SolGen: Duterte can declare martial law but he will not

MANILA, Philippines — Certain circumstances other than those stated in the Constitution may urge President Rodrigo Duterte to place the country under martial rule, Solicitor General Jose Calida said on Thursday.

Section 18, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution states that the president can place the Philippines under martial law or suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in case of invasion or rebellion.

Duterte earlier said that he will be the arbiter in case the Congress and the Supreme Court will have different opinions on the declaration of martial law.

"When there is really a clear and present danger to our country and nobody will help the president do his job as the father of the nation, then he will not allow his family so to speak, us the Filipinos, to suffer because of the inability or unwillingness of certain functionaries to do what is right for the country," Calida said at a press conference at Malacañang.

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Calida cited the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution which was outside the Constitution, eventually ousting then-President Ferdinand Marcos.

The solicitor general added that it will be the personal judgment of the president if he will declare martial law to put a stop for example to the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

"When it is already the life of the country that is at stake, the lives of the citizens of this country, the president will not stand by just like Nero and let Rome burn... Our president is a political genius actually," Calida said.

Calida, however, noted that Duterte's statement should not be taken at face value.

"Sometimes what you hear from him is not really what he wants to communicate so we have to read between the lines," the solicitor general said.

At the same press briefing, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella agreed with Calida's statement regarding Duterte's declaration of martial law.

Abella said that Duterte made his statements based on the issues that he has addressed, particularly the drug menace which is apparently massive.

"It's a way of expressing the intensity and the need to be able to confront it... As [Calida] said, he is stating that he could but he will not. In other words, he's just simply addressing the enormity... of the drug problem," Abella said.