Under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime:
The fascist state continues on a rampage

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

Despite its peace rhetoric, gross human rights violations continue under the Macapagal- Arroyo regime. Counterrevolutionary war continues to wreak havoc upon the orders of militarists within the regime.

Destructive counterrevolutionary military operations persist in the countryside. The number of peasant families victimized and further made to suffer continues to grow. The brutal suppression of workers� rights goes on unabated.

Following are some of the documented human rights violations committed within the first hundred days of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, making it no different from past regimes:

April. Forced evacuation of hundreds of families in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi as around 3,000 AFP troops wage all-out war against Abu Sayyaf bandits. Human rights violations against the people in these areas have continued without letup since the ousted Estrada regime declared war against the Moro people in September 2000. The situation made a turn for the worse with the violence brought about by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime�s declaration this April of all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf.

February 23. Shooting that wounded or killed more than 60 innocent civilians in Talipao, Sulu; burning of around 15 houses in the area, destruction or looting of the residents� property; cutting of coconut trees and destruction of the people�s other sources of livelihood.

In Patikul, Sulu, 30-minute strafing by two platoons of Scout Rangers of 10 houses, wounding three civilians; abduction and interrogation of Sabir Omal Habibulla, a suspected Abu Sayyaf supporter. He was forced to declare that the innocent civilians wounded were all Abu Sayyaf members.

January 23: Relentless strafing by the 77th IB against the residents of Barangay Tayagan, Parang, Sulu, while in pursuit of Abu Sayyaf bandits. This resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of a deaf-mute child.

April 18: Illegal arrest by the AFP of nine innocent farmers in Mt. Tag-ao, Sitio Agcawan, Barangay Bungsu-an, Dumarao, Capiz; branding them Red fighters and slapping trumped-up charges against them. The following day, the NPA�s Norlito Aguirre Command of Capiz belied allegations that the peasants were NPA members.

April 15. Killing of Ramon "Bong" Ternida, 20, chairperson of Anakbayan and Bayan Muna coordinator in Mindoro Oriental, by a policeman. Ternida was stabbed to death nine days after he helped coordinate the release of prisoner of war Maj. Noel Buan.

March 31-April 2. Forcing all male residents of Km 28, Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental out of their homes and torturing them. The perpetrators were 30th Special Forces and 60th IB troops (responsible for the 1999 Mawab massacre) who were out to blindly avenge the death of one of their fellow soldiers in an NPA ambush. The men were made to stay under the heat of the sun, kicked, punched and hit by wooden clubs that were two inches across in an attempt to force them to admit that they were NPA members. After this, Mt. Tambayog in Spur 2, a village adjacent to Km 28, was bombed at dawn of April 1. More than 17 families were prohibited from leaving their homes, even just to buy food, till the afternoon of April 2.

March 9. Abduction of Christopher Chielo Suelo, a leader of the Pagkakaisa�t Ugnayan ng Magbubukid sa Laguna (Pumalag), by military agents at around 12:30 in the afternoon near the National Irrigation Administration office in Barangay Sta. Clara Sur, Pila, Laguna. The military maliciously tagged Pumalag as a front organization of the NPA.

March 5 and 9. Demolition of the houses of more than 50 families along Old Samson Road by Task Force COPRISS (Control Prevention and Removal of Illegal Structures and Squatting) of the Quezon City government and the PNP. With the demolition team offering no temporary shelters, the families had nowhere to go. Four children (Roselyn Maragot, 10, Roselle Marabot, 5, Rosalinda Marabot, 2, and Jessice Catindoy, 14 months) who had no place to sleep aside from a wooden cart, died of measles.

March 8. Abduction at around 3 p.m. and three-day illegal detention by four civilian-clad policemen of Vilma dela Cruz and Rod Viray, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) leaders in Bataan. Supt. Arnold Gunacao, intelligence chief of the Bataan-PNP, claimed that they were arrested for illegal possession of firearms.

Bombardment by water cannons and truncheoning of more than 120 picketing workers of the Yoklahoma Tire Philippines, Inc. by Clark Development Corporation policemen. More than 30 workers were wounded during the violent dispersal. The workers picketed to protest the company�s management policies.

Also on March 8. Suspension of 19 UPLB student leaders and locking up of the offi ce of the University Student Council. The suspension came after they led a struggle against the eviction of students from a dormitory.

March 6-8. Harassment and torture by the 30th Scout Rangers Company of residents of Sitio Oblian, Barangay San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon; interrogation of, and forcing two farmers to act as guides; illegal search and looting of residents� properties. This occurred before the bungled rescue operation that killed NPA prisoner of war P/CInsp. Abelardo martin.

March 1. Attack and illegal search by troops of the 24th IB and Pampanga-PNP of houses of suspected NPA supporters in Barangay Culabasa, Mexico, Pampanga. The fascists concealed their nameplates and badges.

February-March. Blocking by militarists, such as Gen. Renato de Villa, of the supposedly scheduled release of more than 200 political prisoners, including Leoncio Pitao and Lorna Baba. The regime has also brazenly refused to release Donato Continente and Juanito Itaas despite their having been granted parole several times. In fact, according to the GRP, it could not turn its back on a prior commitment to the US for the two detainees to remain incarcerated. They continue to be held in prison upon orders of US imperialism.

April 2001
English Edition

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