Sen. Riza Hontiveros. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RICHARD A. REYES
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Saturday warned against accusing others of “abetting a rebellion,” saying it was the same tactic used by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
The statement came days after Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte asked about the possibility of Hontiveros abetting rebellion.
“Accusing someone of abetting a rebellion is not new. This is the same tactic used by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos against democracy defenders like Soc Rodrigo, Lorenzo Tanada and Ka Pepe Diokno,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
She argued that even former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo used the tactic “when she accused journalist Tina Panganiban Perez of abetting a rebellion when the latter was simply fulfilling her duty as a member of a free press.”
“Thus, I am saddened by the news that Mayor Inday Sara Duterte accuses me of such,” Hontiveros said.
“The Mayor and I have been friendly acquaintances for some years, and I respect her as a fellow woman leader. Does the Mayor accuse me already or simply wonder if I’m abetting rebellion?” she added.
The president’s daughter, in a Facebook post, reacted to Hontiveros’ television interview that circulated online. Fake news pages made it seem that Hontiveros was defending the Maute terror group.
“The accusation that I am abetting a rebellion is absurd. It is as ludicrous as the latest fake news about me,” Hontiveros said. “I have publicly condemned the Maute group for their brazen acts of terrorism and criminality.”
She explained that members of the Maute group should not be considered rebels. “They are terrorists…The essence of rebellion is ideological. Terrorism is pure terror. “
“In my long years as a member of the government panel for the peace process, the principle has always been to set a very high bar for characterizing a given incident as rebellion because history has demonstrated repeatedly how governments use the label of rebellion to justify the abuse of state power to silence dissent,” Hontiveros said.
She said the accusation of “abetting a rebellion” might have been used against her because of her call for a joint session of Congress to discuss the bases of the martial law declaration in Mindanao.
“I suspect that the government will try to use this to silence my voice, and the voices of those who want to see the Maute threat eliminated and at the same time demand to know the truth about Martial Law,” she said.