Defend the Defenders Network

ICYMI: As part of the 13th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF), IBON International Europe, Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG), Viva Salud, People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS), and Asia-Pacific Research Network (APRN) held a webinar entitled “Peoples’ Resistance Against Shrinking Space and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia and Europe” on May 20, 2021.

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The sins of Sinas and other ‘pasaway’ generals

NCRPO chief Major General Debold Sinas should be made accountable for clear violation of ECQ rules when he allowed a ‘spontaneous’ mañanita to celebrate his 55th birthday. At the very least, he should step down while an internal probe is being conducted.

Sinas no longer has the credibility to enforce quarantine rules when his loyal well-wishers gathered for his birthday without observing proper social distancing protocols. It is also insensitive for public officials to organize a party and flaunt it on social media when millions are suffering from hunger, deprivation, and isolation.

Under Sinas’ watch, Metro Manila became a hotspot for human rights abuses. Lockdown restrictions led to draconian control of the population, overkill deployment of troops in communities, and imposition of harsh penalties on so-called pasaway or quarantine violators. Tens of thousands of desperate individuals seeking food, aid, and jobs were slapped with fines and even spurious charges for alleged ECQ violations. The Sinas’ approach not only failed to flatten the COVID-19 curve but also exacerbated the living conditions of Metro Manila residents.

Sinas is Duterte’s brutal enforcer who is remorseless in undermining civil liberties and subverting due processes. He is accused of masterminding the relentless attacks on peasant communities in Negros.

When he was deployed in Metro Manila, he quickly gained notoriety for the raids he conducted targeting leaders and community organizers of Bayan Metro Manila. Trumped-up charges based on fabricated evidence were used to detain five of our comrades from Gabriela, Kilusang Mayo Uno, and Kadamay.

He continued to use terror tactics in demonizing people’s organizations which are campaigning against the Manila Bay reclamation.

Sinas must answer for the ECQ violation, but we must also not forget his key role in militarizing the government’s COVID-19 response, and the human rights abuses conducted by troops under his command.

Pasaway generals

Sinas joins other Duterte generals who also made controversial remarks and actions in recent months.

AFP chief Felimon Santos was castigated for writing a letter to China for his request to avail of COVID-19 medicines. This was seen as improper at a time when the government has filed a diplomatic protest against China’s illegal incursions on Philippine maritime territories. One of the few who defended him was Senator Bato dela Rosa, the Tokhang general who led the bloody anti-drug campaign in 2016 and 2017.

Several retired generals in the Cabinet were quick to deny that the shutdown of ABS CBN was an attack on press freedom. They even defended the malicious propaganda of the government’s anti-communist task force even if this was based on lies and fake news. They were joined by the likes of Antonio Parlade of the Southern Luzon Command who even threatened the public with martial law declaration if critics will continue to decry the demise of press freedom.

These pasaway generals reflect the berdugo and tuta mentality of the commander-in-chief, the president who bungled the COVID-19 response with his criminal negligence and militarist type of governance. Duterte and these generals seek to dismiss public accountability by blaming the communist movement for the COVID-19 crisis. They are aware of the rising people’s anger that is why they are desperately instilling fear and brutal lockdown measures.

Bayan Metro Manila

The COVID-19 pandemic exposes bankruptcy of neoliberal political economy

After decades of privatizing health care, millions are left untreated despite the rapid spread of COVID-19. Hospitals and other public health facilities are managed to raise profits which undermined access to health services. Government subsidies to health and education are slashed. Universal health insurance is oriented to serve the interest of private corporations.

The pandemic gave face to millions of casual workers who lost jobs, informal workers whose livelihoods have been destroyed, and migrant workers who lack social protection benefits. They disprove the claims that neoliberal growth is making societies more prosperous. Their precarious conditions expose how the dominant system is enabled by dispossessing the many.

Unbridled plunder of natural resources has weakened the capacity of many nations which are today mired in extreme poverty and debt. Despite or because of implementing the prescriptions imposed by neoliberal experts and imperialist institutions, many countries today are cash-strapped and their economies are unable to provide the needs of the local population. Governments are struggling to provide emergency aid to constituents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crisis revealed that we should not rely on the so-called 'invisible hand of the market' for our needs but on the quick action of publicly accountable state and civic institutions. That instead of allowing corporations to equate their profit target with the nation’s economic growth, we have to count what really matters to our lives: access to health care and other basic services, food security, and livable communities. It’s time to rethink the doctrine of turning over vital utilities, industries, and services to the private sector. Finally, we must develop a local economy that can address the basic needs of our people, especially in times of emergency.

We recognize, too, that building a resilient society requires good governance and democratic leadership. People empowerment is crucial in making governments work to prioritize the upliftment of workers, farmers, women, and other marginalized sectors of society.

We are in solidarity with International League of Peoples' Struggle and other organizations as we reiterate our urgent demands in addressing the social impact of the current pandemic. We are one with those who assert that the new normal must lead us to reject the discredited neoliberal model of development and the bankrupt political leadership that controls this system of mass poverty and inequality. We will only heal if we will fight for a different future.

TUTULAN AT LABANAN ANG MARTIAL LAW SA KALUNSURAN! LANSAGIN ANG OPLAN KALASAG!

Ang pasismo ng rehimeng Duterte ay tumitindi sa bawat taong nagdaraan. Ang Oplan Tokhang na kumitil ng libo-libong buhay noong 2016 hanggang sa ngayon ay sinundan ng Martial Law sa Mindanao noong 2017. Pagsapait ng 2018 ay isinailalim naman sa Memorandum Order 32 ang mga probinsya ng Bicol, Samar, at Negros na nagbunga sa mga "killing fields" sa mga lugar na ito.

Nang ilabas ni Duterte ang EO 70 na nagbuo ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict ay naging sunod-sunod at walang habas ang pag-atake sa mg progresibo.

Sinundan ito ng Oplan Kalasag na sa tabing ng anti-kriminalidad ay nagsailalim sa buong Kamaynilaan sa "de facto Martial Law".

Kinakailangan ang buong lakas na pagkakaisa ng mamamayan upang ipagtanggol ang karapatan at kalayaan.

SUMAMA SA PAGKILOS!
Oktubre 29, 4:00pm, Camp Crame

EJ Honorica and Ms. Amirah Lidasan of the Defend the Defenders Network sharing the current situation of Human Rights Situation in Mindanao and in certain places.

EJ Honorica of Karapatan - Metro Manila and convenor of Defend the Defenders Network (DDN) gives his presentation on the impacts of President Duterte's counter-insurgency program Oplan Kalasag and Oplan Kapanatagan to law students from De La Salle University, Ateneo Law School and University of the Philippines Law at the DLSU Rufino Campus in Taguig City.