Too much politics, too much for the criticisms!
The declaration of the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is being questioned, if it is in deed lawful or simply a step for the presidents self interest.
The Philippines are vested to have wise lawyers,in fact I am aspiring to become one of them, but the question is is it really just to declare a state of Marshall law in Maguindanao?
Our Constitution provides in Section 18. The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion. In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress. The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its Members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.
The Congress, if not in session, shall, within twenty-four hours following such proclamation or suspension, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call.
The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.
A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the Constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function, nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.
The suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall apply only to persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in, or directly connected with, invasion.
During the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, any person thus arrested or detained shall be judicially charged within three days, otherwise he shall be released.
The Massacre
Upon watching the television and radio reports,Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu invited 37 journalists to cover the scheduled filing of his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections provincial office in Shariff Aguak. For He said that reports had reached him that his rivals had threatened to chop him into pieces once he filed his COC, and felt the presence of journalists would deter such an attack.
Based on the report stated in the local news, that at about 9:00 AM, a convoy of six vehicles carrying journalists, lawyers, and relatives of Vice Mayor Mangudadatu left Buluan to file his COC at the Comelec office in Shariff Aguak. The convoy is composed of six vehicles: four Toyota Grandia vans (one grey, one green, and two white) owned by the Mangudadatu family; and two media vehicles – a Pajero owned by DZRH broadcast journalist Henry Araneta and a Mitsubishi L-300 van owned by UNTV.
There is a seventh vehicle, a Grandia boarded by mediamen. But it lags behind and decides to turn around once the passengers sense what is happening. There are two other vehicles that are not part of the convoy but happen to be traveling on the same highway: a red Toyota Vios and a light blue Toyota Tamaraw FX. The Vios has five passengers: Eduardo Lechonsito, a government employee who is bound for a hospital in Cotabato City after suffering a mild stroke Monday morning. He is with his wife Cecille, co-workers Mercy Palabrica and Daryll delos Reyes, and driver Wilhelm Palabrica. The FX is driven by Anthony Ridao, employee of the National Statistics Coordination Board, and son of Cotabato City councilor Marino Ridao.
Before reaching its destination (about 10 km from Shariff Aguak, four on other versions), the convoy was stopped by 100 armed men, who abducted and later killed most or all of its members. There is evidence that at least five of the female victims, four of them journalists, were raped before being killed,while "practically all" of the women had been shot in their genitals and beheaded. Mangudadatu's youngest sister and aunt were both pregnant at the time of their murders.
A text message was sent by Mangudadatu's wife that she identified the people that blocked their way as the men of Ampatuan Jr, and that he himself slapped her.According to Secretary of Justice Agnes Devanadera,The female victims were shot in their genitals. According to Mangudadatu, his wife's "private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it." In addition, he said that "They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth."
A backhoe located in the immediate vicinity of the carnage at Ampatuan town was identified as the instrument that was used to expediently dig the graves of the victims, including the vehicles. The perpetrators weren't able to complete the job when a helicopter was spotted in the area. The backhoe, emblazoned with the name of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., was later identified to belong to the Maguindanao provincial government.
As of November 25, the death toll had risen to 57, as confirmed by Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna of the Philippine National Police. Reporters Without Borders announced that at least 12 of the victims were journalists, making this the deadliest such incident in the history of news media. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines originally estimated that a total of 20 journalists were killed, including an undisclosed number of NUJP members.The Philippine Daily Inquirer later updated the number of journalists killed to 34.
On November 24, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responded to the news of the massacre by declaring a state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City. Speaker of the House Prospero Nograles called on the police to quickly identify the perpetrators of the massacre and disarm private armies. The Philippine Department of Justice created a panel of special prosecutors to handle cases arising from the massacre.
The Marshall Law
On December 4, 2009, through Proclamation No. 1959, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has officially placed Maguindanao province under a state of martial law. The declaration also suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the province. The announcement was made days after hundreds of government troops were sent to the province, which would later raid armories of the powerful Ampatuan clan. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the step was taken in order to avert the escalation of "lawless" violence in the province and pave the way for the swift arrest of the suspects in the massacre.
Following the declaration, authorities carried out a raid on a warehouse owned by Andal Ampatuan Jr., the alleged mastermind of the massacre.The raid resulted in the confiscation of more than 330,000 live rounds of M16 rifle ammunition, and the arrest of 20 militiamen. Also confiscated in the raid were several firearms, a military humvee and an improvised armored vehicle.
Lets not always think negative effect on the Presidents decisions, the problem is that there are too much criticisms of the action of the government, yet if there is no action we blame them. It is so true that you can't please everybody. I salute the president for taking such action and courage to arrest the Ampatuan's, but this does not mean I totally like how she run the country.
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