Lorenzana to go to SC hearing on Martial Law extension in Mindanao

January 17, 2019

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed his willingness to go to the Supreme Court to explain the need for the extension of Martial Law in Mindanao.

“Now martial law was extended in the whole of Mindanao because the military and the police believe there is a continuing rebellion there. On Tuesday we will be going again to the Supreme Court to defend why we want martial law to be extended,” Lorenzana said before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines Prospects Forum  on Thursday.

“We will go to the Supreme Court and defend the extension. We shall be assisted by the SolGen (Solicitor General). We will prove that the reasons for declaring martial law still exist,” he said in a separate message to defense reporters on Wednesday night.

Lorenzana give his statement after the Makabayan Bloc filed its second petition before the Supreme Court last Wednesday, questioning the constitutionality of the third extension of Martial Law in Mindanao.

In its 39-page petition, the group noted that the government failed to prove that the extension of martial law is a requirement for public safety in Mindanao.

Congress, in a joint session, extended martial law in Mindanao until the end of 2019.

With the approval of the   third extension, Mindanao would be under martial law for more than two years since it was the first declared on May 23, 2017 when Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISiS) terrorists attacked the city of Marawi. Robina Asido/DMS