young radicals

Clearance to kill

One of the arguments of the anti-impeachment congressmen in trashing the impeachment complaint was the inclusion in the list of the more than 700 extrajudicial killings since 2001. I remember Rep. Villafuerte saying it is absurd to blame the president for the killings even if we are to assume that most of the suspects are state security forces. He said it will be hard to prove that Arroyo has indeed "masterminded" the killings.

Amado Doronilla, on the contrary, explains in his column that the president could be held accountable for killings merely due to the ambiguity of the statements she makes.

In proving the president's accountability, we, in fact, do not need to prove that she mastermided the killings, that she pulled the trigger. We do not need sophisticated evidence in order to understand that she is condoning the murders and encouraging the death squads to eliminate unarmed civilians. We just have to listen to how she praised Palparan in her SONA speech and her all-out war declaration against the "terrorist left."

We just have to listen to Boyoyongs Raul and Norberto Gonzales' constant red-baiting and destabilizer labeling to see that they have every intention to smash opposition, legal and illegal, armed and unarmed.

But then of course, as their statements may already be basis to impeach the president, it would not be enough, as it is common knowledge that there is indeed a government policy to kill civilians in the name of Oplan Bantay Laya.

The 'cover-up' mission then, of the Melo Commission and Task Force Usig, is very obvious as it ignores these simple facts.

The opposition and mass media thinks the Melo Commission is "toothless." Baka "toothpick," pangtinga lang ng mga hayup, matapos pumatay ng mga tao, lumaklak ng dugo at pagpiyestahan ang mga bangkay ng mamamayang pinaslang nila.

posted by Vencer @ 1:27 PM