Philippines Congress votes to extend martial law until year end

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Philippine Congress on Saturday, July 22 voted to extend President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the south until the end of the year to defeat Islamist gunmen, AFP reports.

In a special joint session of the House and the Senate, legislators overwhelmingly backed Duterte's bid to have martial law remain in force in the Mindanao region until December 31.

The vote came as troops continued their two-month long fight to wrest back the southern city of Marawi from Islamic State-inspired militants.

Duterte first declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 shortly after the gunmen, waving the black flags of the IS group, occupied parts of Marawi, triggering weeks of bloody fighting.

The vote was largely a foregone conclusion as Duterte enjoy majorities in both houses of Congress.

But opposition lawmakers dragged out the debate, questioning why martial law was needed for the whole of Mindanao when the fighting was limited to only one city.

"I fear that the plan to extend the martial law in Mindanao will pave the way for a Philippines-wide martial law," said Senator Risa Hontiveros ahead of the vote.

A slide presentation accompanying Duterte's request, seen by AFP, compared the Marawi crisis to the Islamic State takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Marawi itself could now become a magnet for foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria, it said.

Most of the militants' leaders remain at large, the presentation added, while about 90 of the gunmen have slipped past security cordons and can link up with other armed groups in the region to mount similar widescale attacks.

At the hearing, defence and security officials justified the extended martial law, saying that aside from Marawi, Islamist militants were planning attacks in other parts of Mindanao.