President Rodrigo Duterte’s assurance that he will abide by the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his declaration of martial law in Mindanao may have been partly stemmed from what he perceives to be popular support for his move among Mindanaoans..
And despite what his fiercest critics may say about the martial law declaration, some surveys have showed that a lot of people in Mindanao do support his move to impose martial law if only to isolate and neutralize the Maute terrorist group, which had all but laid waste to Marawi City in a prolonged and protracted assault that took residents and the government by surprise.
One need only ask the bishops in Mindanao who voiced their support for martial law and whose position Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma based his stance to back the declaration at least until the crisis had been resolved.
Aside from questioning if martial law was needed based on the statement from top officials of the Armed Forces that it wasn’t, the opposition critics are lobbying for a joint session that would review the declaration of martial law “for the sake of transparency.”
The Duterte administration has countered the opposition’s plans to raise the legality of the martial law proclamation by presenting formidable evidence such as the millions of pesos confiscated from a safehouse used by the Maute terror group and the video showing the Maute terror leaders planning their offensive in Marawi City to bolster their case.
Then again, the government may eventually lift the martial law declaration if the military’s reports that about 90 percent of Marawi City had been cleared of the Maute Group.
But that assessment came before 13 Marines were killed in fresh fighting against the Maute group fighters who are only growing more defiant with each passing day as they entrench themselves in the predominantly Muslim city.
What is clear in the outset so far is that the martial law declaration is confined mostly in Mindanao so critics of the administration cannot use it to raise public fear that it will be imposed throughout the country.
There were initially some concern that the Resorts World Manila attack by a lone gunman whom the ISIS terror group claimed as their own “lone wolf” assailant would spark the government’s declaration of martial law throughout the country.
Thankfully a more in-depth investigation showing that the assailant was a habitual gambler gone amuck and not a terrorist had laid these fears to rest.
And even with its closer proximity to Mindanao than Luzon, the likelihood of the Visayas falling under martial law as well has also been rendered unlikely.
Time will tell if President Duterte stands by his word to respect the Supreme Court ruling on martial law, but he is definitely not lacking in support for his move to impose it on Mindanao.
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