AFP, MANILAPhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte would lift martial law in the southern Philippines by year’s end, his spokesman said yesterday, more than two years after it was imposed in an attempt to stop the Islamic State (IS) group gaining a foothold there. Martial law had allowed the military to establish control with measures like curfews, checkpoints and gun controls in a nation where many civilians own firearms, either legally or illegally. However, martial law is a contentious issue in a country ruled for 20 years by former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, who Duterte has hailed as the greatest leader the Asian nation ever had. The Philippine Congress allowed Duterte to extend martial rule over the entire south after government forces recaptured Marawi, ignoring opposition warnings of a creep toward authoritarian rule. Philippine Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana earlier told reporters that he had advised Duterte against prolonging martial rule over the region.
