Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 12) — The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions against the declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
In the 45-page consolidated comment, the OSG responded to three petitions filed against Proclamation No. 216, arguing that these failed to prove that there is no basis for implementing martial law.
“Proclamation No. 216 enjoys the presumption of constitutionality, and the Petitioners miserably failed to ascribe grave abuse of discretion in its issuance,” the comment read.
On June 3, members of the House Minority led by Representative Edcel Lagman filed a petition with the Supreme Court, saying President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation is “baseless” and should be revoked.
READ: House minority files petition vs. martial law in Supreme Court
Two other petitions asking to make the proclamation void were filed with the Supreme Court on June 6 and June 8.
But the OSG argued that the Supreme Court may only review the sufficiency of facts in Duterte’s martial law proclamation and in the suspension of the privilege of writ of habeas corpus.
The comment also refuted claims from Lagman’s petition which criticized Duterte’s “mostly inaccurate” report to Congress, saying that the President’s decision was based on intelligence reports given to him at the time.
“There is nothing arbitrary in the President’s reliance on intelligence reports from the AFP, which, as official acts of government, carry with them the presumption of regularity,” the comment said, referring to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
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The solicitor-general’s comment comes ahead of oral arguments beginning Tuesday until June 15 on the three petitions calling for the revocation of military rule in Mindanao.
The President declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 when the Maute terror group laid siege to Marawi City, the capital of the province of Lanao del Sur in a bid to establish a caliphate of ISIS in the Philippines. Government security forces have been engaged in pitch battles with the group, which the government now calls ISIS-Maute.
READ: Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao
In Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday, Duterte said information from security officials reveal ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “ordered the conduct of terroristic activities in the Philippines.”
