The Supreme Court ordered the Office of the Solicitor General on Wednesday to submit the reports given by the Department of National Defense to Congress on the implementation of martial law in Mindanao from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018.
Legal sources said the reports submitted by the DND were used as bases by Congress to extend the implementation of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus until the end of this year.
In a resolution, Solicitor General Jose C. Calida was directed to submit the DND’s monthly or periodic reports “which may involve highly sensitive and confidential matters affecting the security of the State” not later than Friday.
“The Members of the Court will make a preliminary assessment whether or not the said reports may only be appropriately discussed and deliberated upon in an executive session,” the resolution stated.
It mandated Calida that “the submission must be made in 15 sealed copies and in the manner consistent with the prevailing government security requirements for said confidential or classified information, to be filed directly with the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc only for the Members of the Court.”
The resolution was issued in line with the petitions that assailed the constitutionality of the extension of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2019. (Rey Panaligan)
