(Eagle News)– A fourth petition questioning the constitutionality of the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao has been filed before the Supreme Court.
The group led by Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao and former Commission on Elections chairman Christian Monsod said the approval of Congress of the declaration was “unwarranted and unjustified” given the absence of “actual rebellion” as required for such a declaration in the Constitution.
They said the claims of the supporters of martial law that the supposed threats of several groups were enough basis for the declaration do not hold.
They after all are not tantamount to an actual rebellion in the strictest sense of the word, they said.
The petitioners also questioned what they said was the “very limited time given to legislators to propound searching questions to respondents chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Secretary of National Defense, and other resource persons of the government during the deliberations to actually determine the factual basis for the extension of martial law in Mindanao.”
The first three petitions were filed by the Makabayan bloc, militant groups and former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales.
