From the CPP Website (Jan 3): CPP cites second case of "mistaken identity" over DND/DILG secret list
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today said that the Joint Order 14-2012 issued by the Department of National Defense (DND) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) last year has already resulted in the second case of “mistaken identity” and subjected innocent civilians to human rights abuses.
Citing reports by human rights groups in Negros, the CPP said the 302nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) arrested and detained Oligario Sebas, a local resident of Manjuyod, Negros Oriental, and claimed that he was “Filemon Mendrez,” whom the AFP alleges is one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement in Negros. According to the AFP, Mendrez is included in the DND/DILG list which has offered a P5.2 million bounty for his arrest.
Joint Order 14-2012, a secret list issued and maintained by the DND and DILG supposedly contains the names of 235 alleged leaders of the revolutionary movement and offers reward money totaling P467 million for their arrest. “It is a virtual Order of Battle of the AFP made sweeter for its generals and officers because of the increased bounty money,” pointed out the CPP.
The CPP cited a similar case of “mistaken identity” in the arrest last October of Rolly Panesa, a security guard whom the AFP claimed to be “Benjamin Mendoza,” allegedly a ranking leader of the revolutionary movement in Southern Tagalog. The military offered a a P5 million reward for Mendoza’s arrest. Panesa was severely tortured upon his arrest, and is still under detention.
“AFP generals and officials are pocketing millions of pesos over these fake arrests that are victimizing innocent civilians and subjecting them to human rights abuses,” said the CPP.
“Aquino insists on keeping the contents of Joint Order 14-2012 secret despite demands for disclosure by lawyers, political parties and progressive organizations that fear that the list includes the names of legal activists critical of the Aquino government,” said the CPP. “In doing so, Aquino has given the go-signal to government security forces to make indiscriminate arrests and other human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings which can simply be justified as compliance with Joint Order 14-2012.”
http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/cpp-cites-second-case-of-mistaken-identity-over-dnd-dilg-secret-list
Another blatant attempt by the CPP to discredit legitimate government/AFP intelligence efforts to track and capture clandestine insurgent leaders. Let's get to the truth here. The CPP/NPA are the ones who really engage in compiling assassination or "hit lists."
ReplyDeleteThe NPA makes no secret of the fact that it runs clandestine "revolutionary courts" that routinely condemn soldiers, government officials, and civilian opponents to death for what it calls "blood debts" against the Filipino people. There is no transparency in this process.
First of all, these so-called courts have no legitimacy and they lack any transparency whatsoever. Who are people who serve as the "judges" of these courts, what are their legal credentials, how do they reach their decisions, what evidence is provided, how is it gathered, how is the veracity of such evidence determined, what opportunity for defence is provided for those accused, etc.?
The fact of the matter is that the CPP won't disclose this information therefore leading us to surmise that they are just kangaroo courts, condeming whoever the CPP/NPA leaderships wishes to eliminate.
These CPP hypocrites attempt to tarnish the image of the GRP/AFP for engaing in legitimate intelligence and counterinsurgency operations while conveniently side-stepping the fact that it maintains illegal assassination lists of its own.
By the way you will never hear the CPP human rights front, Karapatan, condemn NPA assassinations, much less the fact that the Maoist insurgents maintain clandestine hit lists.