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Martial law in the us1/10/2024 “ wants the possibility of martial law to be always in people’s mind and the national discourse, because he wants to be able to use it when the time comes,” Colmenares said. Marcos declared martial law in 1972, saying communists had obtained weapons from China and intended to overthrow the government. Neri Colmenares, a human rights lawyer and former Bayan Muna congressman who was arrested and tortured during the Marcos era, said he also saw parallels between Duterte-era “red tagging” – a local term for branding opposition as communists or NPA members – and Marcos’ attacks on dissenters, other parties, and the church. Just $5 a month.ĭuterte’s COVID-19 task force, stocked with military and police officials, has drawn comparisons to the “Rolex 12” junta of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos from Filipinos who lived through both eras. The next day, 76 protesters and relief workers were arrested, including four residents who posted photos online of themselves “protesting from home.” Duterte, in public addresses, has repeatedly said this dissent originates with “leftists” – part of what his office has previously deemed, without evidence, to be an “opposition matrix” aiming to overthrow the government.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. On April 30, Jory Porquia, a founding member of the leftist Bayan Muna party, was shot dead inside his home after allegedly being intimidated by police for weeks for conducting food relief programs. The Philippines’ COVID-19 response has been marked by the arrests of relief workers, activists, and authors of social media posts critical of the government. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. These fears have intensified recently as the Philippines is on the brink of buying $2 billion worth of attack helicopters and munitions from the United States, drawing criticism from rights groups worried the military intends to use the weapons against political critics. Duterte also attacked his critics, vowing to “identify Filipinos who have done nothing criticize and find fault because they want to be heard by the public.”ĭuterte’s broadsides against critics – especially those he alleges to be communists – have since escalated, leading observes to accuse him of setting the stage for a declaration of martial law. Days before that, the president had warned of martial law-style enforcement if people were not compliant with social distancing and curfew orders. In April, he threatened military rule after accusing New People’s Army (NPA) communist rebels of disrupting government aid. Harry Roque, Duterte’s current spokesperson, said the comments were merely Panelo’s personal opinion, while Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who had flirted with the idea on Twitter, said he had merely “had fun taking the idea of infection as invasion as far as I could take it.” Eduardo Año, the interior secretary and a former military chief of staff, also agreed with the justice department, saying Panelo’s theory was “just a joke.”īut it was not the first time Duterte administration officials had toyed with the idea of declaring martial law during a COVID-19 response the United Nations has criticized as “highly militarized.” Duterte himself has done it several times. The country’s justice department rejected Panelo’s theory the next day, saying COVID-19 does not fit the constitutional provision allowing the president to declare martial law in the event of an “invasion” – by foreign armed forces – or “rebellion” – a domestic armed uprising. Salvador Panelo, the former Philippine presidential spokesperson, went beyond mere metaphors earlier this month and advanced an extraordinary theory: The coronavirus, he said, constitutes an “invasion,” giving President Rodrigo Duterte the legal standing to declare martial law. As the world has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, many leaders have used the language of “war” to define the enormity of our new reality and set the stage for a heroic response.
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