Martial law “a tool to save democracy?

” A response to Panelo's claims

By Dom Balmes - September 29, 2019

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – More than 3 decades since democracy was restored
in the country, human rights groups warned Filipinos against the oppressive policies and
violations under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte that mirrors those of the late
dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Sanlakas Secretary-General Aaron Pedrosa on Wednesday, September 18, said that the 47th
anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law is a reminder that atrocities still occur, especially
under Duterte.
“Ilang araw na lang ay anibersaryo na naman ng Martial Law pero sa mga nangyayari
ngayon, nakikita natin na iyong multo ng Marcos dictatorship still looms even larger today dahil
bumabalik ang bangugot,” he said.
(A few more days before Martial Law anniversary and yet with what’s happening now, we
see that the ghosts of the Marcos dictatorship still looms even larger today because the
nightmares are coming back.)
Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, placing the Philippines
under military rule, a period marred by gross human rights violations. According to Amnesty
International, about 70,000 people were imprisoned while 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were
killed during this time.
Local and international groups have criticized the Duterte administration mostly for the high
number of killings in his war on drugs, calling the situation a "human rights crisis."
Failing democracy?
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) chairperson Father Christian Buenafe
called the situation under Duterte almost as worst as what happened under Marcos.
“We are living in dangerous times again and many seem not to bother nor care that the
whimsical and capricious display of vindictiveness of Duterte is eating the nation’s soul and
trampling on people’s rights,” he said.
In its midterm report, TFDP said that the under Duterte, there is a failure to strengthen
democratic traditions in the country, while elected leaders are “shamelessly transgressing the rule
of law and tilting balance of power to favor the executive branch.”
Nilda Lagman-Sevilla, chairperson of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance
(FIND), hit the government for its “callous” disregard of the situation.
“Pinaninindigan namin na may human rights crisis na sa Pilipinas at pakitid na nang pakitid
ang democratic space para sa lahat (We stand by our statement that there’s a human rights crisis
in the Philippines and that the democratic space is shrinking for all),” she said.
 In a statement on Saturday, Vice President Leni Robredo appealed to Filipinos to remember
their duty to protect the Philippines from regressing into despotic rule, as the country observed
the anniversary of Martial Law.
Speak out, take a stand
More than 3 years have passed since Duterte took his oath as Philippine president.
According to Pedrosa, the government’s eyed policies such as the proposed revival of the anti-
subversion law and the death penalty showed that things may only get worse.
“Nakakabahala kasi hindi pa ito tapos, mahaba pa ang Duterte administration,” Pedrosa
said. “Ang kadiliman ng Martial Law ay babalik kung hindi kikilos ang mamamayan.”
(It’s worrying because this there's still a lot of time left in the Duterte administration. If the
citizens don't act, the darkness of Martial Law will return.)
Buenafe urged Filipinos to speak against abuses and called for “blind obedience” to end.
He, however, acknowledged the culture of fear prevailing in the country now.
“When injustice becomes law, we need to speak and stand our ground,” he said.
The Duterte administration is also widely criticized for its crackdown on dissent and its
harassment of those deemed as opposition, including human rights defenders.
For Sevilla, the public should know that defenders are not armed combatants and that their
work “is through peaceful means.”
“Amid unabated human rights violations, we have no other option but to resist,” she said.
Source: https://amp.rappler.com/nation/240405-ghost-martial-law-seen-under-duterte-
administration
Groups to remember Martial Law atrocities with protest on Sept. 20
by Gabriel Pabico Lalu - 2 weeks ago

MANILA, Philippines – Several groups will commemorate the atrocities committed during
Martial Law under the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos with a protest at the
Luneta Park on September 20, Friday.
According to a message from Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), the organizers’ goal
is to make the Filipino youth remember what had happened before, and eventually be vigilant
with the current situation, under President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Our message is clear. The Duterte regime’s Marcosian tactics are unacceptable to the
Filipino people. Remember that Marcos was ousted for his authoritarian rule marked by
corruption and gross human rights violations. The widespread human rights violations and abuse
of power we see today are reminiscent of Marcos’ rule,” the organizers said in a statement on
Tuesday.
“The moment we forget, we become vulnerable and susceptible to repeating the past. It is
therefore such an important development that the youth of today are at the forefront of efforts to
fight historical revisionism and the now looming dictatorship under this administration,” they
added.
The organizers, composed of cause-oriented groups Bayan, Movement against Tyranny,
Bawat Isa Mahalaga, different youth and student groups and councils, UP Rise against Tyranny,
One Voice One Faith One Nation, Laban ng Masa, and others, were also behind the State of the
Nation Address (SONA) protests in July.
The groups insist that the same problems experienced during the Marcos era —abuse of
power and lack of freedom and democracy — are now hindering inclusive development and
economic progress.
“We should fight the criminalization of dissent, the red-tagging and terrorist-labeling of
critics and opposition groups. We should decry the double-standards of the justice system that
frees criminals but jails dissenters,” they said.
“We should oppose the idea that activism is a crime. Were it not for activism, the Marcos
dictatorship would not have been dismantled,” they added.
Duterte and the Marcoses have been known to have close ties, with the President
consistently expressing his admiration for the late strongman. He also credits then Ilocos Norte
governor and now Senator Imee Marcos for helping him during his campaign for the presidency
in the 2016 polls.
Duterte then allowed the burial of the late former president Marcos at the Libingan ng mga
Bayani, stirring public uproar. Duterte argued that as Marcos was a soldier and a former
President, he was qualified for burial at the cemetery.
 The President also openly supported former Senator Bongbong Marcos after the latter lost
to Vice President Leni Robredo.
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1165392/groups-to-remember-
martial-law-atrocities-with-protest-on-sept-20/amp

Groups blame Duterte’s martial law for the deaths of 52 environmentalists

By Raymund Villanueva - September 25, 2019

MANILA — An international anti-corruption group has revealed that the Rodrigo Duterte
administration’s heavy-handed rule in Mindanao and many other parts of the country has caused
the deaths of 52 environmentalists in the hands of the military in the past three years.
In a report entitled “Defending the Philippines,” the group Global Witness said that
Duterte’s “martial law has emboldened [the military] to use force to silence environmental and
indigenous activism.
In a press conference in Quezon City, September 24, the group said it uncovered “shocking
evidence of widespread attacks against land and environmental defenders when they stand up to
destructive coal, agribusiness, mining and tourism projects.”
The group also identified major local and international corporations as the beneficiaries of
the systematic attacks against Filipino citizens.
The report accused major players Dole Philippines, Del Monte Philippines, San Miguel
Corporation, Standard Chartered and the World Bank of “corporate greed” that caused killings
and widespread displacement of marginalized communities.
The revelations came after the Philippines was named last July as the world’s deadliest
country for land and environment defenders in 2018 back, sparking widespread international
coverage of the issue.
In his presentation, Global Witness Senior Campaigner Ben Leather said his group’s report
could not be clearer in its finding that the Duterte administration has miserably failed in
protecting land and environmental defenders.
Representatives of Global Witness and Filipino environmental defenders condemn the
killings of environmental defenders.
“Businesses from coal to agribusiness, from mining to tourism, are allowed to run rampant
and irreparably damage the lives of ordinary Filipinos,” Leather said, adding corruption and
conflicts of interest within government affecting well-known politicians also remain out of
control.
“If the Filipino government is going to deliver on its promises, it has to protect land and
environmental defenders and stand up to big business and corrupt politicians. And if companies
and investors like Del Monte Philippines, San Miguel and Standard Chartered want their
sustainability and human rights pledges to be anything other than poisonous hot air – then they
too need to take immediate action to tackle the root causes of these attacks and support
defenders,” Leather said.
Local environmental Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (PNE), a partner to
the investigations, agreed with the Global Witness analysis that “the killings are the sharp end of
a broader impunity against land and environmental defenders.”
Leon Dulce, Kalikasan PNE national coordinator, said, “The Global Witness report reveals
damning evidence of how Duterte’s military and paramilitary have essentially functioned as
mercenaries for large-scale mining and other extractive and destructive business projects. By
using brute armed force to guarantee and secure dirty investments, Duterte has indeed failed in
his promises to protect the environment and indigenous peoples, and curb corruption.”
“Martial Law is clearly not the so-called tool to save democracy that Malacanang wants to
paint it to be. For us Filipino environmental defenders, it has functioned as a tool for repression
and to promote the unimpeded plunder of our natural resources by big businesses,” Dulce added.
Kalikasan PNP demanded an independent into the function of military and paramilitary
groups as ‘mercenaries of large-scale mines and other extractive and destructive projects across
the Philippines.’
‘We also demand for the immediate cessation of the Martial Law declaration over Mindanao
and the institutionalization of a national policy that will protect the rights of Filipino
environmental defenders and other human rights defenders from the atrocities especially of state
security forces,” Dulce said.
Source: https://www.bulatlat.com/2019/09/25/groups-blame-dutertes-martial-law-for-the-
deaths-of-52-environmentalists/
 MARTIAL LAW

(My own understanding)

Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civilian functions by a

government, especially in response to a temporary emergency such as invasion or major disaster,

or in an occupied territory. It can be used by governments to enforce their rule over the public, as

seen in multiple countries.

In remembering the happenings in our country's history we can probably feel the

angriness and sadness of those family's loved ones that died innocently. The declaration of

Martial law during the regime of late President Ferdinand Marcos was a suffering and a burden

to innocent and civilian Filipinos at that time. And it is believe that it is coming back on our

generation today on the hands of our President Rodrigo Duterte. Is it the most effective way to

save our country against the rebels?

According to Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) chairperson Father

Christian Buenafe, “We are living in dangerous times again and many seem not to bother nor

care that the whimsical and capricious display of vindictiveness of Duterte is eating the nation’s

soul and trampling on people’s rights" which is very true and clearly seen that most of us don't

care. We are being deaf and we shut are mouth on those persons that are being killed even if

they’re not guilty.

According to Vice President Leni Robredo and I quote, "as a concern Filipino citizen, we

must remember our duty to protect the Philippines from regressing into despotic rule." Martial

law is not the only and effective way to lessen and save our country against rebellions.