MALACAÑANG on Monday, November 26, assured that the issuance of Memorandum Order 32, which orders the deployment of military and policemen to Samar, Negros Island and the Bicol region, was not a prelude to an alleged plan to declare martial law nationwide.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, in an interview with Palace reporters, stressed that President Rodrigo Duterte sent more troops merely to "secure" the provinces where lawless acts have been committed in recent months.
"Well, we repeatedly said, if there is any intention, then it will have been declared but there is none," Panelo said, when sought for reaction on speculations that MO 32 could be part of the declaration of martial law and suspension of writ of habeas corpus.
"Now, with respect to why there is a need, as we have repeatedly said, there is a need for that because those areas need to be secured," he added.
MO 32, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Duterte's order, directed the "immediate" deployment of additional soldiers and police officers to suppress "lawless violence and acts of terror" in the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and the Bicol region.
It likewise sought to "prevent such violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the country" by reinforcing the guidelines stated in the implementation of the state of national emergency, which Duterte declared in September 2016 following the deadly explosion in Davao City.
The order also authorized the boost of intelligence operations as well as the prompt investigation and procsecution of individuals or groups behind "acts of lawless violence."
Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former Philippine National Police chief, questioned the release of MO 32 and said Duterte could have deployed more troops to the provinces without issuing any memorandum.
"Bakit kailangan pa ng MO 32 kung hindi naman kailangan 'yun? Baka naman meron itong pupuntahan na may mga lugar na may plano 'yung Malacañang na kung hindi man ideklara ng martial law ay mag-suspend ng writ of habeas corpus," the senator said on Sunday, November 25.
(Why do they have to issue MO 32 if it's not necessary? Perhaps, Malacañang has a plan, if not to declare martial law, probably to suspend the writ of habes corpus in the said areas?)
Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares also said MO 32 can be a "prelude to more repressive measures such as martial law."
Panelo, however, said MO 32 was not only a preemptive measure but was also a "reaction to what is happening" in the provinces that are at risk because of lawless violence.
He also stressed that the directive was meant to secure "the people for [their] own safety and peace of the area."
"The memorandum precisely and expressedly says that we should respect the rights of the individual. That Memorandum [Order] 32 is done pursuant to the Constitutional duty of the President to protect and to serve the people," the Palace official said.
"Of course, you have to direct your forces. You cannot just do that orally in what areas they're going to. You need to reduce that into writing so that there will be guidance to all of them where they will have to go and what acts they should perform and acts that they should not do. In other words, that's transparency," he added. (SunStar Philippines)