ATENEO STUDENT representatives heightened their call to fellow Ateneans to remain vigilant, and recognize the value of human dignity and democracy in light of President Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law declaration in Mindanao on May 23.

Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law following the attacks of the Maute terrorist group in Marawi.

Voting 11-3-1, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the validity of the president’s Proclamation No. 216, declaring martial law and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao.

On July 20, Duterte asked Congress for an extension of martial law in Mindanao until December 31, 2017. The Senate and House of Representatives convened on July 22 and granted Duterte’s request, with a total of 261 lawmakers voting for extension.

Deepening democracy

Sanggunian President Ia Marañon and Vice President (VP) Benjamin Alvero released a joint statement on the day the SC upheld Duterte’s declaration, “calling it a failure in democracy.”

“Martial law in the whole of Mindanao severely impedes freedoms, mostly unnecessarily so. We stand by the position that the declaration of Martial [Law] is not the proper response to the crisis in Marawi and in the insecurity of Mindanao,” the statement read.

Marañon and Alvero called upon their constituents “to remain vigilant of the current national situation,” imploring them “to wait for information before making judgments.”

School Representatives Ferdy Acosta of the School of Humanities, Alec Lim of the John Gokongwei School of Management, Neicy Pilarca of the School of Science and Engineering, and Dasha Uy of the School of Social Sciences stressed the importance of holding the national government accountable in line with the President’s call for the extension of martial law.

“It’s extremely important to keep in mind that martial law is not the end-all solution to all of Mindanao’s problems. True peace and order will not be achieved in this way,” they said in a joint statement sent to The GUIDON.

As soon as martial law was declared, the Sanggunian immediately called for donations of clothes, Halal canned goods, bottled water, and toiletries for Marawi victims from May 24-30.

Meanwhile, Janus Maclang, Vice President for Research Advocacy and Politicization of The Ateneo Assembly, said they believe the country has failed to consistently keep democracy inclusive since the 1986 EDSA Revolution, and that issues in Mindanao have been “kept in the backseat.”

“Essentially, the socioeconomic conditions that led to the rise of populism within different countries [are] just symptoms of a culmination of a long-standing system and the failure to deepen democracy,” he added.

Maclang reminded the Ateneo community of the importance of upholding democracy, especially in terms of asserting one’s right to dissent.

“The call for us now is not to defend democracy, because democracy isn’t an on or off switch. When we deposed martial law in 1986, that was only the beginning of a new form of democracy. [However,] we always need to remake ourselves, and remake our nation in order to deepen that democracy,” he said.

Marañon, Alvero, and Maclang generally agreed that martial law may still be justifiable in Marawi since this is the conflict area, but not necessarily in the entire Mindanao.

Value of education

Salaam Movement President Datu Amir Wagas noted that the situation in Marawi is a “reminder of the dangers of extremism and radicalism among the Muslim youth,” and how there is a deficiency in proper religious education in such areas.

“When you have weak educational institutions, [and] lack of support for mainstream moderate scholars, you will have generations which are distant from the guidance of these scholars, especially in regards to their understanding of Islam,” he said.

Wagas explained the importance of proper communication and education about the Muslim faith to all.

“I think that, with all the atrocities that are happening right now because of terrorism, the fear, the hatred, the anger, it’s very easy to not listen to reason anymore and to generalize people and attribute them to stereotypes,” he said.

“This is a calling for Muslims, Christians, and all members of the community to come together, and to educate one another, in order to know what the problem [is] and deal with the problem. We still go back to our principle that education really is the key,” he added.

Upholding human dignity

Meanwhile, Council of Organizations of the Ateneo’s Sector-Based Cluster (COA-SBC) Head Gabrielle Gabaton said that they are against the armed conflict in Marawi and “how human dignity is not upheld in these areas.”

“The reason why our organizations go to area is because we want to work with the sectors and to uphold the value of human dignity. We see the youth [in Mindanao] psychologically affected with this crisis, and being traumatized hinders them from being productive members of the country,” she said.

Additionally, COA-SBC conducted a special donation drive from July 3-7, calling for clothes, books, toys, and art materials for the children of Marawi. As of writing, the donations are still in the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and are scheduled to be transported by the first week of August to Iligan City evacuation centers.

Gabaton also said that SBC is currently drafting a set of core values that emphasize their common goal of upholding human dignity, especially in light of the crisis. This is expected to be released within the first semester.

Protecting IPs

For Coalition of Ateneans for Indigenous Peoples (CAIP) co-heads Kristine Go and Karen Bangsoy, the imposition of martial law in Mindanao may worsen the conflict between indigenous peoples (IPs) and state forces, adding that their struggles “should not be forgotten in the fight against terrorism.”

“There are going to be difficulties with regard to how the IPs will place themselves in an increasingly divided Mindanao without displacing themselves from the struggles that are unique to them,” said Go.

Bangsoy added that the imposition of martial law is “uncalled for and unjustified,” and that the initial reports which detailed only a few number of terrorists contradict the actions of the President.

“The broad scope of [martial law] is a disproportionate response to the crisis. Moreover, it is prone to abuse by state forces against perceived ‘threats’ which may be unrelated to the crisis,” she said. There have been reports of alleged human rights violations during the current imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao, but most are still unreported.

‘Separate’ joint statement?

Meanwhile, a mini-controversy ensued from Marañon and Alvero’s joint statement, as it was posted before the full text of the SC’s decision was published, and because other Sanggunian units seemed to be excluded from it.

According to Marañon and Alvero, they believe that the SC’s announcement prompted a swift response. They said it did not mean to exclude any unit of the Sanggunian.

She also noted that the Sanggunian has autonomous units that have the capacity to act independently with consideration to their core principles and values.

“We are composed of different offices with different opinions and ideas. It would be a violation of the idea of democracy to insist on conformity and to suppress individual or unit creativity and expression,” she said.

As they were not consulted on the release of the stand, the school representatives said that the president and VP issued them an internal apology for the “lack of coordination and consultation.” They also “immediately asserted” that the highest ranking officials of the Sanggunian “must represent the student body responsibly and amplify the voice of the LS student body.”

While there may be differences in opinion on the content of the stand itself, the school representatives said that they “still fully support” the Sanggunian president and VP.

The school representatives also voiced their desire to further improve the statement-releasing process by setting up a system that would involve more students’ voices via channels such as organizations.