HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
Anti-Red Stance: ‘A Go-Signal
for More Political Killings’
“This government has
money for bullets but not for social services, health, land, classrooms
and books,” said an activist leader of the P1 billion anti-insurgency
fund.
By Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat
BACOLOD City -- The partylist Bayan
Muna (People First) in Negros province slammed Pres. Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo’s order to crush the communist insurgency in two years, warning
that this would result in more murders of leftist activists and opposition
figures by government-sponsored death squads.
“We abhor Mrs.
Arroyo’s belligerent pronouncement,” said Bayan Muna (People First) Negros
Occidental chair Alejandro Deoma. “Her virtual declaration of a ‘total
war’ policy will result in gross violations of human rights against the
people.”
“She’s practically
giving the go-signal for more political killings,” said Deoma, referring
to the spate of killings of leftist activists and anti-administration
critics by government-sponsored death squads.
“Mrs. Arroyo is
sending a loud and clear message to the military that they may intensify
their attack on leftists, whether aboveground and legal or armed and
underground. Gen. Palparan and his ilk have long made it clear that they
make no such distinctions—they’re all fair game for the government’s
security forces.”
“From now on, we
hold Mrs. Arroyo directly responsible for any and all extrajudicial
killings that may take place,” added Deoma.
Bayan Muna also
scored Mrs. Arroyo’s order to immediately release P1 billion for the
military’s counterinsurgency operations. “This government has money for
bullets but not for social services, health, land, classrooms and books,”
said Deoma.
“While the reenacted
budget has given Malacañang a big leeway in realigning funds, Mrs.
Arroyo’s priority is on military spending rather than social services,
wages and more jobs, concluded Deoma.
Meanwhile, human
rights alliance Karapatan-Negros (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s
Rights) and its allied groups held a two-day fact finding mission on the
killing of Karapatan member Eladio Dasian, 37 years old, of Malusay
village, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental.
Initial reports of
the Karapatan Guilhungan chapter showed that Dasian was on board his
motorcycle along a road in Malalusan village the afternoon of June 20
when he was gunned down by four men wearing ski masks on an owner-type
jeep who reportedly blocked his way and shot him point blank.
Dasian reportedly was
able to run a few meters away but was chased and shot again. He sustained
a dozen bullet wounds from a .45 caliber pistol, initial police report
said.
Weeks prior to his
killing, Dasian received threats from alleged members of Barangay
Intelligence Network, warning him to stop his involvement with progressive
groups.
Dasian is the second
activist killed in Guihulngan in two months following the killing of Peter
Angkon, an Anakbayan (Sons and Daughters of the People) organizer on May
16. He was the 10th militant group member slain in Negros
since 2005.
The municipality of
Guihulngan,
including its hinterlands and neighboring towns, is tagged by the military
as the “center of gravity” of the revolutionary movement in
Negros led by Frank Fernandez. The 11th
IB, together with its Special Operation Teams have been relentlessly
conducting campaigns in the town’s upper barangays to discredit and harass
legitimate peasant organizations and demonize its leaders as terrorist and
rebel supporters.
Karapatan-Negros
allegedly holds the Philippine Army responsible for the murder of their
member. Fred Cana, Karapatan-Negros secretary-general said the killing was
a part of the government’s ‘Oplan Bantay Laya’ and carried out by the
‘death squad’ of the Army, which is in its third phase of an alleged
campaign of attrition against members of militant groups.
He also said that
Guihulngan and other towns of central Negros island are being developed as
the “laboratory of Palparan brutal experiment” in the region. Bulatlat
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