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Whistle Blowers, Not Coup Plotters
Before rushing to judgment on the motives and manner used by the rebellious young officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), it behooves the people to look more closely into the serious accusations and expose they have raised in their protest action. For if coup d'etat is now considered a crime, the accusations made by the young AFP officers against the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) government constitute a much more serious and heinous offense against the people. The judgment of the people must perforce be rendered first against the GMA government in the face of this indictment. The significance of the charges made by the young officers is that for the first time, evidence has been presented for suspicions that have for some time been hovering. Rumors and accusations have long been rife that generals, and the regime, have been behind the sale of arms and ammunitions to Muslim rebels, the bombings in Davao and the mosques in Mindanao, and the plan to impose martial law. The young officers have presented themselves publicly as material witness to these accusations. Thus, instead of imposing on them a deadline for their surrender that forebodes bloodshed, it is more in the interest of the nation to face the issues and charges they have raised squarely and sincerely.
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President Arroyo, Secretary Reyes, General
Corpuz and the entire administration can not but respond to the damning
evidence being presented by the rebellious young officers, especially so
since these idealistic soldiers have publicly announced their readiness to
die for what they are fighting for. If these officials are not able to
convincingly controvert the charges leveled against them by these young
officers, then there is no escaping their serious liability to the people.
The expose by the rebellious officers offer proof of the decay that plagues the system; their actions are symptomatic of the widening discontent of the Filipino masses on the worsening corruption in government and poverty in our society. While a coup is a political action not among the arsenal of struggle in the mass movement, we recognize the legitimacy of the grievances raised by the young officers. If they are calling for the support of the people, then they must link such grievances and demands with those of the workers and the marginalized masses. Tomorrow, at the scheduled State of the Nation Address of GMA, the workers, farmers, urban poor, women, youth and students, and the other oppressed sectors will mobilize and ventilate their own grievances against the Arroyo government. In these mass actions, the masses will raise their demands that run parallel with those of the common soldiers'. Finally, we call upon Congress on the opening day of its session to lead in the creation of an INDEPENDENT COMMISSION to conduct a FULL-DRESS INVESTIGATION on the charges of government complicity in (a) the sale of arms and ammunitions by the military to the Muslim rebels; (b) the bombings in Davao and the mosques in Mindanao; (c) and the plan to impose martial law.
A Joint Statement of PARTIDO NG MANGGAGAWA (PM)
and SANLAKAS on the rebellion of AFP Junior Officers. Released on July 27,
2003
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