PRESS RELEASE
February 21, 2005
Kabataang Makabayan Media Staff
[email protected]
Andres Guerrero II, spokesperson of Kabataang Makabayan (KM, Patriotic Youth), released the following statement on the Arroyo regime’s renewed proposal for a national ID system.
KM strongly opposes Malacanang’s renewed insinuation of utilizing a national ID system allegedly aimed to track down suspected terrorist elements in light of the recent bombings which rocked key cities nationwide.
Along with the railroading of the anti-terror bill, the implementation of a national ID system is utmost undemocratic. The proposal and implementation of a national ID system will only aggravate the dismal human rights situation in the country.
The idea of a national ID system was first proposed by psywar expert Fidel Ramos during his term as president and was later on entertained by deposed Estrada’s administration in line with his all-out war policy. Even then, it has been vehemently opposed by critics and even some members of the reactionary government.
Despite Malacanang’s sugar-coating, a national ID system would not be used merely for expediency purposes in official government transactions. It would instead be exploited to keep a militarist eye on any suspect anti-government activities – even those which espouse legitimate causes such as labor strikes, rallies and other progressive forms of protest.
Worse, the Arroyo regime is even now hell-bent in invoking an executive order to railroad its implementation.
A national ID system will only serve to stifle dissent and unrest amid the country’s escalating political and economic crisis. Past regimes have employed the same tactic of instilling in the public an “atmosphere of fear” to justify fascist measures such as these.
The Arroyo regime remains the worst human rights violator in continuously employing the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to sow violence and terror to those opposed to its anti-people and pro-imperialist policies.
History has taught the revolutionary youth to be vigilant against any threat that would violate the democratic rights of the people. The people’s democratic rights and interests can only be truly realized with the victory of the national democratic revolution. ###