Philippines told to abandon all-out war policy

MANILA — The announcement of Malacañang that it will review its counter insurgency program to make it more sensitive to human rights is a meaningless statement as far as human rights victims are concerned. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s announcement is a token response to the European Union “needs assessment mission” which recently concluded its work in the Philippines and took a critical stand on the rights situation in the country.

Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should immediately abandon the internal security plan Bantay Laya, the counter insurgency framework responsible for the deaths of hundreds of unarmed civilians, not just activists. Bantay Laya cannot be fine tuned to respect human rights. Malacañang is deceiving the public and the international community when it says the counter insurgency program can be more sensitive to human rights.

The admission of Ermita that government is losing the propaganda war underscores the fact that the government is merely concerned with public perception and not in solving the spate of killings and disappearances.

Arroyo’s security advisers believe that if the legal organizations are neutralized, then the armed movement will weaken. The government’s counter insurgency thrust now includes the targeting and physical elimination of legal Left organizations that have been called “communist fronts”. This is the policy framework which has resulted in the deaths of more than 800 unarmed civilians and the enforced disappearances of almost 200 activists.

The labeling of legal activists as “communist fronts” has been articulated by the President herself, the Executive Secretary, the National Security Adviser, the Defense Secretary and the AFP chief of staff as well as many officers of the military.

Bantay Laya is also responsible for the displacement of thousands of civilians in the countryside in heavily militarized communities. This was aggravated after Arroyo declared all-out war in June 2006. The extension of Bantay Laya into 2010 means that human rights violations will continue on a nationwide scale.

Arroyo must recall her “all out war” declaration against the Left and pursue serious peace negotiations. Both the United Nations special rapporteur and Amnesty International have viewed the all out war policy as problematic. Many groups here and abroad have expressed support for the continuation of the peace process. Amnesty is not a solution to the insurgency.

Arroyo must abandon the policy framework of linking legal organizations with armed groups. The targeting of legal groups must end once and for all. Only when the government ceases to label legal groups as “enemies of the state” can there be a shift in the policy of extrajudicial killings.

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