by: Roland G. Simbulan
Professor and Faculty Regent
May 30, 2006
State Terrorism is now a fact of life in our country. Since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed power in 2001, no less than 224 Filipino advocates journalists, and activists have been assassinated by motorcycle-riding death squads in various parts of the country. The pattern of the killings is starkly clear: critics of the government who are lawyers, journalists, priests and ministers, labor leaders, peasant organizers, teachers and student leaders are being liquidated by professional hitmen. All the victims are legal opposition personalities who have been branded or tagged as "leftists" or members of what certain government, the military and police officials call "legal fronts of the CPP/NPA".
The pattern of killings is remarkably similar to "Operation Phoenix", launched by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in South Vietnam in the late 60s. Lists of suspected Communists or Communist sympathizers were given by the CIA to professional hit men, thugs and even criminals serving sentences who were released to do the dirty jobs for the military and police. As many as 40,000 suspected members or sympathizers of the South Vietnam National Liberation Front (SV-NLF) were abducted and assassinated in an attempt to physically wipe out the "political infrastructure" of the Vietnamese "insurgency".
Similar patterns of counter-insurgency and "anti-terror" tactics were also replicated in Latin America in the 60s and 70s by the CIA. The murderous rampage in Vietnam by the CIA and its local puppets was one of the most violent episodes of the Vietnam War. But it failed to accomplish its objectives. In 1975, the Vietnamese people finally defeated the U.S. military aggressors and their South Vietnamese puppets and finally liberated South Vietnam to establish the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Given the closer covert and overt coordination and cooperation of the U.S. special operations forces and Philippine military and police agencies in the "anti-terror" campaign as never seen before, it is impossible for them not to have a hand in this. The manner and pattern of killings today are even worse than the vigilante killings in the country that occurred in the late 80s against members and leaders of people's organizations and NGOs. They are meant to silence legal critics and the open opposition to the creeping dictatorship and the "Cha-Cha "locomotive train". The killings are a threat to the very existence of democracy which should guarantee freedom of speech, assembly and the right to freely organize for grievances and social change. Political killings of legal personalities will not only permanently sabotage the peace process, but well further fuel the armed insurgency as the legal option diminishes.
Advocates and social reformers are now an endangered species in this country. If the government is not really a party to this state of terror as it claims, then it should put a stop to these killings and assassinations of its citizens. The government must enforce law and order and provide protection to all its citizens, including its staunchest critics and those in the opposition. Government has no right to exist if it is inutile in carrying out the most basic duties of a state.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Rep. Beltran to Sto. Tomas: Resign Now and Good Riddance
NEWS RELEASE
May 30, 2006
From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran
For Reference: Rep. Crispin Beltran/Lisa C. Ito
Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006Tel. # (+632) 931-6615
Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com URL: http://www.geocities.com/ap_news
"If she think she's stressed out, we can only imagine the state of health, mind and welfare of the workers whose rights she has violated by signing all those various memoranda, department orders and case decisions. How many workers have lost not only their jobs but their very lives because of her?"
This was the reaction of activist legislator Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran to reports that labor and employment secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas is mulling over resignation for health reasons.
"She should resign now, and good riddance," said Beltran. "Under her administration, the labor department has become even more anti-worker and anti-poor. She shouldn't expect any compassion from the workers, neither is there anyone willing to step forward and stop her from resigning. To leave the public service would be Sto. Tomas' gift to the hundreds of thousands of workers she helped employers and capitalists abuse, exploit, and kick out of employment."
"Actually, her exit is long overdue. Government employees, labor unions, and private sector workers have long been appealing for her resignation and the rejection of her appointment," Beltran said.
"Pat Sto. Tomas will not be missed even if she leaves the DOLE. How can one miss a labor Secretary who herself has been accused of committing unfair labor practice, violating the Constitutional rights of government employees to self-organization by directly intervening in the affairs of DOLE employees, union-busting, and grave abuse of authority?" Beltran said.
Though still incarcerated, Beltran said that he still closely monitors the developments in the labor front. "The situation of our workers is deplorable. And things keep getting worse. Sto. Tomas has done essentially nothing to help improve the lives and welfare of Filipino workers. Because of her, human rights violations against workers have shot clear through the roof, and the country's unemployment rate has remained at alarming levels. The brutal massacre of the workers and farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita is also something she remains and will always remain partly responsible for," he insisted.
Still, Beltran said that Sto. Tomas' impending resignation would not absolve her of her injustices against Filipino workers. "Sto. Tomas will still be held accountable for the various labor rights violations committed under her term, particularly the Hacienda Luisita massacre," Beltran said.
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May 30, 2006
From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran
For Reference: Rep. Crispin Beltran/Lisa C. Ito
Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006Tel. # (+632) 931-6615
Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com URL: http://www.geocities.com/ap_news
"If she think she's stressed out, we can only imagine the state of health, mind and welfare of the workers whose rights she has violated by signing all those various memoranda, department orders and case decisions. How many workers have lost not only their jobs but their very lives because of her?"
This was the reaction of activist legislator Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran to reports that labor and employment secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas is mulling over resignation for health reasons.
"She should resign now, and good riddance," said Beltran. "Under her administration, the labor department has become even more anti-worker and anti-poor. She shouldn't expect any compassion from the workers, neither is there anyone willing to step forward and stop her from resigning. To leave the public service would be Sto. Tomas' gift to the hundreds of thousands of workers she helped employers and capitalists abuse, exploit, and kick out of employment."
"Actually, her exit is long overdue. Government employees, labor unions, and private sector workers have long been appealing for her resignation and the rejection of her appointment," Beltran said.
"Pat Sto. Tomas will not be missed even if she leaves the DOLE. How can one miss a labor Secretary who herself has been accused of committing unfair labor practice, violating the Constitutional rights of government employees to self-organization by directly intervening in the affairs of DOLE employees, union-busting, and grave abuse of authority?" Beltran said.
Though still incarcerated, Beltran said that he still closely monitors the developments in the labor front. "The situation of our workers is deplorable. And things keep getting worse. Sto. Tomas has done essentially nothing to help improve the lives and welfare of Filipino workers. Because of her, human rights violations against workers have shot clear through the roof, and the country's unemployment rate has remained at alarming levels. The brutal massacre of the workers and farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita is also something she remains and will always remain partly responsible for," he insisted.
Still, Beltran said that Sto. Tomas' impending resignation would not absolve her of her injustices against Filipino workers. "Sto. Tomas will still be held accountable for the various labor rights violations committed under her term, particularly the Hacienda Luisita massacre," Beltran said.
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