vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

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hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
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Leftist killings a state-sanctioned policy?

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | August 11, 2006 at 12:08 am
Filed under: Human Rights

FINDINGS of an international fact-finding mission looking into the tide of political assassinations since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001 appear to give credence to the theory that the killings are part of a national security policy adopted by the Arroyo administration with regards to the communist Left.

The 68-member International Peasant Solidarity Mission (IPSM), which included 16 foreign participants from nongovernment and people’s organizations in the United States, Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, Japan, and Nepal, said there were clear indications of the military’s culpability, including controversial Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, in most cases of extra-judicial killings of leftist activists. The conclusion was based on testimonies gathered from the victims’ families during the three-day mission that investigated cases in Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog, where many of the killings happened.

Miriam Coronel Ferrer, associate professor of political science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, first posited the theory about the killings being sanctioned by the Arroyo government’s national security policy in an essay published in the June issue of Sulong Update. Sulong is the publication of Sulong CARHRIHL, a citizens’ network promoting the observance of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Ferrer said Arroyo’s national security policy is founded on the two conjoined impetus of a global war against terrorism and the continued opposition to Arroyo’s rule. The Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, and NDF have been singled out in the anti-terrorism campaign while the national democratic left is seen to play a visible role in efforts to oust Arroyo, she pointed out.

These reasons, Ferrer said, effectively make the national democratic left the Number One enemy of the Arroyo government. So it is not at all surprising, she added, that the national democratic left is being attacked through military, political and extra-judicial means.

Ferrer said such policy was foreshadowed by the alarm from within the administration over the good electoral showing of the national democratic party-list groups, alongside the CPP-NPA-NDF’s use of force during the elections in 2001, and which was further validated by their good showing in the 2004 polls.

Though Palparan gets all the blame, Ferrer said that the geographic and organizational spread of the victims of killings and arrests is reflective of a “national policy” in place.

“This is not just Gen. Palparan showing the way. This is the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the National Security Council led by the national security adviser, the Department of Interior and Local Governments, and the Department of National Defense at work,” she said.

Both National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and the PNP, however, denied Ferrer’s assertions. Gonzales, who heads the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), a biiter critic of the communist Left, declared that “there’s no excuse for extra-judicial killings; and that “no government will employ such a tool.”

Government and military officials have also suggested that the killings were the result of an ongoing purge within the communist movement.

Below is Ferrer’s essay:

National Security: The Invincible Code?
by Miriam Coronel Ferrer

The horrendous rise in political killings of leftist activists appears to be in line with the slant of the national security policy the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has adopted since 2002, with regards to the communist left, in particular. In her first years, alarm from within the administration was already expressed over the good electoral showing of the national democratic party list groups, alongside the CPP-NPA-NDF’s use of force during the elections (enforced collection and other punitive measures on electoral candidates). Their good showing in the 2004 polls further validated the “fears”. Coincidentally, or shall we say consequently, political killings targeting the left began in late 2004. Peace talks were suspended for various reasons including the postures taken on by the other party, and the JASIG consequently retracted since 2005.

Currently, the national security policy of the GMA administration is founded on two conjoined impetus — the global war against terrorism where the CPP-NPA-NDF has been particularly singled out (along with the Abu Sayyaf), and the continued opposition to GMA where the national democratic left plays a very visible role. These two rationale effectively make the national democratic left the Number One enemy of the current government. The Abu Sayyaf and the military adventurists only come next, and the latter is treated with kid gloves. Not surprisingly, the national democratic left is being attacked through military, political and extra-judicial means.

The focus of condemnation has for a long time been Gen. Jovito Palparan. While he did play an important “pioneering role”, the geographic and organizational spread of the victims (killings and arrests) reflect that a “national policy” is in place. This is not just Gen. Palparan showing the way. This is the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the National Security Council led by the national security adviser, the Department of Interior and Local Governments, and the Department of National Defense at work. The Department of Justice under the present secretary can hardly be expected to go against the grain. Perhaps only the Supreme Court, the Commission on Human Rights, and to the extent that the Department of Foreign Affairs has to defend the country internationally, can be expected to raise qualms.

The killing of two women leaders of the Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD), a left organization not allied with the CPP, and former NDF peace talks consultant and ex-Bicol regional CPP leader Sotero Llamas alongside Bayan Muna, et. al., seems to be a ploy to pass on the blame of the killings on “purges” or factional fighting. It serves the triple purpose of debilitating all left groups, further discrediting the CPP, and diverting blame away from the government.

The main reasoning of government, as reflected in remarks by government officials like Secretary Mike Defensor, is that the armed and the legal national democratic groups are one and the same (both espouse armed struggle); they are involved in the attempt to overthrow the government, the basis for declaring the state of emergency in February; and they have been proscribed as terrorist organizations in the international community. Therefore, without admitting that government is responsible and denying culpability, there is a basis to clamp down on them. Military and police officials, at the same time, have been bragging that they will lick the insurgency by 2010, the official end of the current presidential term.

The political leadership ultimately would have to be responsible for the unabated killings. Just as in the killings of journalists, whether or not a government institution or officer is involved, the onus on protecting the rights of its citizens falls squarely on the government. The sheer number of killings of selected targets and the modus operandi point strongly in the direction of a government “national security” policy — strictly confidential perhaps, limited to a few circles, perhaps, but ultimately sanctioned by the leadership through sheer inaction or inability, or worse, actual complicity.

Defeating the logic

All angles should be advanced to respond to the nefarious logic of national security, as presently enforced.

Summary executions violate the basic right to life (ironically upheld by GMA in the pardon given to death row convicts and the priority given to repealing the law on the death penalty).

The attack on one political ideology is discriminatory.

The attack does not support political mainstreaming, will justify the use of retaliatory violence, and sustain the logic of armed struggle.

Killings will not snuff out, in fact will inspire others, especially the youth to take up arms, given perceived futility to effect changes through parliamentary means.

Killings are contrary to the pledges made by the Philippine government to the international community, especially the fact of its recent election into the Human Rights Council.

The armed groups fight in the battlefield; the legal arena should be confined to a battle of ideas, or contending politics.

Killings violate the CARHRIHL; both parties should continue to observe this even though the peace talks are suspended.

Assassinations do not have a place in civilized society; the practice is condemnable, must not be tolerated and must not be allowed to be embedded in our social and political life (thus, the CPP-NPA should also stop the practice of executions and imposing the death penalty).

Whipping up the “red scare” is anachronistic to the post-Cold War age. The resort to assassinations using the communist bogey manifests the weakness of the AFP in the battlefield, and the government’s inability to govern, and get the support of the people.

Possible Mechanisms

As peace and human rights advocates, here are some of the steps we can take:

Generate more provincial or localized responses such as the publicized statement, “We thirst for peace (in Bulacan)”. Contacts in provinces where most victims came from should be encouraged to draw up similar responses. Meanwhile, other provinces should also be asked to issue “preventive” statements, where they ask that their localities be spared from these violations.

Write an open letter to the UN on the fact of the Philippines being elected to the Human Rights Council amidst all these killings. Call on the government to make good its pledges to this body.

Request meetings/dialogues with foreign embassies, the Executive Secretary, and the OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process), AFP, PNP, DND and National Security Council leaderships on this concern.

A saturation point where government will see that it will ultimately lose politically on the domestic and international fronts if it continues to follow this security track, need to be reached soon in order to stop this bloodletting.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 11th, 2006 and is filed under Human Rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.