It is not about President Duterte’s prerogatives. The proposal of martial law extension in Mindanao is coming from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and local government units themselves. They know what’s best for the country’s security situation because it is their field and they have the information on what is really going on in there.
Let us set aside politics here. Safety of our people in Mindanao is what we are all after. If we don’t put Mindanao under martial law, groups with evil motives will feel free and confident to plot another siege there. They would think that what happened in Marawi could be easily staged somewhere again because the focus of the government is now elsewhere. They should feel that they are still being carefully monitored, and what they did in Marawi will not be allowed to happen, ever again.
LINDSAY CRISTINE ANTONIO, lindc.says@gmail.com