State of Lawlessness/Lawless Violence Versus Proclamation of Martial Law
Hours after Davao City's night market was blasted on September 2, 2016, Friday, which claimed 14 lives and injured more than 60 others, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte declared a State of Lawlessness in the island of Mindanao. A lot of people were clueless as to what the state of lawlessness is. Some have speculated that it might be the same as the MARTIAL LAW. image taken from www.youtube.com The 1987 Philippine Constitution, specifically in Section 18 of Article VII, provides the power of the President as a Commander-in-Chief to call for a state of lawlessness or lawless violence. What is given in the constitution is not the state of lawlessness but a state of lawless violence. Thus, "The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion." In essence, the armed forc...