Editorial:
The Arroyo regime�s new amnesty program
Betraying the people anew

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The new offer of amnesty has been strongly condemned by revolutionary and democratic forces and by the broad masses of the people, by the political opposition and even by many within Arroyo's own camp.

Out of her desperation to cling to power and win the forthcoming election, Arroyo is striving to obtain the support of the Marcoses and Estrada by offering them an outrightly antipeople amnesty program. In the process, Arroyo dreams of uniting the entire reactionary ruling class behind her and the line of "national unity."

The amnesty offer to the Marcoses and Estrada is in line with Arroyo's policy of secretly colluding with the opposition factions of the reactionary ruling classes.

Ever since Arroyo ascended to power, she has not ceased giving countless concessions to her rivals in the leading factions of the opposition. These concessions, which include delaying the disposition of Estrada's cases and granting him so many special privileges in prison such as allowing him to seek treatment in the US, only compromise the people's interests. Arroyo colluded with the Marcoses to restore to them part of the sequestered plundered wealth held in escrow in several banks. The renegotiation seriously impedes the payment of compensation to thousands of victims of military violence under the Marcos dictatorship.

If Arroyo succeeds in her attempt to grant amnesty to the Marcoses and Estrada, the Filipino people who have been victims of the grave crimes of repression and plunder by the Marcos and Estrada regimes will eventually be denied justice. The people have unequivocally passed verdict on the Marcoses and Estrada for their crimes. Only the various reactionary regimes since 1986 have continued to prevent justice from taking its full course for their own selfish interests. In particular, the Arroyo regime has been blatantly trying to exploit the Marcos and Estrada cases just to haggle for political concessions. At the same time, however, she has always been made a fool of.

People's organizations as well as the reactionary opposition have filed cases of large-scale corruption against the Arroyo couple. It is but fitting that the people pass verdict on them just as they have on the Marcoses and Estrada. It is not surprising for a big-time plunderer and out-and-out opportunist like Arroyo to have thought of granting amnesty to another bigtime plunderer for their mutual interest.

The people have further lost their patience and doubt whether justice will be served at all to the ousted and present ruling clique.

All of Arroyo's amnesty programs, including the ones offered to NPA and MILF guerrillas, are no different from one another in being shameless deceptions and failed schemes. In offering such amnesty to NPA and MILF guerrillas, she hopes to deceive the people, and if at all possible, even the revolutionary forces, through these cheap gimmicks.

The revolutionary and democratic forces have ignored such overtures. Such offers of amnesty are nothing but an insult to them, since the offers presume that waging revolution is a crime.

From the very start, the revolutionary and democratic forces, human rights advocates, the victims themselves and the entire people have asserted the need for the reactionary government to rectify its unrestrained violation of their national sovereignty, freedom and democratic rights.

The Party, and the people's army and the movement that it leads, advance the revolutionary struggle to overthrow the puppet, fascist and reactionary state and system, and in its place, establish an independent, democratic and revolutionary state and system.

To help hasten and ease the process, the revolutionary forces also strive to engage the reactionary government in peace negotiations to challenge it to confront and resolve the roots of the conflict and help realize peace. Along with the negotiation process, the revolutionary forces demand that the reactionary government immediately ameliorate the people's suffering. This can be done through measures such as the cessation of government military operations, putting a stop to human rights violations, punishing the principal fascists and those with serious crimes against the people, freeing political prisoners and indemnifying victims of military violence.

21 December 2003
English Edition

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