Corpus Trains Guns vs Gov’t Unions; Calls Them Reds

Organized government employees last week denounced as unfounded and “McCarthyist” former chief military spy Victor Corpus’s allegations that the government Public Information Agency (PIA) has been infiltrated by “communists” under Courage. Corpus is out to make PIA a “military mouthpiece,” they said.  

By Andres Rebana
Bulatlat.com

Has the military gotten so desperate that it is now targeting legitimate groups within the government for propaganda and McCarthyist attacks? Or is the Arroyo regime using the military's propaganda machinery, led by Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, chief of the armed force's Civil Relations Service, to discredit these groups in an attempt to quell dissent against the government's plan to further privatize agencies such as the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)?

These questions were raised by Courage, the umbrella organization of unions of government employees, in the wake of Corpus's allegation last week that alleged communists are running certain government agencies, particularly the PIA. In a talk with reporters in Davao City that week, Corpus identified Courage as a front organization of the New People's Army (NPA).

Corpus's allegation drew a firestorm of protest not only from Courage but also from employees and officials of the PIA. Efren Elbanbuena denied the charge and challenged Corpus to prove his allegation.

Engr. Elizabeth Nuyad, Courage coordinator in the Southern Mindanao region, denounced Corpus, calling his accusation malicious and libelous. "This is a red scare meant to frighten government employees," she said.

McCarthyist attack

Nuyad said the McCarthyist attack was intended to discredit Courage and discourage government workers from joining the group, especially now that the PIA itself is one of the government agencies being targeted for privatization by the Arroyo administration.

Nuyad noted that this privatization plan for the PIA was precisely the reason why its employees formed a union in 1993 - to oppose the plan which can throw hundreds of workers jobless.

"We at Courage have always been in the forefront in the struggle of government employees for higher wages that can support our families and for job security," Nuyad said, "Our victories," she added, "are clear in the two salary standardizations and for the struggle to protect our security of tenure against privatization, mergers and abolition."

The government plans to cut down the number of government employees – from the present 1.3 million to 600,000 - through privatization. This plan was under the arrangements made by the government and the International Monetary Fund-World Bank in 1993. "Only the organized and committed stand of  Courage," said Nuyad, has headed off the complete implementation of the plan.

Courage was founded in 1986, with only seven unions. At present, it has 130 government unions as members, representing about 300,000 government employees and personnel. Nuyad said since its formation, Courage has been subjected to all sorts of black propaganda but the legitimacy of the group is manifested, she said, through its growth over the years.

Military mouthpiece  

Nuyad also theorized that Corpus is not only being used to discredit the one group that stands in the way of the planned privatization of the PIA - Corpus also wants to turn the PIA into the military's mouthpiece. "As the new propagandist of the AFP, Corpus would want to have the PIA under his control," she said. Corpus was appointed chief of the Civil Relations Service, which handles the military's propaganda campaign against the military's perceived enemies, after he was removed as chief of the AFP's Intelligence Service.

The PIA, particularly the regional office in Davao, has been credited for trying to balance the information it is giving out to the public. Militant groups have praised Elbanbuena in the past for being professional in carrying out his office's information campaign. "Sure, what the PIA gives out is favorable to government but they rarely, if ever, resort to black propaganda, as Corpus does," Nuyad said. Bulatlat.com

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