MANILA: The Senate and the House of Representatives, dominated by administration lawmakers, on Wednesday met in a joint session and ran roughshod over weak opposition to grant President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte’s request for a one-year extension of martial law in troubled Mindanao.

But during the debates and interpellations at the four-hour session that started at 10am on Wednesday, the opposition repeatedly warned that the extension could just be a prelude to the declaration of martial law over the entire Philippines.

A total of 240 lawmakers voted “yes” against a measly 27 “no “ with no abstentions broken down into: Senate - 14 in favour, four against with no abstentions; and the House - 226 “yes,” 23 “no” and also with no abstentions.

The Wednesday voting was similar to the scenario during the joint session of Congress on July 22 this year, when it approved to extend Duterte’s martial law declaration for another five months which is to end on Dec.31 this year.

The administration “big guns,” headed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, appointed by Duterte as the martial law administrator, attended the session to answer questions on Duterte’s request for another extension with effect from Jan.1 to Dec.2, 2018.

In particular, Lorenzana defended another extension as he pointed out that rebellion has not yet been completely quelled despite President Duterte’s announcement of Marawi City’s liberation from Daesh-linked terrorists in October.

“We are saying that the rebellion has not stopped, it just moved to another place,” Lorenzana said, adding local terrorists supporting the Daesh extremists, have been confirmed to be busy recruiting new members in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Basilan.

For his part, Medaldea stressed that what Duterte wanted to achieve in seeking the extension was “not for unlimited martial law” but for “unlimited peace” in Mindanao.

During the House voting, the spectre of martial law over the entire Philippines was revived by Congresswoman Shernee Abubakar Tan of Sulu in Mindanao.

In supporting Duterte’s request, Tan said martial law should not only be extended for another year in Mindanao but should be expanded to cover the entire Philippines including its two other major island groups - Luzon and the Visayas.