(Eagle News)—-Seven members of the House of Representatives are asking the Supreme Court to nullify the third extension of martial law in Mindanao.
In making their request, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, Quezon City Rep. Christopher Belmonte, Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr. and Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao said Proclamation No. 216, which first imposed martial law in Mindanao, “has become functus officio and cannot anymore be extended.”
In a statement, Lagman added that there must be “an actual rebellion, which is an armed uprising against the government for the purpose of removing the country or a portion thereof from the allegiance to the Republic, to justify the imposition or extension of martial law, together with the concurring ground that public safety requires such imposition or extension.”
He said President Rodrigo Duterte’s letter to Congress, which provided for the executive’s justification of the extension of martial law in Mindanao anew, merely gave “allegations of lawless violence and terrorism.”
It “failed to determine the sufficient factual basis of the request,” Lagman said.
The executive has argued there was a need to extend martial law in Mindanao anew to arrest the ongoing rebellion of insurgent groups there that include the New People’s Army, Daulah Islamiyah, among others.
Congress approved Duterte’s request for the same in December last year.