Dear Editor,
With the number of evacuees now up to a hundred thousand, Aquino’s all-out war in Maguindanao continues to make certain the continuation of the pains of those displaced, along with the increasing numbers of human rights violations committed by the AFP. The war will continue to trample on the rights of the Moro people, as long as Aquino holds on to power, as long as his accountability in the Mamasapano Carnage is denied.
Aquino continues to play the blame game. After putting it all on on Napenas, Aquino now gives part of the responsibility to his crony Alan Purisima, months after he praised the man for his performance for the administration. All the while Aquino is silent to the details of his involvement, details which may implicate him as directly accountable for the incident in Mamasapano. More importantly, those who aired out opinions on the accountability of the President, particulary the PNP BOI, now change their claims after meetings with representatives of the administration.
The President is trying to shy away from impeachment that will surely come after his accountability has been made certain from all sides and is acted upon. With Aquino still clinging in power, the all-out war in Maguindanao will continue, till it achieves what its predecessor operation, Oplan Exodus, wanted from the start: control of critical areas near the Liguasan Marsh, in order to pave way for the entry of foreign large corporations.
As for the President asking for understanding rather than forgiveness from the public, such claim is neither possible nor just. For Aquino to make people believe that Oplan Exodus was a good plan in mind, one that was botched up in the implementation by Napenas and Purisima, attempts to hide the fact that Oplan Exodus was an attempt to secure critical areas in the Liguasan Marsh for the future entry of oil corporations. Much more, the efforts of the President to shift the people’s attention from the Mamasapano Carnage by starting an all-out war in Maguindanao makes his faults at two. The alleged campaign against the BIFF has only resulted to the mass displacement of the civilians, not to mention destruction of their livelihood and property.
These events only go to show that to rely on state-laid procedures only provides a ground for maneuver by the President in order for him to skirt away from accountability, thus, the continuation of the all-out war in Maguindanao. To call for an end to the injustice to the Moro people is to make the President accountable for the January 25 incident in order to finally oust him from power. As such, after one month of warring the people of Maguindanao, more people are opening their eyes to the truth of the subservience of the Aquino administration. We call on all enlightened individuals to unite with the progressive forces to demand the pull out of military troops and stop of the all- out -war. We will strengthen our unity against state sponsored terrorism and for the ouster of US- Aquino regime.
Thank you and more power.
Sheena Duazo
Secretary General – Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao (bayan.smr.2012@gmail.com)
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