2017 News Update: President Duterte Declared Martial Law in Mindanao

The 3rd Martial Law was declared by President Rodrigo Duterte in the entire island of Mindanao after a firefight between the military and an ISIS-inspired group in Marawi City.

Declaration: May 23, 2017 - 10:00 PM

President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law over the entire island of Mindanao, effective for 60 days, following the clashes with the Maute group in Marawi City.

	Military/Police	Civilian	Terrorist/Militant
	66	30	268
*Death Number as of: 6/20/2017

Government Forces Action/Operation

July 6, 2017

Cayamora Maute, father of the Maute brothers fighting government forces in Marawi City, was apprehended in a Toyota Grandia van that was stopped by Task Force Davao at a checkpoint.

Isnilon Hapilon, who is on Washington’s list of most-wanted terrorists and has a $5 million bounty on his head.

Bibigyan ng P10 milyon ang sino mang makahuhuli o makapapatay kay Isnilon Hapilon pinuno ng Abu Sayyaf, ang kilalang pinuno ng Islamic State (IS) sa Pilipinas, at tig-P5 milyon naman para sa magkapatid na Abdullah at Omar Maute ng grupong Maute, ayon kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa anunsiyo ni Armed Forces Chief of Staff Eduardo Año. Ang P10 milyon ay bukod pa sa $5 milyon (P247 milyon) na ipinatong gobyerno ng US sa ulo ni Hapilon, at sa nauna nang inihayag na P7.4 milyon ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas.

July 5, 2017

The Philippine Marines first found P52.2 million in cash at a house located near the extremists' machine gun nest in the Mapandi area. The troops then found checks worth P27 million in the same house, bringing the total amount of the haul to P79 million.

Padilla said number of rescued civilians is now at 560 while recovered firearms are placed at 5.

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"(The AFP remains focused in) clearing of Marawi of militants still in the area. Rescue of trapped residents and recovery of civilian casualties, victims (are ongoing)," he added.

Fighting started when government security forces tried to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, a known ally of the group and ISIS leader, last May 23.

"Precision airstrikes are judiciously used to prevent collateral damage and employed at specific targets of resistance to protect our troops and hasten clearing of the city of terrorist elements who continue to resist," said Padilla.

"We call on the remaining terrorist to surrender while there is an opportunity," he pointed out.

Martial Law Status as per Law

Senate

Senators vote 17-5 supporting Martial Law in Mindanao.
Senate Pres. Aquilino Pimentel III
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III
Senate Pres. Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara
Sen. Nancy Binay
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
Sen. Richard Gordon
Sen. Gringo Honasan
Sen. Panfilo Lacson
Sen. Loren Legarda
Sen. Manny Pacquiao
Sen. Joel Villanueva
Sen. Cynthia Villar 
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri

Two majority bloc senators did not sign the resolution - Senators Francis Escudero and Grace Poe.

Senate minority bloc filed a separate resolution to convene the Congress in a joint session to deliberate of Pres. Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan
Sen. Minority Leader Franklin Drilon
Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV
Sen. Leila de Lima
Sen. Risa Hontiveros
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

Congress

House Resolution 1050 said that during the meeting of the committee, "the members of the House of Representatives determined the factual sufficiency of the factual basis for the issuance of Proclamation 216.”


The resolution reads, "Resolved by the House of Representatives to express its full support to President Rodrigo Duterte, it finds no reason to revoke Proclamation 216 entitled Declaring a State of Martial Law and Suspending the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Whole of Mindanao."

Relevant Information

"The President has called me and asked me to announce that as of 10 p.m. Manila time, he has already declared Martial Law for the entire island of Mindanao," Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Tuesday in a press briefing in Moscow, Russia.

"In order to suppress lawless violence and rebellion and for public safety, it is necessary to declare martial law in the entire island of Mindanao, including Sulu, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi for a period of 60 days," said Abella


"I have to express our condolences as a matter of fact, loss of lives of your people happened because of a horrible terrorist attack. And let me express hope that the conflict that you have just mentioned will be resolved as soon as possible and with minimal losses and casualties." - Russian President Vladimir Putin  

Bistek orders security forces to heighten efforts in Metro Manila. "As NCR [Regional Peace and Order Council] Chair, (I'm directing you to) Please intensify security efforts (checkpoints, mobile patrols, etc) in NCR to abate criminality and terror acts. Note that we are still within the Presidential declaration of State of Lawlessness," Bautista said Tuesday in a text message to the Department of Interior and Local Government, National Capital Region Police Office, and Quezon City Police District.

Glitch

The government security forces were in Marawi City to serve a warrant of arrest against Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon in Barangay Basak Malutlut in Marawi City. But they failed to anticipate that he was surrounded by around a hundred fighters. - Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a press briefing in Moscow, Russia

Sort of interview before Duterte left Russia for the Philippines:

He also assured the Filipinos: "Don't be too scared."

"I'm going home I'm cutting my visit here [Russia] to be with my countrymen. And I will deal with the problem once I arrive."

"I am sad but what makes me happy is that I was able to have a last-minute meeting with President Vladimir Putin and I was able to communicate all the things that I wanted to tell him. Positive naman ...," he added.

Asked how long he intends to put Mindanao under iron rule, he said, "If it would take a year to go then ... I will do it. If it is over within a month then I'll be happy."

Encounter

Maute group members torched Cathedral of Our Lady Help of Christians and abducted several people, including:

Father Teresito Suganob.
Wendelyn Mayornita, the parish church's secretary
Professor Nik-nik, the parish council president

The bandits also reportedly torched the city jail and a school in Marawi.

The encounter of Bishop Edwin dela Peña with the Maute group members.

He said the bandits barged in the church while parishioners were holding a novena. Dela Peña added that they were supposed to celebrate the Feast of the Mary Help of Christians today.

"Pinasok yung bahay, yung bishop's house was broken by this group mga 7:30 siguro last night and then tumawag sa akin about that time using the cellphone of our secretary, pero yung boses ay yung boses ng Maute," Dela Peña said.
He added that the person over the phone demanded Dela Peña to contact the military and tell them to stop its operations against the Maute Group, or else they will kill the hostages.

"They demanded that I arrange with the military for the cessation of pagtutugis sa kanila and mag-declare ng ceasefire at huwag na huwag silang hahabulin. I was given one hour to do it," Dela Peña said.

The bishop said he was able to inform the military, in particular Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, regarding the incident.
Dela Peña said he has yet to hear from updates either from the military or the Maute Group following his conversation with Galvez.

"After that call may tumawag ulit maybe about 30 minutes after to verify whether such arrangement was already made by the military. Sabi ko, 'We are still trying' [and] parang they were disappointed dahil wala pa. After that wala na, hindi ko na siya ma-contact until now," he said.

Here are the guidelines for Davaoeños for the period of Martial Law:

GENERAL

1. The city government will implement a “Hold and Secure” method in ensuring the security of our people.
2. Call 911 immediately to report suspicious-looking persons, materials and actions by group of persons.
3. Exercise prudence in planning your activities.
TRAVEL
4. Travel to and from Davao City is discouraged, as well as in other places in Mindanao, unless there is an urgent matter that needs to be attended to.
5. Do not leave your residence if you do not have business or matters to attend outside.
6. Travelling via motorcycle convoys is discouraged.

CROWDED PLACES, CHURCHES and CONCERTED ACTIVITIES
7. Avoid crowded places.
8. Religious activities are encouraged to be conducted during daytime. Muslims observing Ramadan are encouraged to hold their activities inside mosques and residences
9. All rallies and large group activities should have permits from the local government.

CHECKPOINTS
10. Ensure that you have updated vehicle registration papers, and driver’s licenses.
11. Ensure that you have valid and existing licenses for your guns [License to Own and Posses Firearm (“LTOPF”) and Permit to Carry (“PTC”)].
12. Cooperate with the AFP and PNP personnel conducting checkpoints.
13. Familiarize yourself with the contents of your own baggage. Do not accept baggage from strangers.
14. In the conduct of checkpoints, turn off your headlights and turn on your overhead lights during inspection.
15. Allow the inspectors to smoothly make the inspections.
16. Always bring a valid personal identification document.

MINORS and EVENINGS
17. Minors are extremely discouraged to go out of their residences except when accompanied by adults.
18. Avoid going out late at night and consuming excessive alcohol.
19. Buddy system is encouraged to those who work at night especially during travel to and from work.
20. Personal activities is encouraged to be done in daytime.
21. Loitering in all areas is discouraged.

PERSONAL BELONGINGS
22. Do not leave bags and other personal belongings unattended.
23. Do not leave your cars unattended for a long time.
24. Do not retain large sums of money in your residences.

BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS and SCHOOLS
25. Business establishments and schools are required to create emergency plans for their respective premises.
26. Business establishments and schools are encouraged to invest in private security, modern security equipment and fire extinguishing equipment.
27. Do not retain large sums of money in your premises.
28. Schools are encouraged to implement tighter security measures by properly screening guests.

TOURISTS and TOURISM ACTIVITIES
29. Tourists are discouraged from going to areas that are not included among the main tourism areas of the city.
30. Always bring passports and other proofs of identification.

What the law says about the declaring the Martia Law?

Now what is provided for under 1987 Constitution as regards martial law?

Article VII, Section 18 of the Charter provides that "the President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion."

"In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law," the Constitution reads.

"Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress," it adds.

Presidents who declared the Martial Law:

1st :Marcos declared martial law due to the communist rebellion
2nd : Arroyo did so in Maguindanao after members of the influential Ampatuan clan allegedly killed political opponents and dozens of journalists.

Source: GMA NEWS