Liberation Movements

Melo Commission Allows Arroyo to Do a Pontius Pilate — NDF

Below is a statement released on Feb. 1 by the National Democratic Front in Southern Mindanao. It was signed by its spokesperson, Rubi del Mundo.

Retired Gen. Jovito Palparan’s boss, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has played the modern-day Pontius Pilate in the recently released report of the Melo Commission on political killings.

In indicting Palparan, the Melo Commission has in effect exonerated Gloria Arroyo for the killings of close to a thousand ordinary civilians, members of progressive organizations, journalists, priests, bishops, lawyers and other sectors in the country.

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RP’s Anti-Terrorism Bill ‘Most Terrifying Piece of Legislation’

In the wake of the signing earlier this month of an Asean Convention on Counter-Terrorism, the Arroyo administration has been pushing for the passage of the anti-terrorism bill now pending in the Philippine Senate, arguing that it would strengthen the country’s war against terror and would serve as a model for other Asean nations. But Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. argues that Senate Bill No. 2137 (pdf) is “the most terrifying piece of legislation ever submitted for the consideration of the Senate.”

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Davao Traders Coddling NPA Leader — Army

A military official has said Kumander Parago, the leader of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the Davao region, is being coddled and protected by some businessmen and politicians in the region. The official said he has a list of these businessmen.

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Abducted, Blindfolded, Tortured, Molested

One day in November, two NGO workers were abducted by soldiers in a village in North Cotabato. They were forcibly brought to a military detachment where they were blindfolded, interrogated, tortured and sexually molested. The soldiers tried to force them to admit that they were communist guerillas.

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Alvin Luque Fires Off Letter to Col. Del Rosario: ‘You Failed Miserably’

Alvin Luque, the former Bayan secretary-general in Davao City who is being hounded by allegations that he was a member of the New People’s Army, fires off a scathing New Year letter to his chief tormentor, Col. Eduardo del Rosario, erstwhile commander of the Task Force Davao.

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