President Rodrigo Duterte warned on Friday night that he may be forced to suspend the writ of habeas corpus if lawlessness in the country escalates, but he quickly added that he would not declare martial law.

Mr. Duterte made the statement in a speech after mentioning the rebellion in Mindanao, the worsening battle with the Maute group, and the alleged widespread illegal drug operations in the country. The Maute gang is a self-styled group of militants based in Lanao del Sur blamed for a September bombing that left 15 dead in Davao city.

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“If lawlessness becomes widespread, I might be forced to—I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to. It’s just my warning to them. I don’t want it because it’s not good,” Mr. Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English in a speech at an event to honor his mother’s humanitarian efforts.

“But if you force my hand into it, I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, not martial law. I have no political plans,” he added.

Warrantless arrests

The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus would essentially allow warrantless arrests. The writ, if granted by the court, requires the state to produce the body of a person in custody.

The Constitution states that the President may suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, for a period not exceeding 60 days.

The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos suspended the writ in 1971 to suppress what he said was violence blamed on communist insurgents. Thousands were arrested or went missing during the two-decade Marcos regime, which was ended by the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

Mr. Duterte said he might be left with no other remedy because he could not just issue an order. He would have to build a case one by one against suspects and once he declares the suspension of the writ, he said he would have them subsequently picked up.

“I will bring them to Samal, and put a hole in the middle so that it would sink and take them with it. They should choose,” he warned.

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According to Mr. Duterte, he would declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus “if you don’t give me a choice and you box me in a corner and I find myself helpless.”

He stressed that the suspension of the writ was in the Constitution to protect the Republic of the Philippines.

“I can be ordered by the Supreme Court to stop it but there are things that they cannot, and maybe, I will not, stop. Whatever, I will tell them I will finish this first, then I can go to jail,” he added.

Prior to his warning, Mr. Duterte spoke extensively about the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, which he justified and which he said would continue throughout his term as long as there were drug lords and drug pushers on the streets.

The bloody campaign has left more than 4,000 suspected drug dealers and addicts dead, either slain in police operations or by unknown vigilante groups.

Perspective

Mr. Duterte noted that there were those who viewed the campaign as terrible, but this depended on one’s perspective.

“Mine is self-defense in defense of the helpless children who are not in a position to really weigh things. It is in defense of a race. It is in defense of my fellowmen,” he said.

Evidence of the social disfunction and the crimes that illegal drug use can cause are widespread, he maintained.

Narcopolitics is now a real problem in the country, indicating that drug lords supposedly wield extensive influence in the government, he said.

He noted that the number of drug users in the country could be about 4 million by the end of the year. He also repeated earlier figures that some 6,000 policemen were involved in the drug trade, as well as some 4,000 local officials, one or two congressmen, and four governors.

He said that even if he wanted to kill all those involved in drugs, he could not do so because he would run out of time.

Mr. Duterte also blamed Sen. Leila de Lima, a former justice secretary who is also one of his most vocal critics, for the expansion of the drug trade in the country.

“And whether she pretends to be what she is not, De Lima opened the portals of narcopolitics that started in the national penitentiary,” he said, referring to the extensive drug trade reportedly controlled by jailed drug operations.

The Philippines is currently under a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao, following the Davao bombing. This meant that troops, along with police forces, can be deployed to public areas and conduct searches. The declaration directs state security forces to suppress lawless violence in Mindanao and prevent this from spreading to the rest of the country.

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MOST READ</s>PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, a move that would allow warrantless arrests, if illegal drugs and terrorism spread across the country.

In a speech in Davao City on Friday night, Duterte said he was considering suspending the writ as it is among the constitutional provisions “intended to protect the Republic of the Philippines.”

“If lawlessness spreads, I might be forced to — I don’t want, it’s a warning but I don’t want to do it because it doesn’t look good – but if you force my hand into it, I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,” he said at the launching of Pilipinong May Puso Foundation Inc.

In September, Duterte placed the country in a “State of Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence in Mindanao” following the blast in a night market in his home city of Davao that killed 15 people.

‘No martial law’

 But the President quickly made it clear he would not place the country under martial rule.

“I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, not martial law. I have no intention to play politics,” Duterte said.

The President said he had “no remedy” to the drug and terrorism problems, citing the attacks waged in Mindanao by the Maute terror group, which was tagged in the September 2 Davao City blast.

“I will declare a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, I will pick them all up. I will bring them to Samal Island. I will open up Samal Island in the middle so they sink with it,” Duterte said in a mix of English and Filipino. “They choose. It’s true. If you don’t give me a choice then you box me in a corner and I find myself helpless.”

If the Supreme Court blocks the suspension of the writ, the President said he would remain undeterred.

“Those are really provisions intended to protect the Republic of the Philippines. I can be ordered by the Supreme Court to stop it but there are things that they cannot, and maybe, I will not, stop,” Duterte said.

“I’ll tell them I will finish this first then I can go to jail. File all the charges that you can think of. But this country, in my time, will not deteriorate any further,” he added.

The writ of habeas corpus refers to the power of the courts to require the state to produce a person in custody.

Under the Constitution, the suspension of the privilege of the writ is only allowed with respect to “persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly connected with invasion.”

Once suspended, authorities will have the power to arrest anyone without a warrant. It also allows prolonged periods of detention without charges.</s>LAWMAKERS on Sunday reacted with alarm to the threat of President Rodrigo Duterte that he may suspend the writ of habeas corpus not only to stop rebellion in Mindanao, but also to strengthen the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Senators belonging to the Liberal Party (LP) issued a joint statement maintaining that there is no reason for the President to allow warrantless arrests.

The group, headed by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, said the illegal drug problem is not a ground to suspend the writ.

As for rebellion, the senators noted that the administration is already talking peace with all armed groups except the Abu Sayyaf.

“We see no basis for the suspension of the Filipinos’ privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and we shall remain committed to upholding the sacred constitutional safeguards to the rights of the Filipino people,” they said.

Section 15 of the Bill of Rights provides: “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of invasion or rebellion when the public safety requires it.”

Members of the LP in the Senate include Senate president pro-tempore Franklin Drilon and senators Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th and Leila de Lima.

In a separate statement, de Lima called on the President to stop toying with the idea of suspending the writ of habeas corpus in his attempt to supposedly legitimize his administration’s flawed war against illegal drugs.

“The President has spent a lot of time talking about his sheer determination to stop illegal drugs in the country for the rest of his term. However, if he could just spend more time talking with the families of the victims, he’d understand what is fundamentally and dreadfully wrong with his war on drugs and why the planned suspension of the writ of habeas corpus sends dangerous message to the public,” she said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, wanted to know if the declaration of a “State of Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence in Mindanao” in September was a prelude to the President’s plan to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.

“Was the state of emergency declared in preparation for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus? Although there is no provision that you need go through first a state of emergency before declaring suspension of the writ or even martial law,” Lacson said in a radio interview.

The senator added that the President’s pronouncement may be part of his “psywar” but the public may see it as “creeping martial law.”

He said suspending the writ of habeas corpus will not speak well of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) anti-illegal drug operations.

“It doesn’t speak well of the efforts of the PNP to curb criminality. They will be contradicting their own statement,” the senator added.

Shades of martial law

 Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay also criticized the President’s pronouncements, saying the threat of suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is reminiscent of martial law.

“There are no legal and factual bases for the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. The deadly campaign against drug traffickers and narcotic abuse is not a ground for suspension. With the growing culture of violence and killings, the suspension of the writ may further embolden the police to summarily execute suspects or cause their involuntary disappearance,” Lagman, a lawyer, said in a statement.

“Besides, the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus will only be a farce because the carcass of victims of extrajudicial killings may not be brought anyway before the courts even without the suspension since the privilege of the writ demands the judicial presentation of the live bodies,” he added.

Clarify it

 A ranking military official also on Sunday urged Malacanang to clarify the President’s statements, saying such pronouncement tends to cause panic.

“That is already a policy statement. The Palace should clarify that because it is a big issue, something that will cause panic. This is because it is already about suspending [the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus],” the military official who requested anonymity said.

While agreeing that empowering state security forces to conduct warrantless arrests may help the government’s campaign against terrorism and illegal drugs, the military official added that it may not help in prosecuting cases against suspects.

“[Suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus] may not outrightly solve the problem because what you can only do is arrest. After arrest is prosecution. So even if the arrest is warranted, if we can’t prosecute, it’s nothing,” the official explained.

He said the basis of the issuance of a warrant of arrest is the existence of probable cause that does not determine the guilt or innocence of a person.

“When you say probable cause, it only means that the person is probably guilty of the offense being charged and he has to be held behind bars to be able or in order to face proceedings when the court needs him. Many were arrested by virtue of warrantless arrests but were later acquitted because the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” the official added.

But Malacanang officials said the enormity of the drug problem would prompt the President to order the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

“If you have 10,000 people involved in the drug menace, you have to file cases against them, secure warrants of arrest and search warrants. You will have a problem with that because that [securing of warrants]will take you eternity. The remedy there is to suspend the writ of habeas corpus so that you will not be restrained or chained by judicial proceedings,” Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a television interview.

“There have been news reports that drug money is being used to finance rebellion in Mindanao, as well as the terrorism by Abu Sayyaf. So in cases of invasion or rebellion, the President, under the Constitution, can seek the suspension of writ of habeas corpus,” Panelo added.

Palace Communications chief Martin Andanar echoed Panelo’s claims, arguing that the President’s warning was prompted by his concern over the unabated drug problem.

Palace officials earlier claimed that the country has won the first phase of the so-called war against drugs with the surrender of around 700,000 drug suspects. The campaign, however, has left around 4,000 drug suspects killed in its wake, according to watchdogs.

“Our drug problem is widespread. The President has shown a list of persons of interest in connection with this. This is really unresolved at this point. It is not an overnight campaign. It is not a campaign that can be done in just six months and the President has already mentioned that,” Andanar said in a radio interview.

“The President asked for an extension for the anti-drug war because this is not easy. This does not mean a failure. It means discovering how worse the problem is. A lot of people are into it, there are people from government who are involved in it beyond our expectations. It’s that simple,” he added.

Panelo, however, insisted that the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus will not be a prelude to martial law.

“The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus [will be sought]if the remedies on the drug menace and criminality won’t suffice. There is no need to declare martial law,” he said.
Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte threatens to suspend the country's habeas corpus "if forced to" by what he says the worsening lawlessness in the country. He mentioned in the same speech, the alleged widespread illegal drug trade in the country, the rebellion in Mindanao, and the worsening campaign against the militant Maute group.