Declaration gives police, military no extra powers,

SEN. Risa Hontiveros has expressed concerns regarding President Duterte’s declaration of a state of lawless violence in the country, saying it should merely be an act declaring a status or condition of public moment or interest.

Hontiveros said only such a declaration is allowed under Section 4 Chapter 2, Book II of the Revised Administrative Code of 1987, which provides: “… Acts of the President fixing a date or declaring a status or condition of public moment or interest, upon the existence of which the operation of a specific law or regulation is made to depend, shall be promulgated in proclamations that shall have the force of an executive order.”

She said the Supreme Court said declarations of such nature should be “harmless, without legal significance, and deemed not written.”

Hontiveros said the “calling out powers” of Duterte under Sec 18, Article VII should be limited in scope–the President can only deploy the Armed Forces to suppress the identified acts of violence, which serve as factual basis for the power.

“It cannot give the military and the police extra powers. They still cannot conduct arrests, searches and seizures without judicial warrants. Contrary to the President’s instructions, they cannot, in a anyway and in any legal and constitutional sense, run the country,” Hontiveros said.

She added, “The President might have intended this declaration to underscore the seriousness of the Davao attack. But he should be aware that his actions may very well contribute to an environment of fear and violence that will serve the interests of lawless elements. I worry that the President might play to the script of the perpetrators of the violence.”

Hontiveros urge the Duterte administration to continue to operate within the bounds of the law and respect the civil liberties of the people. “We cannot fight lawless elements by depriving our people their right to the rule of law.”