SC told to rule on petition requiring Congress to jointly convene on martial law
Philippines — As talks of a possible extension of army rule in Mindanao continue, a group of petitioners on Friday asked the Supreme Court to rule on the duty of Congress to convene and deliberate on President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in southern Philippines.
In a manifestation, Sen. Leila De Lima, former Sen. Rene Saguisag, former Commission on Elections chairman Christian Monsod, former Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, former peace negotiator Alexander Padilla and Rene Ballesteros urged the Supreme Court to decide on the petition their group filed in June compelling Congress to hold a joint session and decide on the legality and factual basis of martial law in Mindanao.
The group said that an “authoritative, definitive and conclusive” SC ruling would ensure “legal stability” by clarifying rules that could serve people’s expectations.
“Petitioners, therefore, urge the Honorable Court to decide the instant Petitition to remedy Congress’s nonfeasance and allow the mechanisms envisioned by the Constitution to operate at this time of emergency,” the manifestation said.
It added: “[I]t is imperative that a decision be made by this Honorable Court not only to clarify the duties of Congress under Article VII, Section 18 of the Constitution, but also to ensure that all branches of government are henceforth properly guided.”
On June 5, the group filed a petition for mandamus seeking for the issuance of an order compelling the Congress to review Presidential Proclamation 216 placing the entire island of Mindanao under army rule.
The group said Congress should convene, deliberate and vote jointly on the proclamation.
“The Petition was filed after Congress refused to convene jointly and adjourned sine die without jointly deliberating on Presidential Proclamation 216, a fact judicially admitted by the respondent,” it said.
Rosales, one of the petitioners, said that the possibility of an extension made the review all the more necessary.
“[T]he extension is another matter altogether and if there is going to be an extension of martial law or there’s going to be a debate on the extension of martial law or not, it becomes a mandatory obligation on the part of the Philippine Congress to convene jointly to deliberate on the matter,” she told Philstar.com.
The former representative said that separate resolutions from the House and the Senate were not enough because they should meet in a joint session and “judiciously, comprehensively and transparently” discussed the army rule declaration.
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