The vicious bombing of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu on January 27, 2019 cannot be used as a prop or justification for the third extension of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao.
The reasons for this non-availment are:
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The bombing incident has been explicitly categorized as a terrorist attack by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte, the military and police leadership, and administration officials, and not an act pursuant to an alleged rebellion in Mindanao; and
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The incident happened 46 days after the third extension of martial law was granted by the Congress upon the initiative of the President, and consequently, it was not a factual basis existing at the time of the controversial extension.
It should also be underscored that in the monthly reports submitted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on the implementation of martial law during the second extension from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018, no person was reported to have been captured, arrested or charged with rebellion before any court.
Rebellion was not included in the monthly reports as among the crimes committed during the second extension.
These monthly reports to the Speaker of the House, copies of which were only presented by the AFP yesterday, January 29, 2019, confirm the earlier report of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff on Intelligence (J2) that of the only four (4) persons arrested in Mindanao during the second extended period, no one was involved in any rebellion.
If no individual has been apprehended and indicted for rebellion during the one-year second extension, then there is no sufficient factual basis for the claim that rebellion exists or persists in Mindanao.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN