WHAT THE E.U. SHOULD DO ON KILLINGS

The government and the military know exactly what is going on. Eduardo Ermita, a former general who honed some would consider his fascistic skills under the dictator Marcos, knows what’s going on. Norberto Gonzales, who has been obsessing and wet-dreaming about how to vanquish the Left, knows what’s going on.

Moreover, to say that this “dirty war” is ideological in nature is also beside the point. This is not just about vanquishing Communism the Jovito Palparan way. This is about silencing criticism and suppressing dissent. This is about one president’s obsession to remain in power. The military is just there to do the, well, dirty work.

The point is that, human rights has been a part of the military’s teachings for years now. The armed forces know about international human rights law and international humanitarian law. They know the rules of engagement. They know that it is illegal to harm an unarmed dissident. They know it is against the law to massacre people on the mere suspicion that they are communists or communist sympathizers. They know that communism is not illegal and that a communist has as much right to exist in our society as a rightist.

But they chose to ignore all these because, one, they can get away with it and, two, it is policy to do so.

To appreciate fully the gravity of this issue, we should be mindful about who benefits from these atrocities, not just about the perpetrators.

In other words, the EU should focus its attention more on the people in power — like Arroyo, Ermita, Gonzales — who control the soldiers who are merely doing what they are told. The EU can start with its millions of aid to the Philippines: tie it to this administration’s performance in stopping the killings. Instead of giving more money to the Philippines to supposedly teach soldiers human rights (money that will probably end up being squandered anyway), it should hold back and only give more aid on the condition that the killers are prosecuted and punished.

I’m convinced this is the only way the EU can show that it means what it says, that it continues to adhere to the ideals of human rights that it is known for.