Congress votes to extend martial law in Mindanao for one more year
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 05:20:26 +0000
CONGRESS on Monday voted to extend martial law in Mindanao for another year.
In a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, 235 voted in the affirmative, 28 against and one abstention.
During deliberations earlier in the day, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea told lawmakers that based on the evaluation of “President Rodrigo Duterte, as commander-in-chief, of the Armed Forces of the Philippines upon extensive personal evaluation of the current situation in Mindanao and taking into account the security assessments of the secretary of National Defense as martial law administrator, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as martial law implementor, the national security adviser, the NICA [National Intelligence Coordinating Agency], and chief of the Philippine National Police,” they have concluded that rebellion in Mindanao “still subsists.”
“Notwthstanding substantial gains achieved during the martial law period as extended, the government can’t turn a blind eye to the reality that Mindanao is in the midst of rebellion,” Medialdea said.
He added in part that “based on certain essential facts, actual rebellion still clearly persists in Mindanao and public safety necessitates the grant of a further extension of martial law period and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.”
The President declared martial law in the region after the Islamic State-linked Maute group attacked Marawi City on May 23, 2017 in a bid to establish a caliphate to be ruled by an “emir.” REINA TOLENTINO
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