DND chief designated martial law administrator

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has been designated as administrator of martial law in Mindanao, Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla clarified yesterday.

Under the organizational structure, Lorenzana will work directly with President Duterte, the commander-in-chief, along with key security advisers.

Padilla said a deputy administrator would be designated to handle the administrative, legal, public affairs and logistics aspects of the implementation of martial law.

AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año will be directly under the administrator and deputy administrator. 

As chief martial law implementor, Año will work with Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.  

Año will have under him the Eastern Mindanao and Western Mindanao commands. The head of the Central Command in the Visayas will also be supporting him.

Padilla said the administrator would set the martial law guidelines to be disseminated by the AFP chief. 

“It is the greater interest of the public that is the heart of the implementation of martial law,” Padilla said. 

The Armed Forces will clearly go by all the guidelines that will be issued in addition to those issued recently by the Department of National Defense, where emphasis has been placed on upholding the rule of law and to abide and uphold established laws pertaining to human rights.

He said the initial guidelines released by Defense Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario, which established the need for enforcers to “abide by the rule of law and established norms regarding human rights,” remain enforced during the martial law in Mindanao.

“Essentially, the way we will work out in the field does not change. Our rules of engagement will remain the same, except for those that are specific to martial law such as the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,” he said.

Taking a cue from the statement of President Duterte, Padilla also assured the public that the military leadership would not tolerate any abuses in the conduct of operations by uniformed personnel against the terrorists.

“On account of the doubts that had been expressed by many quarters, we also appeal to the public that should you see abuses on the part of those implementing martial law, men in uniform who are tasked to do that, we encourage you to report them,” Padilla said.

“There will be swift probe and a quick action to ensure the accountability of our men,” Padilla said.

Civilian supervision

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said yesterday that military forces would remain under the supervision of civilian authorities in Mindanao despite the order of President Duterte placing the southern part of the country under martial law.

In a department circular, DILG officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy said a state of martial law does not supplant the functions of the civilian courts or legislative assemblies.

“The military arm of the government does not supersede civil authority but is called upon merely to aid in the execution of its function,” said Cuy.

Cuy told officers of the department to follow the provisions of martial law mentioned in Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution that included the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus that shall only apply to persons charged with rebellion and any person arrested shall be released if no case is filed within three days.

Cuy allayed fears that the imposition of martial law in Mindanao would pave the way for abuses by state security forces against the civilian populace. – With Christina Mendez, Emmanuel Tupas