War on Terror rams civilians in the Philippines

Macel from the Philippine resource center has written an article for Spis de rike about the President Arroyos oppression of the opposition in the Philippines. US supports Arroyos regime with its military forces. Both claiming this is a necessary campaigne against terror.

By Macel Ingles, Filippinsk Ressurssenter (FRS)


When the US was waging a war against Afghanistan in 2001, the US announced that the Philippines is the site of its ?second front? in the ?war against terrorism.? Soon after, it sent US military exercises in the island of Mindanao to conduct ?military exercises? with Philippine soldiers in the guise of training them against the Islamist fundamentalist group, Abu Sayyaf. The Abu sayyaf is being pursued by the US for its alleged links to Al-Qaeda.

What these ?military exercises? led to were physical and economic dislocation of the local population in the areas where the exercises were held and the ?war on terrorism? has been turned against the unarmed civilians forced out of their villages due to intensive military pursuit operations against Muslim rebels.

At present, the war on terrorism is also being waged against the communist New People?s Army (NPA) and the Muslim insurgent group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Military operations against the rebel had intensified in the last four years. Undoubtedly, such escalation of warfare is taking its toll on civilian populations that are being terrorised by the soldiers and paramilitary groups by accusing them with being supporters of the NPA.

Low intensity conflict measures are also being employed by the Philippine military in the guise of fighting terror. Upon the request of the Philippine government, the United States (US) had included the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its founder, Jose Maria Sison on its foreign terrorist list. The foreign terrorist list has since been adopted by the European Council in 2002. This tagging has legitimised the harassment and even extra-judicial killings of Filipino lawyers, priests, students, trade union leaders and human rights activists after being labelled as ?terrorists? by ?shadow groups? believed connected to the military.



Human rights group, Karapatan (People?s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights) in its recently released Human Rights Report of 2005 revealed that 150 people had been killed, 10 of which are journalists. They have also documented a total of 876 human rights violations in the country involving a total of 99,033 individuals from January to November 2005 alone.

In the island of Mindoro, terror has been sown against the local population by the Philippine military under now Major General Jovito Palparan who vowed to rid the island of ?terrorists? and warned the people against supporting communist rebels operating in the area. Several activists belonging to left political parties such as Bayan Muna and Anakpawis were shot and killed by masked motorcycle-riding men believed to be out to initimidate political activists in the area. There is yet to be any arrests and conviction of these vigilantes out on liquidating civilians and activists.

Following the alarming rate of activists being killed in Mindoro, then Col. Palaparan was reassigned to the island of Samar where he applied the same formula of intimidating the activists and terrorising the local population to ?wipe out the communists forces? in the area. Those accused of being communist supporters were physical maltreated, gravely threatened and arrested without warrants by military contingents. Some political activists were also abducted and later killed and village local officials threatened to cooperate with military in their conduct of operations in the area. The situation got so tense that the Philippine National Police Chief Gaudencio Vencio in Catbalogan, Samar has expressed alarm to the terrorising of civilians under his jurisdiction.

Both islands had become the subject of investigation by the International Solidarity Mission (ISM) in August this year to verify reports of widespread assassinations of activists in these areas. Delegates from several countries included parliamentarians, trade unionists, churchpeople, lawyers and students who indicted the Philippine government of Pres. Gloria Arroyo of failing to stop the human rights abuses in the Philippines in a report it presented to the Congress of the Philippines.



The escalation of war against armed groups in the Philippines have exacted a heavy toll on the political and civil rights of the local population and on their livelihoods. The hamletting of civilians take them away from their farms disrupting their farming activities. The war on terror that is purportedly being waged against terrorists are being turned against civilians who had nothing to do with terrorists.

The Filippinsk Ressurssenter has therefore sent letters of appeal to the Philippine president, top Congressional officials and the Philippine ambassador in Scandinavia and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry to act on the alarming rise of human rights abuses in the Philippines and to urge the warring parties in the country to participate in the peace negotiations that are meant to address the fundamental problems of landlessness and economic misery and war being experienced by the people for years.

The peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has been stalled late this year due to the decision of the former to allow the inclusion of its member organization, the CPP and its founder Jose Maria Sison in the US terrorist list. Another peace negotiation between the Philippine government and a muslim revolutionary group the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) operating in the Southern island of Mindanao have yet to come up with an agreement.
Filippinsk Ressurssenter i Norge IMC-QC Pilipinas

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