Bangit
With the appointment of Army Chief Lieutenant General Delfin Bangit as new AFP chief, an electoral watchdog expressed fears of a repeat of the “Hello Garci” controversy.
Father Joe Dizon, Kontra Daya convener, said the possible involvement of the AFP in another election scam has increased with the appointment of the new military chief, saying that Bangit is an Arroyo loyalist.
“His appointment exacerbates fears that the AFP will again be used ala-‘Garci generals’,” he said in a statement.
“Bangit hypocritically lays claim to sainthood by working for a peaceful and credible election, conveniently forgetting that the AFP is the Arroyo regime’s single, most dependable electoral machinery for electoral fraud and terrorism,” del Mundo, spokesperson of the NDF-Southern Mindanao, said in a statement.
“Its [AFP’s] ballyhooed Advocacy for Credible Elections is nothing but a machination by the reactionary AFP to push its devious game plan of ensuring Mrs. Arroyo’s victory in the upcoming GRP elections and continue her hold on power,” del Mundo added.
Del Mundo added that Bangit’s pronouncement that the military will not engage in partisan politics is “double-talk as the AFP already unleashed its party-list hound dogs Anad and Bantay headed by rabid anti-communists, Jun Alcover and retired general Jovito Palparan, respectively.” Both had been active in demonizing members and leaders of legal democratic organizations and progressive party-lists, del Mundo said.
Violations
“Armed men roaming and doing house-to-house visits constitute the clearest threat to the peaceful conduct of elections and to electoral democracy, to which any partylist or candidate is entitled. Soldiers in barangays should leave immediately,” Clemente said.
“We condemn the military’s desperate campaign against progressive partylists and lawmakers in their twisted belief that we are fronts of the CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army] in Congress. We abhor such cheap scare tactic , even brandishing rifles in urban communities in order to scare away volunteers and organizers of progressive groups,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.
“Perhaps the military is becoming more blatant and outright in its desperation to ruin the congressional bid of representatives of the toiling masses. But whatever scheme they may employ, the central issue is that they have no business staying in barangays in cities,” Clemente pointed out.
“Urban poor communities are not battle zones, the Armed Forces has no business staying there. The military justified their presence as a preemptive measure against the so-called infiltration of the Left in these communities. Maintaining peace and order is the duty of the police, not the armed Forces,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo in an interview with Bulatlat.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares said the deployment of soldiers in urban centers is unconstitutional as it violates the provisions of civilian supremacy over the military.
He said soldiers must stay in their camps unless there is rebellion, invasion and lawless violence. Colmenares said that under international law, military bases are prohibited from residential areas because they would endanger the life of the civilians.
Colmenares said military officers can be charged for violating the provisions of the Anti Graft and Corruption Practices Act, which stipulates that the military should be politically neutral all the time.
“They could also be charged for violating the Revised Penal Code for showing libelous PowerPoint presentations that tag progressive partylist groups as fronts of the NPA and for violating the law on child abuse, which stipulates that no troops should be deployed in school buildings and health units,” he said.
“Soldiers should be in the countryside. They do not have enemies here in Metro Manila. Even during the Marcos dictatorship, this is unthinkable. That time, only the Metrocom, PC roam around the cities; you cannot find elements of the Armed Forces here,” said Gene Nisperos of Health Alliance for Democracy (Head). Head has formed a people’s organization in Isla Puting Bato, another community frequented by soldiers.
“The people’s organizations in Isla are growing stronger that the soldiers need to harass and intimidate their leaders. Residents in these communities have learned to assert their rights and this government is afraid of people who are assertive of their rights,” Nisperos said.
“On one hand, this may be viewed as a desperate move of a regime that has no strong foundation, one that is not anchored on the people’s support,” Nisperos said. “If this administration is loved by the people, it does not have to deploy troops to harass its perceived enemies. But this government knows well that it does not have the support of the people, it needs to use force and intimidation. The deployment of troops is a sign of weakness of the national leadership,” he added.
Counter-insurgency
Colmenares said visiting Gabriela members and threatening them is proof that soldiers are not there to perform civic, criminal or counter insurgency acts. “Gabriela members are not armed. So what the military is doing is illegal,” he said. “The problem with the military’s counter-insurgency is they fight those who are unarmed instead of the NPA. For me, this cowardice on the extreme because it shows that they are afraid to fight in the rural areas.”
Ocampo said that under the national internal security program, the Oplan Bantay Laya, the Armed Forces, National Defense, Cabinet Oversight Committee for Internal Security (COCIS) deem that they cannot end the insurgency if they would only target armed groups in the countryside. “They claim that the existence of legal people’s organizations in the communities and even the party-list representation in Congress are all part of the insurgency. The question is how should they respond to this? Do they need to use armed force against unarmed civilians? This is the major issue here. It is not correct,” he said.
The counter-insurgency program of the Arroyo government has been linked by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston to the spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other rights violations. (Bulatlat.com)
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The AFP’s unrelenting disregard of human rights and supremacy of civilian authority over the military is alarming already. But what is even more alarming is the concerned institutions’ indifference and inaction amidst this grave threat to our already fragile democracy. The Arroyo-AFP antiquated defense mechanism of “communist-scare” tactics for vested personal interests has successfully neutralized and even “rendered inutile” these last bastions of democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. Where are you people? Are you ready for the real “people power” this time?