MANILA - Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is open to the re-imposition of martial law, saying it will come in handy, especially in times of rebellion.

It might still come in handy. In other words, it’s for the national government to protect its citizens," Esperon told reporters Sept. 20, the eve of the 35th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.

“We will use it if there is a rebellion in the city,” he told reporters on the side of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) forum at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Esperon said martial rule was provided under the 1987 Constitution, as long as the courts and the legislature would not be abolished, unlike what the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos did in 1972. Esperon was a second lieutenant in Basilan during martial law, two years after he graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the military did not owe the public an apology over alleged human rights violations committed by soldiers during martial law.

Teodoro said that in his view, the 1986 People Power uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship and restored democracy, provided closure in a “political sense” to the martial law years. “No, because atrocities are not made by institutions, they are made by men," Teodoro said, when asked if the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should apologize over alleged abuses.

“And there is nothing countenancing atrocities within and amongst the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, so definitely, the institution should not apologize for the wrongdoings, if ever, of any of its members," he said during the MOPC forum. Incidentally, Teodoro is a nephew of business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, a former crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Teodoro said the military could erase the martial law stigma by “providing an example, based on competent evidence, that [it] does not tolerate" human rights abuses.

He said soldiers should also show their “professionalism” like in the recent encounters between government troops and Abu Sayyaf forces and Moro rebels in Basilan and Sulu.
“[The] confluence of these factors, will perhaps improve the image of the armed forces, not overnight but over time," he said. Meanwhile, leading international pro-democracy leaders and activists who are now meeting in Manila to ask their respective governments to stop their repressive activities and promote democracy instead. Holding the three-day Second World for Democratization in Asia (WFDA), the participants will also commemorate in the country the International Day of Peace, which falls on September 21.

On this day, the Philippines is also commemorating the 35th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in the country.

This was noted by Jesus Dureza, Philippine adviser for the peace process, who gave the keynote address, the first day of the Congress by stressing on what people can do to restore democracy.

“The government can only do so much to strengthen democracy, we sorted all things and restored democracy, not so much through government intervention, but through the power of the people themselves," said Dureza.

The Philippine experience in struggling against 14 years of martial rule will be one of the highlights of the forum. Human rights lawyer Alexander Padilla, also one of the undersecretaries of the health department and chair of the Initiatives for International Dialogue that organized the forum, said the participants are converging in Manila “to assert, broaden and consolidate democracy.”