MANILA, Philippines – Seven years and a new president later, Mindanao is no longer under a state of national emergency.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through a proclamation issued by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, lifted the proclamation on July 25, or the day after his second State of the Nation Address. The proclamation was made public only on Thursday, July 27.

The Marcos administration said lifting the proclamation would “boost economic activity and hasten the recovery of the local economy.”

Mindanao was placed under a state of national emergency back in September 2016 by then-president Rodrigo Duterte on account of “lawless violence” in the Philippines’ southernmost region. Duterte was mayor of Davao, a major Mindanao city, for decades before ascending to the presidency.

The Marcos administration lifted the proclamation because, “through successful focused military and law enforcement operations and programs that promote sustainable and inclusive peace, the government has made significant gains in improving and restoring peace and order in the region.”

The Duterte proclamation allowed the military and police to “undertake such measures as may be permitted by the Constitution and existing laws to suppress any and all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao and to prevent such lawless violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the Philippines with due regard to the fundamental civil and political rights of our citizens.” – Rappler.com