CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Leaders of progressive groups in Northern Mindanao were bracing for an escalation of assaults by state forces on their ranks in a campaign which they said President Rodrigo Duterte was copying from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The activist leaders said they were ready to prove that their groups were not communist rebel fronts as claimed by Mr. Duterte.
They also challenged authorities to substantiate claims their groups were helping the underground Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, New People’s Army (NPA).
“Police have to prove that we are NPA supporters. The burden of proof is on them,” said Wildon Barros, chair of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Northern Mindanao.
Barros said progressive groups, like Bayan, were registered with government agencies like Securities and Exchange Commission and Cooperative Development Authority.
Activists, he said, were ready to defend themselves in court if arrested by law enforcers. “We believe in due process,” Barros added.
Another activist, Kristine Cabardo, said the difference between above-ground and underground groups should be clear to Mr. Duterte.
“We operate in broad daylight, we use our real names,” said Cabardo, chair of the League of Filipino Students in the region.
“If we are called NPA because we are fighting for the promotion of human rights, then so be it,” she said.
Datu Jomorito Goaynon, regional chair of the indigenous peoples group Kalumbay, said his group was also a legal organization that even rejects violence.
“Are we terrorists because we dream of a bright future for our children?” Goaynon said.
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said Mr. Duterte unmasked himself as a tyrant.
Casilao said it reminded him of the “repressive rule” of Arroyo.
Casilao said Mr. Duterte was copying Arroyo’s Calibrated Preemptive Response campaign against dissenters and activists.
Mr. Duterte’s national security adviser is Hermogenes Esperon, Arroyo’s most trusted general who helped her quell a military coup. —Jigger Jerusalem with a report from Allan Nawal