A more cunning competition

Letter to the Editor

I HAVE always believed that there was only one master of deception, and that is the badly beaten former mayor who miserably lost to Mayor Oca Moreno in the last elections.  Of late, another master of deception, as tagged by netizens, has emerged.  This time, it’s colored orange.

The legal woes of the Mayor stemmed from the case filed by an erstwhile ally of the original master of deception.  That case would have been just a pat on the back of the Mayor’s hand had it not, according to the many political observers, for the unseen hand of the “malaking pulitiko.”

As can be read and seen on social media, many believe that the new master of deception cleverly maneuvered and probably influenced whoever it was in the Office of the Ombudsman who rendered the ridiculous decision against Mr. Glenn Banez and Mayor Moreno.

Maybe lawyers will also see it this way.  The Ombudsman decision was manifestly without basis because it was rendered without the benefit of hearing the side of the Mayor.  The decision is an example of what miscarriage of justice is.

A counter-affidavit was allegedly filed on time, as also posted on Facebook by those who are supportive of Mayor Moreno, yet the Ombudsman decision categorically stated none was filed.

How can a document, as vital and important as the counter-affidavit of a respondent get lost from the office of the Ombudsman?  And if there was none, wasn’t it incumbent upon the investigator to double check his records and those of the satellite office of the Ombudsman in Cagayan de Oro before he could have drafted the decision?

What about the penalties imposed?  Were they too harsh, cruel and unusual under the circumstances?

All the above could only happen if indeed there was a “malaking pulitiko” pulling some strings and shelling out millions of pieces to some beneficiaries of the magnanimity of the pulitiko.

Watch out, original master of deception!  Here comes your more cunning competition! —Peter Clarete, peterclarete@gmail.com

More Rights Violations

THE Aquino government attempts to hide the images of extreme poverty and peoples’ resistance in Metro Manila from the Apec delegates as its armed forces intensify operations to silence the people.

While Apec delegates busy themselves ‘building a better world’ and planning an ‘inclusive growth’ among the capitalist countries, a series of attempts by the police to restrict mass actions in Metro Manila were reported; while those from Central Luzon who intend to join the mobilization of the People’s Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) were barred from travelling to Metro Manila. Meanwhile, military campaign of suppression in the countryside continues as illegal arrests and detention in Compostela Valley in Southern Mindanao and a military encampment in the community of Lubuagan, Kalinga in Cordillera were also reported.

A contingent from Canili, Maria Aurora, Aurora province was held by the 56th Infantry Battalion in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. The soldiers stopped the bus of the PCAIG contingent, claiming they were looking for a ‘criminal’. Then the soldiers took the driver’s license without stating any clear violation.

Spikes were also scattered on the road. The bus was able to avoid the spikes, but a motorcycle rider threw a stone at the bus, causing a crack in the front mirror. As the bus reached Rizal, Nueva Ecija, the police again stopped them and told the driver it can no longer proceed because the cracked mirror. Everyone in the bus was ordered to get off the vehicle.

The Aurora contingent had to take the long walk to the town proper of Rizal. At the terminal, they found out that passenger vehicles were threatened by the Rizal police, forbidding them to accept passengers going to Manila. They had to walk for six kilometers towards Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. The PCAIG-Aurora contingent was picked up by allied organizations as they went near Cabanatuan. As of this writing, the rally participants are still held in Cabanatuan and in Pampanga.

Earlier, in Nov. 14, youth members of Compostela Farmers Association were illegally arrested and detained by elements of the 66th IB-PA in Sitio Pulang Lupa, Compostela Valley. Jemboy Villafuerte and Jason Damali were accused as members of the New People’s Army and told to present themselves as ‘NPA surenderees.’ According to initial reports, three more youth farmers were also arrested, two of them minors.  A number of evacuees from Compostela Valley have joined the Manilakbayan 2015 who are now sheltered in the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran. Police forces have been deployed in the Church vicinity since November 14 to prevent the Lumad from going out of the Church premises, lest they join the anti-Apec mobilizations.

Since October 2014, more than 60 members of the Army have been encamped in four homes at Ag-agama, Western Uma, Lubuagan, Kalinga. The soldiers, for a month now, have been harassing residents and were on a nightly drinking spree. When drunk, these soldiers would indiscriminately fire their guns. Mothers complained that soldiers sexually harass their daughters through catcalls and indecent proposals.

The neoliberal policies that Apec promotes have pushed down  the majority of the Filipinos in poverty. With so much destroyed livelihood, the peasants, workers and all sectors affected by the Apec have all the right to express their opposition. Using police violence, harassment and threats to prevent the people to get near the summit and show their resistance against the pro-capitalist policies is a gross violation of our democratic right to express our views.  The so-called “vast democratic space” in the Philippines is a blatant lie. —Cristina Palabay, Secretary General, Karapatan