35 years of Martial Rule Militants decry 'de facto' Martial Law
Militant groups will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the declaration of martial law with protest rallies today.
Hundreds of members of organizations allied with the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) will assemble at the grounds of Museo Iloilo before marching in the city's main streets, said Bayan-Panay spokesperson Aurelio Bosque. The protesters will then hold a rally at the grounds of the Iloilo provincial capitol.
Bosque said "de facto martial law is now in effect all over the country," 35 years after the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation 1081 placing the country under Martial Law.
Bosque said the recent passage of the Human Security Act of 2007 was meant "to silence militants and progressive organizations under the ministrations of the Anti-Terrorism Council, which is composed of a cabal of Gloria's rabid political henchmen who will do everything to ensure their mistress will remain in power even after 2010."
He pointed out that the Anti-Terrorism Council can list organizations and individuals as terrorists "on the basis of mere suspicion, association and unverified claims of intelligence agencies for the purpose of punitive sanctions, such as illegalization, arbitrary arrest, serialized detention, freezing and eventual confiscation of assets."
He also criticized the HSA for allowing warrantless arrests, prolonged detention without charges and "violations of one's right to privacy through the unhampered use of electronic surveillance."
"By invoking public fear of so-called terrorism, this current paranoid regime wants to destroy our way of life, suppress and/or limit our hard won civil rights and political freedoms and violate the very Constitution this government is sworn to uphold," said Bosque.
He said that under the Arroyo administration, the number of victims of extra-judicial killings has reached 889 while another 184 remain missing. The missing includes Bayan-Panay chair Nilo Arado and former political detainee Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado where abducted by unidentified armed men on April in Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town.