In a 'state of denial'

Although martial law in Maguindanao has been lifted eight days after it was first imposed, it is deemed necessary to recall the reasons why it was done so in the first place. From hindsight, it might perhaps give us an idea of the seriousness of the problem we have, about the proliferation of loose firearms and armed groups in the hands of political warlords. They must certainly be closely monitored — if not disbanded like the Ampatuans in Maguindanao — as they pose grave threats to our national security.

The President’s decision to subsequently lift martial law in Maguindanao under Proclamation 1963, however, rendered “moot and academic” at least seven petitions filed against it at the Supreme Court. It also cut short the joint congressional session that ended without voting on whether or not to revoke President Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation 1959 on Dec. 4 that placed Maguindanao, “except in certain areas,” under martial law.

But the High Tribunal still gave last week due course to these petitions. The SC, headed by chief justice Reynato Puno, required the government to submit their comment on these petitions. The SC has given all parties concerned 20 days from Dec. 8 to comment on this “moot” issue. The 15-man High Tribunal would take them up on Jan.5 when they hold their first en banc hearing on Proclamation 1959.

The SC must really still take this matter up, especially after the country’s judicial system came under a cloud of doubt anew. The withdrawal last week from the Ampatuan case by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 94 Judge Luisito Cortez shook public opinion on the members of the judiciary.

A tougher woman QC RTC judge, Jocelyn Solis-Reyes accepted the assignment in her sala after the case was re-raffled.

Cortez publicly admitted fear for his life as the reason for his withdrawal from the Ampatuan case. It shocked even no less than the SC chief justice who went to the QC Hall of Justice to conduct dialogue with the 24 RTC judges, including Cortez. This reason, though, cited by Cortez is unacceptable considering the record of cases being tried in his sala, including the celebrated Bersamin assassination case involving long-standing feud among political warlords in Abra.

We do not wish to under-rate the gravity of whatever the reason of Judge Cortez is, for withdrawing from the Ampatuan case. But it was a confirmation of how the judicial functions have been unduly weakened by guns, goons and gold.

In one of the “Whereas” clauses of Proclamation 1959, President Arroyo cited the breakdown of the judicial system in Maguindanao as one of the grounds for declaring martial law in the province. As the Commander-in-Chief, she found the need to invoke her powers under our country’s 1987 Constitution, to declare martial law precisely because of such a precarious situation that must be immediately addressed with extreme measure.

“Whereas, the condition of peace and order in the province of Maguindanao has deteriorated to the extent that the local judicial system and other government mechanisms in the province are not functioning, thus endangering public safety,” Proclamation 1959 stated.

This came in the aftermath of the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao. A band of armed men led by Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. killed 57 people in a caravan, including about 27 members of local and national media.

In the follow-up operations, police and military authorities further discovered caches of high-powered firearms and ammunitions also buried in the properties of the Ampatuans. The Ampatuan arsenals were more than enough to supply powerful guns and ammunition to one battalion of about 1,000 soldiers and police. The National Bureau of Investigation could not even get the local registrar’s office to issue death certificates for the slain victims also due to fear of retaliation by the Ampatuans.

What finally proved to be the last straw was after Department of Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera who flew all the way to Maguindanao could not even find a single judge in Cotabato City to issue warrants of arrest and search and seizure orders. Devanadera had to fly back to Manila to ask the direct intervention of the SC and transfer the cases of the Ampatuans in Metro Manila.

But SC official spokesman Midas Marquez vehemently denied Devanadera’s statement. He pointed out the SC, in fact, immediately granted the request of the DOJ chief to assign a Cotabato judge to issue warrants of arrest against the Ampatuans.

He recalled that the SC chief justice had assigned Judge Melanio Guerrero of Sultan Kudarat as acting presiding judge of Cotabato RTC Branch 15, which has been vacant before the massacre took place. However, Judge Guerrero reportedly does not want to stay in Cotabato and also has to attend to pending cases in his original court in Sultan Kudarat.

The DOJ chief filed the criminal information initially for 25 counts of murder against Andal Jr. before the sala of Judge Guerrero. Acting on these cases, Marquez said Judge Guerrero has already issued a commitment order and even set hearing on Ampatuan’s petition for bail. He also noted that the same judge had also issued six search warrants and started processing other applications. “This, to my mind is far from a picture of a non-functioning judicial system,” Marquez stressed.

Talking from the comforts of his air-conditioned office in Padre Faura, the SC spokesman obviously miscalculated the gravity of the situation. Speaking in defense of the court system, Marquez is in a state of denial. Has he not heard about judges and lawyers being killed for cases they handle?

Thus, it would do our country good if the SC would take up the petitions against Proclamation 1959. This way, our justices would not only delve deep into the constitutionality and legality of Proclamation 1959 but would also be compelled to look into their own courtyards.

The funny end of this martial law brouhaha was that the Senate jumped the gun on the SC and usurped a function of a co-equal branch of government. Eighteen Senators signed a Resolution that declared “unconstitutional” Proclamation 1959. If the SC spokesman is in a state of denial, our 18 Honorable Senators must be in a state of confusion. It’s a good thing, however, that Maguindanao remains under state of emergency even as martial law is already lifted.