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KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) |
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Staring at the face of human rights: On the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the United Nations’ We express our disgust and alarm on the human rights record of the Arroyo administration barely a year in her office. In only a short period of time, the GMA administration became a militarist, anti-people, pro-imperialist human rights violator. In only ten months after being installed by a popular uprising, President Gloria Arroyo had already exposed her fascist and autocratic tendencies following her complete subservience to the military. From January 20 to November 30, 2001 alone, the Arroyo administration through its military, police and civilian bureaucracy has been responsible for 544 cases of human rights violations where the AFP/PNP combined forces figured in 231 of these cases, the PNP alone figured in 30 of these cases and other paramilitary forces committed 48 of these HRV cases. State-sanctioned arbitrary arrest and detention has claimed 137 individual victims; abduction and disappearance claimed 11 individual victims in 8 cases; 38 individual victims were killed in 9 massacre incidents while another 39 individual victims were either assassinated or summarily executed; 26 corpses of New People’s Army combatants had been victims of desecration , while 5 sick or wounded combatants were either maltreated or denied medical attention;64 individuals from 20 incidents were either assaulted or physically abused while another 13 individuals from 9 incidents were tortured; 5 individuals were used forcibly as either human shields or guides in military combat operations; and 154 individuals from 68 incidents were either harassed, threatened or intimidated. The Philippine military and police do not even respect nor adhere to its code of conduct of operations when it tortured and killed in cold blood five (5) fishermen in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija in October 8, 2001 of this year and massacred four (4) farmers in Sitio San Ysidro, Bgy. San Jose, Antipolo last October 21, 2001. Even human rights activists are not spared from these violations. Milagros Belga, a volunteer worker of KARAPATAN-Southern Tagalog, was brutally murdered last July 22, 2001; Cenon Montipon, a justice and peace worker in Zamboanga del Norte was killed on June 13, 2001. 8 BAYAN MUNA coordinators in separate incidents, after being either abducted and arrested were killed. Mangyan and peasant families from their communities in Mindoro, Laguna, and other parts of Southern Tagalog have been forcibly displaced and have become internal refugees like those in Basilan and other parts of Mindanao. Globalization—the US-dictated policy of economic, political, social and cultural suicide, which is continually wreaking havoc to the lives of the Filipino people, is continued by GMA. There is no respect for the economic rights of the impoverished masses whatsoever. Even a measly wage increase of P125.00 that could at least compensate for the rising cost of living is constantly being denied by the government, opting to serve the interests of the local and foreign capitalists who cry “financial loss” even if it only means a small reduction of their profits. And when the workers assert their right to decent wages and working conditions, the might of the state is used against them. President Arroyo did not learn nor does she intend to learn from her predecessors that military might cannot unmake dissent, it can only fuel more of it. Early in her term, she pronounced that she is for all-out peace, but she never stopped the implementation of Oplan Makabayan, the counter-insurgency program of Estrada. It is still in effect, along with its offsprings Oplan Balangai in Southern Tagalog, Campaign Plan Habol Tamaraw in Mindoro. These operation plans victimize civilian communities which are subjected to constant harassment and military assault and other forms of human rights violations committed by the military under the guise of pursuing the New People’s Army. Peace, justice, and human rights, is nowhere near the priority of this administration. It was and always has been busy of protecting itself and giving in to the whims and caprices of the real authority in Malacañang—the military bureaucracy. It has become ironic that the people who put President Arroyo in Malacañang are now the ones being ignored and betrayed. Worse, they are now included among the subject of repression and political persecution of the present government. In the guise of the supporting the hypocritical “War Against Terror” of US President George Bush against the people of Afghanistan and for the economic interests of America, President Arroyo unashamedly peddled our national sovereignty. This is in exchange for perpetuation of her administration’s political power and continuous supply of used military hardware to be used against the Filipino people. Human rights, justice and peace can only be realized when a truly democratic government, free from the dictates of Imperialism and local landlords and bureaucrat-capitalists, is put in place. We would like to remind the Arroyo government to reassess its program of governance and address the basic question: Whom does this government really want to serve? More than her, the majority of the poor are the ones “hurting and alarmed” by her government’s policies. The ultimate question the president has to address is for whose benefits her policies serve. President GMA has to look back and learn the lessons of the past. Otherwise, she may go the way of her predecessors – hated by the people for their violations of the people’s rights.## |
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(c) 2002 by KARAPATAN, Inc. |