As extra-judicial killings continue: Enough of warnings, punish responsible military officers, Noy told

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has received enough warnings regarding its culpability for the spate of extra-judicial killings in the country. It now needs a beating,” labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno said today as President Noynoy Aquino issued a vague warning to the military.

KMU said Aquino’s misleading statement to the AFP saying the government “will not differentiate between those who implement the law but break it, and those who are outside the law” reflects an even weaker and more diluted stance compared with recommendations of fact-finding missions on human rights violations in the country.

“At this point wherein evidence point to the the military as responsible for the killings of activists, it does serve justice to issue a weaker warning. What Aquino should do is to immediately impose sanctions on military officers assigned to places where killings are happening,” KMU secretary-general Roger Soluta said.

“The Filipino workers and people have been waiting for him to put the wheels of justice on these killings into motion,” he added.

Four activists have been killed since June 30, including Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) members Edgar Fernandez and Mark Francisco (both from Masbate), Bayan Muna party-list coordinator Fernando Baldomero (Aklan), and Anakpawis party-list leader Pascual Guevarra (Nueva Ecija).

“The president is showing the public that he is carefully studying the issues surrounding the killings. He should speed up on his studies and act now. The dead bodies of activists are already piling up, it is simply impermissible for him to make a spectacle out of studying the issues,” Soluta said.

KMU noted that the Aquino administration is sending mixed signals to the people in its vow to go after the perpetrators of extra-judicial killings as it categorically pledged full support to the military’s operations.

“Based on his statements to the military so far, Aquino is making unclear gestures over the spate of killings with one hand while stroking the egos of the generals with the other. This is a troubling sight for the people who have been condemning the AFP’s direct hand in the gory war versus unarmed citizens,” Soluta said.

Soluta added Aquino continues to evade pointing to Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), ex-President Gloria Arroyo’s counterinsurgency program, in addressing the bloody silencing of activists and government critics.

“Any pronouncement of solving the killings would mean nothing if the the operation plan behind all these remains.”