Martial law is not the answer

Gi-uran uran, that is how I describe the Duterte administration’s invoking of martial law, whether as a threat or in fact, every time there is a serious peace and order problem in this country.

Unfortunately in the Mindanao martial law, Congress and the Supreme Court, have all been so willing to agree with Malacañang’s own determination of the “sufficiency of the factual basis” of the proclamation of martial law.

Today, another specter of martial law looms in Negros Oriental. “I am about to do something drastic,” said President Rodrigo Duterte in a speech the other day during the anniversary of the Bureau of Fire Protection. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo has not ruled out martial law as an emergency measure, but he said the president would consider first the assessment of local officials and security forces on the ground.

Under the Constitution, the president as commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Philippines, whenever he needs to, “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.”

In some parts of Negros Oriental recently, particularly in the cities of Guihulngan and Canlaon and the towns of Ayungon and Siaton, at least 13 people have been killed by gunmen in just five days. Human rights and farmers groups in the island blame the military, police, and paramilitary forces as the ones behind the killings.

The police and the military, on the other hand, try to pin the blame on the New People’s Army, despite the fact that most civilians who were killed, including a lawyer, were earlier red-tagged or accused of being sympathizers of the rebels.

This violent binge started when the NPA executed four policemen in Ayungon town after a quickie trial reportedly witnessed by civilians. The NPA Mt. Cansermon Command blamed the four policemen for the violent deaths of so many people in Negros since last year. These policemen allegedly acted as spies in police operations that led to so many so-called “nanlaban” situations which the police used in justifying the deaths of people during search operations.

Justice, and only justice, derived from institutions possessed with professionalism, integrity and competence, can solve the violence in Negros.

The question is, do our institutions of justice still measure up? Given the president’s dictatorial propensity for decisive and expedient measures – which usually inspire more violence to say the least – I have my doubts.

Martial law or any emergency power is a decisive and expedient measure, of course, but it will not bring justice. Nor will it lead to lasting peace in Negros. It’s like picking or scratching a wound – it provides temporary relief but worsens the lesion and leaves a lasting scar.

To the naïve, of course, martial law is supposed to be a temporary and extraordinary measure of invoking direct military control in situations where regular civilian institutions fail to work. But to political old hands, martial law is to be used to rule over the public, silence the political opposition, and suppress the ugly truth.

In Negros, the ugly truth is the high incidence of landlessness, poverty, and failed reforms. For the landless in Negros, vast tracts of lands concentrated in the hands of a few make rebellion or any form of dissent an attractive option. The dons and doñas dine in the fine and cozy restaurants of Bacolod and Dumaguete while their “saops” or tenants desperately scour for idle lands to temporarily occupy for their “bungkalan” or collective cultivation.

Still, a few pundits say it is the presence of the rebels that is holding up the growth of Negros. One need not look farther than the island of Bohol to refute any notion that rebellion is a key spoiler of progress.

Rebels used to roam the caves and hills of Bohol in the 1990s. This despite constant military and police operations. But it had to take several roads and tourism-related developments later, together with a more calibrated and less impulsive response from state forces, for Bohol to become infertile territory for insurgents.

Imposing martial law to end an insurgency or put a stop to the killings is simply authoritarian expedience lacking in social and economic innovation.

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