Philippine opposition ask Supreme Court to reject Duterte’s martial law in restive south

Philippine opposition lawmakers on Monday asked the Supreme Court to reject President Rodrigo Duterte’s imposition of martial law in the south of the country, branding it unconstitutional.

Duterte declared military rule across the region of Mindanao, home to about 20 million people, on May 23 to quell what he said was a fast-growing threat from the Islamic State (IS) group there.

Duterte made the declaration a few hours after militants flying black IS flags rampaged through the southern city of Marawi, triggering clashes with security forces that are still ongoing and have left at least 178 people dead.

The petition filed with the Supreme Court on Monday said martial law should be struck down for “utter lack of sufficient factual basis”, as it drew parallels with ex-dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s military rule a generation ago.

“The grim spectre of repression, atrocities, injustice and corruption again bedevils the Filipino people with the unwarranted, precipitate and unconstitutional declaration of martial law,” said the petition, filed by six congressmen.