PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO, has declared martial law in portions of Maguindanao province on Friday to restore law and order amid local and international pressure to immediately solve the murder of at least 57 civilians in an election-related violence nearly two weeks ago.

Under Proclamation 1959 issued on Dec. 4, Mrs. Arroyo declared martial law in the Central Mindanao province except in areas covered by a 1997 cessation of hostilities agreement with the Moro International Liberation Front (MILF).

“There is hereby declared a state of martial law in the province of Maguindanao except for the identified areas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as referred to in the implementing operational guidelines of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines)-MILF agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities,” the proclamation read. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus was also suspended, allowing authorities to conduct warrantless arrests.

The Constitution allows the president to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and declare martial law in the entire or certain portions of the country for 60 days when public safety is threatened due to invasion or rebellion. Within 48, hours or in this case after Proclamation 1959 was issued at 9 p.m., the president should report to Congress about the declaration, and Congress, in regular of special session, could revoke the issuance or suspension. The Congress, upon the president’s initiative, may extend the proclamation or suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Proclamation 1959 did not indicate the period of implementation.

In an interview, Jose Midas P. Marquez, spokesman of the Supreme Court, said on Saturday: "Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution, the Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ. The Court must promulgate its decision within 30 days from its filing.”

The proclamation noted that despite the issuance of Proclamation 1946 on Nov. 24 which put the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City under a state of emergency a day after the mass murder, “the condition of peace and order in the province of Maguindanao has deteriorated to the extent that local judicial system and other government mechanisms in the province are not functioning; thus, endangering public safety.”

“President Arroyo has taken this bold step in answer to the cry for justice of the victims of the now infamous Maguindanao massacre,” Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde told Palace reporters in a briefing Saturday morning.

In the same briefing, Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor S. Ibrado said two members of the Ampatuan clan -- Maguindanao Governor Andal S. Ampatuan, Sr. and his son Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy U. Ampatuan -- implicated in the murders have been arrested. The main suspect in the killings, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal U. Ampatuan, Jr., who turned himself over to authorities three days after the murders, is now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila.


Killed in the Nov. 23 massacre was the wife of Buluan Vice-Mayor Esmael G. Mangudadatu, Genalyn Tiamson, other Mangudadatu relatives, lawyers and about 30 journalists who were en route to file the vice-mayor’s certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor, a post which is also being eyed by Andal, Jr. The Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans were former political allies but had a falling out with the challenge for the governorship in next year’s elections.

“We have studied the process of inviting identified personalities and for the information of everyone some of the personalities that were given to us have sent the feelers to surrender… [while] the location of the others is still being determined as of now,” Mr. Ibrado said in the same briefing.

TV reports have said Vice-Governor Akmad Ampatuan, also a son of Andal, Sr., and his son the mayor of the capital town of Shariff Aguak Anwar Ampatuan are now in police custody for questioning.

Justice Secretary Agnes VST Devanadera also said in the reports that martial law was declared to restore governance since there has been a “complete cessation of the functions of government”;“ local government offices have been closed since the murders; personnel in the supervising court in Cotabato City have refused to report for work, stalling efforts to process arrest warrant requests and forcing the central government to send personnel from Manila just to accept and process documents; and that there has been a series of high-powered firearm and munitions confiscation and retrieval by the police and military in several areas near the Ampatuan residences coupled with reports of resistance from supporters for the series of arrests.