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Lives are apparently a centavo a dozen in this society of ours. <br>
<br>
Three nights ago, Elena Mendiola and her husband, both members of Bayan
Muna in Isabela, were sprayed with bullets by armed men. An officer of
Bayan Muna and a member of Kadamay, a militant urban poor group, were
simultaneously killed in the Bicol Region on April 28. On April 22, Bayan
Muna members Virgilio and Marilou Rubio were hogtied and shot in Nakar,
Quezon. On March 19, League of Filipino Students (LFS) Regional
Coordinator and Alpha Phi Omega Grand Chancellor Cris Hugo was shot three
times in Legazpi City. A member of the militant youth group Anakbayan in
Hacienda Luisita has been missing since late March 2006. <br>
<br>
Three youth researchers of a peasant group were arrested in Quezon on
April 30. Another group of five researchers were arrested and tortured in
Cavite. Nine youth from Nueva Ecija were arrested by the military in
early March, and two of them later died due to internal bleeding brought
about by torture methods. Eleven youth backpacking in the Cordilleras
were picked up by the military and were tortured. All of them were
accused of being supporters of the New People’s Army or of being members
of the NPA. <br>
<br>
The list of atrocities goes on and on.<br>
<br>
More than six hundred people have been killed by still “unidentified” men
since Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001. Fact-finding missions
launched by the human rights group Karapatan, the church-led
International Solidarity Mission and the labor-led International Labor
Solidarity Mission all point to what seemed to be a nationwide systematic
crackdown on political activists perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and condoned by the government. <br>
<br>
What is more noteworthy is that the government has been eerily silent on
the issue of the killings all over the country. On the contrary, it has
even declared Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, LFS and other progressive
organizations as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines,
thereby virtually signing their death warrants as enemies of the state
and making them legitimate targets of the military. The Department of
Justice under Raul Gonzalez has even gone so far as to file rebellion
charges against progressive organizations for being “Communist Party
fronts.”<br>
<br>
Even more insulting is the fact that Arroyo has been routinely promoting
generals to juicy posts in the government in return for the lives of
those who were killed. For example, from being a major in 2001, Jovito
Palparan, called by activists as the “Berdugo ng Mindoro” for killing
more than eighty people in the island of Mindoro, was promoted to colonel
and then brigadier general in just four years for a “job well done.”
<br>
<br>
That the Arroyo government has continued to keep mum on the issue speaks
of the stand it has taken. The political killings can only benefit the
Arroyo administration, as its critics disappear from the scene one by one
through wholesale murder. <br>
<br>
That Arroyo is engaging in mass murder does not bode well for the
country. A government that has no conscience will never understand the
real plight of the people. A government that disregards the basic rights
of the people will definitely trample on them. A government that sees
itself as God’s gift to the Filipino people will stop at nothing to
perpetuate itself in power. <br>
<br>
But leaders of various people’s organizations have vowed to continue
organizing despite the dangers they are facing. It is important that we
give credit to the efforts of people’s organizations to achieve genuine
social transformation through mass actions and other forms of protest.
<br>
<br>
That the killings are happening in the midst of widespread poverty and
misery will only serve as additional fuel for protests and mass actions.
Arroyo’s stay in power will end sooner or later, because a government
that serves only its own interests has no business governing. <br>
<br>
And a government that has blood on its hands has no business staying in
power.<br><br>
<br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3 color="#FF0000"><b><i>"...only
through militant struggle can the best in the youth emerge..."<br>
</i></b></font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="times new roman" size=6><b>League of Filipino
Students<br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3># 715 Matimyas St.,
</font><font face="Verdana" size=3>Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines
1100<br>
Mobile Number: +63.919.341.9441<br>
<a href="mailto:lfsphils@yahoo.com">lfsphils@yahoo.com</a><br>
<a href="http://www.lfs.kilusan.net/" eudora="autourl">
www.lfs.kilusan.net<br>
</a></b></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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