The Supreme Court has ordered the martial law petitioners and the government to submit their final memoranda on June 19.
The three-day oral arguments have ended on Thursday, June 15, but both parties still need to submit their final memoranda before the high court justices decide on the petition.
After the internal and closed-door oral arguments on the third day, Solicitor General Jose Calida said what happened was a fruitful discussion of issues and facts that would help the government’s case.
Calida also defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in the whole province of Mindanao. He was told that the justices were worried that martial law might be declared in the entire country.
Respondents Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Eduardo Año attended the closed-door discussions on Thursday. The high court earlier granted the request of one of the petitioners against martial law, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman for the defense officials to explain the government’s position on the martial law declaration.
“They were there because they had been requested by the court to provide information relevant to the consideration of the court on the discharge of its function,” said Supreme Court spokesperson lawyer Theodore Te, explaining the presence of Lorenazana and Año at the Supreme Court closed-door sessions.
He said each petitioner was allowed to have one representative during the internal discussions.
The petitioners and respondents have until 2 p.m. of June 19 to submit their respective memoranda.
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