‘ C’ is for cooperation, not absolution
The Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s refusal to acknowledge and respect the findings and conclusions of United Nations Human Rights Commission special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston is proof that it will never substantially and genuinely address the issue of the killings.
Instead of receiving the findings objectively and constructively, Malacanang and its military spokespersons as well as justice secretary Raul Gonzalez have taken to dismissing Alston’s findings. Malacanang spokesperson Ignacio Bunye says that Malacanang welcomes all investigations into the killings; but seeing the AFP’s reaction to the Mr. Alston’s report, will Malacanang act in the findings of the investigations?
Gonzalez has taken a complete leave of his senses. It’s embarrassing how such a ranking official of the government can make such comments about a representative of respected international institution; especially right after Pres. Arroyo herself has said that her government will cooperate fully with Mr. Alston’s investigations.
What kind of cooperation is this government giving to Mr. Alston or to any other members of the international human rights community? Malacanang will simply not acknowledge the findings and recommendations of these concerned individuals and their respective organizations. What Malacanang and the likes of Gonzalez want is absolution; or at the least, for the members of the international community to shut up about the extrajudicial killings in the country.
Gonzalez is a national embarrassment; and he is liability to the already unpopular Arroyo administration. With the likes of Gonzalez in the Department of Justice and in the cabinet itself, no justice can ever be given the victims of the killings and their families. Gonzalez will relentlessly persist in his campaign to insult, disparage and denigrate all those who demand that Philippine government to address the killings and punish the perpetrators. Pres. Arroyo herself most likely if not silently applauds Gonzalez for his lack of respect and discretion as well as utter rudeness when speaking on the issue of human rights.
It’s official – Malacanang will never acknowledge any international report on the human rights situation in the Philippines that doesn’t coincide with its own version of reality. Pres. Arroyo herself has on many different occasions said that she welcomes any and all assistance from the international community to get to the truth behind the extrajudicial killings; but now here we have her own cabinet officials and spokespersons of the Armed Forces of the Philippines making personal insults against a UN official and refuting his findings as mere results of brainwashing.
How come she has not chastised Sec. Gonzalez for his insults against Mr. Alston and his office?
It’s clear that Malacanang and officials like Raul Gonzalez will never welcome any investigations into the killings that will not absolve the government and the Armed Forces of the
Philippines.The only assistance that Malacanang will genuinely accept and welcome in relation to the extrajudicial killings are the ones that say that the AFP is not guilty and that there is no government plot to eliminate civilians allied with human rights groups and progressive party-lists.
In the meantime, it’s good that the Melo Commission’s report has been released. It will now be up to the public to lay down its verdict on the report. It should however be pointed out that even the Melo Commission which Macapagal-Arroyo herself ordered established was unable to come up with findings that did not pinpoint the military as perpetrators of the killings.
The Melo Commission cannot be accused of being biased in favor of the so-called Leftists; but still it’s findings reveal that the military is accountable for the deaths of the members of the progressive party-lists and human rights groups. Now that the report has been made public, we challenge Pres. Arroyo to act on the findings and the recommendations of the Melo Commission and proceed with the arrest and prosecution of the masterminds and perpetrators of the killings, beginning with Jovito Palparan.
We have had enough of Malacanang’s lip service to the issues of human rights and the extrajudicial killings. Malacanang should put its money where its mouth is so to speak. We demand that Pres. Arroyo order the immediate arrest of Jovito Palaparan and the immediate scrapping of Oplan Bantay Laya. Arroyo herself should a issue a public apology to the families of the victims, and also publicly denounce the killings as the handiwork of the AFP.
No witness protection program, no number of court hearings can replace the outright scrapping of Oplan Bantay Laya. This must be the first step – for a public declaration on the part of the administration that it is ordering the AFP to stop attacking and killing the members and leaders of militant people’s groups, human rights organizations and progressive party-lights. What we demand is an unequivocal statement from Pres. Arroyo herself calling on the AFP to stop its killing operations.
