Militants puzzled by rebellion case against 27 Southern Tagalog activists

MANILA, Philippines — The fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday said it was baffled why Globe Telecom filed a rebellion case against 27 activists in Southern Tagalog in connection with the burning of the company’s cell site in Lemery, Batangas last August 2. “As far as we are concerned, the leaders of cause-oriented groups in Southern Tagalog are leading the fight against land grabbing and widespread human rights violations arising from the government’s counter-insurgency operations in the region under Oplan Bantay Laya II," Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a statement. Hicap said Globe is well informed that these leaders known as ST 27 are focused on more important concerns like agrarian reform, social justice and human rights and don’t have motives nor the physical and armed capacity to burn cell sites. “They are plain and simple activists and patriots working for the cause of farmers and oppressed folks in the region," Hicap said. “That’s why it so ridiculous on the part of Globe to file this rebellion complaint. What’s the purpose of this stupid rebellion case? Are they in cahoots with the military in pursuing an all-out campaign of terror and political repression against legitimate people’s organizations?" Globe and the PNP in Batangas charged the 27 leaders with arson, crimes involving destruction of property and conspiracy to rebellion before the Batangas prosecutor’s office in Batangas City on August 2. Pamalakaya said it learned that the police was seeking warrants of arrest against the 27 accused. The militant group believed that the filing of rebellion and other charges was orchestrated by Malacañang, the National Security Council headed by security adviser Norberto Gonzalez, and the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group chaired by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez. Also included in the charge list are Amelita Sto. Tomas of Gabriela-Cavite; Alex Arias of KMP-Laguna; Rolando Mingo, vice chair of the transport group Piston; Romeo Aguilar of urban poor group Kadamay; and Dina Capetillo of the human rights watchdog Karapatan-Batangas. “The military and the police through the counter-insurgency legal group IALAG want the court to immediately issue the warrants so they could have the wholesale license to arrest, torture and even kill all the 27 Southern Tagalog leader activists. That’s the political-military game plan of Malacañang," said Pamalakaya. “Incidentally the 27 leaders are in the master list of the AFP and the PNP in Southern Tagalog who were marked as targets of the Palace-backed death squads in the region. Currently under fire from global people for masterminding the death of 901 activists over the last seven years, the militarist regime is now carrying this kind of strategy to silence these activists from exposing and opposing the crimes of President Arroyo and her military in the region," the group noted. Pamalakaya also said the strategy of filing fabricated charges has been implemented in many regions like Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mindanao regions and Negros provinces. The group said Oplan Bantay Laya II is also giving weight to the legal offensive to make sure leaders of activist groups are silenced and terrorized. GMANews.TV