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[av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Stand with Marawi, stand with Mindanao!’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”][/av_heading]
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Saturday, June 10, 2017
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WE EXPRESS our deepest sympathies to the families of individual casualties of the Resorts World incident.
It is deplorable that fake news instigators, US government and its minions, are linking the incident to ISIS, apparently fanning the flames of so-called terror attacks to justify any mad and insidious plan to play up a potential scenario in their favor.
We also express our deepest sympathies to the civilian victims of relentless and indiscriminate aerial strikes in Marawi City and Mindanao. We reiterate that while terror attacks against the people should be condemned and humanitarian support should be provided, the rights of civilians, their right to life and other civil liberties, should be paramount, at all times.
President Duterte’s martial law declaration in Mindanao, the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and the warmongering of hawks and militarists such as Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana, General Hermogenes Esperon and General Eduardo Ano has already resulted to immense impacts on civilian lives in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao.
From May 25 to 31, days after the martial law proclamation, at least four peasant leaders were killed by soldiers, eight farmers were illegally arrested and detained, and scores have fled from their communities due to military aerial bombings.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) counterinsurgency war against the people was further legitimized by the martial law declaration.
The cancellation of the fifth round of formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and National Democratic Front of the Philippines is also mainly due to the continuous campaign of the hawks to undermine the peace negotiations that is in the process of crafting important socio-economic and political reforms, which are anathema to their interests and their patrons’ such as the big landlords and oligarchs in the country.
We call on rights advocates, civil libertarians and the general public to resist all attacks on people’s rights that seek to suppress legitimate struggles for a just and lasting peace. – Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights, Central District, Diliman, Quezon City
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