THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers Philippines (ACT Philippines) condemns in the strongest terms the recent arrest of internationally known journalist and Duterte administration critic Maria Ressa. The teachers view this as a part of an intensifying state campaign of political repression directed against the opposition and the critics of the government.
Ressa’s arrest was the most recent episode in the increasing pattern of state’s utter disregard to human rights in the Philippines.
Teacher members of ACT were subjected to surveillance and harassment by police forces.
Trumped up charges were hurled against peace activist Rey Casambre that resulted in his arrest and incarceration. Farmers were massacred in the hacienda in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace talks consultant Felix Randy Malayao was assassinated while he was asleep.
Moro communities were bombed in Sulu and Marawi.
Lumad schools in Mindanao were being systematically closed and the teachers and students were continuously harassed.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers calls on the people to learn from the lessons of history. The arrest of journalists was reminiscent of the country’s experiences under Marcosian martial rule when journalists like Joe Burgos was arrested and incarcerated under similar circumstances.
The Chico River dam project was a project originally designed during the Marcos regime and caused the assassination of the Kalinga leader Macli-ing Dulag.
The Sagay massacre was reminiscent of the horrifying massacres suffered by peasants in Escalante in Negros and Las Navas in Samar.
Jolo was bombed by US-backed Marcos troops at the height of martial law.
Urban poor communities were displaced in Manila to give way to ostentatious projects of Imelda during their reign.
The list of parallel violations of human rights during Martial Law under Marcos and the current dispensation points to the direction that the current regime had already implemented the basic repressive measures of Martial Law even without formally declaring it.
President Duterte had declared in many instances that he emulates and idolizes Marcos and the latter’s martial law government. His anti-people policies and actions are obvious manifestations that Duterte is following Marcosian tools to the letter.
The consolidation of crony positions and the broadening of the influence of the military establishment in governance were obviously patterned after the Marcos model.
More than ever, the regime’s attempt at systematic historical revisionism to make martial law acceptable to the people was done with the assistance of his establishment media manipulators and social media sycophants.
The regime must be reminded that because of the repression that the people suffered during Martial Law under Marcos that the dictatorship crumbled unable to face the massive people’s uprising against the dictatorship. Duterte may yet follow his idol Marcos, even at the latter’s experience of being ousted by the people he systematically oppressed.
Learn from the lessons of history. Defend basic freedoms. Resist tyranny. Never Again to Martial Law. — RAYMOND BASILIO, secretary general, Alliance of Concerned Teachers
