The Three Colors of the Philippines: An Assessment of Duterte's First Year as Philippine Preside
- by Ryan Carlos Gamilla, Klariza Abbygale Gabrido
- Jul 22, 2017
- 4 min read
It’s not the typical Red, Blue, and Yellow color of the Philippines. When President Duterte seated, it became Red, Black and White.
Philippines as Black
In the first year of his term, President Rodrigo Duterte issued the Proclamation No. 216 backed by the Supreme Court placing the whole of Mindanao under Martial Law. To date, the proclamation was extended up until the end of the year 2017.
Black is the second color and it represents the two sides of Duterte’s Martial Law in Mindanao; Authority and Fear.
The Two Sides of Martial Law in Mindanao
In line with the raging lawlessness in Marawi City, President Rodrigo Duterte issued the Proclamation No. 216 declaring a state of martial law and suspending the privilege of writ of habeas corpus in the entire Mindanao and it was upheld by the Supreme Court last July 4.
Under Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution, upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.
Last July 22, the Martial Law in Mindanao was extended up until December 31, 2017.
The 17th Congress approved President Rordrigo’s request to extend martial law. Backed by his numerous allies, consisting of lawmakers and senators, the 261-18 vote in favor of the extension of Martial Law wasn’t a surprised.
16 Senators voted yes and four of them disagreed. In Members of the House of Representatives, it was a 245 “yes” and 14 “no” votes.
"Pursuant to the Constitution and the rules of the joint session, the motion to extend the proclamation of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is hereby approved by the Congress," House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez announced.
President Duterte eyed the difficulty for the government forces to neutralize the fighting against Islamic State-inspired militants in Marawi to request for a martial law extension until December 31.
But the question “Is the martial law necessary?” is still in the table.
Authority
By Klariza Gabrido
Based from President Rordrigo Duterte, Martial Law is necessary for Mindanao to eliminanate attacks, bombings, and as well as the terrorist per se.
The arrested Maute members in different parts of Mindanao are one of the reasons why President Duterte should extend Martial Law. They invaded not just Marawi but also boundaries of Mindanao provinces according to Miguel Zubiri in the Joint Session last January 22, at House of Representatives.
In addition, Martial Law should extend in order to energize our military troops with their combats. After a long battle with Maute Group, maybe people of the Philippines should give our President some time and support.
There are still some people or groups who protests about placing Mindanao under Martial Law. We honestly come up with different perspectives about this issue but Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) already said that they need some time so why not give them? They are the one who knows what’s best for the country in terms of defense and protection.
Being under Martial Law doesn’t mean you will be abused nor tortured. Stop defining Martial Law based on History.
Fear
By Andrea Christine Agay
While President Duterte promised to end the crisis in Marawi in only 60 days, it didn’t go as planned, and as of the moment the Martial Law was extended. The joint votes of House-Senate approved another five-month military rule over the southern part of the Philippines, Mindanao.
Martial Law can’t be the answer to the problem in Mindanao, and imposing this military rule is not the cure since Martial Law itself means reforming the society and it will surely lead to human rights violation.
The ongoing clash of the terrorist group Maute and the joined forces of AFP-PNP troops also put the country’s economy at stake. Investors, tourist is avoiding the country in order to stay out of trouble happening in the South. Several countries even released statements saying that right now their citizens were advised to avoid visiting the Philippines for prevention.
In addition, according to Samari Gutoc-Tomawis, former Bangsamoro Transition Commission member, as the war rages on more human rights abuses were felt by the Maranaos. Given the fact that there’s no enough food, the area was also crowded, thus the condition of the people were getting worse each passing day. Their concern as Muslim people were also violated because in their culture if you have a deceased person you must bury it within the 24 hours, however with their current situation the bodies of their beloved were just left somewhere else or not given a proper funeral. This just proved that violence is still present even in the hand of the government forces.
"I am from Marawi City, your honors. Please ask us, 'Who do we fear?' Please ask us, 'How do we stand up and arise?” Samari said.
With the President Duterte's decision of extending the Martial Law, there is a possibility of Philippine-wide martial law might happen. Is the Martial Law only the answer? For me, it’s not. Never again to Martial Law.
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