Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 2, Number 39 November 3 - 9, 2002 Quezon City, Philippines |
Analysis Dancing
to the beat of the war drums by George W. Bush, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
continues to pursue her own war against terrorism through a national plan.
Seen from all angles, the plan unveils the signs of a militarist state
that should concern all Filipinos. BY
BOBBY TUAZON Two of the alleged victims of Macapagal-Arroyo’s war on terrorism: Rosa C. Guadiana, 18, (left) who went missing while returning home in Catarman, northern Samar on Aug. 22; and Domingo de las Alas (middle), who also disappeared on Oct. 5 in Batangas on his way to Camp Crame. Guadiana is the daughter of an alleged NDF leader in Eastern Visayas while De las Alas is a Bayan Muna municipal coordinator. Suspect ( police sketch, right) in the abduction of Guadiana reportedly came from Camp Lukban army headquarters in Catbalogan Photos courtesy of Karapatan Is
the Macapagal-Arroyo government building a garrison state in the guise of
fighting “terrorism”? And is this state machinery, with the support of the
U.S. government, being put up to ensure the President’s election in 2004? The
pieces that make up this possible scenario include the launching of the “war
on terrorism” by the President in the wake of U.S. President George Bush’s
“Operation Enduring Freedom” in October last year, the plan to recruit more
soldiers, paramilitary forces and policemen and the unprecedented increase in
the budget of both the defense and police agencies. Macapagal-Arroyo
also announced the building of a “Strong Republic” followed by her full
endorsement of anti-terrorism bills pending in both Houses of Congress. In
recent moves, her security officials called for the implementation of a national
ID system for all Filipinos as a means, they argued, of averting terrorist
threats. Almost at the same time, police officials blacklisted at least six
major schools in Metro Manila as possible “terrorist enclaves” for reason,
they said, that these institutions have been traditional turfs of militants. Government’s
anti-terrorist program is not only a hodge-podge of spontaneous plans but is
well laid-out in what a Bulatlat source describes as a “National Plan to
Address Terrorism and Its Consequences.” Crafted by top administration,
defense and police officials a few months ago, the plan resurrects martial law
orders and sets into motion what appears to be a xerox copy of Bush’s own
“homeland security” program. The U.S. president’s program, drawn up after
the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, has been criticized as having the makings of a
fascist state and a grave threat to civil liberties. Specifically,
the new national plan against terrorism revives Executive Order 727 issued by
the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1981. The EO provides for the creation of a
“peace and order council” in all levels of government that would command all
anti-terrorist efforts. The council gives powers to police and Armed Forces
officials that, since Marcos’s time, have subordinated civilian authority to
these entities. ‘Terrorists’
as ‘criminals’ Although
the anti-terrorism bills have yet to be enacted into law, the plan already
assumes all “terrorist acts” as “criminal.” Nevertheless, the
presidential plan expects Congress to dance to the same beat by passing
anti-terrorism bills. The bills, particularly HB 3802 authored by Ilocos Norte
Rep. Imee Marcos, have been criticized as an affront to the Bill of Rights that
would make all types of legitimate dissent “terrorist” and “criminal.” Just
like in Bush’s “homeland security” plan, the Macapagal-Arroyo
government’s version authorizes the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal
Security (COC-IS), which is chaired by the executive secretary, to administer
the implementation of all policies and actions against terrorism. On matters of
terrorism, many departments are also integrated to undertake parallel efforts
including intelligence, monitoring and actions. The
DILG, particularly its police agency, for instance, is tasked to update its list
of suspected terrorist fronts and, together with other units, to prepare legal
actions. One such list identifies Bayan Muna, Karapatan and other militant
cause-oriented organizations as targets of monitoring. The
national plan also classifies terrorist activities as “police matters”
although it also mandates the Armed Forces to step in once such activities
escalate into a crisis. In actual operations, it is the AFP which has assumed
the lead role especially in the light of the labeling of the New People’s Army
(NPA) as a “terrorist group.” Just
the same, and particularly on a nationwide scale, it is the police and Armed
Forces that assume key roles in government’s anti-terrorist campaign. Indeed
the plan reactivates the peace and order councils and the disaster coordinating
councils where police authorities have a commanding presence. Especially in
local crisis situations, local executives readily submit themselves a la martial
law to the authority of the police and military officials. This national matrix
practically allows the military and police agencies virtual powers over a
function that by edict is supposed to be under the civilian bureaucracy. Collaborating
with U.S. Most
of all, however, the national plan places emphasis on working closely with U.S.
authorities in terms of training, intelligence and security. It also reiterates
the President’s earlier decisions allowing U.S. forces access into the
country’s airspace and facilities and providing logistical support such as
food supplies, medicine and medical personnel. Aligning government’s anti-terrorism campaign with that of the U.S. government is expected considering the President’s all-out support to Bush’s “war on terrorism” which has targeted the Philippines among some 80 countries where terrorism is supposed to be active. In both the U.S. and Macapagal-Arroyo security parlance, there is no longer any distinction between “terrorism” and “guerrilla movement” or rebellion. Their respective hit lists of so-called “terrorist organizations” include the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army. Philippine defense and police officials have gone further by labeling their alleged front organizations as “terrorist” and “criminal.” This demonization of legal groups – groups that became instrumental in catapulting Macapagal-Arroyo to where she is now in early 2001 – has resulted in the killing of several mass leaders and activists nationwide. It
is in this light that Macapagal-Arroyo’s “national plan to address
terrorism” should be seen as part of her national strategy to support the Bush
government’s campaign to purge the country of the Leftist threat in the
pretext of fighting terrorism. Bush’s national security strategy (NSS) which
he issued last September expressly provides for ousting unfriendly governments
as well as supporting friendly regimes to make the world safe from “rogue
states” and “terrorist sponsors.” In the last APEC summit in Mexico, the
U.S. president congratulated Macapagal-Arroyo for her support and pledged
American support all the way. The national plan against terrorism is nothing but the President’s expression of her all-out support to Bush even if this means placing the nation’s constitutional freedoms and civil liberties under threat. It should be a concern not only for the militant groups but for all freedom fighters, civil libertarians and the rest of the nation as well. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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