Allaying fears that the extended martial law may result in human rights abuses similar to those during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. maintained that Duterte’s declaration was leagues apart from Marcos’ Proclamation No. “So, if there’s factual basis, then he can impose martial law nationwide ‘no. “We’ll just need to be able to deal with threats as they happen… something that may not happen unless martial law is around,” he added. Though the only requirement is it must be registered with the Human Rights Council and there must be legal basis for it,” he explained. The Human Rights Council can review the factual basis for the derogation of freedom of expression, Roque said.

Source: Philippine Star December 14, 2017 18:33 UTC