Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted that there was no reason for Duterte to declare martial law nationwide.
“The president has repeatedly said he will not declare nor is inclined to declare martial law nationwide,” Panelo told Manila Times in a text message.
Panelo also said such declaration, particularly its extension in Mindanao, would depend on the recommendation of the state forces.
“The extension or lifting martial law in Mindanao will depend on the assessment and recommendation of the military and the police on the ground,” he said.
Armed Forces Chief Carlito Galvez Jr claimed that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was trying to create chaos and force Duterte to declare martial law across the country.
Galvez said the political death trap for the president was part of the ouster plot of the communists.
Then Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the executive branch supported the military’s statement that the communists were “pushing the president to place the country under martial law.”
But Roque maintained that the government would not fall for the rebel’s ruse.
“By sowing chaos through its ‘Red October’ ouster plot, the CPP hopes that a nationwide martial law declaration would spark people’s outrage. We will therefore not fall into this trap hatched by the enemies of the State,” he said.
The president claimed that the communist rebels were conniving with opposition forces in a plot to overthrow his government next month.
He later said some members of the military were also in cahoots with these forces.
Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law on May 23, 2017 following the attack of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group in Marawi City.
The martial law proclamation was extended until the end of the year supposedly to suppress lawless violence and rebellion in Mindanao.
On Thursday, Panelo said the Palace was open to the possibility of extending martial law in Mindanao if such declaration will help maintain peace and order in the conflict-stricken region.
“According to the military, the (Mindanao) martial law has helped in the peace and order situation. And it has dissuaded the terrorists from inflicting the usual violence against the population… If it is helping the population, the population is not even opposing it, so to my mind, there is a need to extend it,” Panelo said.
“But according to the president, it will depend on the advice, the recommendation of the military because they are the ones on the ground,”
he added.
