In effect, Duterte, backed by the Supreme Court, has produced what I call the small-dosage martial law, or martial law express—in the same manner restaurant chains, supermarkets, or even banks call their small branches “express,” because they are not the regular thing that people are used to. So now we have a low-level martial law, not the martial law that people were used to—and feared—for a long time. This is the Ferdinand Marcos martial law, which was declared from Sept. 21, 1972 and extended until 1981 when he theoretically lifted it. Martial law express came about because Solicitor General Jose Calida could not tell the high court, during the three days of oral arguments in June, what the difference is between martial law and the calling-out power of the President. Martial law express has three major limits.

Source: The Standard July 11, 2017 15:56 UTC