Malacañang allies on Monday tried to forestall the holding of a joint session of Congress to review President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao when House of Representatives leaders called for a caucus to get the consensus of the majority of congressmen.

Speaker Prospero Nograles called for the all-party caucus at 4 p.m. last Monday as he stressed that mere “collective sentiment” of the majority in the meeting can establish that there is no need for senators and congressmen to meet in joint session to revoke or concur with Presidential Proclamation 1959.

Opposition lawmakers led by Reps. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza said they will resist attempts of the House majority to cause the cancellation of the joint session.

On the other hand, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo defended his mother’s martial law proclamation as he assailed critics for putting her in a “damn if you do, damn if you don’t” position.

“Before President Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1959, some sectors were saying the administration is treating the issue of Maguindanao with kid gloves. Now that she has placed Maguindanao under Martial Law to effect warrantless arrests, search and seizures which is aimed at dismantling private armies and confiscating loose firearms in that particular area with the primary objective of restoring law and order in the province, they are again crying hell,” he said.

Nograles said a bicameral session is no longer needed if the House leaders are able to determine that majority support the martial law proclamation.

“We don’t need a joint session if we are in concurrence with Presidential Proclamation 1959,” he said.

He said this view was shared by Fr. Joaquin Bernas, former Constitutional Law professor and Constitutional Convention delegate.

According to Nograles, Bernas believes that Congress must only meet in joint session if the collective sentiment of lawmakers is to revoke Proclamation 1959.

Aside from the caucus, Nograles also passed around for signature of House members a resolution expressing support to President Arroyo’s decision to put Maguindanao under martial law.

He likewise directed Majority Leader Arthur Defensor and senior Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II to immediately meet with their Senate counterparts to draft and agree on the rules of engagement in case a joint session is convened.

The opposition in the House of Representatives on the other hand said they would demand Mrs. Arroyo’s personal appearance once the joint session is convened.

“The president owes it to Congress and to the Filipino people to come here and explain her report,” said Rep. Teodoro Casino as he pointed out that the martial law justification is ambiguous.

“Her appearance is the best show that check and balance is existent,” the Bayan Muna lawmaker added.

Senators for their part forged a non-binding agreement during a caucus to revoke the Martial Law declaration.

“This is non-binding. It does not bind anyone of us in the event that the facts, in the opinion of the individual members of the Senate, each one to decide to vote for or not. This was suggested by the (Senate) minority (bloc),’’ Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told reporters after Monday morning’s caucus attended by 19 senators.

Eleven of the senators present were reported against the President’s fiat.

Another suggestion made during the caucus and submitted for debate during the proposed joint session today was to shorten the Martial Law period from 60 days as sought by the President ‘’in order to pressure the Executive Department to solve the problem of Maguindanao the soonest possible time,’’ Enrile said.

Since the Constitution states that the session would be held jointly, questions whether the members of the two legislative bodies vote as one body or the two chambers voting separately in a joint session would have to be threshed out by Congress leaders.

Enrile asked Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to meet with his Lower House counterpart and adopt rules to be used in the joint session.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, an administration ally, said Proclamation 1959 suffers from “doctrinal confusion,’’ and she would vote to revoke it, although she said House members would outvote the senators.

“It will hardly be worth the effort to attend the joint session, because the Senate will be atomized, but at least every senator could explain his or her side,’’ she said.

Malacañang for its part said it would lift martial law soon once all the perpetrators of the November 23 Maguindanao massacre are arrested and all private armies dismantled in the province.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the Martial Law duration would be shorter as long as the mastermind of the killings and some 2,400 civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) involved in the carnage are brought to justice.

He described the pronouncement of some senators that the Palace wants to expand and extend the martial law until the May elections as “highly speculative, irresponsible and politically motivated.”

He also assured former President Fidel V. Ramos that declaration of martial law won’t affect the economy after he warned that such proclamation has harsh impact to the Philippines’ economic landscape.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno himself said the extension of martial law until May is not healthy, even as he noted that the executive still respects the independence of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We will do this at the shortest possible time. I do not believe it is healthy,” he said in an ambush interview.

He maintained that Mrs. Arroyo’s Proclamation No 1959 placing Maguindanao under a state of martial law and suspending the privilege of the habeas corpus, as legal amid the snowballing protest against such declaration.

He said on November 26, they told Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera that the condition of rebellion existed with the prepositioning of about 2,400 civilian volunteer organizations, failure of the legal systems in province and seizure of the high-powered arms and armored vehicles.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has expressed concern over reports of human rights abuses in Maguindanao.

Human Rights Chairperson Leila De Lima said she personally received complaints from four women who claimed they were molested by soldiers conducting arbitrary house searches in Maguindanao to arrest suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre.

“The declaration of Martial Law has no legal basis under the Constitution. If the government is citing rebellion in the declaration of a Martial Rule, a rebellion should be an actual uprising and not perceived,” De Lima said.

“We are not convinced that that is contemplated in the Constitution. We hope that the President and/or Congress will revoke both the proclamation of Martial Law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,” she added.

“We will conduct strict monitoring of the situation in the province because civilians might turn out to be collateral damage in the end. In particular, vulnerable groups such as women, children, and indigenous peoples, will be given attention during this situation, such as the effect on their livelihoods,” she added.

De Lima also stressed the monitoring on the manner of treatment and handling of those arrested, particularly the civilian volunteer organization (CVO) members.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo said the government should lift the martial law declaration once it’s no longer necessary so as to prevent human rights abuses.

“Once it is no longer necessary, it must immediately cease. The shorter the time, the better. This is because of the double-edge nature of Martial Law. The longer it is exercised, the more likely it would be for human rights to be violated and for weapons to be used for evil,” he said in a pastoral statement.

Quevedo, however, is convinced that the national government had discerned enough before it issued Presidential Proclamation 1959 placing Maguindanao under martial rule.

“Since Martial Law has been declared, let it be…” he said. (With reports from Mario B. Casayuran, Charissa M. Luci, Ellalyn B. De Vera, Edmer F. Panesa and Leslie Ann G. Aquino)