For a few hours, a short animated video created by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) that espoused martial law in the country circulated online.

The animated video showed a young boy with a shield with the words "martial law" and armed men in silhouettes tagged as "extremist".

The PCOO later deleted it from its Facebook and Twitter accounts following strong reactions from netizens.

The transcript of the animation states:

"In the free society, there are groups who don’t want to give independence. They are adamant on detaining peaceful spirits. They are distressing feelings with fears. Let us not allow them to terrify us. We all fight with unity. Martial law should be the rule of the land. Martial law, now."

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under a 60-day martial law last week and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus there, following the siege of the terrorist group Maute in Marawi City.

Duterte on Wednesday said he may be forced to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the Visayas if the threat of terrorism spreads to the central Philippines.