CPP slams Lorenzana logic as ‘Hitlerite’

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s pitching for “more security and less human rights” in an amended Human Security Act has only exposed his “perverted Hitlerite” mind, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said yesterday,

In a statement, the CPP also said the Human Security Act (HSA) is a misnomer for an anti-terror law because “it promotes state terrorism in the name of fighting terrorism.” 

Instead, HSA should be called “state terror law,” because it has given the military and police extra powers of surveillance, warrantless arrests, indefinite detention of suspected terrorists and seizure of bank deposits or property, among others, it said.  

The CPP claims the broad definition of “terrorism” in the HSA “enables the reactionary Philippine government to suppress any form of dissent or resistance against state oppression.”  

Under the HSA, “terrorism” includes acts such as piracy, rebellion or insurrection, coup d’etat, murder, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, destruction of property, arson, hijacking and illegal possession of firearms, meant “to sow and create conditions of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand.” Those found guilty by the courts would be meted life imprisonment without parole.

Lorenzana and other officials want to amend the HSA “to remove the provision requiring the state to pay P500,000 to those proven innocent for every day of unjust detention.”

They also want to extend the allowable period for detaining terror suspects not yet indicted or charged in court, to give authorities enough time to gather solid evidence.

“These amendments will further embolden the military and police forces to carry out more acts of suppression against the anti-tyranny and all democratic forces.”

The defense chief, the CPP said, “is oblivious to history which shows that less human rights means more military and police abuse which in turn means more resistance against tyranny and oppression.”

At the House of Representatives, militant lawmakers have rejected the call of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa for them to surrender Alicia Lucena, the 18-year-old student who was reported missing by her family after joining leftist group Anakbayan.

House deputy minority leader and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said it was Lucena who had sought the help of the Makabayan bloc to clear the issue and to deny she had gone missing.

“As a lawmaker, we helped her in freely clarifying the issue without threat or intimidation from the PNP or AFP. As a parent myself, I advised her to reach out to her parents and settle things with them,” Zarate said.

He stressed that Lucena decided on her own to leave her home to join a militant organization.

“We can give advice and suggestion but at the end of the day, they are the ones to decide because they are already of legal age. We should respect their decision and rights. As responsible parents, we should understand that our role is only to give advice and be ready to assist them if necessary,” Zarate said.

Witch-hunt

He reiterated the militant group’s appeal to the Senate that it stop the probe on the alleged recruitment of students by leftist groups. He called the Senate investigation “witch hunting.”

“There is also no amount of repression and red tagging that would solve the issue of the ongoing armed conflict in the country unless its root causes are addressed,” he said.

“We have been calling for the resumption of the peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP since it was scrapped but it is the AFP and the PNP who reject the talks and is pushing for all out war,” he added. 

Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, for her part, slammed Dela Rosa for asking the Philippine National Police to get Lucena from the custody of the Makabayan bloc.

“That is practically a command to ‘arrest’ Alicia and that is why she is afraid. She already spoke and told her side. Alicia also mentioned that she fears she’ll be brought again to military camps and force her to make a change of heart,” the lawmaker said in a statement.

Elago urged Dela Rosa to instead refocus his energy to more pressing issues like Chinese incursion, rampant killings, poverty and unemployment.

On Wednesday, Lucena told senators she left home and school last July 10 and stayed with friends.

“I voluntarily joined Anakbayan because I saw the need for us youth to be involved. The military is using my family in this issue to suppress those who are fighting the administration,” she pointed out.

“I preferred not to talk to them (parents) because they were super hostile towards me,” she narrated, saying she has since stayed in a friend’s house and was not kidnapped as claimed during the Senate probe.

Alicia said she decided to leave home after her parents brought her to military camps, particularly Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City and Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, after finding she had become a member of a militant organization.

Meanwhile, San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza has called the attention of the military to its “divisive move” of red-tagging clergy and members of civil society who are critical of the Duterte administration.

Instead of fostering a favorable climate for peace, government entities have taken contrary actions, Alminaza said in a pastoral letter.

He added that proposals to restore the anti-subversion law and the death penalty would do more harm than good as the two measures had been proven to be ineffective in deterring heinous crimes.

“We reiterate our call to our government to prioritize addressing the unsolved killings and violence happening in our country, especially in Negros island,” Alminaza said.

“Instead of doing controversial publicity, this is an opportune time for Philippine National Police officials to bring back the trust of the people by investigating the killings, pursuing the criminals, and ending any act of participatory crimes to end the climate of fear and violence,” he added.

He also called on elected officials to push for legislation and programs aimed at enhancing social justice and inclusive development. – With Edu Punay, Gilbert Bayoran