By Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

THE SUPREME COURT en banc on Tuesday, Feb. 6, dismissed by a vote of 10-5 the consolidated petitions against the full-year extension of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao.

The Congress in joint session on Dec. 13, 2017, voted 240-27 to extend martial rule in Mindanao from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 this year.

“Wherefore, the Court finds sufficient factual bases for the issuance of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 4 and declares it as constitutional,” the order read. “Accordingly, the consolidated Petitions are hereby dismissed.”

The petitions were filed by the groups of Albay Representative Edcel C. Lagman, Bayan Muna chair Neri J. Colmenares, lawyer Christian S. Monsod, and Eufemia Campos Cullamat, a leader of the indigenous peoples in Mindanao.

The decision, penned for the majority by Associate Justice Noel G. Tijam, noted, among other substantive issues, the Constitution’s silence “on how many times Congress may extend a proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus” and added that the period for the extension of the proclamation is left to the discretion of the Congress.

“If the Constitutional Commission had intended to limit any extension to 60 days, it would have been expressly stated and would not have been left to Congress,” the decision stated.

The Court further said that “facts presented by the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)” and persisting “rebellion that spawned the Marawi incident” provided “sufficient factual bases to extend Proclamation No. 216,” issued by President Rodrigo R. Duterte at the start of the Marawi siege on May 23 last year.

“When the President and Congress ascertain whether public safety requires the declaration and extension of martial law, they do so by calibrating not only the present state of public safety but the further repercussions of the actual rebellion to public safety in the future as well,” the high court added.

The en banc also said the choice to use military powers to curb rebellion “is a prerogative of the President.”

Moreover, the “[t]he claims of violation of human rights are speculative and lack a nexus between the exercise of martial law powers and their apprehension of such violations,” the high court said.

The court stressed that the “manner of Congress’ deliberation with respect to the President’s request (to extend martial law) is not subject to judicial review,” with Congress having its own authority and powers.

To this, Solicitor General Jose C. Calida expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court for voting “in favor of the government.”

“This legal victory will usher in the prosperity of Mindanao after the rebellion is quelled,” Mr. Calida said.

For his part, Mr. Lagman said in a statement: “The majority of the Supreme Court justices can be supreme even in their error.”

“When the majority of the justices of the Supreme Court fall in cadence with the President and the Congress in violating the Constitution, then the country is abandoned in the quagmire of tripartite derogation of the people’s civil liberties,” he added.

Lawyer Edre U. Olalia, one of the counsels of Mr. Colmenares’s group, said that the decision was “[n]ot really totally unexpected but somehow still unbelievable.”

“The discretion is so unbridled that Martial Law can be imposed anytime, anywhere, ad infinitum and effectively without limitations other than the [token] formalities in the Constitution,” Mr. Olalia noted in a text message.

Associate Justices Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado M. Peralta, Lucas P. Bersamin, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Estela M. Perlas Bernabe, Samuel R. Martires, Andres B. Reyes Jr., and Alexander G. Gesmundo concurred in the ponencia.

On the other hand, the dissenting justices are: Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Associate Justices Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Francis H. Jardeleza, and Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa.

CHINA’S CONTINUED reclamation in the South China Sea has eroded trust among claimants and could raise regional tensions, Southeast Asian foreign ministers said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered that any scientific exploration in Benham Rise, northeast of the Philippines, will now be exclusive to Filipino scientists, his spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Mr. Duterte’s latest position on Benham Rise comes in the wake of an exclusive report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on China’s extensive fortification in the Spratly and Paracel Islands west of the Philippines. These developments were earlier cited by a report last December by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, dating the fortifications to 2017, Mr. Duterte’s second year in office.

Mr. Roque, however, attributed these developments in the disputed South China Sea to the time of Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno S.C. Aquino III — who, on the other hand, had challenged China in an arbitral court that eventually ruled in the Philippines’ favor in July 2016, soon after Mr. Duterte assumed office. Mr. Duterte has set aside the ruling in his pivot to China.

In Singapore, the ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not mention China by name in their statement after a one-day meeting.

But in a statement by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, they “took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region.”

China claims nearly all of the disputed waters and has been turning reefs and islets into islands and installing military facilities and equipment on them. ASEAN members Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as Taiwan also have partial claims.

Following a meeting with ASEAN last year, China agreed to begin talks on a much-delayed code of conduct for the sea, which Mr. Balakrishnan warned would be a “complicated negotiation.”

“Territorial claims will not be resolved just because you have a (code of conduct),” he said.

“Second, there will be no shortage of very sensitive issues that will take a lot of innovation and imagination on the part of the diplomats, and ultimately an exercise of political will,” he told a press briefing.

ASEAN defense ministers also held a meeting in the city-state, the current chair of the group, including a special session with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan.

Regarding Benham Rise, Mr. Duterte’s spokesman said “all licenses for scientific research are deemed canceled, although all research activities in the area had already been concluded.” He also said Mr. Duterte wants Benham Rise to be called “the Philippine Rise,” as Manila renamed last year.

Whether foreign ships are still free to navigate the area, the spokesman said: “Well, of course, under UNCLOS (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) everyone is entitled to freedom of navigation because this is (the country’s) exclusive economic zone. So navigation can proceed; but, henceforth, no scientific research will be allowed and no other foreign entity will be allowed to explore and exploit our natural resources in the area.”

In a Facebook post, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said Mr. Duterte had “ordered the cessation of all marine explorations and studies by foreign scientists and directed the Philippine Navy to “chase out” any vessel fishing or conducting researches in the 13 million hectare continental shelf east of Luzon formerly called the Benham Rise.”

In 2012, the United Nations declared Benham Rise, northeast of the Philippines, part of its continental shelf.

The area is roughly the size of Greece and believed to be rich in biodiversity and tuna. Scientists from the United States and Japan have surveyed it numerous times.

However, Chinese interest, including some 18 official requests in 17 years, has caused concern among Philippine nationalists mistrustful of its intentions after decades of disputes and perceived encroachments by Beijing in the South China Sea.

According to Mr. Roque, there were more than 30 permits issued to foreign research groups from 2000 to the present, and all of them have already concluded their exploration activities at Benham Rise.

Mr. Roque confirmed that China’s research vessel Ke Xue Hao has already left the Philippine waters after it concluded its research.

“The Chinese concluded the research. So now that everyone is done, only Filipinos can conduct research in the area according to the president,” the spokesman said.

Last month, it was Magdalo Party-list Representative Gary C. Alejano who disclosed that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had allowed the Institute of Oceanology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IO-CAS) to conduct marine scientific research in the area.

Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV said he plans to pursue a Senate investigation by the end of this month.

“In a Senate hearing, our scientists and experts will have the opportunity to present their current findings and plans to study and develop the Philippine rise,” he said. — reports by AFP, Reuters, Arjay L. Balinbin and Camille A. Aguinaldo

By Camille A. Aguinaldo

MEDICAL EXPERTS on Tuesday allayed the fears of parents whose children received the Dengvaxia vaccine, saying there was no need to panic over the reported dengue-related deaths of vaccinated children.

“There is no basis to panic. Based on our calculations and the results of the clinical trials in general, (the vaccine) is safe because many children at that age would be seropositive. But our problem is there is a 10% to 20% or maybe 30% that they are seronegative,” infectious disease expert Mary Ann Lansang said at the resumption of the Senate hearing on the controversial anti-dengue program.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a seropositive individual has had a previous dengue infection while a seronegative individual has not had a previous dengue infection.

Ms. Lansang also pointed out that the final results from the dengue investigative task force have yet to be released as to whether the reported deaths were caused by the vaccine itself or a wild type of dengue.

For her part, Dr. Juliet Sio-Aguilar of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) said, “There is no need (to panic). Because of the many children who were injected with Dengvaxia, normal diseases will occur with or without Dengvaxia.”

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III testified that he has received reports from the Central Luzon Region that the coverage of the Health department’s immunization program has declined from 87% in 2017 to 57% in 2018 because parents refused to have their children vaccinated.

Parents in Davao City also declined from having their children take other vaccines, Mr. Duque noted.

“We see now very serious implications of this and I think this is fanned unnecessarily by the hysterics that seem to come from certain quarters. This is not fair,” he said.

“It behooves upon us to band together and only allow information that is evidence-based and truly scientific based. So this is very important and I appeal to everyone especially those whom we occasionally see on TV,” he added.

Mr. Duque also told senators that Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre would have the forensic experts of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe the issue this time.

Health advocate Anthony C. Leachon said parents were alarmed on the anti-dengue vaccine because there was a lack of “urgent justice.”

“Then the trust in the vaccination program of the DoH and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) can only be regained if there’s urgent justice, there’s indemnification,” he said.

In an interview with reporters, Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, who chairs the committee on health, appealed to medical experts to band together in order to ease concerns of parents over the vaccine.

“We have to address anxiety and the worries of the parents,” he said.

The DoH has suspended its anti-dengue immunization program following the analysis of Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur that the vaccine may pose health risks for those vaccinated without having dengue.

Initial findings by the UP-PGH revealed that two of the 14 cases of dengue deaths may be due to vaccine failure. However, the expert panel stressed that they need further studies to validate their results.

Also at the hearing, the Senate blue ribbon committee, chaired by Senator Richard J. Gordon is set to issue a subpoena to Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida V. Rueda-Acosta and PAO’s forensic consultant Erwin P. Erfe after failing to attend anew the legislative inquiry into the Dengvaxia controversy.

The hearing will resume on Feb. 21.