e hope Joker Arroyo was
misquoted in saying the Armed Forces should not be condemned for the
cold-blooded killing of militants. He said most soldiers are loyal to the
Republic, and that only a few have been linked by both UN special rapporteur
Philip Alston and the Melo commission to the rash of extra-judicial killings.
We remember Joker as among the staunch defenders of human
rights at a time when doing so was dangerous to life and health and injurious to
the pocketbook. He was the lawyer we would run to every time this paper (and its
predecessor We Forum) ran afoul with Ferdinand Marcos and his subalterns.
We are distressed hearing Joker defend the indefensible. What
does a Senate seat profit Joker when the cost is abandonment of principles?
We can even agree with Joker that 99 percent of our soldiers
scrupulously respect the Bill of Rights. But given the 120,000-man strength of
the AFP, 1 percent translates into 1,200 soldiers taking to the law into their
own hands. That’s 1,200 killers fed, armed and paid by the government too many.
There will always be rogues in any organization. On this we
also agree with Joker. It is the leadership’s job to weed out these members who
are a disgrace to the uniform. But when the political and the military leaders
themselves play deaf and blind to murder committed by their subordinates, then
it is time for all of us, including Joker, to raise our voice in outrage and
condemnation.
Alston said the AFP leaders appeared in total denial of the
activities of the death squad. It’s been a month since Alston came here to look
into the killings. We can now dispense with the qualifier "appeared." The
military leadership is clearly in total denial. And so is the political
leadership.
We have yet to hear AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon take
back his statement that only four of the killings could be attributed to
soldiers. He continues to insist that the killings were the handiwork of the
rebels, part of a purported purge of suspected government infiltrators.
President Arroyo also repeats ad nauseam that the government
is doing everything to put an end to the killings. But what do we have instead?
The justice department under Raul Gonzalez, who has ridiculed Alston as a UN "muchaco,"
has been filing cases left and right against Leftist leaders for allegedly
ordering a purge in the rebel ranks more than 20 years ago.
The killings, meanwhile, go on, with the most recent victim
being one of those who testified before the Alston team.
We have to stop the madness. And Joker is not helping any by adding his voice
to the-Reds-did-it chorus.
