Congress won't back martial law, says Speaker
No need for such measure -- Bunye

First posted 00:40am (Mla time) Sept 26, 2005
By Michael Lim Ubac, Christine O. Avendaño, TJ Burgonio
Inquirer News Service

A DECLARATION of martial law will not get the support of Congress, according to Speaker Jose de Venecia.

De Venecia yesterday made the statement after two opposition figures claimed they had received a report that an official of the Department of Justice had drafted a presidential proclamation declaring emergency rule but stopping short of martial law.

"I will oppose martial law," said De Venecia, who had led administration lawmakers in ensuring the political survival of Ms Arroyo by quashing the impeachment cases against her early this month.

He said "a declaration of martial law would not pass Congress" because he saw "no justification" for it.

Former Solicitor General Frank Chavez said the phrase "martial law" may not have been used but the effect would be the same as people critical of the Arroyo administration would be rounded up.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said "antecedent facts tended to lend credibility to the report." Gonzalez denied on Saturday that his office had drafted the proclamation, saying that he along with De Venecia had been studying the government takeover of oil and power firms as well as air and shipping lines should the country need help in coping with the global oil crisis.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye yesterday dismissed as "plain hogwash" talk that the administration was considering martial rule.

He asked the President's detractors not to whip up imagined fears of martial law. "We are a fully functioning democratic state and not a national security state," Bunye said in his weekly column "The View from the Palace."

He said he saw no need to adopt extraordinary measures as mere enforcement of the rule of law would allow the administration to deal with the "present level of threat."

Notify Congress

Under the Constitution, the President is mandated to notify Congress within 48 hours following the imposition of martial law.

Owing to the harrowing experience of the country under the 20-year Marcos dictatorial regime, the framers of the 1987 Constitution empowered Congress to lift martial law if in its view the conditions for its imposition did not exist.

Only in cases of invasion or rebellion can the President declare martial law for a period not exceeding 60 days.

"I will never sponsor any measure in Congress that will put the country under martial law," said De Venecia, president of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party, which leads the administration coalition in the House of Representatives.

The Speaker issued the statement a day after returning from speaking engagements in New York and Washington where he pushed for debt-for-equity to convert half of the foreign debt of the Philippines and 99 other heavily indebted middle-income nations into antipoverty funds.

Oil crisis

De Venecia distanced himself from Gonzalez, saying he was merely consulted on the prospect of a government takeover of key private industries to mitigate the effects on the economy of surging oil prices.

Although Gonzalez insisted that what he was contemplating would be akin to an economic emergency rather than military rule, De Venecia said he had made it clear to the justice secretary that the public would never agree to a setup in which the executive would have additional police powers.

"He consulted me on how to cope with the unavoidable ill effects of the global oil crisis on people's livelihood and on the economy as a whole," De Venecia said.

The Speaker said he agreed with Gonzalez that it was prudent to prepare for any economic emergency as a result of the oil crisis. "But I stated my belief that the oil crisis will resolve itself well short of a global emergency," said De Venecia.

Suspension of certain laws

For his part, Senator Rodolfo Biazon said the situation did not necessitate a government takeover of private enterprises, much less the declaration of martial law.

"There's no justification for the declaration of martial law," said the senator, who as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff quelled coup attempts against the administration of President Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s.

Biazon saw nothing irregular in the government plan to take over private firms as long Malacañang first got the approval of Congress. "Probably what should be considered is a proposal to Congress for the suspension of certain laws," he said.

He recalled that Congress suspended the Government Procurement Reform Act, which required open public bidding, at the height of the power crisis in the early years of the administration of President Fidel Ramos.

"Ramos was allowed to enter into contracts without public bidding for a year," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan cautioned Malacañang against taking over private enterprises to offset the crippling effects of the oil crisis.

"We should view extreme measures with extreme caution in order to avoid a situation wherein we may in fact be jumping from the frying pan into the fire," he said in an interview.

"It would do well for Malacañang to stay clear of considering such drastic measures that may exacerbate rather than solve our problems," he said.

He wondered how taking over oil companies would bring down crude oil prices.

Hacienda Luisita

Pangilinan suggested that the government draw up "doable and workable solutions" to the country's problems.

"Knee-jerk responses that are meant to divert public discontent may do more harm than good," he said.

Pangilinan, however, doubted Gonzalez issued the statement to cover up a possible government plan to impose emergency rule.

"No, I don't think so. We're together in the Judicial Bar Council. In fairness to him he mentioned this to me a month ago in one of our meetings," the senator said, referring to the government's planned takeover of private enterprises.

"If by private firm, he (Gonzalez) means Hacienda Luisita, they're in for a big fight from the Cojuangcos," Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said, referring to the Cojuangco clan-owned sugar plantation in Tarlac province.

Former President Aquino, a member of the Cojuangco family, has called on Ms Arroyo to step down.

Threats have abated

Bunye said the threats against the administration had "abated and we are back on economic stabilization and growth mode."

"While the government exercises perpetual vigilance against threats to national security, the present threat level can be handled by the strong enforcement of the rule of law without need of extraordinary measures," he said.

Last week, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced the government was enforcing a "calibrated preemptive response" policy in lieu of maximum tolerance in dealing with rallies against the President.

Ermita said the policy, which includes the strict enforcement of the "no permit, no rally" policy, was in response to the business community and the public's complaints about the rallies that disrupt traffic and cause disturbances.

In an interview aired on RMN radio, Bunye said the new policy was intended to protect the majority of the people. While the Constitution guarantees the right to assembly and to free speech, these are not "absolute" rights, he reiterated.

"It's important we recognize that every right has its limitation," he said. "We cannot trample on the rights of others."

"The noisy minority can take their fight elsewhere. After all they have open access to the media and are free to air their sentiments," Bunye said.