Open Season On Militant Groups? 

The near-hysterical reaction of several government officials to the slaying of Romulo Kintanar, erstwhile commander of the New People’s Army (NPA), by his former comrades has alarmed militant groups, saying there is "a looming crackdown” against militant organizations, with government pronouncements practically endorsing “an open season on the progressive mass movement"

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat.com

A day after former New Peple’s Army (NPA) chief Romulo Kintanar was gunned down in a Quezon City restaurant on Jan. 23, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the interior secretary and the Philippine National Police chief "to immediately form a special task force to neutralize urban guerilla hit squads which may be operating in Metropolitan Manila."

Palace spokesperson Ignacio Bunye also said communist "front organizations" and "militant cells" would be targeted by intelligence saturation drives by 500,000 spies under Col. Romeo Maganto.

The government claimed that the NPA has a hit list containing the names of former leftist leaders who are now with the government, including Macapagal-Arroyo’s Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao. Even Secretaries Bayani Fernando and Blas Ople and the Marcoses fear being on the hit list.

Fanning the hysteria are statements by intelligence sources that the NPA unit that killed Kintanar was the newly-formed National Partisan Command (NPC) of the CPP. Jose Maria Sison, the CPP’s founding chair, himself allegedly formed it and handpicked a certain "Leo Velasco" to head the band.  Their main task, the source added, is to assassinate former communist leaders, tagged as "traitors" by Sison.

The NPC allegedly has several hit squads, each with at least 14 members. After Kintanar, intelligence sources again say it has three other cabinet officials and a military colonel on its list. In another news report, the NPC allegedly has 20 high profile personalities as next targets.

Meanwhile, “a ranking intelligence officer who asked not to be named” was quoted in the online edition of the Philippine Star as saying that Kintanar followers see as “open targets” for retribution Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Rafael Baylosis, Vicente Ladlad, Sotero Llamas, Randall Enchanis and Rey Claro Casambre.

Kintanar killing

Kintanar was gunned down Jan. 24 in a restaurant in Quezon City. Four days later, the CPP claimed responsibility for the killing, citing as reasons his involvement in gangster operations while still NPA chief, stealing underground funds, and, after his resignation from the NPA, collaborating with the military and the police in "counter-revolutionary and anti-CPP operations."

In a statement released to the media, CPP spokesman Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal clarified that Kintanar was executed for his crimes, not because of political or organizational differences. And, contrary to Malacanang claims, he said the NPA has no hit list nor is Tiglao an NPA target.

The CPP-NPA has been waging armed struggle since 1969 and claims to have influence over 60% of the barangays (villages) in the country. Its execution of Kintanar is allegedly part of the revolutionary justice system.

Crackdown condemned

Meanwhile, Rafael Mariano, chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP – Peasant Movement in the Philippines) condemned the Palace's order for a crackdown. "Ms. Macapagal and the fascist military have capitalized on Kintanar’s assassination to stage a crackdown against legal organizations and
communities. The president’s move is in direct contrast with her so-called reactivation of the peace process,” he said.

“This will also be used to fast-track the approval of fascist measures like the national ID system and the so-called anti-terrorism bills pending in both houses of Congress,” the peasant leader added.

“Ms. Macapagal’s orders do not differ from Marcos’s martial law," Mariano further said.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) secretary-general Teddy Casiño said, "Malacañang is obscenely using the case of Romulo Kintanar as a pretext for an open season on so-called front organizations to silence the progressive mass movement and cover up its epic failure in dealing with the armed communist movement."

"Malacañang is whipping up a dangerous and blind anti-communist hysteria,” he added, “reminiscent of the McCarthyist witch-hunt and the fascist Marcos dictatorship which victimized countless innocent civilians. The ‘Strong Republic’ is now turning into an out-and-out police state."

The militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) also expressed strong alarm over the government's move to allow the operation of thousands of civilian agents in urban centers.

KMU Secretary General Elmer Labog said “this move could be one of Arroyo's desperate measures to diffuse the wide-ranging people's protests against her disintegrating presidency. Future assaults could focus on urban-based progressive and militant groups of workers, professionals, youth and students, urban poor, church-based organizations and other patriotic formations."

He also scored Malacañang for giving blanket authority to Maganto and the PNP “to commit wanton violation of human rights including the stifling of freedom of expression, invasion of privacy and further curtailment of civil rights with the looming intensification of intelligence and surveillance activities in Metro Manila with the creation of a network of civilian agents and volunteers.” 

He cited Maganto's “sordid track record” during the Aquino government when the police official was reportedly “instrumental in viciously crushing and victimizing community youth organizations, militant unions and other activist groups on the mere suspicion that they are aiding 'sparrow units' of the Alex Boncayao Brigade." Bulatlatl.com

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