Padilla says no abuses if Duterte declares “copycat” Marcos martial law

June 19, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte's warning of declaring martial law once more, which would be a "copycat" of the one imposed during the time of late President Ferdinand Marcos, would not include human rights abuses. This was the clarification made by Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., military spokesman, on Duterte's warning if the Supreme Court decides against martial law that he declared in the whole of Mindanao on May 23 following the attack of the Islamic State-linked Maute Terror Group in Marawi City. "Well, definitely the President will not be referring to abuses. He may refer to the breadth and the depth of how to impose it but I guess it's not because of the abuses," Padilla said during the "Mindanao Hour" briefing in Malacanang. He noted how the military is implementing martial law in Mindanao. "It's complete regard for human rights and IHL (International Humanitarian Law) and other protocols that have been established," the official said. He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines is open to receiving complaints and to act on them immediately. He  reiterated the president's previous directive of ensuring safety and protection of lives. "So wasn’t that clear enough? And the AFP will always guarantee the safety of each citizen who are doing the right things and not the wrong things and not breaking the law," Padilla said. During a media interview in Butuan City on Saturday, Duterte said he would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court regarding martial law declaration in Mindanao. In the event that the high court would declare there is no factual basis to declare martial rule in southern Philippines, Duterte said he would order withdrawal of the troops. But he said if chaos would erupt anywhere in the Philippines, he would not hesitate to declare martial law again. It would be a "copycat" of Marcos' martial law, which was imposed in the whole Philippines from 1972 until early 1980's. Martial law under Marcos was marked with alleged human rights abuses. Padilla also clarified Duterte's statement regarding withdrawal of troops in Marawi should the Supreme Court junk his martial law declaration in Mindanao. "Offensives will continue because there’s a threat that’s being faced. And it would be foolhardy to stop the fight because the martial law was lifted," he said. But he said the government's fight against terrorists would become "increasingly hard because you cannot effect certain moves that will facilitate the taking care of some threats that are looming somewhere." He said the government troopers need to secure first search or arrest warrants from the court. "At the course of time between the effecting the arrest and the search and possibly neutralizing a potential threat will become longer and opening up the possibility of escape. So they will keep on being at large and being a threat to public safety," Padilla explained. (Celerina Monte/DMS)