This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 8, March 25-31, 2007
Ex-PMA Prof, Cordi Militants
Call Arroyo ‘Doble-Kara’ “We
tend to believe what people do more than what they say.” This is what a former
professor at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) where President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo delivered the graduation remarks last week, said in a recent
press conference here. BY
LYN V. RAMO BAGUIO CITY (246 kms. north
of Manila) – “We tend to believe what people do more than what they say.”
This is what a former
professor at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) where President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo delivered the graduation remarks last week, said in a recent
press conference here. Manny Loste, now national vice chairman of Bayan Muna
(People First), was alluding to Arroyo’s speech at the PMA, in which she
promised Filipinos “freedom from fear and freedom from want” – a reference to
the government’s counter-“insurgency” campaign and “economic recovery” program –
before the 282-strong PMA Maragtas Class. Loste dismissed Arroyo's
pronouncements as “mere lip service” and does not expect her government to
deliver “genuine peace or economic prosperity” to the people. “Mababa ang
kredibilidad niya” (Her credibility is low) Loste said of Arroyo.
“GMA says one thing but
does another thing,” Loste said in the press conference held Tuesday last week,
where he and leaders of other progressive party-list groups condemned the
“intensifying political repression,” as they cited the arrest and detention of
Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo. “Mas titingnan namin siya sa kanyang ginagawa,
hindi sa kanyang sinasabi” (We'd rather judge her by what she does than what
she says), Loste said. “While GMA kept telling the
young military officers to have a leader's heart and love the people they serve,
telling them to teach the children, build schools and roads, and learn the
people's culture, her sincerity is questionable,” Loste said. The picture “belies” the
President's pronouncements, the local leaders of other progressive party-list
groups pointed out. Arroyo also ordered PMA
Maragtas Class to help in implementing the Human Security Act of 2007, which
progressive party-list groups and other cause-oriented organizations continue to
criticize as a “repressive” measure. “How can she claim to have genuinely
ordered the new military officers to serve the people when her administration is
behind the manslaughter of many mass leaders of people's organizations?” Loste
said. Chie Galvez of the
Tongtongan ti Umili described the GMA regime as “fascist.” She also said the
Arroyo regime is on a “desperate offensive unleashing state terrorism in all
forms.” She said Ocampo's arrest and detention shows a “malicious persecution of
progressive party-lists and groups critical of the Arroyo administration.” “The
GMA regime's intensifying political repression as shown in the growing number of
politically-motivated killings and enactment of repressive laws and policies
indicate a desperate offensive, which would redound against the rotten, corrupt
and fascist regime,” a Tongtongan ti Umili statement distributed during the
press conference read. “How ironic that the woman
president seems not to have a leader's heart she is asking of the PMA
graduates,” Loste said. She finds it convenient to continue with persecution
and harassments. She even violates the rule of court. In her attempt to pursue
her long-term agenda, she is ramming through the old chest for dirty tactics,
Loste said. Nida Tundagui of the labor
sector told of the “deprived conditions” of the workingman's family under the
GMA administration. “Tutol na sa anti-mamamayang
mga patakaran ang mga manggagawa,”
(Labor is against anti-people policies) Tundagui said. He added that the people
are “outraged” by Ocampo's arrest and detention as well the continuing hospital
arrest of Anakpoawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran. Beltran has been confined
at the Philippine Heart Center under police custody since last year. The Gabriela Women's Party
(GWP)fears for the safety of Liza Maza, its lone representative in Congress, who
is now being linked to summary executions in Nueva Ecija. “Nire-recycle
nila ang mga bungo,” (The skulls are getting recycled) as “trumped-up
evidence” in many alleged murder or massacre cases, Cyrene Reyes, GWP-Cordillera
spokesperson, said. Meanwhile Imelda Tabiando,
Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) secretary-general, denounced the
continuation of extrajudicial killings despite international condemnation.
“Despite condemnation by
international bodies, such as the U.S. Congress and the United Nations Human
Rights Council (UNHRC), of the government's unprecedented record of human rights
violations, political killings continue unabated,” Tabiando said. She cited
Oplan Bantay Laya II (OBL II), the alleged master plan behind political
repression, as the “culprit” which seeks to “break the will” of those considered
“enemies of the state.” The country is under “de facto martial law,”
Tabiando also said. In a statement distributed
during the press conference, the CHRA said that the motive behind the charges
against Ocampo and his arrest and detention is “to divert international and
national attention from the people's condemnation of the Arroyo
government-perpetrated extrajudicial killings and human rights violations.” According to the CHRA
statement Ocampo's detention is a major part of OBL II. It is also a part of the
government's desperate maneuvers to control the elections, the statement further
read.
"In your mission to serve the people, set forth with courage,
integrity and loyalty," Arroyo told the PMA graduates.
She disclosed the government's two-pronged policy of soft and
hard power. “It is now the government's peace model in dealing flash points in
Mindanao,” she said s she told the young soldiers to spearhead the fight against
terrorism, side by side with young professionals and entrepreneurs who would
fight poverty.
“Confidence- building measures coupled with dialog,
infrastructure development and mutual security arrangements are the keys to
lasting peace in the South.”
Meanwhile, party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela
Women's party, and other human rights advocates staged an indignation rally and
noise barrage on March 21 at the Kilometer Zero here. They demanded the release
of both Ocampo and Beltran and urged the Filipino people to end Arroyo’s
“repressive rule.”
In a related development, senatorial candidate Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III, who was in town early this week, said in a press conference that
while he thought extrajudicial killings are not part of state policy, it shows
the “inutility” of the Arroyo government. Northern
Dispatch / Posted by 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.
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat