EDITORIAL - Precedent

When Congress tackles the martial law proclamation of President Arroyo, and if ever the Supreme Court is asked to rule on its constitutionality, members of the two branches of government must remember that they will be setting a precedent for the use of one of the most potent powers of the executive.

The so-called Freedom Constitution, crafted after the 1986 people power revolution and ratified in 1987, was designed to prevent a repeat of the abuse of executive power, as Ferdinand Marcos did in imposing martial law. The new Constitution did not eliminate the power to impose martial law despite the abuses of the dictatorship, because when properly wielded, this power can achieve certain objectives for the greater good.

What is the overriding concern in Maguindanao, where martial law is now in effect? No one should lose sight of the principal objective, which is to give justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre, and to prevent a repeat of the gruesome crime. The mass murder must not be collapsed into a case of rebellion, which carries a lighter penalty and could lead to amnesty for the Ampatuans and the other accused murderers even before they have a chance to feel remorse behind bars.

The rebellion was not actual but imminent, according to the government, which raises questions about the validity of the martial law proclamation. The alleged rebellion loomed after the massacre, and the indictment should simply be added, if warranted, to the cases of kidnapping and multiple murder against the Ampatuan family members who are accused of planning and implementing the massacre.

Even without martial law, the president and commander-in-chief has sufficient powers to deploy the military in the name of public safety. Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City were already under a state of emergency, and the national government was supposed to have taken over governance of these areas. Government prosecutors said there was strong evidence against the Ampatuans. This would have warranted their arrest even without the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Yesterday, even with martial law, former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. remained out of reach of the law, having confined himself in a Davao City hospital.

If the proclamation of martial law is upheld by Congress and later by the Supreme Court based on defective premises, it could give President Arroyo the go-signal to exercise this power arbitrarily, such as during the 2010 elections in Maguindanao. The arbitrariness could also be exercised again by the next president. It’s a slippery slope that the nation must avoid.