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 18-24, 2007
Kabataan Party Nominees
Harassed by Military
Even the parents of nominees of progressive party-list groups are not spared of
the harassment directed against them. Last March 13, the father of Kabataan
Party’s second nominee and National Capital Region (NCR) chairperson Enrico
Almonguerra received a letter from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
summoning him and Enrico to the Civic Military Operations (CMO) headquarters in
Fort Bonifacio on March 22. This is not the first time that the youth party-list
group’s nominees experienced harassment from the military. BY
ZOFIA LEAL Even the parents of
nominees of progressive party-list groups are not spared of the harassment
directed against them. Last March 13, the father
of Kabataan Party’s second nominee and National Capital Region (NCR) chairperson
Enrico Almonguerra received a letter from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
summoning him and Enrico to the Civic Military Operations (CMO) headquarters in
Fort Bonifacio on March 22. The letter, signed by a Col. Ricardo R.
Visaya, states that they are concerned about Enrico’s involvement in a “leftist
organization” and that it can have a bad effect on his education and eventually
ruin his future. The letter also states that they are inviting the Almonguerras
to appear at the headquarters so that they may be able to help Enrico for the
betterment of his education and his future. Enrico is already a graduate of the
Philippine Christian University (PCU), where he was student council president,
and has already passed the board examination for social work. This is not the first time that the youth
party-list group’s nominees experienced harassment from the military. Last Feb.
22, Angela Colmenares, their sixth nominee, was almost run over by two
consecutive vehicles on her way home. “This creates a chilling effect among our
members and their families intended to frighten students who are contemplating
of joining groups which are critical of government policies,” Kabataan Party’s
first nominee Raymond Palatino said. “What is more alarming is how the AFP is
actively pursuing our coordinators and members even to their homes. The military
already has a list of the addresses of our coordinators and members. We fear
that our homes will be the next targets of troop deployment and military
surveillance.” Enrico stressed that such events and the
presence of the military in the Metro Manila area are part of the national
security plan Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch) II and are
manifestations of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ultimate goal of
“demonizing and crushing down the leaders, as well as the mass membership and
supporters of progressive party-list groups.” Enrico also pointed to the vote-rich areas
of Caloocan City, Quezon City and Manila as areas that will be hotspots in the
coming polls, explaining that they currently have the highest concentration of
AFP troops in Metro Manila., The party-list group expressed concern that
the presence of the military in the communities might coerce the residents into
voting for candidates supported by the military. “What we’ll be having is
another set of election victors whose legitimacy is questionable similar to the
last presidential elections,” Palatino said. As part of its nationwide campaign, the
youth party-list group has already started to disseminate a petition and
signature campaign to call for Arroyo and to the other leaders of the AFP to
pull out their troops out of the communities. Kabataan Party also urges the youth and the
entire Metro Manila populace to be vigilant and critical amidst the
“intensifying military intervention in relation to the coming elections.”
Bulatlat
© 2007 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Bulatlat