MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is embarking on a “flawed policy of destroy and compensate” in Marawi City, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.
“The havoc being inflicted on Marawi City is not principally the result of terrorist assault but primarily of air strikes and land offensive of government forces,” Albay Representative Edcel Lagman pointed out. “No place in Mindanao has been destroyed before with excessive gravity by terrorist attacks compared to the massive destruction brought about by the military might in Marawi City.”
Lagman and five other opposition lawmakers filed one of three petitions asking the Supreme Court to nullify Proclamation 216, through which Duterte placed the whole of Mindanao under martial law amd suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus after fighting broke out in Marawi between extremist gunmen and government forces on May 23.
Lagman maintained that martial law was unnecessary and had actually worsened the situation.
“The armed forces should have been allowed to subdue lawless violence without the pointless impetus and disastrous consequences of military rule,” he said.
As the fighting enters its fourth week, Duterte has begun distributing cash to civilians displaced by the violence. Evacuees in various makeshift centers have also begun suffering from disease and dehydration.
The government has said it plans to spend P10 billion to rehabilitate Marawi City.
