The
declaration of state of lawlessness is considered the most benign of the
military powers of the President of the Philippines . It is theoretical
consequence is simple: because of the state of lawlessness, the President may
call upon the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence. The
declaration gives the President only the authority to delegate to the armed
forces official functions that are properly considered as police matter.
The
limitations of the calling-out power have been defined by the Supreme Court in David v. PGM, G.R. No. 171396, May 3, 2006:
Under the calling-out power, the President may summon the armed forces to aid
him in suppressing lawless violence, invasion, and rebellion. This involves
ordinary police action. But every act that goes beyond the President’s
calling-out power is considered illegal or ultravires.
In the same
case, the Supreme Court said that the calling-out power cannot validate any of
the following acts: (a) arrests and seizures without judicial warrants; (b) ban
on public assemblies; (c) take-over of news media and agencies and press
censorship; and (d) issuance of Presidential Decrees, as they are powers which
can be exercised by the President as Commander-in-Chief only where there is a
valid declaration of Martial Law or suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
So
technically, there is nothing to fear in the President’s declaration of state
of lawlessness. Under the situations contemplated by the Constitution, ordinary
citizens have nothing to fear about the declaration.
But of course,
everything that the Constitution says about the declaration is theoretical. The
efficacy of its scope and limitations depends upon the commitment of the
sitting President to abide with the mandate of the Constitution. This is the
most important thing about constitutional limitations to the vast powers of the
Chief Executive. Can anyone honestly trust the President to honor the constitutional
limitations on his powers?
To say that
critics dislike the declaration because they do not like the President who made
it is gratuitously biased. It is in the Filipino psyche to receive any
declaration involving the military with suspicion. Our long history with
martial rule and the abuses committed during the time constantly sends chill to
most of us whenever news about military’s mandate to explore the city and the
countryside with their guns hit the headlines. It may be that we have unresolved
collective trauma about people with guns and the power vested upon them to
decide whom to kill or allow to live. Or, there is that imagined monster behind
the men in uniforms depicted in the propaganda of the extreme left that put us
on guard every time massive troop movements are ordered from above.
At times when
the culture of impunity is spreading, the fear that the declaration will
bolster the reckless to continue their rampage against human rights in the name
of peace and order cannot be belittled. Thus,
while the power to call upon the military to suppress lawless elements is not
denied the Commander-in-Chief, it should also be that the right to put the
exercise of such power under scrutiny be not denied to the people.
It is good to
feel fear once in a while. May the mighty do not stop us from feeling so. Fear
makes us human…and keeps us safe sometimes.
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