No to 2nd term for BS Aquino, no to dictatorship

As the nation commemorates the declaration of martial law 42 years ago, Karapatan rejects all intimations, declarations and maneuvers by BS Aquino for a second term. “We say No to Aquino Dictatorship, we say Never Again. Not for whatever reason, especially not for the continuation of Aquino’s so-called righteous path,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.   
 

As the nation commemorates the declaration of martial law 42 years ago, Karapatan rejects all intimations, declarations and maneuvers by BS Aquino for a second term. “We say No to Aquino Dictatorship, we say Never Again. Not for whatever reason, especially not for the continuation of Aquino’s so-called righteous path,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.   
 

 
Karapatan outlined the reasons, among many others, why BS Aquino does not deserve to stay a moment further in the helm of government and continue to sow deceit, treachery and terror.     
 
1. His insensitivity to the cause of the disadvantaged and marginalized;
2. His ignorance of the root cause of restiveness – the absence of land for the tillers, jobs and decent wage for the workers, home for the homeless, food for the hungry;
3. His wholesale surrender of national sovereignty through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US and national patrimony through Executive Order 79 that complements the anti-people Mining Act of 1995;
4. His deceptive Oplan Bayanihan patterned after the US Counter Insurgency Guide that resulted to, as of June 2014: 204 extrajudicial killings, 207 frustrated killings, 21 enforced disappearances, 99 tortures, 664 illegal arrests and detentions on trumped-up charges and numerous other human rights violations;  
5. His invention and defense of the Development Acceleration Program (DAP) to cover up for his fund juggling; and his coddling of corrupt officials in his camp while pretending to check the deeply entrenched depraved system of bureaucrat capitalism through selective prosecution;   
6. His kowtowing to the neoliberal policies of his imperialist master to the detriment of the people – deregulation of the oil industry, liberalization of the mining industry, privatization of hospitals and schools and the new form of privatization, Public-Private Partnership (PPP); and 
7. His highhandedness and insincerity in the conduct of peace negotiations and utter disrespect for previously concluded agreements such as the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
 
Aquino, no man of peace
The commemoration of martial law declaration coincides with the observance of the UN-declared International Day of Peace, with this year’s theme on the rights of peoples to peace. Palabay said it is for the same reasons cited above that the Filipino people should not allow BS Aquino a second term, because “B.S. Aquino is no man of peace.”   
Palabay expounded, “The US-Aquino regime, as all other US imperialist puppet regimes, is war freak. Imperialists in crisis trigger, sanction, and nurture conflict so that imperialism could resuscitate as they manipulate and gain from conflicts through the sale of arms, occupation of territories and assurance of resources and markets.” 
B.S. Aquino, Palabay added, “is into escalating and prolonging this conflict in the country as he ignores the root cause of unrest and toying with meaningless development statistics to deceive the people. We deserve a genuinely peaceful Philippines.” 
“But, BS Aquino’s militaristic option to remedy the situation never quells dissent but infuriates people. Trampling on people’s rights and perpetuating injustice and impunity fuels rebellion. This is one of the most significant lessons of Martial Law – that the Filipino people’s aspirations and struggles for a truly democratic society will persist despite cunning dictators and US intervention,” she concluded. ###