Statement on the Bicutan bloodbath

Communist Party of the Philippines
March 15, 2005

The Communist Party of the Philippines finds no justification whatsoever for the Philippine National Police's (PNP) use of excessive force in ending the siege at the Camp Bagong Diwa prison complex in Bicutan, Taguig that resulted in the death of 22 inmates.

How could a group armed with three short firearms be such a threat as to warrant the killing of so many detainees?

The prison revolters had nowhere to go. They were imprisoned. They were surrounded. They were hungry. In such a situation, the longer the impasse, the more disadvantageous it would have been for the prison revolters; and the easier would it have been to subdue them with minimal force.

Why was it that the officials of the Arroyo regime were so insistent on taking over the prison complex using such brutal force? So much secrecy surrounded the negotiations the content of which was relayed to the public only by government officials.

In the wake of the bloodbath, it was nauseating to see PNP officials swaggering and proclaiming that they had killed the suspected ringleaders of the Abu Sayyaf. To justify the butchery, they conveniently dropped the term "suspects" in referring to the inmates.

It is doubly infuriating when one considers that majority of those detained at the complex were men who were merely rounded up by the military and police during saturation drives in Moro communities in Basilan, Metro Manila and elsewhere.

It is saddening to note that some media broadcasts cheered on the carnage. Probably carried away by police propaganda, they too joined in applauding the summary executions of so-called terrorists. "Payback time," some of them declared. It would be good to remind everyone that even the most notorious criminals and terrorists, including Ferdinand Marcos, have the right to due process.

The smell of a rubout hangs thickly in the air. It is no secret that the ringleaders of the so-called Abu Sayyaf group are in cahoots with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in their criminal activities.

The killing of Alhamzer Limbong, Ghalib Andang and Nadzmie Saabdullah, among the known leaders of the criminal bandit gang, has eliminated elements knowledgeable about the AFP-Abu Sayyaf conspiracy, and who could have provided information about who among AFP and defense officials had their pockets lined with blood money from the Abu Sayyaf's victims.

The Arroyo government is sure to capitalize on the Bicutan bloodbath to boost its propaganda about a "terrorist threat". We can almost hear Gen. Angelo Reyes proclaiming that in the light of "threats from terrorists out to avenge the death of their comrades," the passage of the fascist Anti-Terrorism Bill must be speeded up.

The CPP deplores the Bicutan bloodbath and the butchery of the terrorist Arroyo regime. We extend our sympathies to the families of inmates who died unjustly in the military onslaught and join the families of hundreds of other Moro detainees in seeking justice for the prolonged unjust incarceration of their kin.

Back to top