The two (2) extensions of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao up to December 31, 2018 have a combined total of 526 days or 876.67% more than the initial period of only 60 days under Proclamation No. 216 which placed Marawi City and the whole of Mindanao under martial law.

Rep. Edcel C. Lagman and his co-petitioners from the “Magnificent 7” minority group stressed in their petition before the Supreme Court that “Five hundred twenty-six (526) days total extension is an enormous increase of 876.67% over the original period of 60 days. This is inordinately long. It is a deplorable defiance of the constitutional limitation of the duration of martial law and its extension.”

One of the stringent safeguards in the 1987 Constitution to deter and foreclose abuses as a result of a martial law imposition is the manifest limitation of the period of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the extension thereof.

The Constitution provides that the declaration of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus shall be “for a period not exceeding sixty days”, and any extension thereof may be granted by the Congress upon initiative of the President, in the “same manner” as the original proclamation sought to be extended.

This means that a valid extension must comply with the following requisites: (a) a joint session of the Congress must act on the extension; (b) it must be based on the limited grounds of actual rebellion or invasion when public safety requires it; and (c) it must be only for a reasonably short duration.

A full year re-extension, aside from being factually unwarranted, is oppressively long and patently unconstitutional.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN