PoliticalArena.com

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo submitted a 20-page report to Congress last night on her proclamation of martial law in Maguindanao.

The Senate, which received a copy of the report at 9:11 p.m., will meet today in preparation for a joint congressional gathering tomorrow to study the basis of the proclamation and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

“The Congress may reject or allow it,” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told radio station dzBB. “After 60 days, it will expire but the President can ask for it to be extended if the crisis is still there.”

Enrile discussed the matter with Speaker Prospero Nograles .

“I directed Majority Floor Leader Miguel Zubiri to coordinate with the House of Representatives. Tomorrow I will meet with the senators and our tentative schedule for joint session will be Tuesday,” Enrile said.

“After we receive the report, we’re not saying we will meet immediately, (but) we will do so at the soonest time possible so people will not say that we’re just dribbling the ball,” he added in Filipino.

Enrile said President Arroyo’s martial law declaration is legal unless revoked by Congress or voided by the Supreme Court (SC).

“On the face of the proclamation, there seems to be a basis for it,” he said.

“Now, we have to presume that the President acted on facts known to her and initially we should not question the wisdom or lack of wisdom of her action. She is the one authorized by the Constitution to exercise these powers on the basis of facts known to her.

“Even the Supreme Court, in exercising these powers, must deal with the facts in which the President acted in proclaiming martial law in Maguindanao. And that same law or principle must apply equally on the two houses of Congress.”

Enrile said once Congress sees from Mrs. Arroyo’s report that there was no factual basis to support martial law in Maguindanao, “we will have to act and reject it.”

“But if there is, then I think we will have to respect the provision of the Constitution that will give her 60 days to perform the job of quelling and stabilizing the situation in Mindanao,” he said.

At the House of Representatives, Nograles said many lawmakers agree with Mrs. Arroyo on the need to impose martial law in Maguindanao to quell a brewing rebellion and to arrest those responsible for the slaughter of 57 women and journalists in Ampatuan town last Nov. 23.

“The President’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao is beyond politics,” he said.

“It is to protect the national interest. We strongly support the President’s move. She did the right thing.”

Nograles said many of his peers believe that martial law should have been imposed in the province earlier.

He would file a resolution supporting Mrs. Arroyo’s Proclamation 1959 today, when Congress resumes session, he added.

Nograles said he does not expect tomorrow’s joint session of Congress to revoke or modify the President’s martial law proclamation.

Nograles said unlike in other instances, the Senate and the House will vote as one on martial law.

“Our job is not to approve but only to revoke (the President’s martial law proclamation),” he said.

Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez said Mrs. Arroyo should have declared martial law in Maguindanao a long time ago.

“Human rights groups have nothing to fear as this pocket martial law has an expiry date, that it will be lifted once the situation normalizes, which would come soon,” he said.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano lll said administration critics are “exaggerating the martial law proclamation for media mileage and to attract voters.”

“It’s absurd and ridiculous for them to claim that the declaration is in pursuit of Charter change and no-elections,” he said.

“They’ve always been propagating these lies, but none of these ever materialized. Their concern should be the pursuit of justice, peace and normalcy in Maguindanao.”

He does not think that tomorrow’s joint session of Congress would revoke Proclamation 1959, Albano said.

Rep. Jeci Lapus of Tarlac said the martial law proclamation was not a case of overreaction or overkill as critics claim.

“It was carefully studied,” he said.

“Members of the national security cluster assessed the situation and recommended martial law.

“The military and the police reported that there were armed groups massing all over Maguindanao.”

Sen. Joker Arroyo said Mrs. Arroyo is required under the Constitution to report to Congress why she imposed martial law in Maguindanao.

“When we meet, it will be a joint session. We will agree or disagree. We will reject or not,” he said.

Senator Arroyo said he would push for the martial law proclamation to be given a limited time.

“For me, offhand, put a period so that it will also be a pressure for the government to act fast,” he said.

Senator Arroyo said under the Constitution, the Supreme Court (SC) has to decide in 30 days the validity of the martial law proclamation after a petition has been filed.

“Now there is participation of Congress,” he said. “The SC should decide whether there were factual circumstances.”

Senator Arroyo said under the law, the President is bound by the decision of Congress, he added.

Nacionalista Party spokesman Gilbert Remulla said they are mulling to question the move before the SC.

“We will question it before the SC if Congress fails to reject it. We are already making our initial preparations in this regard,” he said.

Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II said the declaration of martial law was a political solution that could benefit the Ampatuans because their alleged crimes of multiple murder, conspiracy to commit multiple murder aggravated by rape could be subsumed into the crime of rebellion, which carries a lesser penalty if convicted. The former crimes are capital offenses and thus non-bailable.

The other senators said there was no invasion or rebellion – the two conditions stated in the Constitution – to warrant the declaration of martial law, and that Mrs. Arroyo could have used the powers of the state to suppress lawlessness in Maguindanao.

It was overkill and could be used for other purposes, ranging from Charter-change to failure of elections, or placing the entire country under martial law for Mrs. Arroyo to stay in power, the senators added.

Enrile and Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said they would hold judgment until Mrs. Arroyo submits her report to Congress.

Aquino and Roxas said the martial law proclamation could be used to cover up for other crimes like the discovery of ammunition and weapons owned by the military and the police in the Ampatuan compound and electoral fraud machinery.

“Can we take Mrs. Arroyo’s word when she is largely responsible for the creation of this monster?” they asked.

“Does it not indicate the state’s inability to enforce its laws that it had to resort to something as drastic as martial law, despite its possible repercussions on the economy?”

Sen. Manny Villar said the declaration of martial law was unnecessary and only hints of weak leadership and the inability of government to quell lawlessness in this part of the country.

“It is unfortunate that the declaration of martial law has been resorted to after the government appeared reluctant to go all-out against those responsible for the massacre. The state of emergency should have been enough to dismantle the private armies operating in the province. We don’t even need to declare martial law in Maguindanao; we only have to enforce existing laws,” Villar said.

The standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party also said the government might have overreacted when it imposed martial law in the province.

“We support all efforts for the swift delivery of justice for the murdered victims of Maguindanao massacre, we need a justice that is without fear and favor. Apart from bringing the perpetrators behind bars, the government must dismantle private armies with dispatch and that can be done without declaring martial law,” he said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Mrs. Arroyo might only be testing the waters to see if she could impose martial law in other parts of the country, especially in areas where violence would occur during next year’s elections.

Sen. Francis Escudero said former President Joseph Estrada declared open war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao without declaring martial law. The theater of war included Maguindanao and even parts of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, and North Cotabato, he added.

Meantime, Catholic bishops are divided over President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao. – Christina Mendez, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Helen Flores

(The Philippine Star)