Practice question
A large armed uprising is established and public safety demonstrably requires martial law. The President declares it immediately, complies with the reporting duty, and stays within the initial constitutional period. A challenger raises only the claim that the President was required to try calling out troops first, then separately suspend the privilege of the writ, and only afterward declare martial law. Under Lagman, which answer is best?
- The Constitution does not impose that mandatory sequence when the requirements for the chosen power are met
- Every martial-law proclamation requires those earlier stages
- The President must suspend the privilege whenever martial law is declared
- Congress must first enact a penal conviction against the rebels
- The declaration is valid solely because reporting cures every substantive defect
Legal references
- 1987 Constitution, Article VII, Section 18: https://lawphil.net/consti/cons1987.html
- Lagman v. Medialdea, G.R. Nos. 231658, 231771 and 231774, July 4, 2017, main opinion: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/67591
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