House overwhelmingly supports martial law extension-Alvarez

MANILA , Philippines —  Members of the House of Representatives strongly supports the one-year  martial law extension in Mindanao.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in a text message to Newsline.ph said majority of the Congressmen manifested full support during the all-party caucus held Monday with Malacanang officials.

When asked, will  members of the  House of Representatives support Martial law extension? Alvarez said “yes”.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas told reporters members of the House of Representatives are “overwhelmingly in favor” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s request for a full-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.

“The general sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the extension especially from the members of Mindanao,” Fariñas said.

It was Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea who  gave the assurance that they were addressing all of this.

Among those who attended the briefing include Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Undersecretary Eduardo Año and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will  convene in a joint session Wednesday to decide on whether or not to approve Duterte’s request for a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.

Last Monday, December 11, the Palace transmitted the letter of President Rodrig Duterte to the House of Representatives  and the Senate asking the two chambers to  extend the declaration of martial law in the whole of Mindanao for the entirety of 2018 to totally eradicate terror threats posed by remnants of Islamic State (IS)-linked terrorists and by communist rebels in the region.

In asking for extension, Duterte emphasized the security threat in the island of Mindanao and the need to crush the rebellion in Mindanao and ensure public safety.

Duterte emphasized the need to extend citing intelligence reports that remnants of the ]IS-inspired extremists are recruiting and training new members drawing sympathies out of teh Marawi situation.-Editha Z. Caduaya/Newsline.ph