The acting chief of the Philippine National Police must be firmly pushed back for directly undermining the Filipino people’s democratic rights when he denounced groups that criticize government as “destabilizers” and called on people and the youth not to join street demonstrations.

In the first place, what is the police chief doing making political declarations and setting state policy when he is merely supposed to carry out orders. He has a big mouth spewing dirty fascist words.

The police general is clearly ingratiating himself to the incoming regime by proving that he is a Marcosian zealot who will do everything to stop people from raising their voices against the Marcoses’ past crimes of plunder, corruption and human rights abuses. In the past few weeks, at least three demonstrations–at the Comelec, at the US embassy and outside the Commission on Human Rights– have been forcefully dispersed by police on orders of Gen. Danao, invoking the Marcos-era Batas Pambansa 880.

His statements and clear orders for the police to suppress any form of mass actions are anti-democratic and high-handed. He is imposing martial law restrictions even without martial law being declared.

General Danao, however, is bound to fail in his drive to completely suppress mass actions. The more that he threatens people and employs force to stop them from joining demonstrations, the more that the people become determined to show their collective indignation against the incoming Marcos regime II.

It is certain that the Filipino people will not allow themselves to be silenced and cowed in the face of the return of the Marcoses to power. They will surely rise and stand firm against the Marcoses’ plan to use the powers of government to completely frustrate the people’s aspirations to correct the gross injustices and abuses under Marcos’ martial law rule.