What is the 202th IB doing in Pandacan

The text below was forwarded earlier this morning through email, sounding the alarm over the reported presence of military troops in Pandacan, Manila.

The AFP will surely have a lot of explaining to do if the report turns out to be true. What the hell is the 202^th IB—composed of combat-ready soldiers-- doing there? Protecting the oil depot from an imaginary “terrorist” attack? Maybe they just wanted to hold counter-insurgency operations a little closer to Aguinaldo instead of some far-flung barrio, just for the heck of a change? Maybe they were just darn bored with their lives and decided to go on a tour of the city? Maybe the national government is secretly embarking on a cost-cutting program and is using idle AFP troops as extra MMDA personnel?

The answer may be literally nearer to the name Pandacan. No one but the Pandac in the nearby Palace, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, will benefit from these military maneuvers in such populated areas. Is GMA's camp so spooked out of President Bush's post-Halloween mid-term electoral fallout that they are using troops to create a net of intimidation against the legal opposition in the cities, before the 2007 elections come around? Is something more vicious being cooked up?

What is reportedly happening in Pandacan, I'm sure, is no different from what has been happening in Mindoro, Tarlac, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Bicol, Sulu, Samar, and many other places where the killings of activists have multiplied over the past few months. The military in my province have already set up a sona. They called a meeting in the elementary school to be attended by all males above 16 years old. They set up checkpoints at the entry and exit points of the barangay and held base near the highway. They said that they would be staying indefinitely and would be leaving two or three troops per sitio when they finally leave--as if anyone in her right mind was begging for them to remain.

Tanga lang ang magtataka o natutuwa sa paglipana ng militar sa ating mga komunidad. Dapat lamang na managawan ang taumbayan para sa pagpapalayas ng pesteng ahente ng pasismo sa ating mga tahanan. At hindi dapat pumayag ang mga matitinong sundalo na gamitin sila sa ganitong paraan ng gobyerno ni GMA.

Small-time connivers, big-time consequences

The breadth and extent of AFP interference in our communities is bad enough. It also doesn't help that there are absolutely spineless local officials who consent to the militarization of their areas of jurisdiction. Barangay captains, mayors, University officials, congressmen, who have not even dared utter a watery whimper of protest against this back-to-the-1970s state of political repression, irregardless of whether the consequences of their actions may spell out the difference between life or death for targets of military surveillance.

I have no absolutely respect whatsoever for such wimps! Nakakasuklam sila, they only serve as unwitting or intentional accomplices to the state of impunity and political repression that the Arroyo government is forcing down our throats. Their names should be jotted down and barred from holding any public office in the future, not even as a tanod.

Those “public servants” could very well have exercised their responsibilities as supposed “representatives” of their constituents and refused to let the military get away with what they do, with such impunity and brazenness. My brother-in-law recalled that there were other places in their province which the military couldn't infiltrate, precisely because their barangay officials rightly refused to give in to such pressure. Yung isang barangay captain nakipaghamunan ng barilan na lang kung papasok ang AFP sa kanyang teritoryo. Unfortunately, many others do not have the same kind of guts and sense. Others who do, such as Naujan Vice-Mayor Atty. Juvy Magsino or Tarlac city councilor Abel Ladera, are treacherously killed by the same assassins they have protested against.

Walang ipinagkaiba ang mga mga nagbibingi-bingihan at nagbubulag-bulagang opisyales na ito sa walang kwentang Melo Commission at Task Force Usig. Pagkatapos, kapag may pinaslang na naman na miyembro ng ANAKPAWIS o ng BAYAN Muna ng mga armadong naka-motor, kapag may mga dinakip ng mga naka-fatigue, kapag may pinatay na aktibista tulad nina Isaias, Choy, at marami pang iba, iilang lang sila ng ulo at sasabihing wala silang kinalaman sa mga pangyayari, na walang koneksyon ang mga pagpaslang sa paglipana ng militar at ng mga intel sa ating mga komunidad?

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Forwarded through email:

May MARTIAL LAW na ba sa Maynila?

Ano ang dahilan ng pagtigil ng 202th IB ng AFP sa Pandacan?

May apat na araw ng nakatigl ang 2 platoon ng 202th IB ng AFP sa 8 baragay sa Pandacan Manila. Nakafull uniform at nakapangcombat, dala ang mahahaba at matataas na kalibre ng baril ang bitbit ng mga sundalo ng AFP. Ang 8 barangay sa Pandacan na nakadeploy ang mga nasabing sundalo ay sa Brgy 870, 871, 872, 868,866,867 at sa Baranagy Pandacan. Nagmistulang barracks at Headquarters nila ang mga barangay hall? Bakit sila nasa pandacan? Bakit sa pandacan?

Ayon sa mga residente, hindi maipaliwanag ng mga sundalo ang kanilang tungkulin sa pagtigil sa Pandacan. Ayon sa kanila nais daw nilang alamin ang opinion ng mga tao sa pamamalakad ng gobyerno? At tutulong daw sila sa peace and order. Ngunit sa kanilang pagroronda at pagbahay bahay sa umaga at gabi ay itinatanong nila sa mga residente kung meron daw bang mga membro ng Partylist sa nasabing lugar.? Meron day bang mga sumasama sa rally? Meron daw mga aktibista?

Ayon pa sa mga sundalo, Sila daw ay hindi sasangkot sa gulo sa komunidad, dahil police matters daw ito, pero kung kakailanganin ay mapipilitan daw silang makealam? Ano kayang gulo ang sinsabi ng mga sundalo? Sila na ang tanod sa gabi, sila pa ang magpapatupad ng mga serbisyong kinakailangan sa komunidad.

Hinahanap nila ang mga kasapi ng BAYAN MUNA, ANAKPAWIS, GABRIELA at ANAKBAYAN, “ayon sa mga sundalo. Dahil daw ang mga nasabing partylist ay madaling malapitan sa mga problema ng bayan at tumutulong daw sila”. Sa isang ordinaryong tao, madaling maunawaan na ang mga nasabing dahilan {paghahanap sa mga aktibista} ang tunay na pakay ng pagtigil ng mga sundalo sa komunidad.

Pinangunahan ni Major Cabas at Lt. Col Feliciano ang mga sundalo. Sa kanilang mission order sila daw ay mananatili ng dalawang lingo sa komunidad. Matapos daw ay may papalit na sa kanila at maaari daw na manatili hanggang enero ng isang taon? Sadarating na linggo, Nobyembre 12, nagpapatawag sila ng pagpupulong sa mga residente, sa ganap na 8 ng umaga sa bawat nasabing Barangay.

Inaanyayahan namin ang mga kapatid sa MEDIA at mga tagapagtaguyod ng
karapatang pantao na puntahan ang nasabing mga Barangay sa Pandacan anumang oras mula ngayon.