***

President Arroyo vowed that the extra-judicial killings will be resolved and the AFP shall continue to be a vanguard of freedom. "Our seriousness in tackling the issue of the unexplained killings is clear in having welcomed the UN rapporteur of Human Rights to the Philippines, enabling him to do his work unimpeded and to render his report in full glare of the media."

***

With that statement the President proved that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales has a lot to learn in the art of diplomacy. Gonzales commented on Philip Alston thus: "What I am complaining (about) is the headline of our newspapers. Why do they say that Alston is the UN? Headline nyo yan. Alston is not the UN nor a bishop the CBCP. Why would you attribute the UN here? We are magnifying something coming from somebody who is nothing. He is just a rapporteur sent here but he is not the UN. His report may not even reach the UN General Assembly. He’s just a muchacho there. He is just a small fry."

***

In this column last Saturday I said I don’t understand why the Melo Commission report was kept under wraps by Malacañang for about a month. Now, I understand why. The report linked retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan whose performance in going after leftists and activists was lauded by no less than President Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address last year.

***

For many months now Palparan, branded as a "butcher", had been considered as endorsing the extra-judicial killings. But no investigation of the charges against Palparan was initiated by the government or the military. Instead, he was allowed to retire last year. So the clamor for the release of the Melo Commission report became louder and stronger.

***

It would have been much better if Malacañang had instructed the AFP to investigate allegations that Palparan was responsible for many of the killings. Upon receiving the Melo report, the President should have forwarded it either to the Department of Justice or Office of the Ombudsman for further study so that the perpetrators of the extra-judicial killings could be brought to court.

***

After all, the members of the Melo Commission are all honorable persons headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo with members Bishop of Butuan Juan de Dios Pueblos, UP Regent Nelia Gonzales, Chief Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño and NBI Chief Nestor Mantaring. All the members of the Commission signed the Melo report. This means they were unanimous on the findings.

***

The military said that most of the deaths were caused by the NPA. But this was unacceptable to the members of the Melo Commission. Among the recommendations of the Melo Commission is the passage of the new law to maintain strict chain of command responsibility with respect to extra-judicial killings; the proper orientation and the security forces to make them conscious of the prevailing doctrines of command responsibility and their ramifications; establishment of independent civilian body that will have controlled of its budget to investigate the killings; creation of special team with competent official prosecutors to handle the trial of extra-judicial killings cases; And the strengthening of the PNP and NBI and the Witness Protection Program.

***

Some government officials assailed Philip Alston for his findings. These officials should be reminded that the Philippine government invited the UN and the European Union (EU) to look into the extra-judicial killings. Why should the officials get angry with the findings of a foreign investigator? If this is the kind of treatment the officials give to foreign investigators, then nobody will lift even a finger to help us.

***

Former President Fidel V. Ramos bewailed the lack of interest of many Filipinos in commemorating the 1986 EDSA I and the spirit of Edsa itself. He also cited the absence of diplomats, elective officials, and even the youths in the annual celebration of the world famous People Power Revolution. FVR said: "Many of our young people and even elected leaders today seem indifferent to the spirit of EDSA that become known as Edsa I Revolution… To most, the prevailing spirit of Edsa that I myself discern is not anymore the spirit triumph, neither a triumph of the spirit, but the spirit of uncaring and non-involvement."

***

It is a good idea for government to give importance to alienating the causes of terrorism. Grievances that result from injustice, corruption, ignorance and poverty provide the basis for recruitment and the terrorists’ justification of violence. We should therefore learn from international efforts to mitigate the sources of grievances, such as in pursuing the peace process. While issues surrounding terrorism are complex, often highly emotional, the efforts that promote democratic rights and freedoms should be the cornerstone of any state in fighting terror.

***

It was alleged that the anti-terrorism law or "Human Security Act of 2007" may have defined terrorism too broadly by making punishable by 40 years imprisonment without parole crimes already defined in the Revised Penal Code such as illegal possession of firearms, rebellion, kidnapping, etc. It is said that even the United States’ defines terrorism too broadly as "the unlawful use of threat of violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives." In the US definition, George Washington, Robert Lee, and those who attempted the assassination of Adolf Hitler should be branded as terrorists. In the Philippine setting, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo would be terrorists.