Philippine Congress votes to extend martial law in south
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Congress voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in the south by a year after the military warned that terrorist threats continue in the region despite the defeat of a disastrous siege by pro-Islamic State group militants.
A majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives — with 240 voting to approve and 27 opposing — backed the extension of martial law across the Mindanao region through the end of 2018. The vote followed warnings by Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other officials that IS-linked militants were trying to recover from their defeat in southern Marawi city and were plotting new attacks.
“The rebellion has not stopped, it has just moved to another place,” Lorenzana told lawmakers in a special joint session.
Duterte thanked Congress in a speech at an army ceremony where hundreds of rifles and other weapons used by the extremists in Marawi were destroyed with a road roller. Asked by reporters about the prospects of martial law being imposed nationwide, the president said it cannot be ruled out if the country’s survival is at stake.