What Independence?

By Flon Faurillo / Bulatlat

The Melo Commission, formed purportedly to probe the spate of extra-judicial killings under the Arroyo administration, takes pains to present itself as an independent body. Retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, who heads the commission, has declared however that the body will not look into who the suspects are but rather will examine the causes behind the killings. While it does sound like a statement of impartiality, the Melo Commission’s line actually leaves unchallenged the line being mouthed by Philippine National Police (PNP) Task Force Usig, Malacañang, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) – that the killings are perpetrated by the New People’s Army (NPA) – even as the patterns in these incidents point to state forces as the most likely suspects.

Salungguhit literally means to underline; figuratively, to underscore or highlight.