It only takes the words “martial law” for many Filipinos to think about the 20-year repressive dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, however, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. was quick to assure yesterday that the one-year extension of military rule in the island of Mindanao will be nothing like Marcos’.
“This is not the same martial law that we had… Courts remain functioning, Congress remains existing, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are enforced,” Roque said in a press briefing.
Earlier this week, Congress voted to extend martial law in Mindanao for one more year after a request from President Rodrigo Duterte. This is the second time martial law was extended in the area after it was initially declared in May to counter an Islamic State-linked terror attack in Marawi City. Constitutionally, an area can only be under martial law for 60 days.
The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines recommended the extension because threat from terrorists still exist and to help rehabilitate Marawi City.
Marcos’ dictatorship came about after he declared a nationwide martial law in 1972. His 14-year reign as dictator was full of human rights abuses where hundreds of thousands of people were arrested, tortured, or killed.
Some fear that this is where the Philippines is headed towards, especially after Duterte said on Wednesday that he is not ruling out expanding martial law nationwide. He said this is a possibility if the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, becomes a national threat, a similar reasoning to the one Marcos employed.
“If the NPA say they are recruiting in mass numbers and they create trouble and they are armed and about to destroy government, the government will not wait until the dying days of its existence,” said Duterte.
“All options are on the table.”
