MANILA, Philippines — The threat of declaring martial law and the desire for a one-man rule is not a laughing matter nor should it be exaggerated, Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesperson said on Thursday.
Georgina Hernandez, spokesperson for Robredo, apparently directed the statement to Malacañang after President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, said Robredo "seems to have amplified" concerns over a declaration of Martial Law.
Hernandez said it was not Robredo's intention to make it appear that Duterte was going to declare Martial Law. "President Duterte did that himself," Hernandez said.
"Every time President Duterte has been called out on his comments, it is either dismissed as a joke or said to be taken out of context," she added.
Abella has said that the vice president implied that Duterte is planning to declare Martial Law even "if you read it in context, it was not in that way."
"In context, the President was saying that if Martial Law was taken for what it was supposed to be, which is to protect and preserve the safety of the people, then it should be facilitated," Abella said at a press briefing last Tuesday.
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Martial Law was declared in 1972 by then President Ferdinand Marcos over a supposed security threat by communist rebels. What followed were years of suspension of ordinary laws, rule of the military, human rights abuses and a strongman government.
Hernandez said the topic should not be toyed with.
"The threat of Martial Law and the desire for a one-man rule can never be a laughing matter. Nor can the threat be exaggerated. VP Leni’s statement was clear in one thing: no matter what is thrown at us, we will stand fast in defending our freedom and our rights as Filipinos," she said.
Hernandez urged the public not to let Martial Law happen again. "The sooner this message sinks in, the better for all," she added.