Lagman blames SC for having errors regarding the Martial Law declaration of President Duterte

Here we go again with Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman firing on Duterte and the administration.

He started off nicely, he said he respected the supreme court's historic ruling.

BUT..

Yes, there's a but.

But he said the 11 justices who voted for the dismissal of the consolidated petitions against martial law in Mindanao may have made it in error.

"The petitioners (opposition Congressmen) in G.R. No. 231658 are prepared to respect the majority decision of the divided Supreme Court upholding the declaration of martial law in Mindanao with a strong reservation or caveat that the majority could be in error,"

Lagman is one of those who disagreed upon President Duterte's Martial Law declaration. He released his statement a day after the Supreme Court backed Duterte's proclamation.

He said that the basis of the declaration should only be limited on what was happening on May 23, when the Proclamation No. 216 was issued.

"The ongoing armed confrontation, military air strikes and land offensives and the escalating deaths, destruction and displacement of civilians after 23 May 2017 are the aftermath or result of the martial law declaration which should not be considered as the appropriate actual basis for such controverted declaration and suspension,"

He said that majority of the justices were wrong in realizing the aftermath of the declaration of Martial Law.

"In fact, authoritative military officials had consistently reported that hours before and contemporaneous to the declaration of martial law, the Marawi situation was under control, the military was on top of the situation and subsequently admitted that it was the military who precipitated and initiated the armed confrontation by attempting to arrest or capture Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers, which offensive was resisted by the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups,"

He also said that it is "palpably absent" to remove a part of the country as an ally of the republic giving it free reign without the jurisdiction of the Congress or the President.

"This culpable purpose is not evinced by the mere raising of IS flags which has been done previously by the terrorists as cheap propaganda to support their claim that they are ISIS-inspired,"

"Neither is criminal objective evidenced by unsubstantiated claims of establishing a wilayah in Marawi or Mindanao as part of the ISIS caliphate, which is not even reliably confirmed by ISIS itself,"

Lagman also said that filing for a motion for reconsideration may be futile at this point.

"While filing a motion for reconsideration is an option for the petitioners, a 'rematch' with the 11 justices may be an exercise in futility, as they may not be disposed to change their 'stance' in favor of President Duterte,"

The 11 Supreme Court justices who voted to dismiss the consolidated petitions were Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano Del Castillo, Jose Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Francis Jardaleza, Samuel Martirez, and Noel Tijam.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa believed that martial law should cover some areas only.

Lastly, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen,did not approve of Proclamation No. 216.