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Gov’t
Uses Highway Billboards in Red Scare Campaign
TAGUM
CITY -- Militants here and in Davao City are up in arms over the billboard put
up by a government-sponsored anti-communist group which tagged militant
groups and leaders as communists. Their attempt to remove the billboard
last July 2 almost ended in violence when they were prevented by a big
contingent of military and police force.
By
Paulo Dumayac
Bulatlat.com
Mindanao Bureau
The
militant groups were stopped by fully armed Philippine National Police (PNP)
forces reinforced by combat-ready troops under the 72nd Infantry
Battalion of the Philippine Army who were on board a six-by-six truck and backed
up by an Armored Personnel Carrier and a firetruck.
Bayan
Muna Southern Mindanao spokesman Joel Virador said that what happened only
revealed the collaboration between the police, military and Southern Mindanao
Alliance in Response to Terrorism (Smart), a government-created group.
The billboard,
erected a month ago, was removed only last July 4 by the Davao del Norte Provincial
Police, two days after the incident.
Written
on the said billboard were the names of militant leaders and militant
organizations that Smart accused of being legal fronts for the Communist Party
of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front.
Included
in the list are former and current leaders of the following organizations: Bayan
Muna, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Kalipunan ng Damayang
Mahihirap (Kadamay), Anakbayan (Sons and Daughters of Motherland), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Student
Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP), League of Filipino Students (LFS) and other
progressive organizations from different sectors.
Erwin
Faller of Anak ng Bayan, a national youth political party, said that what was
supposed to be just a picket of around 200 militants to remove the said
billboard nearly turned violent.
Bayan-Southern
Mindanao secretary-general Edgie Francis Uyanguren said that before
they decided to hold a picket and dismantle the billboard, they gave the
Davao del Norte Provincial Police until July 1 to remove the billboard.
Uyanguren
said they had also consulted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the
office of Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo Del Rosario. The DPWH reportedly told
them that
the erection of the billboard was indeed illegal.
Governor del Rosario also told
militant leaders during a dialogue last June 30 that he also disapproves of the
use of billboards because it is a clear violation of human rights. He added that
he would instruct the PNP to remove the billboard.
It
was not the first billboard put up by Smart. A similar one
erected earlier contained the same allegations.
Virador
added the billboard was a desperate attempt of those in power to demonize Bayan
Muna and other organizations which continuously oppose the
anti-people policies of the Arroyo administration.
Virador,
in a press statement, said no amount of malicious red-baiting to implicate and
demonize Bayan Muna “can hamper us from advancing the aspirations of the
people and we remain resolute to expose and oppose anti-people policies in the
bureaucracy.” Bulatlat.com
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