MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte dangled the prospect of martial law in Mindanao on Friday if the level of violence on the island continued to rise.
Speaking before members of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the president threatened lawless groups in Mindanao that if they continued their violent streak he would be forced to declare martial rule on the island to tackle them.
“But don't raise the stakes. Wag ninyo taasang mabuti na pati yung mga bata namamatay na kasi I will not hesitate to declare martial law over Mindanao,” Duterte said.
Duterte said that by declaring martial law it would be easy for him to solve the problems besetting the island such as extremism, terrorism and criminality.
He said that under martial law he would be able to effect military searches and arrests without the need to go to courts.
“If I declare martial law, I will solve every other problem permanently. You can be sure of that. Martial law, there is no more court. I do not have to go to the court to apply for a search warrant. I do not have to go to the court to secure a warrant of arrest,” the chief executive said, vowing to solve every problem “that fucks the island.”
Martial law is a very sensitive issue in the Philippines after the country went through a dark period during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Under Martial Law, thousands were killed, and many more human rights violations were committed, with some individuals vanishing without ever being found.
The president said that he would understand if he would lose military men since there’s a rebellion in Mindanao. However, Duterte said that killing or harming civilians would be a different case altogether and warrants a stronger response.
“Do not mess up with innocent civilians, do not force me into it. I beg of you. Do not do things that will hurt the civilians. I can understand if I lose one battalion of the Army. Anyway, there's a rebellion going on between the extremists and the ISIS and the other factions there,” he said.
He cited the bombings of schools and a university in Mindanao as some of the events that were pushing him to declare military rule on the island.
“For several times you’ve been bombing schools. You even exploded a grenade in the library of the Marawi State University. Last month you planted an IED in the national high school of Zamboanga,” the president said.
Duterte also revealed that some groups in the region were into the illegal drugs business to fuel their illicit activities.
The president said: “shabu is aplenty because they are fueling and raising the money to buy arms selling shabu to the Filipino.”
Duterte had been unpredictable in the past when it comes to the issue of martial law. He declared that he would declare military rule in one speech, only to walk back on his pronouncements in another occasion.
Senior government officials are regularly forced to clarify Duterte’s remarks, often blaming the media for misunderstanding the president’s pronouncements.
Source : PhilStar