“With the way things are going, it is like going back to Spanish colonial times, with a the AFP the dreaded and much-hated Guardia Civil and the National ID (NID) the cedula. During the 333 years of Spanish Occupation, colonizers used the Guardia Civil to suppress the rights of the Filipinos and anybody who did not have the cedula were considered to be a taong-labas (fugitive). The ripping of the cedula was a milestone during the 1896 Revolution of the Filipinos against the colonizers,” said Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, National Chairperson of the KMU.
Labog clarified that a NID for counter-insurgency presupposes guilt before innocence. “Just like during the Spanish times, if a person do not have a NID, then he is already considered a fugitive and will be accosted. By allowing a world-renowned human-rights violator like the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to use this NID, the number of violations on basic human rights will be sky-rocketing.”
According to Labog, to allow the NID proposal of the AFP is like entrusting your soul to the devil. “The United Nations have noted the report of Prof. Philip Alston that the counter-insurgency campaign of the AFP is the main culprit in the political killings happening in the country. The NID will provide another legal blanket for human rights abuse by the security forces of the regime.”
“Last Friday, January 4, 2008, at around 9 p.m., Melvin Yares, 27, chairperson of Kahugpungan sa Kabus sa Basak (KAKABAS) based in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu was abducted at the junction of Lincoln and Plaridel Street in Carbon Public Market and was forced inside a dirty-white L300 van, blindfolded, detained and interrogated by suspected agents of the AFP. He was forced to pose as an NPA surrenderee to be presented in a press conference to attack KADAMAY, ANAKPAWIS and other legitimate people’s organizations. He was able to escape last Sunday, January 6, 2008 at around 2 a.m. when he was brought out of the van and tortured in a dark clearing in Sitio Timpolok, Brgy. Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City. He dashed towards a passing vehicle and then jumped on the other side of the road,” stated Labog.
More than 800 victims of political killings and more than 200 enforced abductions have occurred during the stint in power of Arroyo and up to now, not a single perpetrator has been put to justice.