The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today (May 11, 2001) said that Bayan Muna's perceived lead in the party-list elections has made the party even more vulnerable to violence, fraud and cheating, with rival parties and anti-Left elements desperately trying to thwart the party's victory at the polls.
"Once again, the old biases against the Left are emerging. There is definitely a pattern of violence being committed against Bayan Muna party organizers and leaders," said Bayan secretary general Teodoro Casiño, citing the 18 cases of human-rights violations documented by Karapatan and the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP) against the party’s volunteers and leaders.
Casiño recalled that in 1987, the Partido ng Bayan (PnB), which ran under the similar banner of new politics and social change, was a victim of violence and massive fraud. Of the 60 who got killed in election-related violence that year, 35 were members of PnB. Three PnB offices were bombed and more than 700 towns and cities, many of them PnB bailwicks, were declared as hot spots.
Even before the votes were fully counted, six of PnB's congressional candidates were killed and three more campaign managers murdered.
"Although the conditions are different now, with the majority being more open to Bayan Muna's brand of politics, the rabid reactionary and anti-Left elements are still resortng to killings and harassments to prevent progressive groups from joining the mainstream electoral arena," Casiño said.
"We are taking the threat to Bayan Muna seriously. We have reliable reports that our enemies will resort to violence, cheating and intrigue," he said.
The Bayan leader called on other political parties, candidates and the Comelec to ensure that the coming elections would be clean, honest and orderly.
Finally, A Democratic Congress?