CHR: No need for martial law vs. lawlessness in Mindanao

Acts of lawlessness in Mindanao can be addressed without implementing martial law, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) maintained Wednesday.

The CHR issued the statement on the day Congress granted President Rodrigo Duterte's request for a one-year extension of implementing martial law in Mindanao with 235 yes votes as against 28 no votes and one abstention.

“The CHR is firm in its position that our security sector, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines combined, can address acts of lawlessness without the need for martial law,” the CHR said.

“The said declaration [of another year of martial law in Mindanao] is an extraordinary measure that the 1987 Constitution prescribes as reserved only to instances of actual invasion and rebellion. Martial law is never meant to be the status quo,” the CHR added.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the President can only declare martial law in cases of rebellion, invasion or if public safety requires it. In addition, the implementation of martial law allows authorities to arrest suspected rebels or criminals without a warrant and charge them within three days.

Should the authorities fail to charge these suspects within three days, these suspects must be freed.

Prior to the approval of the President's third request for a martial law extension in Mindanao, opposition lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc and Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned as to why the CHR was not included by the administration in its list of resource persons that included Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, newly-appointed Armed Forces chief Lieutenant General Benjamin Madrigal, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, among others.

Alliance of Concerned Teaches party-list Representative France Castro also called out the security forces for their claims that there are no cases of human rights violations during the martial law period in Mindanao and the military's non-action on allegations of human rights violations committed on the same period.

Castro did not buy the military’s position that there are no cases of human rights violations, citing her arrest last November 29 for allegedly committing human trafficking and violating anti-child abuse laws for rescuing children studying in Lumad schools while on a national solidarity mission that would deliver food and school supplies to a Lumad community in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

The CHR said that such allegations by Castro must be probed, not dismissed.

“The Commission equally stresses the need to address reports of human rights violations on the ground by actively investigating such claims, and not merely highlighting assertions of its success,” the CHR said.

“If we are to bring peace to Mindanao, it has to be inclusive and durable—not at the expense of others and their rights,” the CHR added.

President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in May 2017 after a clash between government forces and the terrorist group Maute erupted since government authorities were overwhelmed by Maute supporters while trying to serve arrest warrant vs. Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.

The Maute group then wrecked havoc in the Islamic City of Marawi, taking hostages, destroying communities, killing non-Muslims and battling government troops with relentless sniper fire.

The Marawi siege killed over a hundred people and left at least P53 billion worth of damages, prompting Duterte to put Mindanao under martial law in May 2017 for 60 days. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News