BARCENAS
BECAUSE President Rodrigo Duterte is erratic and unpredictable, he continues to confound the nation whether or not he will declare martial law.
In one breath, he assures the people that martial rule would not be imposed because history has taught us that martial law could not solve our national problems. Yet in another breath, he would threaten the nation that if the drug problem becomes virulent, he would impose martial law and nobody could stop him, not even Congress and the Supreme Court.
President Duterte’s savage and bloody war on drugs, which he promised would be solved within three to six months during the campaign, will push him to take draconian measures to protect him and his trusted cohorts. Analysts say that Duterte is now caught in a quagmire after he entrusted the task of eliminating the drug menace to the Philippine National Police (PNP) which is considered one of the most corrupt and notorious institutions in the country. Duterte himself said weeks ago that 40 percent of the PNP is “rotten to the core.” We are now treated to a sordid spectacle of an Operation Tokhang not only for drugs but also for kidnapping with ransom, where a victim was strangled and killed right inside Camp Crame which has earned the moniker “Camp Crime.”
With more than 8,000 victims of extrajudicial killings, and with the bloody list growing longer, President Duterte cannot afford to step down from office and face several lawsuits. Like Ferdinand Marcos before him, he will have to amend the Constitution or declare martial law or do both, to perpetuate himself in power.
The problem with the declaration of martial law is that the 1987 Constitution limits the legal grounds only to two occasions: invasion or rebellion. Virulence of the drug menace is not a ground no matter how his Solicitor General and his Chief Presidential legal adviser stretch the meaning of these constitutional provisions.
Another setback of President Duterte is that 75 percent of the population reject martial law, according to the latest survey. His greatest problem is that unlike Marcos before, he is not sure of the loyalty and support of the military which is indispensible to effect martial rule.
Duterte’s remaining ace is the support of the PNP which has lost the trust of the people. Can he keep on riding the tiger without ending up inside?
Democrito C. Barcenas, chairman of the regional Free Legal Assistance Group (Flag)