Writing last night amid reports that martial law had been declared in Maguindanao, University of the Philippines’ College of Law dean Marvic Leonen said any declaration by President Arroyo must be viewed in light of demands for justice arising from the Ampatuan massacre and the constitutional requirements 

“Martial law cannot be proclaimed to cover up the lack of professional competence in the gathering, preservation, evaluation of evidence and in the arrest and detention of the perpetrators,” Leonen wrote.

According to Leonen, “under the 1987 Constitution, martial law can only be declared in cases of invasion or rebellion and only when public safety demands it. Rebellion requires that there is at least a taking up of arms publicly directed against an existing government. Martial law cannot be declared because the state has failed to prevent massive human rights violations by leaders that the national government itself has nurtured”.

Activist group Bayan meanwhile called on the Philippine Congress to invalidate President Arroyo’s martial law declaration, saying it was “both dangerous and questionable”.

In a statement, Bayan said “the Constitution says Martial Law can only be declared during an invasion or during a rebellion. The failure of civilian government institutions, as in the case of the local government offices and courts in Maguindanao, cannot be used as a pretext for declaring Martial Law. The difficulty of gathering evidence, securing warrants and enforcing arrests also cannot be used as a basis for the declaration.”

“Martial Law cannot solve the problem of state-sponsored warlordism and violence in the province. Martial Law will always lead to abuses because those implementing it, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, have very poor human rights records,” said the group.

Bayan also warned “That Martial Law has been declared in a province less than six months before the national elections raises fresh fears that similar scenarios can also follow, thus severely undermining the conduct of the 2010 polls. We must not allow this scenario to be replicated in other regions for whatever pretexts.”