"Enemies of the State"

[gareb]

---

[size=18px]Editorial : Déja vu [/size]
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.p...lished_site=25

CERTAIN signs have been foreshadowing it, and those old enough to remember will feel a distinct sense of déja vu over the Armed Forces of the Philippines' "Knowing the Enemy," a document containing a list of so-called enemies of the state. The list, which is presented to communities in the countryside by PowerPoint, includes Church, media, activist and party-list groups deemed either "communist fronts" or "dealing" with communist insurgents. It's apparently a hodgepodge of the state's usual suspects. Talk about the bad old days of the dictatorship.

But apart from the déja vu, there is also a distinct sense of alarm. During the tumultuous period leading to Ferdinand Marcos' imposition of martial law, and during that benighted era itself, the Church, media and activist groups that took to the frontlines and valiantly gave voice to public despair over state terrorism were branded subversives-a label that brought clear danger to life and limb. And indeed, the issue of the maimed, the dead and the "desaparecidos" [missing] of that time continues to fester. Even now, decades later, justice is still firmly beyond grasp.

Brig. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado has confirmed the existence of the document even if his boss, AFP chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu, has disclaimed knowledge of it. And Honrado is decidedly unapologetic over the listing of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Courage, Pamalakaya and party-list and other activist groups as "enemies." He hedges on the listing of the bishops (even as he casually notes "clergymen in picket lines") and says they're actually "targets for influence." More disturbing, he wants the groups thus listed to take it upon themselves to prove that they have no links with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army.

Is this any way for the chief of the AFP's Civil Relations Service to behave? In this democratic space carved out of the dark days of martial law and touted to be a mark of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's "strong republic"?

The standards that the military has employed in coming up with the list of "enemies" remain in the realm of conjecture. What is clear, however, is that those listed-bishops, priests, nuns, lawmakers, teachers, students, farmers, laborers, rights advocates, journalists, urban poor, indigenous peoples-have not only been giving voice to public despair over the abysmal quality of life of the majority of the population but also loudly seeking redress for murders most foul. They are, in short, rocking the boat. The NUJP has been tirelessly raising an outcry against the killing of journalists (by its count three in the first three months of 2005, with two failed attempts; 13 in 2004; 66 since 1986). It has been reminding authorities that the suspected killers come from the ranks of the police and military, whether retired or in the active service.

The CBCP, in pastoral statements rarely as strongly worded, has demanded that the Arroyo administration drop its seeming indifference and immediately address the killing of three key supporters of striking workers at Hacienda Luisita (classic symbol of the agrarian conflict that has long characterized this country and that illustrates the ever yawning gap between the wealthy and the impoverished). It has called attention to the fact that "the military is suspected to author these assassinations."

The party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and allied organizations have long been sounding the alarm over the killing (18 since the start of the year) and involuntary disappearance (six) of political activists. They have maintained that only the AFP and its paramilitary units have the capability to mount such attacks "right at your doorstep" on a nationwide scale.

Can observers attentive to cues and patterns be faulted for thinking that the military's "Knowing the Enemy" amounts to a hit list of those who cannot be bullied into silence?

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, a survivor of the horrors of martial law, put it poignantly in a statement last month: "At least during martial law it was declared. We knew what organizations were outlawed. Today there are no formal declarations, and yet it seems agents of the state target legitimate organizations, activists and even party-list groups..."

The implications are chilling.

[potterboy]

yes... it is indeed chilling.

it is their primary aim to silence the very foundation of the filipino people's voice. havent they noticed that while they're so eager to eliminate them, the more they grow and keep the fire alive? the very fire that they alone have set?

on activism:

I believe this is the best form to show one's discontent over the failure of the government to address the people's needs not discounting the fact that it is in the constitution. and now they are continuing the horrors of long ago, thus clearly violating the law they so-called lift.

grabe naa kaayo... wala pa sila natagbaw sa Mendiola Massacre, Edsa Tres and the recent Hacienda Luisita 'encounters.'

the philippine government clearly is an embodiment of hypocrisy, abuse and corruption. they shud focus more on developments and the needs of the entire population and not their bank accounts. "and tanga sila, hindi mangyayari ang ganito kung hindi dahil sa kanilang mga katarantaduhan. kahit patayin pa lahat ng tibak... mabubuhay at mabubuhay parin sa dugo ng mga susunod ang demokrasyang kailanmay hindi natin nakamit."

and they are so freakin' proud to call it "insurgency."

we are not the enemies of the state. we are the people who needed to be heard. we are the people they shud protect. we are the people who shud be respected and be given the freedom in our own country, and even in simplicity, enjoy life like they do.

"ang aming pag-aalsa ay hinding-hindi tatahimik. HINDI TAMA NA LAGING MANAHIMIK. its more than the rallies and picket lines, that is something everyone should understand, even the AFP. coz it is not there if there are no reasons to fight for. "pruweba lamang ito na hindi na matiis ng mga kababayan nating ang kanilang panggigipit."


wanna know who the enemies?
AFP and the Arroyo Regime- they are the true ENEMIES OF THE STATE.

whew! at least nakatingog ko ug balik dri. i love istorya.net!

[gareb]

what i am more concerned about is that this branding of legitimate organizations has become sort of a hit list, considering the fact that quite a number of media personalities and activists have been downed for the past few months. even an Aglipayan priest.

curiously, these are the very same people who are crying out against the corruption and injustices that are being committed everywhere. and because they did, they were branded as "enemies of the state".

Catholic bishops are even included in the "enemies of the state" list as they are in it with the people in protest, as well as condemning the atrocities at Hacienda Luisita and the murder of Rev. Tadena in Tarlac.

and even NUJP, who has been at the forefront against the campaign of killing journalists, and PCIJ, who was the first to implicate Erap in various scandals leading to his ouster, are tagged. the irony is that NUJP has always been with the goverment in its efforts (albeit not enough) in solving these crimes, and PCIJ has always been there to assist in the investigation of corruption charges against public officials.

when it implicates even NUJP and PCIJ as an "enemies of the state" what does it mean? add to that the fact that the AFP has pushed to penalize media organizations that dare to interview people whom the AFP consider as "terrorists". isn't this outright censorship of the press?

this, ladies and gentlemen, is our famed democracy.

[potterboy]

...fact that the AFP has pushed to penalize media organizations that dare to interview people whom the AFP consider as "terrorists". isn't this outright censorship of the press?

its not that im siding with the terrorists... but for the fact that some of these factions were formed due to the government's flaws.

and censorship of the press deprives the people, "us", from information relating to the cause and actual reactions why such incidents happen or actions taken. if thats the case, they might as well strip press freedom away from the constitution. this is totaly insane. they are not acting like humans anymore. a clear manifestation of their hidden interests. a black propaganda within the government and its aim to demolish the true democracy.

[gareb]

potterboy: the "terrorist" tag has always been arbitrary.

the government has always treated everybody who criticizes it as "terrorists". i was quite amused that it did not equate the "enemies of the state" with the "terrorist" tag.

[potterboy]

lolz@gareb.

i was quite amused that it did not equate the "enemies of the state" with the "terrorist" tag.

they need a better tag, "baboy".

[potterboy]

and after i saw the complete details.... i was shocked.

[reklamador]

Why did they consider Religion as the opium of the state? are they trying to push us to being an ATHEIST? Religion is the foundation of a successful society!

Now!Where is freedom?

[reklamador]

May pa mag-unite na sila sa mga communist kay wala na sila malayo ana!

Keep the tradition of true Democracy amnong us!

[Dgreat_Latin_luvr]

KUDOS Brod Potterboy, Ipaglaban ang mga na-aapi. Ningbalik nasad tong panahon ni Marcos, FASCISM!!!