Is it time for Davao City to opt out of coverage of Martial Law in Mindanao?
It started with officials from the European ambassadors at the sidelines of the 2019 Davao Investment Conference (Davao ICon) requesting Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to seek the exemption of Davao City from the coverage of Proclamation 216 or martial law in Mindanao. The envoys believed without the said “barrier”, investing in Davao City by foreign capital will be unhampered and the investor confidence high. That stimulus fanned the fire to exempt Davao from martial law. It has since been supported by the business sector particularly the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Indistry Inc., the Department of Interior and Local Government in the region and even the military. The common ground is that there is no compelling reason for martial law to continue to exist in Davao.
Proclamation No. 216 is the 2017 proclamation of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao was issued by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on May 23, 2017 after Marawi City was besieged by terrorists.
In December 2018, Congress approved a 12-month extension of martial law in the restive Mindanao region after President Rodrigo Duterte argued for maintaining tough security measures to stop Muslim extremists from regrouping. A joint legislative session voted 235-28 in favor of retaining military rule in Mindanao until the end of 2019, prolonging what was already the country’s longest period of martial law since the brutal 1970s era of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The Supreme Court later upheld the extension. However, it is important to note that the dissenting opinions of the opposing magistrates is now the supporting reason for requesting an exemption. Former chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa had said that the declaration of martial law should be limited in scope and should not have covered the entire Mindanao. The dissent points out questioning the application in places where terrorists never gained foothold like Davao City. So why declare it over the entire island? The reasoning then is that there may be a spillover hence the full coverage.
It has surfaced by now that no matter how inconsequential the general perception is of the declaration of martial law to Davao City, the fact remains that being flagged under the scope of the martial law is counterproductive to the efforts of the city to promote trade and investments.
And so we come to this common conclusion. This big barrier must be taken out of the way.
