The Senate still has to study the need to extend martial law in Mindanao if President Rodrigo Duterte will ask for it, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on Sunday.
鈥淚to ay pag-aaralan namin nang mabuti. Tulad nung nakaraang dalawang martial law requests, nagkaroon ng full briefing ang mga senador through an executive session,鈥� Gatchalian said in an interview over dzBB.
(We are going to study this. Like the two previous requests on martial law extension, there was a full briefing on the issue for senators through an executive session.)
鈥淕usto natin pag-aralan mabuti kung bakit pa kailangan i-extend ang martial law (We want to study well why there is still a need to extend martial law),鈥� Gatchalian added reacting to the announcement of Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that there might be 鈥渁 need to extend it.鈥�
Quoting the military, Panelo said in a Palace briefing that martial law helped in maintaining the peace and order in Mindanao.
鈥淲ell, according to the military, the martial law has helped in the peace and order situation. And it has dissuaded the terrorists from inflicting the usual violence against the population,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s I said, if it is helping the population, [and] the population is not even [opposing] it, so to my mind, there is a need to extend it,鈥� he added.
READ: Palace: There might be need to extend martial law if鈥�听
If granted, this will be the third extension of martial law after Congress approved for the second time its implementation in December last year.
READ: Senate, House allow 1-year martial law extension in Mindanao
When pressed on the need for martial law in Mindanao even if there鈥檚 no serious threat, Gatchalian said that terrorists may still travel from one municipality to another given the geographic landscape of Mindanao.
鈥淎ng Mindanao, isang malaking isla yan e. Dugtong-dugtong 鈥榶an. Kung may mangyari sa Marawi, pwedeng mangyari yan sa Saranggani. Madaling pumunta yung mga terrorist. May ganung banta ang importante ngayon ay wag na nating hintaying mangyari pa,鈥� he said.
(Mindanao is a big island. It is all connected. If something happens in Marawi, something could also happen to Saranggani. The terrorists can go anywhere. There is that kind of threat, let鈥檚 not wait for it to happen.) /ee