PRESIDENT Duterte may declare martial law in Negros Oriental following the spate of killings in the province, Malacañang said on Thursday.
In a Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said the President can choose among the many options under the Constitution, including the martial-law declaration, in order to put a stop to the state of violence in Negros Oriental.
“Grabe na ’yung patayan ’dun [The killings there are terrible]. We have a village or barangay captain, a municipal mayor, four policemen and a lawyer [as victims]. The President does not want this to happen. He wants it stopped. And the only way to do that is to use his emergency powers,” Panelo told reporters.
Aside from martial-law declaration, Panelo also told reporters that the President can also call the Armed Forces of the Philippines to quell lawless violence in the area.
He also said it is also constitutional for the President to issue a separate martial-law declaration in Negros Oriental apart from the currently-imposed martial law in Mindanao.
“The Constitution states you can declare martial law in the entire country or parts thereof,” Panelo said.
On Wednesday night, Malacañang also issued a separate statement that the President is “cautioning the enemies of the state in the island of Negros that he will use his emergency powers under the Constitution to quell the lawless violence engulfing the island, as well as to crush all forms of threats aimed to destroy the government.”
The Palace has blamed communist rebels for the killings.
“The President has also issued a stern warning that the members of the New People’s Army [NPA] in Negros have gone overboard and that their killings have become brazen and unbridled where men in uniform, as well as civilians are murdered with impunity. The land disputes in Negros have escalated to killings among—and between—the claimants. The communist rebels have exploited the land unrest and turned the province into a quasi-state. They have arbitrarily chosen who will own the lands subject of the controversies surrounding them,” Panelo said.
The Palace said Duterte has also raised the reward money to P5 million for the capture, dead or alive, of the killers of the Negros policemen.
As for the reward money for the capture for every participant in the killing, the reward money has also been raised to P100,000.
While there were criticisms on the effectivity of martial law imposition in Mindanao considering that bombing incidents still occur, the Palace has since said the President’s declaration of martial law is an effective tack in maintaining peace and order in the area.
In 2016, the President also signed Proclamation No. 55 officially declaring a state of emergency in the whole country following the Davao City bombing.
Despite this existing proclamation, Panelo insisted that there is still a need to use “stringent measures” in Negros Oriental considering the number of killings.