MISAMIS Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano yesterday hailed President Duterte’s proposal to extend martial law in Mindanao until year-end but he called on the military to speed up its work in strife-torn Marawi City, saying that the crisis and the military rule have been taking a toll on the economy of the country’s second largest island.
Duterte has asked Congress to approve the extension of the Mindanao martial law until Dec. 31, 2017, a move which, Emano said, “is necessary” because “the military has not yet taken total control of the situation in Marawi.”
He said the Marawi crisis, which has affected Mindanao, is far from over.
“Kung maglung-ag ka ug bugas, wala pa mibukal kuhaan na dayon nimo sa kalayo sigurado mahilaw gayud kana,” he said.
In a statement, Emano pointed out that while he was confident that giving martial law more time would hasten the solution to the Marawi crisis, local business leaders were pessimistic on the martial law extension because it would continue hurting the economy.
Emano cited the case of a mayor who owns a gasoline station. “Before martial law was declared, he sells (sic) not less than 20,000 liters per day. But since the declaration, it dropped to only around 8,000 liters a day. So, it’s hard to admit, but it happened,” he said.
He however lauded how martial law was implemented especially in Misamis Oriental, noting that there was neither a record nor did he hear abuses in the province.
Emano said the province’s tourism sector was also adversely affected. He said the number of tourists in Misamis Oriental plunged since the May 23 declaration of martial law.
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