Press Release
September 21, 2008

ROXAS: CREEPING MARTIAL LAW UNDER NEW EO

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today warned of "creeping authoritarianism" in the country as he questioned Malacañang's reorganization, under Executive Order No. 739 signed by President Arroyo last month, of the National Peace and Order Council supposedly to battle the communist threat in the country.

Roxas said EO 739 virtually makes Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno a Co-President with Mrs. Arroyo and gives him sweeping powers in the name of enforcing security in the entire country, including sanctions against local executives seen as not kowtowing to Malacañang.

"This is creepy. Nakakatakot ito. Para saan ba talaga ang mga bagong kapangyarihan na ito ni Secretary Puno? Ito ba ay para nga magkaroon ng kapayapaan at katahimikan at labanan ang mga rebelde, o paghahanda para sa emergency rule?" asked Roxas.

He noted the recent warning of former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr. against the possibility that the ongoing war in Mindanao, if it escalates to terrorist attacks in other parts of the country, could be used by Malacañang to declare a state of emergency.

As President of the Liberal Party which fought the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Roxas reiterated his commitment to fight any attempt to restore authoritarianism and one-man rule as the nation marked the 36th anniversary of Marcos' declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and the closure of the country's democratic institutions, including Congress.

"Thirty-six years after martial law, it seems we've come full circle. We see the same abuse of power, the same propensity for corruption at every levels of government, and the same disregard for human rights. What have we done to our country?" he asked.

"The reorganization of this NPOC, which resembles the martial-law era Peace and Order Council, seems to bring back the same climate of fear, suspicion and surveillance that led to extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses under Martial Law," he said.

Under the reorganized NPOC, the POCs in the regional, provincial, city and municipal levels are also tasked to "apply moral suasion to and/or recommend sanctions against local chief executives who are giving material and political support to the Communist rebels," as stated in EO 739's Section 3 (d).

"Now, the government is hanging a Damocles' sword over our local leaders by legitimizing 'moral suasion' and actual sanctions, while the authority to do such under existing criminal laws is not stated in the EO," he said.

"Is the government wittingly or unwittingly opening the door to a witch hunt not only to ordinary citizens but also to their elected local leaders?" he said.

Roxas said the NPOC under EO 739 resembles the Peace and Order Council created during the 20-year rule of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Both are primarily composed of the departments and agencies under the national security establishment.

He lamented, however, that it lacks the representation of government bodies catering to social rights and welfare and that of the academe, civil, youth, labor, religious, business and other sectors, which were included in the NPOC created during the term of former President Corazon Aquino.

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