Partido Liberal is strongly urging government to lift the martial law in Mindanao as Marawi City marks the first year since the terrorist Maute group took the Islamic city under siege — a nightmare that went on for five months, leaving over a hundred people dead and P53 billion worth of damages.
While the war is long over, the people of Marawi cannot start healing the wounds of the past with the continued implementation of martial law which allows warrantless arrest not only in Marawi but in the entire Mindanao. For one, congressional hearings on President Duterte’s declaration of martial law and its extension until December 2018 have revealed that there is no rebellion in Mindanao that would warrant the extension of the military rule. Threats of rebellion do not qualify, as the Constitution only provides for presence of actual rebellion, invasion or when public safety requires it.
Worse, rights group Amnesty International reported in November 2017 that human rights abuses were committed both by the Maute group and some members of the military even under the implementation of martial law which government claims would restore law and order.
If the administration really wants to ensure public safety, it should focus on providing permanent shelters to the 26,000 households that were displaced by the Marawi siege rather than letting the Marawi residents live in fear due to the ongoing martial law. The government has only managed to build 1,000 temporary shelters for the affected communities thus far. This figure clearly shows that the government should put its money where its mouth is: shelter for the Marawi residents.
Also, we are concerned about the involvement of two Chinese contractors in conducting rehabilitation work in Marawi, considering that these two Chinese companies — China State Construction Engineering Corporation and China Geo Engineering Corporation — were blacklisted in 2009 by the World Bank due to corrupt practices in the Philippines.
The people of Marawi already suffered enough. The administration should not aggravate their pain by turning a blind eye on martial law abuses and counting on Chinese contractors with questionable backgrounds to take charge of Marawi City’s rehabilitation.
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Bagaman matagal nang tapos ang bakbakan, hindi maaaring makapagsimulang bumuti muli ang kalagayan ng mga taga-Marawi habang patuloy ang pagpapatupad ng batas militar na binibigyang pahintulot ang warrantless arrest hindi lang sa Marawi kundi sa buong Mindanao.
Lumabas din sa mga congressional hearing ukol sa deklarasyon ng martial law at ang pagpapalawig pa nito hanggang December 2018: walang rebelyon sa Mindanao na magbibigay-katwiran sa extension ng batas militar.
Hindi katanggap-tanggap ang dahilang may banta ng rebelyon, dahil isinasaad sa Saligang Batas na pwede lang ang martial law sa aktwal na rebelyon, pananakop, o kapag kinakailangan ng kaligtasan ng publiko.
Ang malala pa, iniulat ng Amnesty International noong November 2017 na mayroong pang-aabuso ang Maute group at ilang miyembro ng militar kahit na nakasailalim sa martial law — martial law na idinadahilan ng pamahalaan na magbabalik ng batas at kaayusan.
Kung gusto talagang matiyak ng administrasyon ang kaligtasan ng publiko, dapat tutukan nito ang pagbibigay ng permanenteng tirahan sa 26,000 na pamilyang napaalis dahil sa Marawi siege, sa halip na hayaang mamuhay sa takot ang mga residente ng Marawi dahil sa patuloy na pagpapatupad ng batas militar. Sa ngayon, nakapagpatayo lang ang pamahalaan ng 1,000 temporary shelter para sa mga apektadong komunidad. Malinaw na ipinapakita ng bilang na ito na dapat tuparin ang mga pangako ng pamahalaan: tirahan para sa mamamayan ng Marawi.
At nababahala kami sa pagkakasangkot ng dalawang Chinese contractor sa pagsasagawa ng rehabilitasyon sa Marawi — ang China State Construction Engineering Corporation at ang China Geo Engineering Corporation — na na-blacklist noong 2009 ng World Bank dahil sa mga katiwaliang ginawa sa Pilipinas.
Sobra na ang pagdurusa ng mga taga-Marawi. Hindi na dapat palalain pa ng pamahalaan ang kanilang paghihirap sa pagsasawalang-bahala sa mga pang-aabuso sa martial law at pagsandal sa mga Chinese contractor na may kaduda-dudang background para pamunuan ang rehabilitasyon ng Marawi.