Malacañang has rejected allegations the country is under "de facto martial law," saying President Duterte does not have same powers used by the late President Ferdinand Marcos decades ago.

According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the nation has learned from the painful experience of martial law in the 1970s and instituted measures to curb abuses.

"Ang masasabi ko po ibang-iba na po ang konteksto ngayon. Dati-rati po naisasara ang Kongreso, naisasara ang Supreme Court. Ngayon po, wala nang ganiyang kapangyarihan ang Presidente (The context is very much different today. Before, Congress can be shut down. The Supreme Court can be closed down. Now, the President does not have that power)," Roque said during a televised press briefing Monday. 

"At ang deklarasyon ng martial law ngayon pupuwedeng kuwestiyunin sa Kongreso, pupuwedeng kuwestiyunin sa hukuman dahil nga po natuto na tayo sa mapait na karanasan natin sa martial law noong 1970 (The declaration of martial law can now be questioned before Congress, it can be questioned before the Supreme Court because we have learned from the bitter experience of martial law in the 1970s)," he said.

The President previously declared martial law in Mindanao to quell the lawless violence from 2017 to 2019 despite concerns from some rights advocates. The martial law declaration, triggered by the Maute group-led terror siege of Marawi City, was upheld by Congress and the Supreme Court.

Roque came to the defense of the President after the rights watchdog Karapatan called for an end to President Duterte's alleged de facto martial law.

The group, in a statement posted on its website, said the President appeared to be “desperate” in tightening his grip on power in the remaining two years of his term.

It has accused Duterte of ripping pages from the "playbook of Marcosian fascist dictatorship" by building a "virtual military junta of retired generals with bloody track records of human rights violations."  Duterte also drew criticisms for the alleged "repressive laws" such as the anti-terrorism law, the alleged crackdown on dissent, alleged attacks on media freedom, and the alleged "business as usual" corruption.

The group also criticized Duterte for pursuing "Imeldific beautification projects" to divert public attention from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) scandal, the alleged failure to address the coronavirus pandemic and "worsening" unemployment.

"In the middle of the worsening public health and socio-economic crisis, Duterte and his cabal have altogether discarded the people’s welfare in favor of exploiting the pandemic to further establish what can only be described as a de facto martial law," the group said.

Karapatan issued the statement as the country marked the 48th anniversary of the martial law declared by Marcos. 

The dark martial law regime, from 1972 to 1986, has been marred by many rights abuses, including warrantless arrests, torture and killings. A law granting reparation and recognition of the human rights victims during the Marcos regime was signed in 2013.