House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he will be pushing for a five-year extension of Martial Law in Mindanao declared by President Duterte last May 23 and is supposed to end on July 22, two days before he delivers his second State-of-the Nation address.
Alvarez, who has proven himself valuable to Duterte for shepherding a docile House of Representatives to latter’s bidding, said Saturday, ““If I can convince my colleagues, I will push for an extension until 2022, because two months is too short. Five months or one year or two years is too short.”
Alvarez did not say what is needed that cannot be done in normal times, without the sword of Martial Law hanging over Mindanao.
Duterte himself does not seem so eager to lift martial Law in Mindanao. News reports said when he was asked last week if he would lift it before delivers his second SONA on July 24, he replied, “No”.
“I consulted the military and the police and they said it was critical. It will be the Armed Forces and the police who will say if it’s no longer critical,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesperson said they are still assessing the situation in Marawi that is entering its seventh week as a battlefield between government forces and terrorist groups of Maute and Abu Sayyaf which get support from the dreaded Middle East-based ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria).
There is no pressure for Duterte to end his Martial Law declaration in Mindanao. In fact, he is getting all the support. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of his Martial Law declaration in the whole of Mindanao overwhelmingly 11 – 4.
Actually, only one Associate Justice Marvic Leonen opposed his declaration all the way. Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio said Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law is valid only in Marawi City.. Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa saw the need for Martial Law in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Sulu.
The Filipino people do not seem to worry about Martial Law in Mindanao as reflected in the survey of Social Weather Station conducted last June 23 through 26 with 66 per cent of the respondents satisfied with the way Duterte is running the country.
Never mind that in Mindanao, his net satisfaction rating dipped 12 points from 87 in March to 75 in June. His satisfaction rating increased in Luzon and Visayas for an overall assessment of “very good.”
If he is getting high score with Martial Law and all the Extra-Judicial Killings in connection with his anti- illegal drugs campaign, why should he stop? He should give the Filipino people more of the same.
The Filipino people’s embrace of Duterte’s authoritarianism reminds us of the boiling a frog syndrome.
If you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger because its survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes.
But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with tepid water, it will enjoy the coolness and become complacent. It will not immediately react if you gradually heat the kettle.
Before it knows it, the water is boiling and it would be too late for it to jump out of the kettle. It will end up a boiled frog.
There’s a lesson to learn from the nilagang palaka.
nigara si alvarez. pano kasi, supreme court has given the go ahead, kaya alvarez followed the lead: martial law pa more!
already, martial law ay may sangay na and going after lgus. mayors, governors are to lose powers, thanks to napolcom.
Pantaleon Alvarez is so forward thinking, Mindanao under martial law will surely deliver the votes come presidential elections.
Philippines is going nowhere..!!Hope? have no idea..!
matalino na nga mga tao ngayon. namulat na mula sa 30 taong panloloko, panlilinlang, kasinungalingan at pagnanakaw ng banal na pamilya.
kung walang ginagawa o itinatagong masama, bakit matatakot sa martial law?
bakit ang mga taga mindanao ay natutuwa samantalang ang mga hindi tago roon AY NGAWA nang NGAWA?
Individuals like you, who don’t know history, in-fact it was only recent, are bound to repeat same horrible destiny.
Just do the Digong’s job, martial law is not even necessary, puro kasi kayabangan alam ng gungong na yan..! kakaramput na Maute, wala syang magawa?
natutuwa kuno ang mga mindanawans sa martial law, tell that to the bakwits in marawi city, living in evac centers worst than sardinas and soon in tents that will get too hot sa tag-araw with no cooling shade trees around is not exactly ikatutuwa. the bakwits are getting sick physically, some died, yong iba naman ay mentally sick na; displaced, their future bleak. bakwits would rather work for thier living rather than be fed and cooped up like battery hens is so tight a spot.
we have martial law before and things got worst, people got sick of makoy and kicked him out of office.
matalino kuno ang mga tao ngayon, how come they cannot route a small band of wanna be terrorists? I think, bobo na sila ngayon, o nabobo na, bobo kasi yong pinakamataas brought on by bobotantes, wishing they were matalino! and to solve problems, bobo inc. borrowed from a very flawed past.
kayo lang naman ang panay reklamo, ah.
natural lang na dismayado ang mga taga marawi dahil tulad namin na naranasan din ang ganyan noong 2013 zamboanga siege.
ang kaibahan nga lamang, yung presidente noon na pinanghihinayangan n’yo ngayon na napalitan ay hindi katulad ng nakaupo ngayon na wala na halos pahinga sa kaiikot sa iba’t ibang sulok ng pilipinas upang tingnan ang kalagayan ng mga taong umaasa sa kanya.
kung makabobo kayo, oo.
kayo na ang matalino!
May ginawa nabang matino si Digung-gong.? sumadsad na ang piso ngayon, no economic direction. No peace and order, no infrastructure, no irrigation, no communication… KILLINGS OF POOR, 100% yes.
Problema hindi kami bobo, no intellectual individual will believe that declaring martial law is for the betterment of the country, absolutely moronic. Why is Galung-gong addict of martial law.?? “To Gain Absolute Power” yun lang.
Nagkaroon ng “kabag” si Mocha Uson… ha..! DECLARE MARTIAL LAW..!!
bobo talaga yang digong-gong, ikot ng ikot sa bayan parang asong naghahabol ng sariling buntot, tapos ikot pa ng ikot pa sa ibang bansa kasama ang napakaraming entourage, spending so much money on junkets, and for what? he did not keep an eye on our nation kaya napabayaan at nakalusot ang mga wanna be terrorista. ang bobong martial law sa mindanaw affected mostly sibilyans, rarely the terrorists for they’re free to come and go, to regroup and to harass the military even more.
sa panahon natin ngayon, one has to work smarter not harder. the top bobo apparently does not know how to work smarter and surrounds himself with sangkatutak na yes na yes men. yes to everything obtuse, no anything concrete.
iba ang martial law noong 1972 kesa 1987 constitution based martial law na idineklara sa mindanao dahil sinusunod nito ang mga probisyong nakasaad.
hindi ba’t hiningi pa ang dissenting opinion ng supreme court kung saan nagkaroon ng botohan at lumabas na pabor ang mas maraming justices sa 60 days martial law sa mindanao?
The issue is not the constitutionality or the legality, the concern is that the main/true motive why it was declared and it was declared by the very person who compared himself and proud to emulate the dictator “Hitler”. Thousands of poor were killed like chicken in the streets.
The darkest days of history was horrifying, thousands of promising young intellectual Filipinos were jailed, tortured and killed, writ of habeas corpus was suspended, anybody can be arrested with no warrant. GOD bless the young students who died, GOD bless all desaparesidos.
Nag Martial Law na tayo before under Makoy. The country was run like hell and we kicked Makoy after almost 14 years of ML. Hindi pa ba tayo nadadala?