LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Thursday, December 7, 2017
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Martial law extension

WITH  martial law still in full effect in Mindanao, the human rights situation has already worsened due to the continuing implementation of President Duterte’s counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan, but this is all the more compounded by the termination of the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the recent verbal threats by the President. With Malacañang poised to extend the martial law declaration in Mindanao and, possibly, to expand the coverage nationwide, the situation is set to become much more urgent and dangerous.

On Nov. 26, 2017, 12 Lumad communities, composed of at least 244 families in Barangay Diatagon, Lianga and Barangay Buhisan, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur evacuated due to military operations in their area. Karapatan Caraga reported initially that 406 students and 51 teachers from 9 Lumad schools were affected by the incident. The evacuees are currently in Simowao, Diatagon. On Dec. 1, 2017, a food blockade was imposed in Barangay Diatagon, Lianga as the 75th IBPA checkpoint refused entry to the Lianga local government and other humanitarian groups.

On Nov. 30, 2017, “Wanted” posters bearing the pictures and names of leaders of progressive organizations in Davao, including Karapatan’s Hanimay Suazo and Bayan’s Sheena Duazo, were once again being circulated. The leaders, collectively known as “Haran 15” were charged with trumped-up charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The case was filed in 2015, after human rights advocates helped facilitate the evacuation of Lumad evacuees at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran compound. The case was already dismissed last July 2016.

The Duterte regime seems to be concocting more and more maneuvers to further curtail people’s rights. From the use of the Human Security Act of 2007, the formation of the Inter-Agency Committee on Legal Action (IACLA), the threats to crackdown on progressive groups, to possible extension of martial law, the Duterte administration is hell-bent on finding ways to usurp power and destroying all mechanism for checks and balance, thus laying the pretext for a full-blown dictatorship.

The military will have greater powers under martial law, thus it is absurd that its extension depends on the institution that will most benefit from it. If we gave all the decision-making to the military, the level of State-perpetrated violations will undoubtedly intensify. The AFP has in its top ranks known human rights violators rewarded for perpetrating rights abuses. It is an institution that perpetuates impunity and merely uses human rights and ‘security sector reform’ initiatives as a moneymaking scheme, without any substantial change to their orientation and framework.

As President Duterte is acting like a crazed suitor trying to consolidate his fellow fascists in the military and the police, he betrays his regime’s insincerity in pursuing a just and lasting peace in the country. – CRISTINA PALABAY, secretary general, Karapatan, Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Streets, Central District, Quezon City <karapatan@karapatan.org>
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