3-03-06, 11:30 am
Philippine Communist Party (Pkp-1930) Condemns Arroyo's Declaration of State of Emergency
The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930, the Philippine Communist Party) strongly condemns the declaration by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of a 'state of national emergency' throughout the Philippines. Ironically, the declaration (under Presidential Proclamation 1017) was made this February 24, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Marcos dictatorship.
The Arroyo regime is trying to present this 'state of national emergency' as distinct from martial law, in order to avoid the constitutional requirement for Congress to ratify such declaration. However, this is in fact just another term for martial law, and has the same effect of curtailing basic freedoms and civil liberties. Proclamation 1017 was issued in the face of the growing public clamor for Arroyo's ouster, based on the dubious legitimacy of her 2004 election to the presidency.
Proclamation 1017 bans all public rallies and demonstrations, and cancels all permits previously issued by local authorities allowing public assemblies, such as the February 24 commemorations of the 20th anniversary of 'EDSA-1' (the human barricades along Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue, or 'EDSA') which led to the ouster of Marcos. The proclamation was apparently prepared much earlier to suppress anti-Arroyo mass actions that were to feature prominently in this EDSA-1 anniversary, and the justification for the issuance of this proclamation was the alleged discovery of a 'plot' by some soldiers to openly join the protests along EDSA.
Unaware of this proclamation which was issued only that morning, civilian rallyists who converged on the 'People Power' monument along EDSA on February 24 (including members of our Party and mass organizations from the National Capital Region) were violently dispersed by the police. The afternoon rally on the same day along Ayala Avenue in Makati City (which was also participated in by some members of our Party and mass organizations) was also dispersed that evening through police bullying. On February 25, anti-Arroyo rallies were held at Plaza Lucero in Cabanatuan City (Nueva Ecija Province) and at the Sta. Rita exit of the North Luzon Expressway in Bulacan Province, while an anti-Arroyo motorcade (of 40 jeepneys, tricycles and hand-tractor-driven wagons) wound around the center of Tarlac City in Tarlac Province. However, all of these protest actions, held under the auspices of the Al! yansa ng Mamamayang Naghihirap (ALMANA, or the Alliance of the Poor Masses), were ordered to disperse by noontime under threat of police violence.
The Arroyo regime drew up a list of oppositionists who are to be arrested, targeting three (3) particular groups --- some rightist military 'adventurists', some leading supporters of the maoist 'New People's Army', and some politicians identified with deposed president Joseph 'Erap' Estrada --- who are alleged to be jointly plotting a coup d'etat against Arroyo.
Warrantless arrests were immediately implemented by the Arroyo regime, with some leaders of the February 24 rallies being brought to police stations and before city prosecutors. Arrested also were Brigadier General Danilo Lim (commander of the Army's elite anti-dissident Scout Rangers, for planning to withdraw his support from Arroyo's 'chain of command'), and retired General Ramon Montano (former chief of the dreaded Metropolitan Command of the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary, for calling for Arroyo's ouster in an earlier TV interview). The arrest of some retired military officials, and of some maoist leaders, was also ordered on the basis of 'inciting-to-rebellion' charges dating several years back
In effect, the steps taken by the Arroyo regime under the 'state of national emergency' are blatant attempts to silence political dissent and to institute a new dictatorship. The Arroyo regime, which continues to be haunted by questions of legitimacy and corruption, would surely use this proclamation to prevent any further congressional investigations on Arroyo's cheating during the 2004 elections, and on the graft allegations made against the Arroyo family. The new repressive measures under Proclamation 1017 are a provocation for anti-Arroyo forces to use violent means, and can only gladden the local maoists who have, since 1968, fixed the armed struggle as a dogma.
A prelude to this declaration of a 'state of national emergency' was Arroyo's ending last October 2005 of the long-standing policy of 'maximum tolerance' towards street protests, and her order for police forces to thenceforth use a 'calibrated pre-emptive response' ('CPR') to immediately break up and disperse opposition rallies and demonstrations. Arroyo herself fanned coup rumors since the escape last month of a few 'Magdalo' junior officers from the armed forces headquarters at Fort Bonifacio, where they have been incarcerated since their failed July 2003 mutiny at the Oakwood Hotel in Makati City. Coup rumors were used by Arroyo as the scapegoat for the country's economic downturn, and as a convenient excuse to blame everybody but herself and her neo-liberal policies. By now clearly showing that her regime is threatened by the people's exercise of the rights to peaceful assembly and to free speech, Arroyo has totally lost the right to govern.
While Arroyo is railing against the alleged threat to her rule posed by the so-called 'destabilizers', the fact remains that she destabilized her own rule with the massive corruption that her family and close officials were involved in, and with the frauds she perpetrated during the 2004 presidential election. The longer she refuses to relinquish power, the longer instability will reign in our country.
The PKP-1930 therefore demands the immediate lifting of Presidential Proclamation 1017, and calls for broader national unity among all progressive and democratic forces in the campaign for the immediate ouster from the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Central Committee PARTIDO KOMUNISTA NG PILIPINAS (PKP-1930) (Philippine Communist Party) 26 February 2006
