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Section 4 of the bill of rights in the Philippine Constitution says “no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.” The Philippines is also a signatory to the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
- But the manner in which the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is implementing this particular provision of the Constitution and the UN declaration is condemnable, to say the least. Not only does it virtually condone the killing of journalists most of whom expose the graft and corruption in the government; it also tries to intimidate those who are critical of her person, her administration and her relatives. It has also gone on a killing spree of activists who are opposed to her policies. Using the power of government, the President and her minions are using all the laws available to coerce, intimate and suppress the people’s freedom to express their grievances.
- What is more galling is that President
Bush who is trying to promote democracy and freedom around the world, is
keeping silent on this growing autocratic rule in the Philippines. Unlike the
United Nations and the European Union, it has not indicated a desire to
participate in the ongoing probe of the killings of activists and journalists.
As far as one can recall, it was only Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Nebraska) who two
years ago asked the Arroyo government to report to the US Senate Foreign
Relations committee about the steps being taken by it to solve this problem.
- One of the reasons probably why
the Philippine government is confident that the US would not dare probe these
violations of human rights is that Arroyo is a partner in the US war on
terrorism.
- If President Bush is unwilling to
protect Philippine democracy, then the Democratic-controlled US Congress should
involve itself in such a probe, just as it did against Dictator Marcos in the
80s. And the eight million Overseas Filipinos Workers who prop up Arroyo’s
government by remitting $1-billion a month should make their voices heard.
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