By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – Philippine lawmakers in a special joint session on Saturday approved President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law on the whole island of Mindanao until year’s-end.
Members of both the Senate and House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted affirmatively hours before Duterte’s 60-day martial law proclamation was due to lapse at midnight.
The collective vote was not at all close: 261-18 (four Senators and 14 representatives opposed), according to the Philippine News Agency.
Senator Gringo Honasan, an ex-military man who introduced the Senate motion, acknowledged the potential for abuse, but said he believed Congress had mechanisms to prevent this.
“Martial law in Mindanao involves both risk and opportunity, but we can manage both,” Honasan was quoted as saying.
“Terrorism will not begin and end in Marawi. Armed conflict for legitimate reasons did not start and will not end in Mindanao,” he added.
According to Honasan, the extension will solve the problem of terrorism in Mindanao as fast and as far as the law will allow, and help fast-track the “painful task” of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the strife-torn southern city.
Before the vote, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who voted against the motion, proposed limiting the extension to 60 days instead of five months.
“Congress determines the period of extension. The Constitution is clear on that … We should not be remiss in that duty,” Drilon said.
However, the Senate rejected the shorter extension.
On May 23 Duterte declared martial law on the island of Mindanao amid ongoing clashes between government troops and Daesh-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Marawi city.
More than 500 people, mostly militants, have been killed and at least 400,000 have been displaced in the ongoing conflict. The long-running fighting in the city has also left an estimated 300,000 people displaced from the conflict zone and nearby areas.
