ilt0l{t$0ll February zo, zorg

SC HIT FOR APPROVING

MARTIAL LAt^/ EXTENSION
STORY BY MELVIN GASCON
Militantparty-listgroups onTuesdayflayed the supreme courtforuphotdingthe
third extension of military
rule inMindanao.Theysaid the decision showed the courthadbecome M-atacafrang,s.rubberstamp., I
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sG hit for approving third
martial lawextension
Congress approved both ex_
tensions, and in December lasf
year allowed a third extension
that Mr. Duterte had requested,
By Melvin cascon adding the communist insur_
@)rnclvingasconlNe genci to the fight against ter_
rorism for justification.
Militant partyJist groups on Opposition lawinakers chal-
'l\rcsday denounced the lenged the constitutionalitv of
Supreme Court ruling affirming the first extension but lost, with
lhe legality of the third exten- ll ofthejustices on the Supreme
glon of martial law in Mindanao,
Court voting for the govern_
cxpressing fears the decision ment inluly
2o17.
would result in more violence In February 2o1g, the court,
on thc island. ruling on the ctrallenge to the
'l'he justices voted 9-4 on
'l'ucsday to dismiss four peti.-
second extension. voted 10-5 for
the governmenL
Llorrs challenging the yearlong
cxlension, which was approved How they voted
by (:ongress on Dec. 12 last vear
As ofpress time on Tuesdav,
Fourgroups had brought the
chauenge to the third extension:
Irrtwrver, the court had not re- opposition lawmakers led bvAl_
lc;rscd a resolution explainine bay Rep. .Edcel Lagman; the
Its ruling.
Makabayan bloc of partylist
Supreme Court public infor_ groups in the House of Repre_
mill ion chief Brian Hosaka an_ sentatives; lawyers led by for_
nourced the results of the vote mer Election
at a news conference called af-
Commissioner
Christian Monsod; and a group
ler lhe weekly.session of the full
of "lumad" (indigenous) teach-
:ollr'1.
ers and students represented by
the Free Legal Assistance
Marawi siege Group.
l)resident Duterte issued
They lost the case, with
tror:lilmation No. 216 on
May 23, Chief Iustice Lucas Bersamin
rol7, placing the entire island of and Associate Justice,s Diosdado
vllnrlanao under martial law to
lllow the military to crush a ter-
Peralta, Mariano del Castillo,
Estela Perlas-Bernabe. Andres
0rlst siege of Marawi City.
Reyes Jr., Alexander Gesmundo,
]'hc siege lasted for five
tanthq hri n,,|^-l^ Jose Reyes Jr., Ramon Hernando
MTLTTARY RULE REJECTED rn this fire photo tar.""
front of the House of Representative" in qr"ron citv
Mindanao. -JAM sra. Rosa
sion, as they did in thesecond.
In separate statements
sued after the announcement
of
partylist groups
the result, the
Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Ka-
bataan, Magdalo andAlliance of
Concerned Teachers (ACT)
lamented how the Supreme
Court had reduced itself into a
"rubber stamp" for Malacaiang,
upholding th€ extension de_
spite the lack ofgrounds for ius_
tification.
"The Supreme Court has
r" o"""rru"rGt year, protesters gather irl
to a"-"ll ii" rirai"n of martiar raw in
even ifthere is no threat to pub_
is_ lic safety," said Neri Col-
menares, chair of Bayan Muna.
Gabriela said the Supreme
Court had once again proven
that it had submitted itself to
the whims of the Duterte ad-
ministration.
AFP appendage
"Where will Filipino women
and the people turn to for jus-
tice and accountab ity during
these dark timps nf lmh"nirv rf
Courtl as the rubber stamp of
Durerte's antipeople tyranny
has declared the constitutional_
ity of a third martial law exteh-
sion in Mindanao, iro matter
how more and more absurd it is
getting," Kabataan said.
Magdalo took a shot at the
Supreme Court for ,.bowind
down to the whims of Mhlal
canang."
"Where is the independence
3l :lI._slll-:rn:,9:'rrt?"
Mas-da_
WEDNESDAY / FEBRUARY 20,
"The only terrorism stl
lurking in lMindanao] is stal
terrorism, brought by elemenl
of the Armed Forces of th
Philippines, paramilitary force
and the Philippine National po
lice who drive lumad childrot
out oftheir schools, iltegally d6
tain people without warrants o
.arrest, charge them
witl
trdmped-up cases and tag then
as terrorists," the group,s Re!
Antonio Tinio said.
Palace .pleased'
Malacanang said it wa!
"pleased" with the ruling, whicl
showed that the three branche!
,,on
of government were th€
same page" in seeking an endto
violence in Mindanao.
'As we fast-track the reha.
bilitation of the war-torn
Marawi and promote securiw
and peace and order in Min-
danao, we ask the Filipino na-
tion not to waver in their sup-
port for our Republic's defend-
ers," said presidential spokes-
person Salvador panelo.
"Let us remain vigilant and
prevail against these antidemo-
cratic forces," he added.
Defense Secretary Delfin
Lorenzana thanked the
Supreme Court for agreeing
with the government.
"[Martial law] has and will