Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Although Terror Alert level 3 has been raised over the entire country, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald Dela Rosa has allayed fears that martial law will return.
He said on Friday that he has not discussed with anyone the possibility of declaring martial law.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself said on Thursday that he had no plans of declaring martial law. “Kalokohan ‘yan. Nag-martial law man tayo noon, anong nangyari? Gumaling ba ang buhay natin hanggang ngayon? Wala,” he said speaking at the Third ARMM Local Government Summit in Davao City.
[Translation: That’s nonsense. We had martial law before, what happened? Did it improve our lives now? Not at all.]
The PNP chief also revealed that he and his father were victims of police violence during the military rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Marcos was president from 1965 to 1986. He declared martial law in 1972 and lifted it in 1986.
According to Dela Rosa, officials of the Philippine Constabulary forced his father to place fresh grilled fish in his mouth, causing it to swell.
The PNP chief said he was also apprehended for violating the imposed curfew. Dela Rosa said the police brought him and his father to their camp, where they were threatened to be killed by firing squad.
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Dela Rosa said he does not want these things to happen to anyone.
“Eh, kung talagang mag-order ang Presidente ng martial law at ako mag-implement, alam ko kung paano ma implement na hindi maviolate ang human rights kasi ako mismo ay biktima ako. Alam na alam ko yang martial law na iyan,” he added.
[Translation: Well, even if the President would declare martial law and I would implement it, I know how to implement it in such a way that human rights will not be violated, because I myself am a victim. I know very much what martial law is.]
According to the PNP’s Public Information Office, Terror Alert Level 3 is declared “when a terrorist attack is a strong possibility within a short period of time”.”
“For God’s sake! We will not use – the government will not use an incident that will cause panic, fear, and undue harm, or even death to its own people to declare martial law,” he told reporters on Monday, after an improvised explosive device (IED) was discovered on Roxas Boulevard, Manila near the U.S. Embassy.
Members of the PNP bomb disposal unit secured the IED and detonated it before noon.
Dela Rosa revealed on Thursday that Alert Level 3 was raised, following the incident. He also presented two suspects behind the incident and identified them as Jiaher Guinar, a businessman, and Rayson Kilala alias Rashid, an imam in a mosque in Bulacan.
They are allegedly members of Ansar al-Khilafah Philippines, a terror group that has pledged allegiance to ISIS. He added the Ansar al-Khilafah Philippines has an existing alliance with the Maute Group. According to the PNP chief, the initial target for the bombing was Luneta Park and not the U.S. Embassy.
“The PNP placed in Alert 3 to conform with PNP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which put the whole PNP in extreme alert for terrorists who might commit similar acts of planting bombs in Metro Manila,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement on Thursday.
Also read: Remain vigilant, cooperate amid terror alert in PH – AFP
