Saturday, February 25, 2006

State of National Emergency

This one is confusing, and this may be asked in the BAR exams.

PROCLAMATION NO. 1017

PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY
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WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists–the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State—who are now in tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted government elected in May 2004.
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WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;
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WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;
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WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State–by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;
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WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;
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WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensity their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;
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WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;
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WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;
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NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “ The President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, “ and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.
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IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.
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Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.
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GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
PresidentRepublic of the Philippines
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The following questions come to my mind:
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How does it differ from the emergency powers given to the President by Congress?
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Is the writ of habeas corpus suspended?
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Why are they arresting protesters? What happens to the freedom of speech?
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Why is the SC not reacting? Is it unconstitutional?
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HELP!!!

4 comments:

  1. Let me try to answer your questions one by one:

    Proclamation No 1710 differs from the emergency powers given by congress in a sense that Proc 1710 is just a statement of a fact, whereas the latter, as the name implies, are given by Congress.

    On the second and third questions, there is no showing that habeas corpus is lifted so any violation thereto is illegal and unlawful.

    On the last question, SC is not reacting maybe because the proclamation, being a statement of a fact, is not unconstitutional per se. What is unconstitutinal is the governments action made because of the said proclamation.

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  2. What we have here is a scared President.

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  3. as to 2nd question, writ of habeas corpus is not suspended.

    3rd question, unless and until someone files suit to declare the proclamation unconstitutional, SC's hands are tied. if you've checked the inq7.net site, some lawyers from UP Law Center have already done so.

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  4. ur friend and anony2

    thnx for ur comments.

    anony1

    she is scared alright.

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