The delusional tirades of 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army spokesperson Col. Michael Aquino — citing KARAPATAN, Migrante, and other organizations that called for the release of Chantal Anicoche — are pure hogwash and are clearly meant to fuel the State’s ongoing campaign of red- and terror-tagging against human rights defenders. These are unadulterated lies and concocted stories woven by State actors who have zero credibility on human rights and international humanitarian law.
Aquino’s interview with SMNI, a known purveyor of misinformation and a tool of the government’s counterinsurgency narrative, was framed as a supposed “response” to assertions by rights groups that Anicoche’s continued stay in military custody constitutes arbitrary detention, and that her supposed “choice” to remain in the camp was freely made.
What Aquino conveniently avoids is the central question: whether Anicoche was subjected to any form of physical or psychological coercion or torture. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) attempts to dismiss these issues by releasing a handful of photographs alongside brief statements.
No amount of self-serving narratives can obscure the fact that individuals —especially those vilified and tagged as “communists” or “terrorists” — have been subjected to psychological warfare and coercive tactics. These are the same methods the military has long employed in its desperate bid to crush dissent, and violations cannot be erased by merely staging “humanitarian” gestures and public relations niceties.
By persistently red- and terror-tagging progressive organizations, the State is not merely attempting to silence those who expose human rights violations. It is actively shielding a rotten human rights situation in the country, one that places individuals and organizations in constant danger, with the threat of repression perpetually hanging over their heads.
What Aquino dismissively refers to as “noise” is KARAPATAN’s vocal and consistent response to reports of human rights violations across the country, including the bombings and strafing of civilian communities in Occidental Mindoro. These reports of violations are based on reports from affected residents in communities. Yet the military continues to deny these incidents, and instead label civilians and victims as combatants to justify attacks that violate human rights and international humanitarian law.
No amount of staged acts or self-congratulatory narratives can cover up bombings, strafing, and other violations of people’s rights. No amount of Aquino’s hogwash can deny the fact that Anicoche was kept in a military camp and tagged as a person of interest, despite no crime or case being filed against her. It was due to mounting pressure from organizations and human rights advocates here and abroad that the military was forced to show Anicoche to the public, even as it attempted to evade accountability by portraying her detention as a voluntary “stay.”
KARAPATAN stresses that red-tagging and terror-tagging are dangerous state practices that often precede surveillance, harassment, trumped-up charges, arrests, and even abductions and killings of activists and civilians. In continuing to do so, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict are setting the stage for further violations and harm.
We will continue to stand with affected communities and demand accountability for the human rights violations, and assert that it is never a crime to stand up against injustice, and exercise our right to speak, and protest whenever necessary.