Yikes! President Arroyo imposed martial law by citing the wrong Republic Act establishing a village school
December 5, 2009 | Posted by raissa robles Citing the wrong law as the legal basis shows that this martial law is so sloppily put together. I fear the suspected murderers can get away with murder by exploiting precisely this sloppiness.
In this instance, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Proclamation 1959 using the following as her basis for declaring Martial Law:
- the Constitution and
- Republic Act 6986.
But RA 6986 happens to be “An Act establishing a high school in Barangay Dulop, municipality of Dumingag, province of Zamboanga del Sur, to be known as the Dulop High School, and appropriating funds therefore.” See for yourself. Go to chanrobles.com and scroll down to view RA6986
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita shows a copy of Proclamation No. 1959 signed on December 4, 2009 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, proclaiming a state of martial law and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the province of Maguindanao, except for certain areas after a press briefing Saturday (December 5) in Malacanang. (Official photo release by the Office of the Press Secretary, photo by Marcelino Pascua)
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera must have caught on to this mistake because in the press conference today at noon in Malacanang Palace, she started by pointing out a “clerical error” in Proclamation 1959. She didn’t apologize or explain the mistake, though. To watch the presscon, go to Dec 5, 2009
She said: “Let me first announce a correction in our Proclamation No. 1959. There is a clerical error on the third ‘Whereas’ clause –instead of RA No. 6989, it should be Act no. 3815 as amended which is the Revised Penal Code.”
What happens now to Zaldy and Andal Ampatuan Sr who were arrested on the basis of this proclamation? Could their wily lawyer Sigfrid Fortun exploit this mistake to point out that their arrests were baseless?
Let’s assume good faith. Perhaps the drafters of the proclamation were sleepy and made a mistake and inverted the numbers?
Sure enough, they did. R.A. 6968 is – “An Act punishing the crime of coup d’etat by amending Articles 134, 135 and 136 of…The Revised Penal Code, and for other purposes.”
This is the same provision in the Revised Penal Code that Devanadera said the Proclamation referred to.
It states how rebellion or insurrection is committed:
“The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising and taking arms against the Government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said Government or its laws, the territory of the Republic of the Philippines or any part thereof, of any body of land, naval or other armed forces, or depriving the Chief Executive or the Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.”
Let’s break down this long sentence,
“The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising and taking arms against the Government…
I’m puzzled by this. It’s now sunset and no armed men – that the military said were massing - have been were arrested in connection with the rebellion.
During the press con, Devanadera justified martial law by saying: “It was a looming and in fact it was already practically an overthrow of government. The courts were not functioning in Maguindanao.”
But she had started her explanation by saying: “There were arrests and there were witnesses that came up and the appropriate charges were filed for multiple murder. ” Didn’t that show a functioning court?
The Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez also rejected Devanadera’s claim of a non-functioning court there. See SC contradicts Palace on judiciary in Maguindanao.
To further justify martial law, she said, “practically the local governments in the whole of Mindanao had been removed from the legitimate government authorities. In fact most of these local government units, even the municipal buildings especially, have closed down. They cease to render government services and there was massing in various parts of heavily armed men.”
Perhaps there is another reason why town halls shut down? Last week, President Arroyo gave Interior and Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno wide supervisory powers over the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which includes Maguindanao. Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde said Puno had the power to suspend all officials of Maguindanao province and relieve all police and military commanders in the area.
Did he or did he not suspend local executives? And didn’t he also have the power to replace them for dereliction of duty?
Today Remonde practically said media should be grateful for martial law. He said “this step is taken by Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in answer to that cry for justice of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”
Unfortunately, the Ampatuans will not be tried by a military court but by a civilian court that could throw out vital evidence just because this was taken in an unconstitutional manner.
I fear this martial law is a set-up. An overkill that will harm the case of the Filipino people against the Ampatuans.
Categories: Ampatuan massacre, Mindanao, Presidential powers - Martial Law | 
Tags: Ampatuan massacre, martial law, Mindanao, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo | 
31 Comments »
To Mzurka: what are you doing mixing with adults! shut yer yap and go home before yor shorts fall off
ooooh mga dimonyo sa lupa payag kayo tawag sa inyo aroyo? kaya pag awayin ka ng aswa mo di dimonyo ang tatawagin sa iyo aroyo ka talaga.
lahat ng dimonyo…. takot kay aroyo baka mapalitan ang tawag sa dimonyo?????? aroyo na ….hhahahahahhah
also, item #42 in page 6 of GMA’s report should have read as Atty. Cynthia J. Oquendo-Ayon, not Ogano.
will repost ur blog in my FB. thanks for sharing.
Hey, everyone! Get a life, ok?!
Undecided, Ermita cited RA6986. You are referring to RA6968. These are 2 different laws and I don’t believe there are two RAs with the same reference number.
correction lng po.sa statement ko. sa pagbasa lng po ang pagkakamali dapat sana R.A 6968
not clerical error . i have researched this issue and there were two R.A 6968 this is what ermita was talking about http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1990/ra_6968_1990.html
Dear Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,
Put-ng Ina mo!!!
Dear everyone,
PGMA does’nt even have the guts to say this in public, proclaiming Martial Law and giving it to Sec Ermita to say this on nationwide television, nasaan siya at ndi siya ang humarap sa sambayanan, nagtatago at natatakot? Kanino? Bkit hindi siy ang humarap sa tao at sabihin nya ito, gaya ng ginawa nya sa “I am sorry”, mabuti na lng at taas noo kong masasabi na hindi ko cya binoto…
Thanks for sharing the link, Brianitus. Cerge Remonde always makes my day.
Hello, Ms. Robles.
Nice revelation on RA 6986 and downright funny. It just shows how stupid the gov’t can get once it’s in “panic mode.”
To add, I’m citing this one:
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002408&Itemid=2
Check out Cerge’s statement after citing the basis for ML: “We believe that this decisive action taken by government will improve the image of government.”
Like, who cares about gov’t image at this point? It’s been long shot to kingdom come.
You are right on the money, Anthony, a classic moro-moro.
Wow, demonyong Arroyo, bilib na bilib ako sa script mo.
I share your view Miss Raissa on this issue…I’ll share this post in my fb. By declaring Martial law and asserting that the crime committed by the Ampatuans is actually Rebellion, this government has practically assured the eventual acquittal of her “friends” by virtue of legal technicalities. A classic “moro-moro” show.
ito yung mga detalye ng mga kaganapan sa loob ng palasyo:
Demonyong Arroyo: “Martial law!!!”
event: nahuli pa ang ibang mga ampatuan.
Demonyong Ampatuan: “Hoy arroyo! bat mo kami hinuli ??! pag hinuli mo kami, isisiwalat ko ang mga katarantaduhan natin. sama – sama tayong babagsak!”
Demonyong Arroyo: “whooop!! o nga pala..wit lang..”
event: si arroyo, tinawag ang mga kampon nya na sina ermita at devanedera
Demonyong Arroyo: “ermita !, devanedera!, babawiin ko ang martial law. sapat na siguro na nakuha ko ang mga puso ng mga tao sa pag deklara ko ng martial law. ngayon naman, babawi tayo sa ampatuan.. papalabasin natin na nagkamali tayo sa pag declare ng martial law.. kelangan mapalaya natin ang mga ampatuan na nahuli during the martial law.. ibubulgar kasi nila tayo e.. mahirap na. .. hahahaha (tawang demonyo) .. kaya ermita at devanedera, suportahan nyo ako, pag panloloko natin sa mga sambayanang pilipino.. (tawang demonyo ule)
…itutuloy ang istorya,, (on going pa kasi yung script, niluluto pa sa malakanyang)
kelangan ko kasi muna ule, makuha ule yung mga puso ng mga tao, para madali ko ule sila maloko ng walang kahirap hirap
sinadya ko yan para kunwari gusto ko silang ipahuli, pero later on, papatakasin ko ang mga ampatuan, kasi natatakot ako, baka isiwalat nila ang mga katarantaduhan namin. –Gloria “demonyo:” arroyo
Dear Bern and everyone,
Pls. feel free to repost.
Writing this blog is my way of giving back to our country.
Raissa
Great incisive article/analysis miss raissa robles! Im sharing ur article in my FB site for friends to read, u are soooo correct! GMA will not make this stupid mistake/s if she was not is so much hurry to cover up the stench not only of the dead bodies in Maguindanao but more so d implications of the imminent spillout of the amapatuans against her. Im sure they were already blackmailing her into turning around, it is actually clear and present danger of rebellion against the president herself, personally that she is afraid of. Declaration of State of Emergency, calling-out powers was not able to do the coverup job, ML and suspension of WHC is needed to seal the garbage bag and ensure that it is burried deeper than that done with the 57 bodies.