This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 7 March 21, 2007
‘Martial Law Na Ba?’
(Is It Now Martial Law?)
BY
Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) secretary-general
RenatoReyes Jr. had one question as he spoke late this morning before a
rally of hundreds near the Manila Police District (MPD) in Manila. “Martial law na ba?”
(Is it now Martial Law?) Reyes cried
as he denounced what he described as “the unbridled repression being imposed by
the Arroyo regime against its critics in the Left, the opposition and the
media.” The ralliers, who belonged
to the progressive party-list group Bayan Muna (People First) and to
organizations under the umbrella of Bayan, declared March 21 as a “national day
of protest” to call for the release of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and
Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran, as well as to demand a stop to
what they described as political repression. “We come out today to protest the
unjust detention of Ka Satur and Ka Bel and the continuing imprisonment of the
Filipino people by a repressive regime,” Reyes said. They marched from the Plaza
Miranda in Quiapo to United Nations Avenue, where the MPD headquarters is
located. The protesters intended to
hold their program in front of the MPD headquarters, where Ocampo has been held
since Friday afternoon. They were, however, stopped by police at the corner of
Taft and United Nations Avenues. After a few minutes of negotiation, the
anti-riot police stepped back and allowed the ralliers to hold their program a
little less than a hundred meters away from the MPD headquarters. Meanwhile, political
prisoners all over the rally held a sympathy fast for Ocampo and Beltran. As of
December 2006, the Arroyo regime holds a total of 232 political prisoners
nationwide. Ocampo was arrested Friday
on multiple murder charges for having allegedly supervised the executions of 15
members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA)
in Inopacan, Leyte in 1984. This, even as he is confirmed to have been in
maximum security detention at the time the executions were supposed to have been
committed. On Monday morning, police
dragged a defiant Ocampo from his holding room and into a plane and tried to
bring him to Leyte even as the warrant for his arrest is being challenged before
the Supreme Court. A court order halting his transfer sent the plane carrying
him back to Manila even before it could land on Leyte. “We are worried about how
this will bear on the people’s rights,” Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño told
Bulatlat in an interview. “If they can do that to Ka Satur, who is an
elected official, they can do that to ordinary citizens. We are also concerned
about how this can impact on the party-list system, because if they are not
stopped now, they will ease out progressive party-list groups from the
party-list system, and that will not be good for whatever democracy we are still
supposed to have.” Beltran, meanwhile, has
been confined under police custody at the Philippine Heart Center since early
last year. He was arrested without warrant on Feb. 25 last year for his alleged
participation in a conspiracy between the CPP-NPA and the dissident military
group Makabayang Kawal Pilipino (MKP) to overthrow the Arroyo regime, even as he
is confirmed to have been attending congressional hearings when the plot was
supposedly being hatched. “Everywhere today, you can
see the patterns of repression, be it against the Left, the opposition and even
members of the media,” Reyes said. “There is no denying that the atmosphere in
the Philippines is one of terror and repression.” Casiño left the rally at a
little past noon to lead Bayan Muna in filing a case at the Commission on
Elections against members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deployed
in Lupang Pangako, Payatas, Quezon City for electioneering, as well as
threatening and intimidating Alberto Corbes, one of the party-list group’s
coordinators in the said urban poor community. After the program, which
lasted until a little past 1 p.m., the ralliers peacefully dispersed. The rally took place hours
before the opening of the Second Session on the Philippines of the Permanent
Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) at The Hague, The Netherlands, where the Arroyo regime
faces charges for violations of the Filipino people’s civil and political rights
as well as their economic, social, and cultural rights. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
■
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Posted 4:21 p.m., March 21, 2007