SENATE President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto has urged Malacañang to declassify and make public the intelligence reports it has used as basis in asking Congress to extend the period of martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year.
The senator believed that intelligence information can be shared to the public, for as long as the sensitive parts are redacted.
Recto said public support for martial law in Mindanao must be "an informed choice, arrived at by them freely through a study of facts, not fake news or alternative facts."
"If terrorists are knocking on our doors, or if they're already inside, then transparency is the best policy. Kung hindi ganoon, piyesta ang mga conspiracy theorists. And that uncertainty is what terrorists want," he said.
"If it will only identify the threats but not the deployment of our forces, then I think the public has the right to know," Recto said.
"What has been shared to 24 senators and almost 300 congressmen should be shared to the public as well. There’s no harm in such a disclosure, provided it has been purged of its sensitive contents," Recto said.
Recto admitted that documents and reports presented to them by national security officials "are not so revealing and explosive that they can only be discussed in whispers."
"These closed-door briefings only add mystery. But content-wise, hindi naman talaga ganoon ka-delikado na you must first take a vow of secrecy before hearing them," Recto said.
He said a release of "curated information" to the public will educate them if an extended Martial Law in Mindanao is justified or not.
"Let us not embargo all reports. Ibigay natin sa taumbayan ang pwedeng i-share sa kanila. So they can decide for themselves if a prolonged Martial Law is justified. Let us trust their maturity to appreciate the facts. And to spot the fiction," he said. (VoxPop Philippines)