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Militants now waiting for 4th general
to break silence on extrajudicial killings

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said on Monday said it was looking forward for the 4th general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to break his silence and confirm to the public that political killings of leftwing activists is a national policy and was openly discussed during a military command conference two years ago.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the military generals opposed to extrajudicial killings, one by one are coming out in the open to expose the policy of political liquidation carried out by the National Security Cluster and big guns in the military advocating such militarist policy in eliminating leftwing activists, political foes and critics of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

“Another general broke his silence against political killings. We expect decent thinking generals to follow and break their silence and tell the people the truth and nothing but the truth,” the Pamalakaya leader said, a day after a third general, speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that killings of leftwing activists was openly discussed in a top-level military conference in 2005.

Earlier, two generals first disclosed the military conference who had vowed to support Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s investigation on political killings under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration by providing the former Navy officer with “ammunition” for privilege speeches and committee inquiries by the Senate.

Hicap said the mission dispatched by the European Union to investigate the spate of political killings across the country and the Supreme Court, which had vowed to address the issue by calling a multisectoral summit next month should put premium to what the three generals had exposed regarding the policy of extrajudicial killings implemented by military generals associated with the national security cluster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Things are slowly falling on their proper places. All the European Union and the Supreme Court should do is to pick up these pieces of material evidence and use these as weapons in bringing out truth, justice and accountability,” the Pamalakaya chair said.

Earlier, Pamalakaya welcomed the high tribunal’s plan to call a multisectoral summit on political killings, adding Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s advocacy to take the battle against extrajudicial killings in their own turf was a positive step and a confidence building measure.

If invited, Pamalakaya said it would join the multisectoral summit on extrajudicial killings to represent their members who were executed by alleged military agents since 2001.

“We see the Supreme Court’s multisectoral congress on extrajudicial killings as an opportunity, and at the same time a promising venue to ventilate our cause for truth, justice and accountability,” the militant group added.

Pamalakaya said the plan of Trillanes to investigate the role of AFP death squads in the spate of political killings of leftwing activists in the country should serve as a parallel effort to address the issue of extrajudicial killings.

“We ask the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to publicly endorse and support the initiative of Senator Trillanes to investigate the role of military death squads on the unabated killings of leftwing activists and journalists by suspected agents of the state and encourage more generals to come out in the open and speak against the government’s policy on extrajudicial killings” the group added.

Pamalakaya also urged a team of experts dispatched by the European Union to ask their governments to stop economic and other technical aid to the Philippines, unless President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo categorically orders the military to stop the practice of extrajudicial killings victimizing leftwing activists and journalists across the country.

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:52 | link | comments |

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