Partylist reps ask Aquino to abandon Arroyo's counter-insurgency plan

Militant partylist representatives on Monday urged President Benigno Aquino III to abandon Oplan Bantay Laya — the Arroyo administration’s counter-insurgency plan — after three activists were killed within two weeks upon assuming office. "Oplan Bantay Laya is still in place. In only a matter of 10 days of the Aquino administration, three activists have been killed. Mr. Aquino should immediately make concrete steps to stop the rising body count of activists," Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano said in a press statement. The latest victim was public school teacher Mark Francisco at San Isidro Elementary School who was killed while on his way home Friday afternoon. He was member of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in Masbate province, ACT Rep. Antonio Tinio said. [See: Masbate teacher-activist killed, says militant group] On Friday, two armed men wearing ski masks and camouflage uniforms fired at Francisco, 27, and four other teachers who were crossing a river at Sitio Umawas, Barangay Malibas, Palanas, Masbate on the way home while onboard motorcycles. Francisco died on the spot. Another teacher was pursued by the assailants but managed to escape onboard his motorcycle and report the incident to the authorities. Tinio noted it was not the first time a teacher was attacked in Masbate as three days before Francisco’s death, public school teacher Dexter Legazpi, 36, was riding his motorcycle to school with his wife when five armed men wearing ski masks and military uniforms fired at them. Legazpi and his wife were able to speed away to safety onboard his motorcycle. Similarly, on July 9, Pascual Guevarra, a leader of Anakpawis in Laur, Nueva Ecija was killed by a lone gunman. On July 5, Bayan Muna Aklan provincial coordinator Fernando Baldomero was gunned down by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Lezo, Aklan. “These murders show that the extra-judicial killing of activists continues to take place under President Aquino. We expect nothing less than an end to impunity from this new government," Tinio said in a separate press statement. He said the Mr. Aquino must direct the necessary government resources to ensure that the perpetrators of the three murders are caught, tried, and punished. Mariano, for his part, said if the Aquino government is really serous in addressing extrajudicial killings, it should immediately implement the recommendations by United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston. In his final report on extrajudicial killings, Alston recommended that extrajudicial executions must be eliminated from counterinsurgency operations. He also recommended that:

• As commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, the President must take concrete steps to put an end to those aspects of counter-insurgency operations which have led to the targeting and execution of many individuals working with civil society organizations.
• The necessary measures should be taken to ensure that the principle of command responsibility, as it is understood in international law, is a basis for criminal liability within the domestic legal order.
• The government should immediately direct all military officers to cease making public statements linking political or other civil society groups to those engaged in armed insurgencies. Any such characterizations belong solely within the power of the civilian authorities. They must be based on transparent criteria, and conform with the human rights provisions of the Constitution and relevant treaties.
• Transparency must be introduced to the “orders of battle," “watch lists," and similar lists of individuals and organizations maintained by the AFP, PNP, and other elements of the national security system. While their contents might justifiably be considered secret, which lists exist, their purposes, the criteria for inclusion, and the number of names on each should be made public.