Martial law lifted, Congress ends joint session
Posted on December 11th, 2009
They could have been prepared with all their firepower, but they weren’t even able to fire them. Because Malacañang beat them to it and lifted the proclamation of martial law in Maguindanao today at 9 p.m. Hence, the Congress decided to terminate the joint session it scheduled for the deliberation of the martial law proclaimed last week.
Both House Speaker and Davao City Rep. Prospero C. Nograles (2nd District) and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agreed that the joint session would be closed on Monday.
According to Enrile, the joint session deliberating the legality of Proclamation 1959 was deemed “functus officio,” referring to an officer or agency whose mandate has expired either because of the arrival of an expiry date or because the agency has accomplished the purpose for which it was created.
With the martial law already lifted, “there’s nothing more to do,” Enrile said in a radio interview.
Meanwhile, both Senators Francis Pangilinan and Richard Gordon weren’t surprised of the lifting of the proclamation, and were in fact expecting it.
Gordon said, “There’s really no basis for the declaration in the first place,” adding that Palace officials failed to cite constitutional basis of the proclamation as to whether there was an actual rebellion.
Pangilinan said that it was a bogus rebellion and a bogus proclamation, one that should not have been declared in the first place. “The rebellion existed only in their minds. The illegal proclamation could not stand the test of time. The longer it took for them to lift it, the greater the burden for them to prove the fake rebellion,” he said.
Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tañada III (4th district) believes that the lifting of the proclamation was made by Malacañang to pre-empt what Congress may do and what the Supreme Court may say on the legality of Proclamation 1959.
“I hope the Supreme Court continues with its hearings and comes out with a decision on whether Proclamation 1959 is legal and constitutional or not. Whatever decision the SC will make will be used to guide future presidents of our country as to what the definition of rebellion is,” said Tañada.
