An inch closer to nationwide martial law

Letters

WE questioned President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to extend martial law for another year, following the AFP and the PNP’s recommendation. This is despite the AFP’s declaration of “victory” in Marawi.

What, then, is the basis for extending martial law for another year?

This is a dangerous precedent that inches the entire country closer to a nationwide declaration of martial rule. Martial law in Mindanao has paved the way for the intensification of rights violations – both within and outside of Marawi.

We cannot expect the institution to benefit most from another year of martial law to decide against it. If this is allowed in Congress, speculation will be enough to put the entire country under martial law, creating an environment for State security forces to continue violations without accountability.

Since the declaration of martial law on May 23, 2017, human rights group Karapatan recorded at least 29 victims of extrajudicial killings in the Mindanao – 15 were in the Southern Mindanao Region.

Many of the victims were members of local peasant organizations and affiliates of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) who were targeted for their local campaigns for genuine agrarian reform and against militarization. Karapatan also documented 15 cases of torture, 23 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 58 victims of illegal arrest and detention, and 335,686 victims of indiscriminate gunfire and aerial bombings.

The rights group also attested to the forced evacuation of 401,730 individuals; 16,612 were documented outside of the Marawi siege, mostly in the regions of Caraga, Southern Mindanao, and Socksargends.

On Dec. 8, 2017, the Public Affairs Office Chief of the AFP, Col. Edgard Arevalo, promised that there would be no martial law abuses should it be extended. The public affairs office added that martial law does not target any particular group.

This is all hogwash, of course. Aside from being expert spin doctors, the AFP has also been consistent in denying their atrocities despite witnesses to their crimes. Many organizations in different regions in Mindanao, particularly local peasant and indigenous organization, are targeted for their campaigns against militarization and for agrarian reform. Members of Compostela Farmers Assocation (CFA) in the Southern Mindanao Region (SMR), for example, were targets of illegal arrest and political killings.

These attacks merely escalated after the declaration of martial law, what with the military’s red-tagging of the group as symphatizers. The latest member of the CFA extrajudicially killed by State forces is Rodrigo Timoteo on Nov. 28, 2017.

Activists and progressive groups have long been targeted by State security forces in line with the implementation of the US-backed counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan.

This was worsened by the declaration of martial law which further endangered individuals, groups, and entire communities who have struggled and fought for various advocacies. Another year of martial law will not be beneficial to anyone, except the fascist military dogs and their equally proudly fascist leader. –Cristina Palabay, Secretary General, Karapatan

Determined to Defy

THE National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) denounces President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to extend Martial Law in Mindanao for one year. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier said they had recommended a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.

We strongly condemn President Duterte’s proposal of one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao. The proposed extension is not just unconstitutional but also inhumane.

What is the actual basis of another extension when the Marawi armed conflict has already ended?

The extension of Martial Law in Mindanao until the end of 2017 has done nothing but cause widespread harassment, displacement, enforced disappearances, killings, and other human rights violations to our Lumad and Moro brothers and sisters. Another extension will mean more abuses by state security forces.

Some of the reported cases of abuses under martial law in Mindanao are the following:

• In Surigao del Sur alone, 345 families or 1,688 individuals have evacuated due to intensified military operations. The military also has been blocking the entry of relief goods into an evacuation center since November 27.
• In Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, eight (8) Lumad farmers from tribes T’boli and Dulangan Manobo were massacred and two were wounded by elements of the 27th and 33rd IB on Dec. 3. Three days after, on Dec. 6, six Lumads went missing after another military operation.
• In Sultan Kudarat, two Lumads went missing for a day and were found detained in the provincial jail.

Should the Congress extend anew martial law in Mindanao on unquestionable grounds, it will be easier for Duterte to declare nationwide martial law on another unquestionable ground.

The extension of martial law, and even possible nationwide expansion, is another futile attempt to suppress the Filipino’s resistance against Duterte’s anti-people policies. The Filipino students and youth, together with the general public, are determined to defy Duterte’s outright military rule and looming dictatorship. –Mark Vincent Lim, spokesperson, National Union of Students of the Philippines