Luis V. Teodoro » Task Forced

The policy has resulted in the legitimization of violence, first, against “enemies of the state,” and second, against anyone else. The result is the flurry of political killings and attempted political killings that have become so characteristic of the Arroyo watch. For while violence of the type once typical of the Ilocos had been a fact of life in this country, that kind of violence had waned during the martial law period as well as during the administrations of Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada.

The killing of leftist activists by state actors has eroded the rule of law and undermined the very basis of civilized life as this is rooted in debate, elections, and those other rational, non-violent avenues through which disagreements are resolved. It has made violence legitimate.

The Alston report falls short of explicitly attributing the killings to government policy. But its recommendations anyway imply that the killings are as much the direct responsibility of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as of the Arroyo government, which, after all, commands the AFP.

The Report thus urges Mrs. Arroyo, as President of the Philippines, to “take concrete steps to put an end to those aspects of counter-insurgency operations which have led to the targeting and execution of many individuals working with civil society organizations.”

Alston also pointedly asks for the adoption of “measures…to ensure that the principle of command responsibility, as it is understood in international law, is a basis for criminal liability within the domestic legal order.” Further, he in effect urges the government to take control of the military by directing the latter to stop making statements linking legal personalities to the armed insurgencies, and to see to it that the purpose, and the numbers of names as well as criteria for inclusion in AFP “orders of battle” and “watch lists” be made public.

No, another task force– in which the task is simply forced on unwilling members no matter how “high level”– will not do. Only an immediate halt to the extra-judicial killings can arrest the country’s continuing slide to anarchy and violence, as these have been encouraged by government policy. The policy must be abandoned, concrete steps taken to halt its implementation at all levels, and all those responsible punished. The catch, however, is that the Arroyo regime may not be inclined to do anything beyond creating another task force.