DAVAO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte submitted Thursday night to Congress his report on martial law declaration in Mindanao after a special Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan here.
The President submitted the report to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Duterte called a special Cabinet meeting after he declared martial law Tuesday night and signed Proclamation No. 216, declaring a state of martial law and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao.
His decision was prompted by the attack of Marawi City by the terrorist Maute Group last Tuesday. Maute has taken over a hospital in Marawi, established several checkpoints, burned down government and private facilities and inflicted fatalities on the part of the government.
In Proclamation No. 216, the President referred to Proclamation No. 55, which he issued in September last year declaring a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao.
Duterte underscored the series of violent attacks committed by the Maute such as the attack on the military outpost in Butig, Lanao del Sur in February 2016 and the mass jailbreak in Marawi City in August 2016.
The special Cabinet meeting was attended by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, Solicitor General Jose Calida, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Acting Interior and Local Government Secretary Catalino Cuy, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, Philipine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa and Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go. LCM/PNA-northboundasia.com