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The Macapagal-Arroyo regime continues to expand and intensify the fascist suppression of democratic rights. Militarization is being intensified both in the countryside and cities. Anti-terrorist terror and disorder are relentlessly being fomented. Macapagal-Arroyo's bureaucratic-military rule is rapidly leading to the restoration of outright military rule in the Philippines.
Despite the absence of a formal declaration of a state of emergency or martial law, there is relentless fascist suppression and dominance of military power in the various aspects of social life. Within the span of a few days, curfews, checkpoints, body searches and inspections of personal belongings were approved and implemented in Metro Manila and other cities. There are likewise plans to arm the barangay tanod and deploy "secret marshalls" in buses, airplanes and other places. Students in schools where activists abound are subjected to strict inspections after such schools were declared as "likely targets of terrorist attack." Also included among the measures that Macapagal-Arroyo so eagerly wants to put in place is the National ID System, which is set to be implemented following a decision by the National Security Council. It is a means to facilitate surveillance and control of the people. Fidel Ramos pushed for this measure in 1996 as did Joseph Estrada in 1999. But they both failed due to the people's all-out resistance as well as opposition from other politicians. The anti-terrorism bill is likewise being deliberated again in congress. It aims to legalize the suppression of civil rights, just as what the Marcos dictatorship did through martial law. There is also a proposal to grant Macapagal-Arroyo "emergency powers." Through the "anti-terrorism" slogan, the regime utilizes the entire AFP and PNP machinery, local intelligence networks and the entire civilian bureaucracy from the national agencies down to the barangay level to enforce stringent measures against the people. The offices of the National Command and Control Center (NCCC) and the Presidential Oversight Committee on Internal Security (POCIS) have already been set up inside Malaca�ang. These two offices will in turn set up a network of "anti-terror committees" in every municipality and "Gabay ng Masa Aksyon Centers (GMA Centers)" in every barangay to coordinate the psywar campaign, principally against the revolutionary movement. Led by Sec. Rigoberto Tiglao, NCCC and POCIS will also be used as Macapagal-Arroyo's electoral campaign machinery until 2004. IT IS US IMPERIALISM and the Macapagal-Arroyo regime that have taken full advantage of, and manipulated, the bombings. There are many indications that it is the military itself that is behind the spate of bombings, bomb threats and "discoveries" of explosives in other places. It is only the military that has the capability and the interest to perpetrate such activities. All these incidents dovetail with the AFP's campaign to intimidate and terrorize the people within the framework of the Bush doctrine. The campaign was initiated as early as August-September and marked by the propagation of utterly baseless stories meant to tarnish the integrity of the Party and New People's Army. Its sinister objective is to incite hatred and fear against the revolutionary movement. One such fabricated story dealt with the so-called deployment in Metro Manila of 150 NPA "sparrow units" and plans to bomb the LRT and other crowded places. The bombings in Kidapawan City, Zamboanga and Metro Manila have all been blamed on the NPA. There have also been allegations of an alliance between the NPA and the Abu Sayyaf bandit group. Malaca�ang and the AFP have been creating widespread terror to make it appear that repressive measures are necessary to protect the people "against terrorist threats." Macapagal-Arroyo wants the people to accept, or create the impression that they accept, the imposition of anti-democratic measures. She also wants to rationalize the imposition of a state of emergency that would lead to outright military rule. This psywar campaign, with its attendant bombings, are all part of the regime's intensified counterrevolutionary war. Dubbed Oplan Gordian Knot by the AFP, its principal target is the armed revolutionary movement as well as legal organizations and parties, particularly Bayan Muna. By putting "anti-terrorist" measures in place, the Macapagal-Arroyo regime aims to use them primarily against the people and their revolutionary movement. In the face of the people's spreading anger and protests against the oppressive and exploitative policies of the reactionary state and the rapid advance of the armed revolutionary movement in the countryside, the regime has grown more desperate to defend the rotting and bankrupt ruling system. On the other hand, as the social crisis further intensifies due to the policy dictates of US imperialism, the reactionary regime clings ever desperately to the coat-tails of its imperialist master. THE MACAPAGAL-ARROYO regime is the most reliable endorser in Southeast Asia of the Bush government's bellicose foreign policy. It now takes the lead in pushing the US agenda in the region. Macapagal-Arroyo supports US maneuvers to obtain "access rights" for its troops to enter countries in Southeast Asia. For this, Macapagal-Arroyo has been pushing for an "anti-terrorism accord" among the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and other countries in the region. 
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