(Continued from Saturday)
The state of our environment is a big national concern. We have serious environmental problems to solve and we need all hands on deck to do this.
Environmental defenders are the best of our citizens. Organizations like the Center of Environmental Concerns (CEC) and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (PNE Kalikasan) should be praised and not threatened with raids as they have been for the last few weeks. They are confirmed to be under surveillance by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and could be attacked any time.
We need more CEC and PNE Kalikasan-like organizations if we are to effectively address our environmental crisis. Everyone in the environmental community should close ranks and support them as all of us have to speak truth to power on issues like Oceana Gold and the Kaliwa Dam.
Another major national concern that requires a whole of nation approach is responding to the climate emergency and natural disasters. As a vulnerable country, we cannot afford to be distracted to deal with these big challenges.
All our available military units should be in Mindanao now helping the earthquake victims; instead we see the police arresting a community journalist like Anne Krueger in Bacolod or serving notice on IBON, an esteemed globally recognized think tank, that they will be arresting an unnamed person in the latter’s office.
In relation to this, most inexplicable is the inclusion of Oxfam sa Pilipinas, a development and humanitarian organization that has worked in the Philippines for 31 years, among the organizations mentioned by General Basiao. This is laughable if not the fact that it endangers many good people and a lot of good work, including on disaster risk reduction.
I have worked with Oxfam in the Philippines and internationally for many years and I will emphatically say that they are not a front of any political party—underground or above ground. Independence and a commitment to development outcomes that address poverty and inequality are the hallmarks of Oxfam and I have seen their staff uphold these values time and again. I stand by Oxfam unconditionally and echo their statement:
“If our vision and mission in the Philippines have led to Oxfam being labelled a ‘local communist terrorist group’ or a funder of ‘communist terrorist groups’ then we find this a most troubling situation. These allegations affect not only us, but also put the communities and partners we work with at risk. In a country where poverty remains, and poor communities are continually struck by disasters, we strongly believe that organizations like ours should be encouraged, rather than hindered, from undertaking our programs.”
So what is happening?
First, clearly the intelligence apparatus of the military and police is in very bad shape, frozen in an understanding of political dynamics of the 1980s. Teaching already many of them as individuals, I will even offer to do a lecture and update those interested in the national security establishment, on the political and development spectrum of the Philippines.
Second, one can only speculate that worse things are coming. I believe that undeclared as it is outside Mindanao, martial law is already upon us and things could escalate further. We must now prepare for the worst. Among others, I call on all groups, regardless of ideological tendency, to close ranks. Forget all our quarrels. Much bigger things are at stake. Remember that fascist do not even know how to differentiate between groups and individuals.
One practical thing we can all do is to preempt the planting of evidence (the usual modus operandi where arms and explosives are planted so unbailable crimes can be charged) in our office premises. We did that with the Kabataan Party-List the other day with a team from the Commission on Human Rights inspecting its headquarters and finding nothing illegal—only young and idealistic people were there.
As for me, let’s be very clear that since the 1980s, I have decided to be consistently non-violent and independent in my political affiliation. I do not like guns and even when I was in government and facing threats, I refused bodyguards; I also did not allow the drivers who worked with me to have guns.
Third, the whole-of-nation approach has been seriously compromised by these careless statements and actions; the police and military should be warned that when they did this in the 1970s and 1980s, their institutions suffered immensely and it took decades to rebuild their human rights reputations. I hope they stop before they slide even further.
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