COMMENTARY

Communists and Terrorists

Ocampo et al have always condemned the Abu Sayyaf; Mrs. Arroyo and her ilk just didn't notice because they've always ignored whatever the Left says.

By Carlos Conde
Bulatlat.com 

RECENTLY, President Arroyo said those who are making a fuss about the alleged shooting by an American soldier of a Basilan resident are not only communists - they are terrorists and criminals hiding behind the veil, according to her, of human rights and legitimate political advocacy. She was referring to the people behind the International Solidarity Movement which is wrapping up its investigation into human-rights violations in Basilan perpetrated not only by Filipino but American troops as well.

Mrs. Arroyo has apparently been brainwashed by the military into swallowing the line that Reps. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza, the congressmen from Bayan Muna (which garnered the most number of party-list votes in the last national elections), are communists. Never mind that these same people and their party were instrumental in putting her where she is now. Never mind that these people and their party represent nationalist values that Mrs. Arroyo - whose views on life are naturally distorted due to years of being on all fours behind her masters from the military, the U.S. and the ruling elite - cannot possibly muster even if she lived to be a hundred years old.  

Mrs. Arroyo, betraying a logic that is amazingly inane, wonders why the people of Bayan Muna and the participants to the ISM are not condemning the abuses of the Abu Sayyaf. She is wrong, of course. Ocampo et al have always condemned the Abu Sayyaf; Mrs., Arroyo and her ilk just didn't notice because they've always ignored whatever the Left says.  

It is necessary to call attention to the human-rights abuses perpetrated by people (such as the military and the police) who are tasked to protect human rights in the first place. If they commit atrocities, it should be a cause for concern. The lesson of the dark days of the Marcos regime should still be fresh in our memory.

 The Abu Sayyaf is a group of bandits and marauders. They are supposed to violate human rights. It is the government duty to go after these people. In doing so, however, it cannot use the methods of bandits and marauders. It cannot just arrest people without warrants. It cannot shoot people in the middle of the night. It cannot strike down doors while families are sleeping behind it. It cannot use a bunch of "siling labuyo" and ram this down the anus of a suspect just to get him to admit to a crime. There is such a thing as due process. Once the government ignores this, it won't be any better than the Abu Sayyaf.  

Make no mistake about it: the critics of this government have been condemning the Abu Sayyaf. But those mandated to protect us should be condemned even more if they behave no differently from the bandits and marauders. And if in doing so these critics are labeled communists by no less than the President, tough luck.  

President Arroyo's latest witch-hunting reminds me of that story about a man whose neighbor was accused of being a communist. The first time it happened and when the accused neighbor disappeared, the man just shrugged it off.  

Then another neighbor was labeled a communist and soon he, too, disappeared. The man just shrugged it off and went about his business. Then one day, it was his turn to be accused of being a communist. Fearful for his life, the man turned to his neighbors for help, only to find out that there was nobody else left. Bulatlat.com

We want to know what you think of this article.