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Cold shoulder on Arroyo’s 10-week order to DoJ, PNP to resolve killings

The leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday gave cold treatment to the order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to resolve the spate of political killings within the next 10 weeks.

“ Thanks, but no thanks. President Arroyo’s latest political escapade is nothing but a cheap political stunt. A super roadshow presentation for image-building at the expense of truth and justice,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

In her opening speech at the meeting of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in Malacañang, President Arroyo said her government condemned the unabated political killings and ordered the DoJ and PNP to resolve the killings in 10 weeks.

“ We will not buy this cheap trick of Mrs. Arroyo. For GMA’s information, we all believe that working and cooperating with DoJ and PNP at this point in time, in connection with the mass murder of our colleagues is like a political suicide,” Hicap said.

This is the first time President Arroyo has given a deadline to authorities to resolve the killings of leftwing activists, journalists and critics of the Arroyo administration. But Pamalakaya said the order lacked substance and credibility, because the President has totally endorsed political killings as a mode to silence critics and foes of President Arroyo, when the latter praised Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan during her Sona last week.

Hicap asserted that they would prefer an independent body to look into the unbridled killings of militants, journalists and critics of President Arroyo. He said the only government agency, which acceptable to their organizations and to the families of the victims is the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) along with the Senate, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and human rights groups.

Pamalakaya's Hicap said the witnesses will not come out in the open and cooperate with the PNP and DoJ because they believed the police establishment and the justice department are in cahoots with the military backed death squads.

" Coming out into the open and avail witness protection program under the command of DoJ and PNP is really hard for the witnesses. At this given political situation, going to PNP and DoJ is like a death warrant or a kiss of death for those who want to testify against the military agents and death squads of Malacañang," he said.

Pamalakaya noticed that after Sona, the political killings went on unabated, despite the PNP chief's assurance that his office would go after killers of leftist activists.

" The PNP is politically inutile to stop Malacañang's roaring rampage of murder and assassination. In fact, the PNP is a closet partner in crime of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and rabid pro-Arroyo generals in the AFP like Nolcom chief Romeo Tolentino, Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and Solcom chief Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay," the group said.

The fresh cases of political killings under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration prompted Pamalakaya to call for the resignation of PNP Chief Director General Oscar Calderon and the dissolution of Task Force Office headed by PNP Deputy Chief Avelino Razon. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:27 | link | comments |

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