Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte might declare nationwide martial law if threatened protests by communists and other leftists against his rule turn violent or disrupt the country, Philippine Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday.
Lorenzana said he believed it was unlikely that martial law would be declared, but said the president was worried about threatened “massive” protests by the left.
“He said, if the left will try to have a massive protest, start fires on the streets, they will disrupt the country, then I might [declare martial law],” Lorenzana told reporters, recounting a conversation with Duterte this week.
“In my opinion, in my estimate the possibility of this happening is very remote, but the president is indeed very concerned because it might get out of hand. So he said: ‘I might declare martial law,’” he added.
A coalition of groups naming themselves the Movement Against Tyranny had announced it was planning protests for Thursday, the 45-year anniversary of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposing his military rule.
It said the protests, to be held at a park in Manila, would voice opposition against Duterte’s war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives, as well as the president’s attacks on democratic institutions.
The coalition also voiced outrage at Duterte’s public support for Marcos, who died in US exile in 1989.
The Movement Against Tyranny includes communists, leftist activists, Catholic bishops and rights groups.
Lorenzana said Duterte told him a public holiday might need to be declared to ensure the public was not caught up in potential trouble arising from protests from the left.
He said Duterte did not specify which day the holiday would have to be declared, but then referenced Thursday’s protest.
Duterte in May had imposed martial law across the southern third of the Philippines after Islamic State group (IS) supporters occupied a major Muslim city there, leading to a conflict that has claimed more than 800 lives.
Duterte in May said that he might expand military rule across the entire country if he believes IS had taken a foothold outside of the southern region of Mindanao.
It was one of many comments since becoming president in which Duterte had warned that martial law might be necessary to solve many of the nation’s problems, including his drug war.
“If I declare martial law, I will finish all the problems, not just drugs,” Duterte said in March.
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