Martial Law in Mindanao under Duterte is a good Martial Law

House Appropriations Committee Chair Karlo Alexei Nograles today said the decision of the House of Representatives to approve and support President Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law is a courageous move that would finally demolish the stigma that equated it to authoritarianism and military abuse.

“President Duterte’s Martial Law has effectively been approved, upheld and ratified by Congress. We are convinced that the intention of the President is only to uphold our democratic way of life, to protect lives and properties, and defend our country’s territory and integrity. There is nothing to fear in this Duterte Martial Law,” Nograles said.

Nograles said that leaders whose heart is in the right place like President Duterte would know how to properly use the immense power and responsibility that goes along with the imposition of Martial Law and this would definitely redound to the best interest and safety of our country.

Nograles said that the task of fully cleansing Mindanao and the entire country of terrorism would really require extra-ordinary powers to fully unmask and neutralize terrorists who conveniently blend themselves with the civilian population to evade and hide themselves from pursuing police and military authorities.

He said that the attack of ISIS-linked Maute Group in Marawi City is a perfect example of how extremists can easily exploit security loopholes because of the Constitutional limits on how the security officials should conduct its peacekeeping protocols.

Nograles noted that after wreaking havoc in Marawi City and after terrorizing an entire nation, the Maute terrorists can simply blend back to the civilian population.

“These terrorists are fully aware that they enjoy the Constitutional protection against arrests without warrant. It gives them the power to terrorize our people while abusing our Constitution. Well, our Constitution also provides a way to fight back, and that is through Martial Law. The Constitution should only be used to protect the innocent and not the evil-doers. We should deny terrorists and rebels the opportunity to hide behind our Constitution and they must be made answerable for their crimes by any means possible,” Nograles said.

“At the same time, the Constitution still mandates that civil courts remain supreme, and those arrested must be charged within three days. We have the full commitment of our men in uniform that they will strictly abide by that Constitutional directive,” Nograles added.

source: Public Trending