Military studying if martial law can be lifted in Davao
The military is conducting security assessment for possible lifting of martial law in Davao City.
"It will depend on our assessment, we'll have a meeting maybe with the security sector of Davao City as recommended by the mayor, we'll have our recommendation," said Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command chief, Monday.
"We are continuously asssessing, the assessment is continuous and on the right time we will all agree, including the local government executives, on what will be the recommendation," he added.
Santos also emphasized the significant improvement on security situation within the city.
"As of now we have a very good development within Davao City, in the whole area of Davao City including the district," he said.
"For Davao City, we have a very good insurgency situation right now especially in Pacquibato district which is formerly a red area....We have cleared them of armed insurgents because with the leadership of Mayor Sarah ( Duterte-Carpio) they have Peace 911 who are dealing with the development within the communities," he added.
Last week, Duterte-Carpio expressed her plan to lift martial law in the city and other areas. Mindanao has been under martial law since 2017
Arsenio Andolong, Department of National Defense (DND) spokesman said the department "takes cognizance of Mayor Duterte's desire to lift Martial Law in Davao City and other areas that are relatively peaceful."
"We value the wisdom and firsthand knowledge of our local executives of the prevailing security environment in their respective communities and we always take their observations and recommendations into consideration," he said.
"The lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao is constantly being evaluated by the Defense Department and there are regular consultations with the AFP and PNP regarding this," he added.
Andolong said even Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had said he may recommend the lifting of martial law in southern Philippines by next month.
"In fact, we would like to lift martial law in Mindanao as soon as possible but this should only be done after a complete assessment and validation by the security sector and local governments before it is recommend to the President," he said.
"It will be recalled that Lorenzana told the Supreme Court in February of this year that he would recommend the lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao by July 1 if amendments to the existing Human Security Act were passed by the legislature. Unfortunately, it didn't happen," he added. Robina Asido/DMS
