An ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Sunday claimed part of the credit for the lifting of martial law in Maguidanao as the presidential palace rejected suggestions that Arroyo lifted martial law to preempt probes being done by Congress and the Supreme Court on the issue. Senator Marian Defensor Santiago said the president may have been put “on guard” when she warned Saturday about a “conspiracy” among top military and government officials to extend martial law across the country. “I'm very sure that (my statements) put President Arroyo on guard. She knows when she is not fully familiar with a subject matter, she will need the help of professionals on that subject,” Santiago said in a television interview. Santiago said without Arroyo's knowledge, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno and acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales appeared to be “preparing the ground for a broader martial law to cover the entire country, seize power, and undermine the May 2010 elections.” Puno and Gonzales denied Santiago's claim, saying the martial law declaration was only meant to restore peace and order in Maguindanao and arrest the people involved in the Nov. 23 massacre. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Malacanang had a one-week timetable for martial law to take effect in Maguindanao. Arroyo imposed martial law last Dec. 4. “It can be told, when we decided to declare martial law we only had a one-week timetable. This proves that most criticisms against martial law were without logic and basis,” Remonde said in a radio interview. Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said the lifting of martial law in Maguindanao was not meant to preempt the inquiries by Congress or the Supreme Court from ruling on petitions against its imposition. “Martial law is a power that is exercised out of necessity and when public safety requires,” Devanadera said in a press briefing. She said the lifting of martial law will not weaken the rebellion cases filed against the suspects in the massacre. “The evidence for rebellion charges is already in place. Witnesses have already executed their sworn statements and therefore, the lifting will not go into the merits of the cases that have been filed already,” she said. “The rebellion cases will in no way absorb the murder cases. Why? Because the murder was committed not in furtherance of rebellion,” she said. House Speaker Prospero Nograles said Congress will continue its joint session Monday to tackle the president's martial law declaration despite its lifting Saturday. “We will still meet Monday to formally adjourn the joint session,” he said.
