Leftists warn of more EJKs following martial law declaration in Mindanao

Leftist groups warned on Thursday of more extrajudicial killings following the declaration of martial law over the whole of Mindanao, with President Rodrigo Duterte continuing to insist that the Maute Group, whose members are holed up in Marawi City, were involved in the illegal drug trade.

“With martial law now imposed in Mindanao and possibly other parts of the country, we are bracing for a new wave of extrajudicial killings both of drug-suspects and suspected rebels and terrorists,” former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said in a statement.

Casiño cited the country’s past experience under the martial law regime of President Ferdinand Maqrcos, where many were killed, disappeared, tortured and incarcerated.

“If police, military and related vigilante and paramilitary groups are now conducting extrajudicial killings with impunity, with more than 7,000 victims reported and counting, what more under martial law, where they will be given even more power to curtail our rights?” he said.

Anti-martial law veteran campaigner Sr. Mary John Mananzan said parameters and actual implementation of martial law should be clearly delineated.

“Must it be the whole of Mindanao?” she said. “It can occasion a lot of human rights abuses.”

Casiño and Mananza are among the organizers of Rise Up for Life and Rights, a network of groups and individuals planning the June 12 “Stop the Killings, Defend Human Rights” and “Day of Prayer and Action” rally in Manila.

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, for its part, opposed any attempt to widen the scope of martial law to include the entire Philippines.

“There is no basis for such a declaration,” Renato Reyes, Bayan secretary-general said. “President Duterte is exhibiting very disturbing fascist tendencies in his recent pronouncements.”

Bayan and its affiliate groups have accused the United States, pro-US officials in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and ultra-rightists in the Duterte administration for using the Maute-Islamic State threat as a “pretext to impose open fascist rule and justify foreign intervention in the guise of counter-terrorism.”

He said it was possible that the martial law would be used to scuttle the ongoing peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), either through armed provocations or by forcing the NDFP to accept an indefinite ceasefire without any meaningful socio-economic and political reforms.

“Duterte is playing a very dangerous game,” Reyes said. “We disagree with his assertion that iron-fisted rule will solve the problems in Mindanao. He must lift martial law now.”

Mindanao groups and Islamic secular organizations, on the other hand, scored the Maute Group and Islamic State sympathizers for the destruction and killings in Marawi and Lanao del Sur.

The Cotabato City-based Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) said the Maute group’s “reign of terror” in Marawi “destroys the shared values of all men and women of goodwill all over the world.”

“Violent extremism has no place in Mindanao where people value respect for diversities, pluralism and multiculturalism as paths to sustainable peace. The violence in Marawi City is an assault against Islam as a religion of peace. The voice of reason and respect for the dignity of every human being as a shared value of the great religions of the world must prevail over few loud voices who threaten to destroy humanity and our way of life,” IAG said in a statement.

The Quezon City-based Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) said the attacks were made “more heinous” as it occurred while the Muslim faithful were preparing for the holy month of Ramadan.

“Any act inciting to terror in the hearts of defenseless civilians, the destruction of places of worship and properties, the murder of innocent men, women, and children irrespective of one’s faith are all forbidden and detestable acts according to Islam,” Amina Rasul, PCID president, said in a statement. “Sowing terror through force and violence has always been an invalid means of attaining societal changes, and cannot be justified through faith or religion.”

“The Qur’an says: ‘If any one slays a person – unless it be as punishment for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew all people. And if any one saves a life, it would be as if he saved the lives of all people.’ (Surah 5, verse 32),” she added.

Like other groups, PCID also called on the government ensure that the declaration of martial law would not compromise the people’s lives and the principles of democracy. The IAG said the martial law in Mindanao “must be so deliberately designed and enforced to be sensitive and not fuel the historical injustice deeply felt by the Moro people.”

“PCID believes that the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict Marawi is needed, through tempered and calibrated responses that will prevent further casualties and damage to property and livelihoods,” Rasul said.

Rasul also said preventing violent extremism should be prioritized by the government and all sectors, and this could be done by addressing its roots.

“First and foremost, our government officials, particularly the elected leaders, should be accountable for good governance and rule of law as well as the deterioration of the peace and order condition in conflict affected communities of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,” she said. “Without good governance and the rule of law, government cannot be effective in improving the socio-economic and political conditions of our people, and the delivery of basic services long denied in the Bangsamoro.”

The IAG said one way to address the the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism in Mindanao is to move the peace process forward.

“[It will be] the platform for people of goodwill to make their voices for peace heard and to build institutions that can address the root causes of terror and violence,” the group said. /atm

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