Threat to civil liberties disguised as counter-insurgency measure

January 8, 2008

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today slammed the revival of the National ID system saying it is “the Arroyo government’s latest concoction to threaten civil liberties and keep the population subservient.”

Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. said that the fact that the proposal emanates from the Armed Forces of the Philippines is already a cause for concern.

“We all know the dismal record of the AFP when it comes to respect for human rights. The fact the AFP wants this measure to allegedly fight the insurgency means that there is a high possibility that human rights will again be violated,” Reyes said.

International monitoring groups including United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston has blamed the counter insurgency program of the AFP as the reason for the high numbers of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of activists under the Arroyo regime.

“If government allows the proposal, it would be like nationalizing the dreaded cedula campaign of Gen. Jovito Palparan. Those without ID’s would be immediately labeled as suspects. This can open the floodgates for further human rights abuses, including travel restrictions, unreasonable searches and seizures, denial of services and so on,” Reyes said.

During his term as commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Central Luzon, Palparan required villagers in Nueva Ecija to acquire cedulas as proof that they are indeed residents of a certain place. Failure to produce a cedula when inspected would mean one is an outsider or a suspected member of the New People’s Army. The practice gave rise to many abuses that were reported in the media.

“The Arroyo regime is toying with all the ingredients of another martial law. It has used emergency powers in 2006. It has test run a curfew in 2007. It seeks the revival of the anti-subversion law. Now it wants a National ID system in the name of national security. The regime wants to keep the nation subservient, under an iron heel,” Reyes said.

“There may be a grand design here being cooked up by Malacañang, one that seeks to keep the president in power until and beyond 2010,” Reyes warned.

Bayan believes that the proposal of the AFP will be met with strong opposition and protests and will be defeated in any legal forum. ###