Foreign Policy

AFP should unmask rouge soldiers; Alston confused by military jargon—PDSP

01 April 2007

THE Armed Forces should take steps to unmask rogue soldiers who could be behind some of the unexplained killings of militants, according to the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, the party co-founded and led by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.

Jesuit priest Father Romeo Intengan, one of the founders of PDSP, said military officials should address suspicions that a small group of soldiers is behind the slaying of members of groups belonging to the extreme left by conducting a thorough investigation. By doing so, the credibility of the Armed Forces would be strengthened especially at a time when the military establishment is being pictured as the culprit in most of the killings.

“For their own credibility and efficacy, military officials should investigate who these soldiers or groups behind the killings are. The AFP will increase its credibility if it takes further measures to look into charges that a small number of its members are involved in the unexplained killings,” Intengan said.

Intengan however said that it is not the policy of the government or the military to liquidate individuals critical of the government. He said it is best for the military to conduct an investigation in the light of persistent allegations, even by foreign fact-finding teams, that the Armed Forces is partly to blame for the killings. He cited the report of UN special rapporteur Philip Alston and the Melo commission which found that soldiers are involved in some of the extra-judicial killings.

The priest however said that Alston’s report was a product of “very incomplete information and limited appreciation of the situation.” Intengan said Alston appeared to have given more weight to the statements and claims of the extreme left that the military is targeting them because they are highly critical of the Arroyo administration.

To put the charges to rest, the military should conduct a thorough probe to prevent suspicions that the Armed Forces is coddling members who take the law in their own hands, Intengan said.

Gonzales, Intengan’s co-founder of PDSP, noted that Alston was apparently confused by military jargon since he made his investigation armed with the supposed AFP “order of battle” document in his possession. “Alston may have misunderstood the content or the intent of the document,” the ntional secrity chief said. The document, he pointed out, tasks the intelligence community to sustain a more comprehensive and concerted effort against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and their sympathizers.

Gonzales explained that the order of battle of the military is different from that of the armed communist rebels. In the latter, the order of battle is a list of all targets for liquidation. In the military, the order of battle identifies different politically active groups and individuals who are subject to armed, political, legal, or propaganda or psy-war battle by the military.

“In the military, the word ‘neutralize’ means targeting groups or individuals towards armed, legal, or political defeat. Inclusion of groups and individuals in the ‘order of battle’ does not necessarily mean that they will be subjected for armed liquidation.  During the martial law period, for example, the PDSP, which was actively working for the overthrow of President Marcos, was included in the order of battle of the AFP,” Gonzales pointed out.

Gonzales added that Alston must understand that the united front organizations, some of them above ground and extralegal, are all part of and operating within the framework of the protracted People’s War strategy of the communist insurgents. “He must also understand the realities on the ground where NPA members are also tasked to do political works while some members of the communist party-list fronts are tasked to collect revolutionary taxes for and in behalf of the CPP-NPA. The dual functions and multiple tasks of the armed members of the NPA, on the one hand, and the political officers of some party list groups, on the other, could cause confusion on the part of outside observers like Alston.

Gonzales advised Alston to share to the Philippine government the “order of battle” document in his possession and to discuss with security officials the implications of its content.