BAYAN Muna Party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate said the spate of killings in Negros Oriental has sparked fears that the administration is setting the stage for the declaration of martial law in other areas in the country.
"Kinokonsidera na ilagay ang ibang mga lugar sa martial law. May niluluto nanaman na scenario building ang militar, kapulisan at ang administration para mas lalo pang i-justify ang martial law, labagin ang karapatan ng mamayan," Zarate said in a press conference Thursday, August 1.
He said Negros has long been a "social volcano" despite the agrarian reforms implemented and efforts of the government to address the problems.
Zarate was reacting to the spate of killings that claimed the lives of 17 people over a span of just 10 days in Negros Oriental, one of two provinces that compose Negros Island. The other is Negros Occidental.
Both the police and the military have said that they have not recommended the declaration of martial law on Negros Island despite the killings.
Neither have they been asked by President Rodrigo Duterte to make a recommendation.
Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23, 2017, has also repeatedly said that he does not plan to declare martial law nationwide.
The entire country is still under a state of emergency as Duterte has not lifted Proclamation No. 55, which he issued on September 4, 2016, to declare a state of emergency in the Philippines in response to the 2016 Davao City bombing.
Negros Island is also covered by Memorandum Order No. 32 which mandates the deployment of additional soldiers and policemen to suppress lawless violence.
The same directive also covers Samar and Bicol region.
Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago, for her part, urged the Duterte administration to lift the memorandum.
She also said that martial law does not bring peace.
"The only way to bring peace to the island region is to end Memorandum No. 32 which has only ravaged the land and its people. They do not need martial law to ensure safety in the area; they need the immediate withdrawal of armed forces out of their lands and communities," she said. (From a report by Ryniel Berlanga/SunStar Philippines)