Brandishing martial law

It’s no small coincidence that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s comment about the possibility, however remote, of President Rodrigo Duterte declaring a nationwide martial law came days ahead of the 46th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

It was also no small coincidence that followers of Marcos made a show of celebrating his birthday at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in yet another public attempt to cleanse his image in today’s generation of Filipinos.

After all, President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao had received support from Mindanaoans who were on the edge over the continued presence of the Maute terror group and the Abu Sayyaf bandit group.

That the President said he would consider lifting martial law in Mindanao by yearend doesn’t assuage fears that he won’t lift it at all and may even expand on it, based on what he said was the likelihood of communist rebels staging massive nationwide protests and burning roads.

For the past years, the communist rebels were largely confined to torching equipment of private companies that don’t pay their revolutionary “tax,” staging ambushes of hapless police officers and raiding precincts in the countryside by posing as soldiers.

As far as assault on the metropolitan areas is concerned, where the country’s concentration of military forces is high, such a scenario is indeed very remote as Lorenzana himself said.

In fact, it’s a lot more likely to have a coup d’ etat staged by disgruntled soldiers than an actual communist rebel invasion, as seen in the various failed mutinies staged by the likes of former military officers Sen. Gregorio Honasan and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV through the years.

But again, like the communist rebellion, the likelihood of an uprising from the military ranks is unlikely owing to the President’s strong support, so all this smoke about martial law is coming from the Palace itself.

So why even entertain martial law when the government had been able to quash attempts at its overthrow without resorting to it? Even at the height of her infamy, former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo never resorted to imposing martial law.

Then again, she isn’t like Duterte, who can snap at anyone anytime and isn’t shy about being heavy-handed when it comes to dealing with political enemies or anyone he perceives as enemies of his administration.

Rather than brandishing martial law like a Damocles sword, the Duterte administration should focus on ending the Maute threat and dealing with a host of issues such as corruption in the government as well as ending martial law in Mindanao.