NDF-EV scores fascist orientation behind PMA hazing and campus militarization in the region

 

The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today said the hazing problem in the Philippine Military Academy that recently killed a cadet will not go away but may in fact become widespread through the Duterte regime’s drive to militarize campuses. “Hazing is inherent in the fascist orientation of the military and police that are essentially molded as anti-people, anti-democratic and mercenary,” said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Ka “Sanny” Salas. “The PMA, Philippine National Police Academy, and the training courses for officers and enlisted personnel are widely known to practice hazing, some of which have been exposed earlier.

“This is part of turning out armed minions of the state who are unquestioning robots blindly obedient to the chain of command. No matter how stupid, savage and sinister their generals and Duterte are, the military and police are ordered to follow them in mass killings of the poor, in Red-tagging progressive and patriotic groups, and in doing the bidding of US imperialism against their fellow Filipinos.”

Fr. Salas noted that the hazing and regimentation practiced in the service academies are being brought by the Duterte government to other campuses through reviving mandatory Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) as well as repressing campus freedom. “On the very same day PMA cadet Darwin Dormitorio died, Sept. 18, the PNP’s 803rd Maneuver Company swooped down on a forum that students were forced to attend at the University of Eastern Philippines in Catarman, Northern Samar. In full battle gear, the police harangued the students on ‘anti-terrorism,’ ‘anti-drugs,’ and on joining the PNPA.

“They maliciously linked civilian and unarmed activist student organizations with the New People’s Army and NDF, dismissing the issues they raise and and saying these only want to make fools of the students. They glorified their anti-drugs campaign that has killed more than 30,000 poor people while billion-peso drug smuggling continues under Duterte’s watch. They extolled joining the police academy so there would be more officers to conduct Tokhang, Sauron and other operations to murder the poor and the resistance to Duterte’s tyranny.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson urged the UEP students and the youth of Eastern Visayas to stand up to the militarization of the campuses and of society under the fascist Duterte regime. “We call on the UEP students and the youth and students throughout the region to unite and condemn the Duterte regime’s militarization of campuses, of the government and of society. We urge them to study the roots of the crisis in the Philippines and to struggle for national sovereignty and social justice.

“The NDF-EV also appeals to the junior officers and rank-and-file elements among the AFP-PNP to not blindly follow their orders and to be critical of the institutions they belong to. We encourage them to also study the basic problems of society and to listen to the sufferings of their fellow Filipinos. There is democracy in the NPA galvanizing it for nationalist and democratic ideals worth fighting for, and none in the AFP-PNP that is stifled by a fascist orientation in guarding the the unjust and oppressive ruling system against the rising people.”#

NDF-EV scores fascist orientation behind PMA hazing and campus militarization in the region