“Martial law is bad for business.”

Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto Lim said this Saturday in his personal capacity as someone who experienced martial law under the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

He noted that martial law gives the President absolute power and “absolute power corrupts” and, thus, martial law should be imposed only as a last resort and must fulfill the requirements set in the Constitution.

Lim said that the current situation in Maguindanao may not pass the Constitutional test and should not be approved by Congress. If approved by Congress, Lim said it will most likely be challenged before the Supreme Court.

He explained that the Constitution allows the declaration of martial law only in cases of extreme lawlessness or invasion. Lim pointed out that peace and order has already been restored in Maguindanao.

Lim also expressed concern that the Maguindanao case may be used as an excuse to expand the coverage of martial law to other provinces in the guise of going after warlords and drug lords.

At the National Press Club of the Philippines, journalists said expressed alarm over the decision of the government to place the entire province of Maguindanao under military control in the wake of the November 23 massacre that killed 57 people, more than half of them members of the press.

“We hope the move to declare martial law in Maguindanao would not lead to the wholesale curtailment of the people’s constitutional rights, especially press freedom,” Benny Antiporda, NPC president said.

He noted that the declaration was presaged by President Arroyo’s order for police and military authorities to neutralize all the so-called “private armies” in various parts of the country.

“While it is about time that these private armed thugs – many of them trained by our national security forces – are dismantled we hope that the martial law declaration in Maguindanao would not spill to other provinces branded as ‘potential trouble spots’ by the authorities and eventually, Metro Manila,” Antiporda added.

He also warned the public to be wary of the possibility that certain quarters are out to take advantage of the situation in Maguindanao to further “create an environment of fear that would justify the imposition of martial law on a grander scale.”

“Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. While we appreciate the efforts of the government to finally restore law and order in Maguindanao, we shall not also stand by when it is use to enforce the massacre of our democracy and the Constitution so that some people can prolong their stay in power or avoid answering for their crimes when the day of reckoning arrives.”

At the ranks of the opposition, Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III said the people of Maguindanao, the people of the Philippines, and the troops on this mission, deserve every assurance that this act will, indeed, result in justice being served and peace being restored. If the declaration of martial law is not motivated by the enforcement of the rule of law, but is rather an attempt to expand authority by means of the military it will be a grave abuse of power and reckless endangerment of the lives of our brave soldiers.

The Constitution is clear: Martial law can only be declared upon the existence of an actual invasion or rebellion, and when public safety requires it.

Bangon Pilipinas Party standard-bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva also scored the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao, calling on Filipinos all over the world to be vigilant on Malacañang's next move and adding that it has a chilling effect not only on the country but on the whole world as well.

Villanueva averred that "all that the Arroyo administration has to do to ensure peace is to disarm and disband the political warlord elites of Maguindanao province, arrest all the suspected perpetrators of the massacre and place all the Ampatuans in local government under preventive suspension to ensure a speedy, impartial investigation and prosecution of the accused."

“What is being sought by martial law that cannot be achieved by these routinely available measures in achieving the substantive ends of justice?” he asked.

He said the declaration was uncalled for because there are no bombings or insurgents involved in the grisly incident and the people being tagged as suspects in the killings are known allies of the Arroyo administration.

For his part, United Opposition vice presidential bet Mayor Jejomar Binay said the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao is “a last recourse to discipline a political ally.”

“It is ironic that the Arroyo administration now considers martial law as a last recourse to discipline a political ally. Ang mga mamamayan ng Maguindanao ang maaapektuhan ng kakulangan ng pamahalaan na ipatupad ang batas,” said Binay, in a statement.

Moreover, Binay pointed that the tense situation in Maguindanao is the result of the Arroyo administration’s unequal application of the law.

“It has tolerated the misdeeds of political allies like the Ampatuans for so long that they consider themselves above the law,” he pointed.

According to him, the people of Maguindanao are the victims of this misguided policy of political accommodation.

The administration wants to belatedly project toughness, but it comes at the expense of the rights of the people of Maguindanao.

Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., meanwhile, described as an “overkill” the decision of President to place Maguindanao under martial law.

However, De Venecia said Arroyo made the correct move in putting Maguindanao – venue of the gruesome November 23 massacre of 57 civilians – under a state of emergency.

“Marami na siyang nagawa in declaring a state of emergency. I don’t think martial law is needed,” he said. “You have to give credit to the President, nahuli na si Mayor (Andal) Ampatuan Jr. nakuha na maraming armas.”

On the side of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), it said that it respects President Arroyo’s declaration of the Maguindanao martial law.

“We respect President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law. We have no further comment on this because first of all, the government already told us about this in connection with the massacre in Ampatuan,” said MILF political affairs and chief negotiator Ghazali Jaafar. (With reports from Anna Liza T. Villas, Ben R. Rosario, and PNA)