Govt’s nameless Red list hit

From the Manila Standard Today (Dec 25): Govt’s nameless Red list hit

LEFTIST organizations and activist congressmen assailed on Monday the joint order of the Departments of Interior and Local Governments and National Defense on the capture of 235 unnamed people although the government had offered ­bounties amounting to P466.88 million. The human rights group Kapatan and the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno both questioned why the joint order signed by Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was not made public and the names of the people in the list were also withheld.

Congressmen belonging to the so-called “Makabayan bloc” also hit the joint order as moot and unlawful especially since President Aquino signed the Desaparecidos Law only last week. They also hit the President, Roxas, Gazmin and the military for their supposed “hypocrisy” in refusing to publish the names of the people on the list even as the military denied knowledge of the list and claimed it to be non-existent. “This list should be scrapped or at the very least there should be a full disclosure of such a listing, which in military terms is basically an order of battle,” said Bayan Muna Rep Neri Javier Colmenares.“Members of legal organizations and party list groups might have been included on the said list as the government continues to file and pursue fabricated charges and violate due process rights of activists,” Colmenares added.“One very frightening consequence of this list is that certain military officials might resort to surveilling, arresting or killing fall guys, activists and anyone or producing fake surrenderees in order to get the reward money,” the congressman said.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, for his part, said the government should disclose the names of those in the list so that the public will know if these list contained names that have pending warrants for their arrest. Gabriela Reps. Luz Ilagan said it worries her that the Aquino administration was posturing to talk peace with the communists when it has also ordered the arrest of the personalities involved in the peace talks. “How will we have a proper dialogue if this is what will happen?” Ilagan asked. “The government should scrap this list so as to facilitate the talks or at the very least publicly disclose the whole list to be examined. As things stand, this list can be used by death squads to assassinate anyone who is supposed to be there,” Colmenares said.

“It seems that acts of denial are usual responses of the Aquino government and the AFP, when confronted with questions on their accountability for human rights violations. Mga denial kings ang mga nasa Malacanang at AFP! The lies that they have sown through their counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan are now being exposed,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/25/govts-nameless-red-list-hit/