Palace denies de facto martial law in place

MANILA, Philippines - It is curfew, not martial law, that is being enforced in Tacloban City and in other areas in Leyte battered by killer typhoon Yolanda, Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas clarified yesterday.

Roxas made the clarification in reaction to a report that devastated areas in Leyte were under a de facto martial law.

“That’s wrong. We were talking about curfew. I said there is a de facto curfew,” Roxas said in a text message to The STAR.

Asked by CNN’s Andrew Stevens whether martial law should be declared now that a curfew is in force, Roxas said: “Well, even the curfew is de facto, not de jure because the city council cannot get a quorum because they themselves are victims.” He told CNN that 1,000 more policemen had been brought in to keep order in devastated areas.

He said he was surprised that the Palace had to issue its own denial that a de facto martial law had been declared over the Leyte capital.           

“I didn’t say there is martial law. What I said was local officials asked for it and the President just listened to them. I did not say that he OK’d their recommendation,” he said.

The DILG chief said Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tacloban Mayor Albert Romualdez asked the President last Sunday to declare martial law. “He just listened and assured them of all out support,” Roxas said. Roxas was in Leyte along with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

At Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that while there is no martial law in Leyte, “we have been beefing up police and military presence there in response to the concerns of the citizens.”

“There are some reports that have actually mentioned that but as far as we’re concerned we just want to make sure, Secretary Roxas wants to make sure that the security situation is substantial in those particular areas as ordered by the President,” Valte said.

Valte told a news briefing, however, that she was not aware that the term de facto came from Roxas himself, particularly because the DILG secretary was quoted directly by CNN.

She said the context within which Roxas used the term was in reply to CNN’s question whether there was a need “to override the bureaucracy when it comes to the systems that are in place for relief.”