Carpio sees nothing wrong in Mindanao ML extension
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:15:47 +0000
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio on Monday said there is nothing illegal in the plan of President Duterte to extend martial law in Mindanao “as long as the grounds for declaring martial law continue to exist.”
Carpio even said the government may extend the martial law proclamation several times. “There’s no limit. It can be extended without limit,” he said.
The statement was issued by Carpio after critics objected to the plan for another extension of martial law in Mindanao.
The critics claimed that “another extension will unduly and inordinately prolong the regime of martial law in Mindanao.”
In May last year, the President, through Proclamation No. 216, placed Mindanao under martial law for 60 days in connection with the Marawi City siege. The proclamation, which also suspended the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, was extended up to the end of this year.
When challenged before the SC, 11 of the 15 justices voted to dismiss all three petitions against Proclamation No. 216. Three justices voted to partially grant the petitions, while one justice voted to grant totally the petitions during the SC’s regular full court session.
Under Article 7, Section 18 of the Constitution, the SC is mandated “to review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.” (Rey G. Panaligan)