Ampatuan family. Prominent members of the clan are now standing trial for the carnage.

Duterte placed Mindanao under martial rule in May last year after members of the ISIS-inspired Maute group occupied Marawi City. It was extended, with Congress approval, until the end of 2018.

On Wednesday, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said further extending the declaration is an "option" following the bombing incident in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, where three people were killed and over 30 others were wounded.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque echoed Medialdea’s statement in a press briefing in Malacañang.

Some senators, including Senate President Vicente Sotto III, are not in favor of the extension.

Vice President Leni Robredo, meanwhile, had questioned the effectivity of the martial law declaration in Mindanao, saying it failed to stop the recent bombings in the region. —Tina Panganiban Perez/KBK, GMA News