Thursday, March 22, 2007 Wenceslao: Ka Satur’s woes By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
I THINK the uproar over the treatment of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo is justified. One can even say that le affaire Ocampo should be added to the list of palpaks committed by the administration of President Arroyo. Questions have hounded this case, from the filing of the murder charges to the recent attempt to forcibly bring him to Leyte.
Purges of suspected deep penetration agents by elements of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) did happen some two decades ago. That was an episode in the history of the local communist movement that party cadres have refused to confront squarely. The issue, therefore, continues to hound the CPP like a bad dream.
I won’t talk about the allegation that the Armed Forces recycled some of the bones allegedly found in a mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte and which it used as basis in filing charges against Ocampo and several other militant leaders. That is for the court in that province to decide. What is of interest is the effort to link Ocampo et al to the deaths.
The accusation hinges on the allegation that Ocampo is a high-ranking member of the CPP. But even if one may grant that the claim is true, it does not necessarily follow that he ordered the Leyte purges, if there were any. Leyte is too far removed from Metro Manila where Ocampo is based, and local leaders of the CPP are highly autonomous.
The Inopacan “mass grave” is therefore merely peripheral to the filing of the case. I think the real purpose was to lock Ocampo in jail, and any other “killings,” whether in Leyte or elsewhere, could have been used to achieve that. Funny, but this case is similar to that faced by Ocampo’s comrade, Rep. Crispin Beltran, who is still under detention.
Now, Ocampo is in jail---and that is two militant party-list representatives out. What is nauseating to many people is that some elements of the Arroyo administration just don’t know how to handle “success.” That attempt to forcibly bring Ocampo to Leyte showed arrogance the likes of which was last seen only under the Marcos dictatorship.
More than a decade ago, I boasted to the young activists that our generation was better because our resolve was forged by the fire of struggle fueled by the atrocities of the Marcos government. “What do you have now?” I asked them. The police don’t even touch your rallies.
I apparently spoke too soon. The street clashes are back. The salvaging. The arrests. The pendulum has shifted.
