Fil-Ams split over need for martial law in Mindanao

OAKLAND, California — Filipino Americans are divided over President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in all of Mindanao after armed firefights erupted between government forces and the terrorist Maute group in Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur. that has a population of at least 200,000 residents.

The skirmishes prompted Duterte’s early return to the country from Moscow where he was on an official visit. Upon return, President Duterte announced that the whole Philippines would be place under martial law if the threat of terrorism spreads outside of Mindanao.

As of this writing the casualties have included 19 civilians, 3 children, 13 soldiers, 2 police officers, 51 militants.

No danger of dictatorship   

Cristina Osmeña, daughter of Senator Sergio Osmeña who was a political detainee of the Marcos dictatorship and whose family was forced to relocate to the United States, does not believe Duterte’s declaration will necessarily lead to a dictatorship.

Cristina Osmeña, daughter of Marcos martial law political detainee Senator Sergio Osmeña, believes that President Duterte is not a repeat of former President Ferdinand Marcos. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum

“There is no question that President Duterte is a vast departure from the majority of presidents we have had since Marcos was overthrown, including Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Gloria Arroyo, and Benigno Aquino III, with Joseph Estrada as the sole exception.  These were Western-facing, Western-thinking stateswomen (and men) that represented the post-Marcos recoil—a thirty-year recoil,” Osmeña remarked.

“Just because Duterte is not cut from the same cloth does not mean he is a repeat of Marcos.  First, he is too old.  If he has the typical diet of a Southern Filipino septuagenarian, he will not last the necessary years to turn his term into an extended dictatorship. We also need to remember that he came to power with a very strong mandate.”

Osmeña also reminded that Mindanao has had a peace and order problem that has perhaps been not sufficiently addressed by previous administrations while Duterte was successful as a Mindanaoan mayor. Osmeña thinks Duterte is acting with appropriate heavy-handedness, and she would give Duterte the benefit of the doubt when it comes to setting a strategy for order in Mindanao.

“With that said, Mindanao is not the Philippines and extending martial law to areas that do not have peace and order problems will only create new problems,” Osmeña believes.

“When martial law was declared in 1972, it was for the expressed purpose of extending the rule of a power-drunk young dictator.  Like many Filipinos, I have a healthy anxiety about this from ever happening again.  I don’t think that Duterte is driven by this motive, however.  He has demonstrated an obstinate adherence to his stated objectives since he’s been in office.  Becoming the next dictator doesn’t seem like one of them,” Osmeña added.

Best decision

Maranao Princess Iren Bari, who is originally from Iligan City and now lives in San Francisco and Alberta Canada. grew up seeing both the beautiful and ugly things in Marawi City as a native with a sultan as a father,

Maranao Princess Iren Bari, originally from Iligan City and now lives in San Francisco and Alberta, Canada, lauds President Duterte’s martial law declaration. CONTRIBUTED

“The recent declaration of Martial Law, no doubt is the best decision that the President can make after seeing innocent ones being slaughtered and people being deprived of their freedom to go out of their houses. He has called for peace and nobody listened. What is in the word terrorism that people don’t understand? To those who are not aware of what they are whining about, stop complaining. You don’t know anything about Mindanao and its people. We have suffered so much and we want a real end to this,” Bari vented.

Bari also added that the Maute group happens to be related to some known, big and significant personalities in Marawi, so intelligence gathering is not that easy and is susceptible to failure.

“Some if not most of them are just from the city. That is why cooperation from civilians and the locals are of great importance to the Philippine authorities. I am still optimistic that we will surpass this phase of the crisis,” said Bari.

Not stupid

May Gomez of Davao City and Sacramento opined that President Duterte is not stupid to declare martial law with no valid reasons for doing so.

May Gomez of Davao City opined that President Duterte is not stupid to just declare Martial Law and has a valid reason for doing so. CONTRIBUTED

“I believe there was no failure in intelligence. The government was just waiting for trigger points. It’s been on their radar and as Duterte said, ‘Don’t force my hand on it (martial law). The government exercised tolerance and patience for a very long time,” Gomez maintained.

“And when military says, in Marawi everything is under control, it doesn’t mean they were done fighting. Control might mean targets were identified and isolated, but it doesn’t mean they are done fighting. They still have to find more than a hundred prisoners that were released by the terrorists. Martial law could help in finding them.”

Not sure if warranted

Athens Salvador of Modesto, California is more careful in deciding whether martial law in Mindanao is warranted.

“For me, it depends on whether the Marawi City occupation by the Maute group is rebellion in itself or just a group of bandits spreading lawless violence. If its rebellion, then for sure the President has the prerogative to declare martial law and suspend the writ of habeas corpus (warrantless arrest). But if it is the latter, then martial law is an overkill because this Maute occupation can be suppressed by merely calling the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to neutralize the threat without declaring martial law. In addition, these bandits are labeled terrorists and should be dealt with by the AFP.”

Athens Salvador of Modesto, California thinks martial law is an “overkill” response to lawless violence by the Maute group. CONTRIBUTED

Nevertheless, Salvador sees that martial law has its benefits as a temporary yet decisive measure to protect the people, prevent any further loss of lives and suppress lawless violence.

“Placing the whole country under martial law I believe is not necessary unless, through good intelligence work by President Duterte’s men, reports indicate that there is an expansion of threat or rebellion attack outside of Mindanao, indicating a need to suppress such chaos or to prevent further escape of such rebellious group,” Salvador stressed.

Pasadena City College mathematics Professor Jude Socrates of Los Angeles intimated that he was very disturbed to hear the martial law was imposed in Mindanao, even more so when there was speculation that it could spread to the whole country.

“I was about seven years old when Marcos declared martial law in the entire country. I was the youngest of nine children, and my two oldest brothers, both in medical school, were both student activists. My brother Boy would later be hounded by the AFP and left the country to avoid being killed. Fast forward to the ‘80s when I was also there to witness our great country finally waking up to the years of atrocities that Marcos inflicted upon us (in the 1986 People Power revolution),” Socrates recalled.

He had hoped that “this dark period in our history will forever be in the past,” but now he’s not so sure. “I fear that Duterte is using the monster that is ISIS to instill fear in our country, and as justification for seizing uncontrolled power. I am hopeful that the other branches of our government will provide the needed balance of power. God help the Philippines.”

No different from Marcos

Socrates is also not convinced that Duterte is any different (from Marcos). He believes that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Pasadena City College math Professor Jude Socrates of Los Angeles was very disturbed to hear the martial law was imposed in Mindanao, and even more so when there was speculation that it will enforced in the whole country. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum

Narciso Cuenco, a Pearson Airport (Ontario, Canada) cargo agent, who is Muslim, is also not in favor of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao. He regards the Maute incident as an isolated case, like what happened in Zamboanga City a few years ago.

“Duterte overreacted, and it also shows a failure in intelligence on the part of the AFP and that their intelligence gathering capability is wanting,” Cuenco reasoned.

“I cannot, however, comment on what Duterte stated, that his implementation of martial Law will be as harsh as martial law during Marcos. But I am convinced that if he does this, violence will only spread like what happened during Marcos, that there will be a stalemate in negotiations and it will eventually lead to failure in solving the problems in Mindanao.”

MIssissauga, Ontario, Canada press operator Ferdie Gonzales expressed agreement that martial law should be declared for a limited time, but not in all of Mindanao, as terrorist groups can use it as a tool to gain sympathy.