| Militant groups
criticized the term extension of Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon,
saying that such sets the stage for more extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances.
In his three-month term extension, Esperon, who became
chief of staff on July 21, 2006, vowed to dismantle
the communist movement by decimating the Communist Party
of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army
(NPA) guerilla fronts under the government’s five-year
counterinsurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).
Amid allegations on his involvement in the 2004 election
fraud and scores of political killings under his watch,
Esperon is set to retire on February 9, his 56th birthday,
but Gloria Arroyo extended his term until May 9.
CPP spokesperson Gregorio Rosal said that the AFP under
Esperon’s command will fail to wipe out the 17
NPA guerilla fronts nationwide in the following three
months. “The people and their revolutionary forces
will fight back the fascist brutalities of AFP,”
Rosal said in a statement.
Following Esperon’s declaration of defeating
the CPP-NPA, Randall Echanis, secretary general of Kilusang
Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), was arrested on January
28 and later detained in Bago City, Negros Occidental
for murder charges of communist guerillas in the 1980s.
In reports, KMP questioned the revived charge based
on the alleged discovery of a mass grave of CPP-NPA
members in Leyte, as Echanis was in jail when the alleged
killing happened in 1984.
Human rights group Karapatan, meanwhile, recorded 889
cases of political killings and 189 abductions since
Arroyo assumed power in 2001.
League of Filipino Students Chair Vencer Crisostomo
also said the AFP’s link with the political killings
and abductions has been bolstered by Arroyo’s
approval of extending the term of Esperon, whom Crisostomo
described as a “rabid human rights violator.”
Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo added that cases
of political killings and abductions continue to escalate
in regions where the counterinsurgency plans are strongly
implemented. He also criticized Arroyo for intensifying
OBL under Esperon’s watch, despite strong recommendations
of United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston to
“eliminate extrajudicial executions from counterinsurgency
operations.”
The AFP, however, has consistently denied its involvement
in the killings.
Vanessa Faye Bolibol, chair of Student Alliance for
the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP, also contended
that the legal crackdown against legitimate progressive
organizations earlier tagged as CPP-NPA fronts would
intensify, given the military’s renewed vow to
end the communist movement.
Militant UP students pelted Esperon with eggs and mud
after attending a university forum on human rights and
national security in 2006.# Philippine
Collegian
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