President Duterte is unlikely to declare martial law to boost the government’s “harsher” war on illegal drugs, Malacañang said yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that the President believes the anti-drug crackdown could be intensified using other measures, such as stepping up intelligence work to destroy the drug apparatus.
“I don’t think so, because he doesn’t have to. We are containing it given the figures – official figures,” Panelo said during a Palace press briefing when asked if Duterte will use martial law for the drug war.
Panelo, however, argued that the President could use his powers such as the martial law declaration, under the Constitution to protect public safety if necessary. The President has the constitutional mandate to serve and protect the people, he added.
“If the public safety requires him to do something extraordinary using his powers under the Constitution, he will do that,” Panelo said. “If there is rebellion, and there is eminence, and the public safety requires – then the President can do that. But according to him, he will not, he will not because he has still many measures that he can do to quell the present threat on the drug industry,” he said about the use of martial law.
The President recently declared that the government’s drug war would be “harsher in the days to come” following the reported presence of two foreign drug cartels. The drug problem, he said, has been elevated to a national security threat due to the adverse impact on Filipino families. (Genalyn Kabiling)