By Argyll Geducos Malacañang said the state of national emergency President Rodrigo Duterte declared in the entire Philippines in 2016 remains, despite the expiration of martial law in Mindanao, to address the communist insurgency and terror threats in the country. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo
(OPS / MANILA BULLETIN) Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement Friday after martial law in Mindanao expired on Dec. 31, 2019. The entire island was placed under martial law beginning May 2017, after the breakout of the war against ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)-inspired terrorists in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur that lasted five months. Panelo said the country is still in a state of national emergency because of existing threats that needed to be addressed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). " should remain imposed and strictly observed by the AFP and PNP to ensure the maintenance of law and order in all other parts of the country, given that there remains the communist insurgency to reckon with, as well as there is yet a terrorist organization resurrecting to be crushed," he said. "The Office of the President asks the citizenry for their usual cooperation, even as we assure them that the government will not allow any abuse of their fundamental civil and political rights during this state of national emergency," Panelo added. President Duterte issued Proclamation No. 55 on Sept. 4, 2016, declaring a state of national emergency after the Sept. 2, 2016 bombing in Davao City that killed 14 people and seriously wounded at least 60 others. The proclamation commanded the AFP and the PNP to undertake measures to suppress any and all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao and to prevent the same from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the Philippines. In his statement, Panelo said Duterte can keep the state of national emergency because it can be used independently without the participation of Congress, and its actual use cannot be subjected to judicial review unless constitutional boundaries are violated. "As long as the President deems it necessary to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, or rebellion (such as at present times), then he is lawfully authorized to resort to this calling out power," the presidential spokesperson said. The three extraordinary powers granted to a president by the 1987 Constitution are calling out the armed forces, placing any part of the country under martial law, and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Panelo said Proclamation No. 55 was issued pursuant to the calling-out power of the President. Martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, however, involve curtailment and suppression of civil rights and individual freedoms. They entail more stringent safeguards as they may be exercised only when there is actual invasion or rebellion, and if public safety requires it. The 1987 Constitution likewise imposed the following limitations in exercising the two other extraordinary powers: an original period of 60 days, a review and a possible revocation by Congress, and a review and a possible nullification by the Supreme Court.