Malacanang said on Monday the issuance of a memorandum, increasing the number of government forces in certain areas in Visayas and in Bicol region, was for transparency.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Memorandum Order No. 32 was issued last week because President Rodrigo Duterte did not want his directive to be verbal only.

"Of course, you have to direct your forces. You cannot just do that orally and what areas they’re going to. You need to reduce that into writing so that there will be guidance to all of them where they will have to go, and what acts they should perform and acts that they should not do," he said.

"In other words, that’s transparency which they’re always complaining about, that sometimes the government does not do," said Panelo, also chief presidential legal counsel.

Some quarters, including some lawmakers, have criticized Duterte for the issuance of MO 32.

Senator Panfilo Lacson has said an MO to order deployment of more troops in Samar, Negros Oriental, and Negros Occidental, all in Visayas, and the Bicol region to suppress lawless violence was not necessary.

Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison has accused that the issuance of MO 32 was a prelude to an expected declaration of martial law nationwide.

Currently, Mindanao is under martial rule due to the attack of Maute-ISIS terrorists in Marawi City last year. Celerina Monte/DMS