'Rebellion quelled, objectives achieved'

MANILA, Philippines - The rebellion that was allegedly staged by some local leaders of the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao has been quelled and it is unlikely that the security situation in the province would deteriorate to warrant a re-imposition of martial law, Malacañang said yesterday.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the objectives of President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao have been achieved, including the arrest of the primary suspects in the massacre of 57 people.

The restoration of the local government and judicial operations was also considered as gains even if the state of emergency remains in force in the province, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato.

“The rebellion has been quelled. The rebellion has been stopped. But the military is conducting mopping up operations and the hunt for other suspects are ongoing as well as other police and military actions because they (Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City) are still under the state of emergency,” Remonde told the government-run Radyo ng Bayan.

“We believe that the situation in Maguindanao is not likely to deteriorate again and therefore it will be highly speculative if there would be a need to declare martial law again in the area,” the press secretary said when asked whether Mrs. Arroyo would not hesitate to re-impose martial law if security in the area is threatened again.

He said charges have been filed against at least 638 members of the Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs) and civilian volunteer organizations.

The prosecutors, according to Remonde, have said that the evidences gathered during martial law will be used in the filing of charges of rebellion against the suspects.

However, the gathering of evidence needed for the filing of multiple murder charges will continue although the key evidence to the case was obtained by authorities early on.

Remonde also said that the Cabinet cluster on security has already rejected a proposal to declare martial law in Basilan, where there was another spate of kidnappings and one of the hostages was beheaded.

“We even rejected the proposal to declare a state of emergency in Basilan in consultations with commanders on the ground. All they asked for the moment is the sending of additional troops,” he said.

Remonde said that the Palace has already identified possible members of the commission that Mrs. Arroyo created to dismantle private armies in the country.

“Their appointments are still being processed. The commission is expected to be headed by a retired justice,” he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita reiterated that the martial law the President declared was much different from the one imposed by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

“Despite the negative criticisms that have been hurled against it, let me state in my humble capacity as a human rights and peace worker myself, that the government’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao has never been intended and will never be used to curtail our people’s rights,” Ermita said in his address before participants of the National Human Rights Forum for the formulation of the Second National Human Rights Action Plan of the Philippines (NHRAPP-2) late last week.

“This is not the martial law of two decades past which I was one of its repentant implementers that wrote a dark chapter in our political history,” he said.

Ermita was a military officer during the Marcos regime.

“Rather, this mechanism seeks to restore —within a given timeframe, covering a limited area, and guided by the Constitution —an environment of peace and order where these same rights can be properly exercised by our people in larger freedoms,” he said.