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[av_heading heading=’LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Not another butcher in Duterte’s Cabinet’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Saturday, May 13, 2017
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RIGHTS groups Hustisya and Desaparecidos condemn the appointment of Gen. Eduardo Año to the Department of Interior and Local Government. This is tantamount to more rights abuses against the people, with Año bringing the same brutal mindset of the AFP to the already notorious Philippine National Police.
It pains the families of victims of rights violations to repeatedly enumerate the violations perpetrated by the military under Año. His appointment smacks of impunity, while he and his men remain unaccountable for thousands of rights violations under Año’s watch.
Families of desaparecidos continue to ask, “Where is Jonas Burgos?” who was abducted while Año was head of Army intelligence ten years ago, under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Families of extrajudicial killings continue to cry for justice for the victims of the Paquibato massacre in 2014 under Noynoy Aquino. Many indigenous people communities have been permanently rooted out of their ancestral lands in Mindanao from the time Año commanded the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army to encamp in their communities under the bloody counter-insurgency campaign Oplan Bayanihan.
What change has happened, only but a change of name from Oplan Bayanihan to Oplan Kapayapaan, with more than half of state forces continue wreaking havoc in communities in Mindanao? What change is there but more threats of rights violations by a police already engaged in a killing spree of persons under the guise of the war on drugs?
Gen. Año’s presence in the Duterte cabinet is a mockery of the victims’ cry for justice and accountability that has been denied to them for so long. What could be more appalling than putting a butcher in another agency that reeks of more human rights violations? It is the same agency that conducted hundreds of illegal arrests and unjust detention, making money from bounties and rewards, inflicting torture and harassment. What change is there, but more threats to the rights of the people?
The appointment of more military generals in Duterte’s cabinet like Año, Roy Cimatu in the DENR, Ricardo R. Visaya at NIA, to name a few, is an affront to the people’s demand for justice and genuine change. This goes against the peace efforts of the Duterte administration, and the much-needed reforms that the people fight for, like land distribution, an end to contractualization, among others.
We demand President Duterte to rescind General Año’s appointment. Instead of putting him in the Cabinet, General Año should be made to answer to violations under his command. We call on the people to keep vigil and not allow more violations to human rights. – EVANGELINE HERNANDEZ, chairperson, Hustisya, Central District, Diliman, Quezon City
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