Political repression, dirty war tactics and military black operations under the US-Marcos regime are set to become even more brutal with the appointment of Gen. Eduardo Año as national security adviser. Human rights abuses and war crimes are bound to intensify.

1. Año replaced Prof. Clarita Carlos after just six months in office. Although Carlos was as militarist as anyone, military officers wanted her out for being an outsider since she took office. The spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) could not hide his glee when he said the military is happy with the appointment of Año.

Año’s appointment strengthens military overlordship of the bureaucratic state. Under the US doctrine of “anti-terrorism,” and anti-communist counterinsurgency, the military continues to define and dictate state policy and place civil agencies under its control. To the military, everything is black and white. Anyone who does not bow is either a communist or a friend of the communists.

2. The return of Año, completes the control of former Duterte military henchmen of the key defense agencies. It follows the anomalous re-appointment of Gen. Andres Centino as chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and appointment of Gen. Carlito Galvez to the Department of National Defense (DND).

Rumors of a Duterte coup have been going around. In fact, the coup is now half done. The shake down at the PNP is still to fully unravel. With Duterte’s men in full control of the military, Marcos Jr is now held by one of his balls. He takes a political risk every time he leaves the country for his junkets.

3. With General Año as national security adviser, General Galvez as defense secretary, and General Centino as military chief, we can expect all the brutal tactics of martial law, political repression and war of suppression. They will continue to unleash such brutal tactics as extrajudicial killings, abductions and disappearances, attacks against unions and organizations, armed raids on entire villages, aerial bombing and shelling of farmers’ communities, fields and forests, and so on.

Any possibility of resumption of the NDFP-GRP peace talks under Marcos are now 99.9% gone with the Año-Galvez-Centino at the helm of the defense establishment. The fascist triumvirate are violently opposed to any peace negotiations to settle the civil war by addressing the socioeconomic roots of the armed conflict. To them, military suppression is the only solution; there is no other definition of peace, but the peace of the graveyard.

4. While the ruling clique are busy in a tug of war in power, the Filipino people are left drowning in deep waters of crisis. Marcos is displaying utter indifference to the people’s desperate straits. He is proving himself grossly incompetent to resolve the pressing problems of rising prices, especially of food and agricultural commodities.

In the face of worsening social conditions, Marcos has chosen to perpetuate the tactics of brutal suppression under Duterte with the futile aim of making the people suffer in silence. Having learned their lessons during martial law, the people, however, know that they have no other option but to fight back militantly in order to attain their aspirations for a better life.

The broad masses of the people are becoming more determined to fight state terrorism, as they struggle to defend their political, economic, social and cultural rights. Strikes, mass demonstrations and other forms of collective action are seeking to erupt everywhere. A broad anti-fascist united front is set to rise to fight Marcos de facto martial law rule.