Almost every day, Armed Forces chief Delfin Bangit tries to reassure the public that the military, working together with the Philippine National Police, is committed to HOPE, or honest, orderly and peaceful elections. Bangit has yet to shake off perceptions that he is the favorite soldier of the commander-in-chief, who might attempt a make-or-break maneuver to hold on to power beyond noon of June 30.
Only time will tell where Bangit’s loyalties lie. It could help calm jitters in certain quarters if the Supreme Court stops sitting on petitions seeking to invalidate President Arroyo’s Proclamation 1959. The proclamation placed Maguindanao under martial law due to what the government described as a brewing rebellion following the massacre of 57 people in the province on Nov. 23 last year.
The government wants the Supreme Court to declare the legal challenge moot since martial law has been lifted in Maguindanao. Members of the Ampatuan clan, who face multiple murder charges for the massacre and who were accused of fomenting the rebellion, are being held without bail, although the Arroyo administration, through Justice Secretary Alberto Agra, has moved to clear Zaldy Ampatuan and his cousin Akmad Sr.
But in 2006 the Supreme Court, with a different set of members, had ruled on another presidential edict, Proclamation 1017, which declared a state of national emergency amid a reported coup plot. The SC ruled on the case even after the proclamation had been lifted. While the SC ruled that 1017 was within the military powers of the President, it declared as unconstitutional the warrantless arrests and searches during the state of emergency.
In the absence of a high court ruling on the validity of proclaiming martial law on the basis of a looming rebellion, there is no stopping President Arroyo from declaring martial law again anywhere in the country, even on election day, or during the crucial hours when the votes are being counted. The Armed Forces enforced Proclamation 1959 in Maguindanao. Will the military and its chief of staff, Bangit, consider another such order unlawful? The public awaits the final word from the Supreme Court.