Speaker Alvarez says no discussion of martial rule with President: 'Nabanggit lang siguro ni President 'yun.'

MANILA – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday described as "very remote" the possibility that President Rodrigo Duterte would declare martial law nationwide if the communist threat in the country gets out of hand.

The President had said on Sept. 9 that he might place the entire country under martial law if communist rebels would commit the “mistake” of staging a rebellion “where there’s fighting in the streets.

This would expand the standing martial rule in Mindanao, which Duterte had declared on May 23, amid clashes between state forces and terrorists in Mindanao, and later extended by Congress to December on his request.

Lorenzana, however, said this scenario is unlikely as communist forces in the country have significantly weakened.

“Sa aking pananaw naman, estimate ko, very remote naman mangyari,” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“Pero si Presidente lang kasi is very concerned that it might get out of hand. So sabi niya, ‘I might declare martial law.’ But I don’t think the possibility that the Left will be able to conduct a massive demonstration across the country, disrupting the civil government or the lives of the people, eh hindi naman siguro mangyayari ‘yun," he said.

Asked in a separate briefing, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, among the President's closest allies, said he and the President have had no discussions on martial rule.

"“Wala, wala. Nabanggit lang siguro ni President 'yun. Alam mo naman si President maraming sinasabi,” he told reporters.

Militant groups are expected to mount protests on Sept. 21, the 45th anniversary of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law.

The President said he might suspend work in government offices and classes on the day to ensure public safety.

"This early, I am announcing that I am ordering a holiday para walang masaktan, walang ano kung may demonstration diyan, magkagulo,” he said Thursday.

The President has been at loggerheads with left-leaning groups since the breakdown of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Duterte cancelled peace talks with the Left in July following a string of rebel attacks on government forces, including an ambush on his security men in Arakan, North Cotabato in July.

On Thursday, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said there has been no formal termination of talks yet.

Leftist lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday split from the super majority citing several grounds, among them Duterte's supposed favor for the Marcos family, alleged turnaround from " his promise to separate from the US," violence under the war on drugs, and moves to revive the death penalty.

• READ: Palace on leftist bloc's split from House majority: Noted

Duterte's left-leaning appointees to the cabinet- peasant leader Rafael Mariano for agrarian reform, and activist Judy Taguiwalo for social welfare- were meanwhile rejected by the Commission on Appointments.