No martial law unless there’s war – Bongbong

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday vowed to avoid declaring martial law during his administration should he win in the May 9 elections.

The former senator said the power to declare martial law vested upon the chief executive by the 1987 Constitution has limits and strict requisites designed to prevent abuse.

First to be featured in the Straight From Radyo Bandido presidential interviews of dzRJ and RJ TV in partnership with The STAR, he explained that martial law should be used only in an “extreme and emergency situation” such as existence of war.

Straight from Radyo Bandido host Bea Jacinto noted, “This could assuage doubts of many of our countrymen that martial law will be used just to stay in power. To Senator Bong Bong Marcos’ credit, he met the DZRJ hard questions head-on and answered clearly and sincerely.”

“I don’t see it happening in the near future. I don’t see that there’s going be that necessity,” Marcos stressed when asked if he would commit to not declaring martial law if he wins the presidency.

He said either declaring martial law or engaging in war is “something we will like to avoid as much as we can.”

“We will certainly do everything we can to avoid getting into that situation. It’s an extreme and emergency situation,” Marcos pointed out.

“We will try to avoid that, especially considering that we are recovering from the pandemic and we’re trying to rebuild our economy and refocus our energy so that the Filipinos can go back to work and feed their families. Being involved in a war or military confrontation is highly counterproductive, so that is something we will like to avoid as much as we can,” he explained.

But Marcos said martial law, despite its negative connotation due to its association with extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses during his late father’s regime, should be kept as an extreme option.

“Martial law is needed when you are at war. And I sincerely pray and hope that that never happens,” he said, citing the example of Ukraine where martial law is declared to defend its territory from Russian invasion.

“When enemy forces entered the borders of Ukraine they declared martial law. That is a necessity, but it only comes up when we are at war. That is why despite the criticisms against martial law it remains in the Constitution, in the event that war is declared upon us or we are somehow embroiled in a war, then we will need to institute martial law,” he further argued.

PCGG to stay

In the same interview, Marcos reiterated his position to keep the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that was created after the 1986 People Power revolution to run after the ill-gotten wealth of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

He said he plans to even recreate and strengthen PCGG to turn it into a general anti-corruption body.

“Although you can say that the first time it was organized it was an anti-Marcos agency. Nonetheless we can turn it into a real anti-corruption agency,” he suggested.

Marcos believes that while the commission had already served its original purpose, it was also created to address corruption which he said “remains to be a big problem in our government.”

“And the job that it was meant to do from the beginning has not been finished. And so, we should look into – if not strengthening the PCGG as it stands now – recreating that kind of body that will perform that anti-corruption function,” Marcos added.

Straight From Radyo Bandido is DZRJ 810AM’s series of one-on-one interviews with candidates, in partnership with The Philippine STAR. Tune in to RJFM 100.3, DZRJ 810AM, RJ Digi TV (Ch. 29 on free TV, Skycable Ch. 19, GSAT Ch. 58, and Cignal Ch. 28), DZRJ TV Ch. 224 on Skycable, and on The Philippine STAR and DZRJ 810AM’s Facebook and YouTube pages on Tuesday, March 8 at 6 p.m.

Another religious group endorsement

Following their statement asking the Catholic Church not to meddle with politics, Marcos’ camp received another endorsement from a religious group yesterday.

Jesus Christ the Deliverer Church Bishop Ted Malangen endorsed Marcos and his running mate Sara Duterte yesterday, after the tandem visited the province of Bulacan to campaign.

While praying over the two, Malangen said Marcos would be “a champion, a success, victorious and become a president in the name of Jesus.”

This is the third religious group which endorsed the son and namesake of the late dictator.

Bro. Mike Velarde of El Shaddai and Apollo Quiboloy of Kingdom of Jesus Christ have endorsed the tandem.

Last week, the camp of Marcos slammed Catholic priests for supposedly “openly meddling with politics.”

“As men and women of the cloth, they should be more circumspect, refrain from openly meddling with politics and stop making reckless imputations or statements that only serve as a spiritual, moral, social and cultural poison,” Marcos’ spokesman and chief-of-staff Vic Rodriguez said.

This was denied by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The tandem of Marcos and Sara Duterte was also officially endorsed by the Bulacan PDP-LABAN.

Vice Gov. and PDP-LABAN Bulacan gubernatorial candidate Wilhelmino Sy Alvarado announced the endorsement at the jampacked Guiguinto Arena.

League of Municipalities Philippines-Bulacan president and incumbent Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz said the political rally was hastily organized only on Sunday and has attracted around 20,000 supporters.

Nuclear energy platform

The Marcos-Duterte tandem is looking to fast-track the adoption of nuclear energy if elected.

This, after President Duterte earlier signed an executive order looking at nuclear power to be tapped as a viable alternative baseload power source, along with other energy resources, in the country.

In a statement, the tandem said having nuclear power in the country’s energy mix would result in lower electricity rates.

It would also help secure a steady power source, they added.

“The President’s executive order is a good springboard for the next administration to pursue its nuclear energy objectives. Our vision for the country is to have at least one nuclear power plant so we can finally produce cheap energy and for us to lower our electricity rates,” the team said.

Marcos earlier called for the government to study the offer of a South Korean firm to rehabilitate the $2.2-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plan which, he said, was mothballed due to politics. – Ramon Efren Lazaro, Ralph Edwin Villanueva