"Money and terror, terror and money—that’s what the promotion of Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año and
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang is all about. Essentially, this also describes BS Aquino’s brand of governance," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said a day before Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
"Money and terror, terror and money—that’s what the promotion of Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año and
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang is all about. Essentially, this also describes BS Aquino’s brand of governance," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said a day before Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Terror
Maj. Gen. Año was the immediate past chief of the Intelligence Service of Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP). He was involved in and charged with the abduction of farmer-activist Jonas Burgos during his stint in Central Luzon. He is now assigned as the commander of the 10th Infantry Division in the Southern Mindanao Region, specifically in Compostela Valley, one of the priority areas of Aquino’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan.
Año’s transfer to the southern Mindanao region, Palabay said, would mean more human rights violations among the people. She citied there are already 30 documented victims of extrajudicial killing in the region and thousands displaced since BS Aquino assumed power. “The people in the region are among the most vocal critics of the Aquino regime’s anti-people policies. Always, the government through the AFP has met the people’s actions with military might.”
The promotion of Año shows Aquino’s contempt for the victims of human rights violations and their cry for justice. In February 2014, the Commission on Appointment confirmed Año’s promotion as ISAFP chief, on the same day the Department of Justice dropped him from the list of respondents in the abduction case of Jonas Burgos.
Presidential pork fattens the killing machine
To keep the chain of command intact and loyal to the administration, BS Aquino appoints
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang as AFP chief of staff.
The newly installed Catapang impudently rallied the military under his command to defend DAP to save his commander in chief amid the people’s protest against the presidential pork and the consequent rumors of a coup d’ etat within the military. The AFP reportedly received P665.6M from DAP. Other DAP-funded projects supporting Aquino’s counter-insurgency program were coursed through the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process (OPAPP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and other agencies.
Catapang also defends the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), saying it should be implemented immediately to respond to disasters. Signing the EDCA is also one of the bases of the impeachment complaint against BS Aquino as it violates the Constitution.
As commander of the Northern Luzon Command, Catapang is accountable for the massacre of the Ligiw family in Abra on March 2, 2014 and the killing of Cordillera leader and human rights defender William Bugatti on March 25, 2014 in Ifugao.
"BS Aquino is now trembling with fear that he might lose his power because of the people’s protest and the impeachment cases against him. Out of desperation, he secures his army for protection and he is mobilizing the PNP and AFP to quell the protests during the SONA," Palabay said. ###