KARAPATAN

Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights

9-B K-9th St., West Kamias, Quezon City 1100, PHILIPPINES

telefax# (632) 926-78-77 / 435-28-79

• E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] • website: www.karapatan.org

Press Statement                                                           Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez

April 03, 2003                                                                                        National Secretary General

 

 

Civil liberties may be the next victims of the Davao bombings Repeat of  AFP’s ’01 Basilan crackdown of civilians impending

 

Yesterday’s second Davao bombing in a month is indeed a cause for great alarm. This dastardly act that claimed the lives of fifteen people (so far) is most tragic and deserves the fiercest condemnation from all of us. This event has once more violently placed the public under a cloak of apprehension and vulnerability, just as terrorist acts like the Abu Sayyaf kidnappings have cultivated in us a sense of utter defenselessness.

 

Yet it is also during these times that we are most vulnerable to attacks by the government itself. Our anguish over the victims and our genuine concern for our safety are being exploited by the Arroyo administration to accrue more power for itself at the expense of our civil liberties.

 

Pres. Arroyo’s declaration of a “state of lawlessness” in Davao does exactly that. It is aimed at targetting and cracking down on groups and individuals deemed “enemies of the state” without the necessary due processes accorded by law. We have seen, for example, the propensity of the military to point to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as culprits in the Davao airport bombing, preempting sincere and thorough investigations. Yet as soon as the finger-pointing commenced, both revolutionary organizations denied involvement and even condemned the bombings.

 

What is even more alarming is the military’s record of responding to such declarations of “state of lawlessness.” In Basilan last 2001, after a series of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf, the Armed Forces undertook a massive crackdown on civilian populations merely suspected of having sympathized with the bandit group.

 

During that time, the writ of habeas corpus was virtually suspended by the Justice Department, allowing the military to round up hundreds upon hundreds of civilian “suspects.” Until now, 121 are still being held in detention despite overwhelming evidence of innocence. Scores of killings, robberies, and harassments were also reported. Basilan, as a result of the declaration, turned into a virtual military garrison where military power reigns supreme over that of the civilian. A de facto martial law shrouded and continues to shroud Basilan. Yet despite these, the Abu Sayyaf threat has remained.

 

This is what we fear will happen in Davao should Pres. Arroyo persist with her declaration. What the Basilan experience has clearly proven is that “terrorism” cannot be stamped by state terrorism. It has proven that a sincere, thorough investigation cannot be substituted with brutal, terroristic military crackdowns and suspensions of our civil liberties.

 

We fear that the bombings in Davao could be further exploited by the Arroyo government as a reason for further involving US military troops in the armed conflict to wipe out the NPA and MILF through the Balikatan exercises. Lacking any legitimate reason, the government is prepared to once again victimize us by using the Davao tragedies as pretext for such military intervention. We will not be surprised if we

find out that the military had a hand in these bombings in the first place. 

 

We therefore call on the public to resist and condemn the Arroyo administration’s ploy to exploit our genuine concern for our safety, just as we grieve and condemn the dastardly attacks on civilians in the Davao bombings. ##