SC upholds Maguindanao 2009 state of emergency

The Supreme Court (SC) found no basis to nullify former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's proclamation that placed Maguindanao and two other areas under a state of emergency following the November 2009 massacre. In a decision written by Associate Justice Roberto Abad, the SC upheld Arroyo's Proclamation 1946 and junked the petition to nullify the official declaration that placed Maguindanao under a state of emergency. The SC ruling was promulgated on June 7 this year, a week before the SC allowed the live broadcast of Maguindanao massacre trial, one of the most high-profile court proceedings in the Philippines. Under a state of emergency, the military is given the authority to impose curfews, set up checkpoints and conduct searches of homes. In Proclamation 1946, Arroyo said the declaration intends to "prevent and suppress the occurrence of several other incidents of lawless violence." The state of emergency in Maguindanao is still in effect at present. The petition to nullify the state of emergency was filed by a group led by suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan, one of the suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, touted as the worst politically-motivated violent incident in Philippine history. Zaldy Ampatuan is among the 198 individuals accused of involvement in the carnage. The other members of the Ampatuan clan who are named in the charge sheet are patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., a former Maguindanao governor; his sons Andal Jr., former Datu Unsay town mayor, and Sajid, former officer-in-charge of the province. Preventing further bloodshed “Since petitioners are not able to demonstrate that the proclamation of state of emergency in the subject places and the calling out of the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, there have been clearly no factual bases, the court must respect the President’s actions," said the SC's decision. "The imminence of violence and anarchy at the time the President issued Proclamation 1946 was too grave to ignore and she had to act to prevent further bloodshed and hostilities in the places mentioned," the SC said. The Ampatuan clan and its paramilitary unit are suspected of staging the massacre on November 23, 2009, which claimed the lives of 57 people, including 32 journalists. A 58th victim, a photographer, is still missing. The fatalities were part of a convoy that was supposed to register the gubernatorial bid of Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who eventually won in the May 2010 elections. A day after the massacre, Arroyo issued Proclamation 1946, declaring a state of emergency in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces, and in Cotabato City. The three areas are supposed strongholds of the Ampatuan clan. Movement of armed men In its ruling, the SC noted the reports of movement of armed men sympathetic to rival clans Ampatuan and Mangudadatu. "Thus, to pacify the people’s fears and stabilize the situation, the President had to take preventive action. She called out the armed forces to control the proliferation of loose firearms and dismantle the armed groups that continuously threatened the peace and security in the affected places," said the SC. It also noted that even Mrs. Arroyo's successor, President Benigno Aquino III, has not revoked Proclamation 1946. "The present administration of President Benigno Aquino III has not withdrawn the declaration of a state of emergency under Proclamation 1946. It has been reported that the declaration would not be lifted soon because there is still a need to disband private armies and confiscate loose firearms," the SC said. "Apparently, the presence of troops in those places is still necessary to ease fear and tension among the citizenry and prevent and suppress any violence that may still erupt, despite the passage of more than a year from the time of the Maguindanao massacre," it added. SC validates Arroyo's authority The SC said that Mrs. Arroyo did not encroach on the ARMM's autonomy, adding that the deployment of Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police troops was within her authority provided by the 1987 Constitution. "Petitioners contend that the President unlawfully exercised emergency powers when she ordered the deployment of AFP and PNP personnel in the places mentioned in the proclamation. But such deployment is not by itself an exercise of emergency powers as understood under Section 23 (2), Article VI of the Constitution," said the high tribunal. The Charter states that: "In times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy. Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall cease upon the next adjournment thereof." The SC further said that "the calling out of the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence in such places is a power that the Constitution directly vests in the President. She did not need a congressional authority to exercise the same." - VVP, GMA News