Arroyo Admin's Permissive Culture of Political Assassinations

Sabi ni Wretchard na the Alston report was unfair raw:

Now here's the truth. An independent commission accused the Philippine Armed Forces of tolerating, even encouraging political assassinations -- but found that those killed by the Communist movement far outnumbered the victims of the military. (Philippine Star)

There is evidence that the military "allowed, tolerated and even encouraged" political assassinations, and that retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan was among those who justified the killings, according to the report of a special commission. The report – made public only yesterday – of the fact-finding commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, also stated that those killed by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) far outnumber the victims of summary executions carried out by "a small military group." ...

The Melo Commission said it is not "ignorant or unmindful of the crimes committed" by the communist rebels or the benefits of having "a decent military to defend our freedom and way of life." But it also urged the military not to stoop to the level of communist rebels "with their lawless, treacherous methodologies" but to respect the rule of law in running after enemies of the state.

Activist members of Bayan Muna, Akbayan and Gabriela = Enemies of the State?

I get it na. Delikado ang mga party-listers na ito ngayong election.

And Wretchard, it's okay to go after the terrorists and Communists/NPA rebels. It's okay to kill or capture them, dahil terrorista sila.

But to justify or make excuses re the political assasinationations of Arroyo critics from the Left and other left-leaning political and militant student organizations is simply beyond the pale.

If Bayan Muna or Akbayan or the League of Filipino Students are indeed involved in terrorism, then this admin needs to declare them as terrorist organizations na and go after them.

I guess for the ARroyo admin, there is no difference between the NPAs and a member of the League of Filipino Students. lol.

Almost all of the left-leaning labor, student, socialist, and women's organizations that you can find in the Philippines are anti-Arroyo (But they were also anti-Erap before too.) And like most lefty organizations, they're predictably against the US military presence, anti-Bush, anti-Iraq War. Not surprising since they are typical of most lefty organizations and groups found in the US, Europe and around the world.

What is happening inside the Philippines right now though, and Wretchard seems to be defending this, are assassinations being perpetrated against ARroyo critics associated with the leftist and militant organizations. Many of those murdered were student-members of Bayan Muna, KMU, League of Filipino Students or Akbayan.

Think of it this way, if members of MOVE ON.org or Code Pink or Not in Our Name or A.N.S.W.E.R. started getting whacked one by one by the CIA or elements of the US military because of their vocal and critical opposition to Bush, his policies, and the Iraq War, Bush would have been gone by now and some members of his cabinet and members of the military would be facing jail time. Thank god that has not happened in the US, but that's what is like under Arroyo's watch.

(And if these Leftist organizations were so bad, if they're the "enemies of the state", why did Arroyo (with photos) and military right-wingers join forces with them in 2000 to topple Estrada?)

To me, these assassinations are signs of a corrupt, inefficient and highly politicized military (dagdag bawas) under Arroyo.

They have a tough time going after the real terrorists (NPAs, Jemaah Islamiya, ASG), so they go after ARroyo's Lefty critics on the political arena. Kasi for the ARroyo admin, there's no difference between Gabriela women's organization and the terrorist/NPA hit squads. And they're easier targets too because they're "soft targets," just like the terrorists in Iraq would would rather kill innocent Iraqis instead of US troops because they're easier to accomplish.

But if i recall correctly, the leftist groups weren’t aggressively targetted like this until after the Hello garci tapes surfaced. i don’t recall the lefty party listers being harassed or murdered one by one with regularity like this during the 2004 elections no? sa legitimacy issue ni arroyo talaga nagsimula ang lahat. Rally raw kasi sila ng rally eh ang mga maka-kaliwa eh (hindi kasi nadala sa CPR) ayon, isa isa na silang pinapatay ng mga military hit men ng arroyo admin. probably by the same people who rigged the last 2004 elections too.

but why am i not surprised. when she appointed palparan and adopted his policy, what the fuck was she expecting???

So to me, the purpose of the assassinations is not to weaken or destroy communism, but to remove the lefty critics of Arroyo's legitimacy problems. (the same people she joined hands with to remove the previous president.)

More from Wretchard:

Great. I will now wait, with bated breath for the United Nations and Human Rights Organizations all over the world to seek the custody not only of any murderers in uniform, but also of the man who leads the Communist Party of the Philippines, the man who probably masterminded the murder of Colonel James Rowe. Jose Maria Sison, chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines. They don't have far to look for Sison. He currently lives in the Netherlands, not far from the Hague. For far too long has Sison ordered the death of innocent people with impunity, protected by the Left in the Europe. The same people who profess to care about international morality and humanity have this man to hold up as a mirror to themselves.

I agree with Wretch re Joma. So why doesn't Arroyo try harder to have Sison extradited? I'm sure if she puts her mind to it, she can come up with something compelling that will force the Dutch gov't to hand Joma over to the Arroyo gov't. But why couldn't they? Instead, this administration adopts a very permissive culture of targetting and assassinating lefty activists.

More: Majority of those in the military are not corrupt of course, like Gudani and Balutan, but around 30% are. And I don't believe most in the military engage in extra-judicial killings, but a few are, and they're being protected.

UPDATE: More from MLQ3 on the Alston report:

Please read Alston’s report, as he explains why the Melo Commission’s efforts are unsatisfactory; he also looks into the question of human rights abuses in a very objective manner, refuting the claim it’s all a Communist exaggeration quite well, as he does the view that it’s a gigantic politico-military conspiracy. After you read the UN Rapporteur’s statement, it might help put in context the debate going on on the CPP-NPA-NDF and organizations, including some party list groups, accused of being Communist fronts.

UPDATE: i guess the issue here is this: there would be no problem if we're targetting or assassinating the NPAs terrorists or Jemaah Islamiya types or the Abu sayyaf instead of arroyo's political critics from the left.

Now, if Arroyo declares Bayan Muna, Akbayan, LGF, Sanlakas, and Gabriela party lists as "terrorist organizations," then siguro pwede na silang isa-isahin ng Arroyo admin.

And please read the Alston and Melo report, para ma-judge nyo kung anong accurate.