(Eagle News)–Martial law “necessarily arises only upon constitutional dictates,” and is precisely the “very tool to save the exercise of democracy,” the Palace said on Sunday, Sept. 22.
In a statement a day after the 47th anniversary of the proclamation of martial law under then-President Ferdinand Marcos, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that in that case, martial law “instilled discipline among the citizenry at its inception, as well as reaping success in dismantling the then spreading communist insurgency in the country.”
It, however, created a “deep wound” on some.
“Relative to our quest to strengthen the Republic and its institutions, the Palace urges everyone to look at the past to guide us on what to do with the present, that it may serve us better in the future,” he said.
According to Panelo, only when martial law was “clothed with abuse” does it become “obnoxious.”
He added that when that happens, though, the “transgressors” are subjected to the “wrath and vengeance of the Constitution.”
