Aquino must stop the killings of activists
Submitted by mkbyn on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 2:48pm
There will be no end to the extrajudicial killings of activists unless Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III drives the decisive blow against impunity. He must act now before another life is taken.
Seven members and supporters of our parties, including a municipal councilor, a human rights lawyer and a public school teacher, have been murdered since after the May 10, 2010 elections. In the first two weeks of the new administration, three activists were slain.
Last May 19, Jim Galez, a member of the regional secretariat of Bayan Muna was shot dead while driving his motorcycle on the road to Brgy. Little Panay in Panabo City in Davao. On June 2, union leader and member of Anakpawis Partylist Edward Panganiban was on his way to work when he was murdered by unidentified gunmen in Laguna.
Benjamin Bayles, 42, a human rights worker for Karapatan and member of Bayan Muna, was killed in Brgy. Suaym Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental on June 14. On June 22, human rights lawyer Ernesto Salunat was slain by unidentified perpetrators outside a municipal trial court in Nueva Vizcaya.
Fernando Baldomero, city councilor and chairperson of Bayan Muna in Aklan was gunned down last July 5, in front his son, the first activist killed in the Aquino presidency. Next to be assassinated, on July 9, was Pascual Guevarra, provincial leader of Alyansa ng Magsasakang Nagkakaisa and Anakpawis in Nueva Ecija. On the same date Mark Francisco, a member of ACT Teachers Partylist was shot dead.
Save for the case of Bayles, no perpetrators of these dastardly acts have been arrested and charged in the courts. The masked assassins are still free to roam the streets and hunt their next targets. How many more have to die before President Aquino seriously acts against the apparent systematic attack against our members?
Aquino has the power to stop the killings by ordering the military to scrap the Oplan Bantay Laya program which was cited by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston as the operational plan behind the extrajudicial killings of activists in the Philippines. Under this program, activists are labeled by the military as ‘enemies of the state’ who are targeted for liquidation for their alleged links to the communist insurgency.
Yet, Aquino appears to have a wrong prognosis of the systematic killings of activists when he said “Sa kabuuan, hindi na nating masasabi na pang-aabuso dahil sa isang pulisiya ng estado. Marami ho dito, talagang personalang away na eh.”
By echoing the AFP line of denial and attributing the killings to personal grudge, Aquino lost the chance to make a clear and bold directive to the military to discontinue the killing of activists. His refusal to recognize the killings as an integral component of the AFP’s counter-insurgency program known as Oplan Bantay Laya will only worsen impunity and inspire “motorcycle assassins” to continue the killing spree against activists.
We urge the president to review the Alston recommendations on how to end impunity and the extrajudicial killings activists and civilians. The following measures must be implemented:
- Immediately put a stop to the practice of AFP and PNP of tagging and vilifying legal progressive organizations as communist fronts and state enemies;
- Remove from AFPs counter-insurgency program the policy of “neutralizing” (which include physical elimination) activists and militant organizations; immediately implement administrative measures and sanctions that will enforce command responsibility and ensure the policy of “no harassment, abduction and killings” of activists;
- Stop political persecution, through the filing of fabricated chargers, of leaders and members of legal progressive parties and organizations and instead focus on prosecuting and arresting masterminds and perpetrators of extrajudicial killings of activists including Former Sec. Norberto Gonzales and Former Gen. Jovito Palparan;
- Strongly support the passage of proposed laws on command responsibility, enforced disappearances, and Marcos and Arroyo human rights victims compensation bills.
The Truth Commission should include in its investigation human rights violations committed during the previous administration. The continuing reign of terror directed against activists is one of the dark legacies of the Arroyo administration. Arroyo must be held accountable for the rise in the number of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances during her nine-year rule.
Aquino’s vow to uphold human rights should be measured by the concrete political and military reforms he is ready to initiate in his government, starting with the scrapping of Oplan Bantay Laya and its criminal component of targeting activists and civilians.
Aquino should not lead us back to the path of ruthless leadership where the rights of the people are easily trampled upon. Promoting human rights and jailing human rights violators should be a priority of his new government.
Despite the recent rise of killings and abductions, we will continue the struggle for the politics of change and social transformation. We vow to fight for justice and human rights in behalf of our martyred members and supporters and the Filipino people. ###
We are a coalition with a definitive vision for change. A coalition that advances the aspirations, triumphs, and potential of the people’s parties, promotes nationalism, democracy, and the rights and welfare of the people at all times. 
