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Saturday, July 29, 2006
Editorials: President’s Sona and killings
Lost in the debate on the quality of President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address and on whether or not government could finance the promised projects was her mentioning, although only in passing, the bane of political killings.
The President did say that her administration is opposed to summary executions, but she cushioned the impact of that statement by first praising Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, accused of being behind the killings of militant leaders.
That diluted the significance of her professed view on the issue.
Not original
Besides, she wasn’t even original in the formulation of that stance.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña, for example, was the first to use the double talk: he is “against” vigilante-style killings but does not want the police to give attention to the problem.
As for the President asking the people to help in tracking down the perpetrators of political killings, that aped the standard line of the Cebu City Police Office, specifically its homicide section, when asked about the unsolved murders: were investigating them but no witnesses would come out
Pressure needed
But that Arroyo mentioned political killings and the bane of summary executions in her Sona means that pressure from within and without the country has gotten into her.
These murder incidents have been rightly condemned by many sectors in the country and have gotten the attention of international human rights groups.
Apparently, these condemnations can no longer be brushed off by the often-callous Arroyo administration.
Worrisome still
But answering the condemnations is one thing, shifting policy gears is another.
The use of double talk means the President is not about to get serious yet in addressing the problem of the rise in extra-judicial executions in the country.
This is the reason why days after the Sona, left-leaning activists are still being gunned down and the washing of the hands of law enforcers continues.
No letup
Which only means that there should be no letup in the condemnations of these acts and that concerned groups in the country and abroad must continue to exert pressure on the Arroyo administration to finally act on the matter.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 29, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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