The CHR has taken a position from the first instance when the Marawi Siege had began in May 2017 that it believes that the Government has the ability to exercise law enforcement powers to quell any threats without the need to invoke the extraordinary powers of Martial Law and more so now that the Martial Law administrators have asserted that the Maute threat that prompted the declaration has been quelled. There is a danger in ‘normalization’ of Martial Law.

Further, the statements by the proponents of extension of Martial Law that there have been no violations of human rights are far too sweeping without acknowledging the fact that there have been reports from the ground coming from human rights defenders involving different violations such as: massive numbers of internally displaced persons, arbitrary detention, profiling, threats, torture, and killings. The Martial Law administrators should look into these reports.