"More than an appeal to recover:
Stand and Fight Back!"
by Kat Ulrike
As in the past, defence policy in the Philippines has less to do with defending its national sovereignty against foreign invaders, but instead continues to pursue a policy that keeps society in a state of fear by endusing that the local population supports whatever orderist agenda the regime and its armed forces pursue "in the name of the people." From this, the armed forces attains both economic and social objectives through promoting internal security.
Reminiscent of Marcosian tactics and Aquino's "Low Intensity Conflict", the Duterte regime's version of "war on terror" remains "multidimensional"- encompassing political, diplomatic, economic, all in pursuit of "winning the peace". It is not surprising for as the regime, taking pride in its extrajudicial killing or its unjust arrests as a "necessary move", with its apologists using "anticommunism" or its earlier "anti crime" as its rallying point to support with. With this kind of venture, close to 50,000 people in the country have been victims of state terror. Mostly are peasants whose lives been subjected to the whims of the thugs-in-uniform via psywar and combat operations. Even in Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces instances of arrests and killings against activists occurred and rebranded as cases of "resisting arrest" or "illegal possession of firearms" to justify such moves.
For the apologist of the order, Duterte's version of Low Intensity Conflict is more than a rehash of "democracy versus communism", "against illegal drugs/crime", or an outright call for "total order versus democratic chaos", and these are used to obscure the true agenda of protecting and promoting interests both local oligarch/bureaucrat cliques and foreign conglomerates. By borrowing U.S. Colonel Waghelstein, this kind of action is "total war at the grassroots level", which includes economic and humanitarian assistance as "weapons" while at the same time mobilising either its police/military or the dreaded death squads that also supported by the state. Not surprising if these also supported by allies especially the United States, with its recent acquisition of weapons systems to be used for counterinsurgency purposes. And by suspending the negotiations in favour of Duterte's declaration of war supported by the armed forces, has intensified its operations. Operations like Oplan Kapanatagan and Oplan Kalasag, both described as "whole of nation approaches", are itself derived from the LIC scheme.
In response to these actions, international human rights groups and known individuals have condemned the Duterte regime for its bloodied venture-of widespread killings and rights abuses. But again, for the apologists, this doesn't matter to them but instead further justifies it by covering up its crimes, or by hearing promises of blanket pardon from the president himself, or by outright equating human rights to "communism" reminiscent of Marcos's accusation of Human Rights as a communist-driven motive. For sure one would also remember statements like "shoot in the vagina", or its earlier rape jokes, myriad of foul-mouthed messages, and the outright downplaying of the peace negotiations by Duterte himself reflected the administration's actions against the perceived "enemies of the state" whether by its aerial bombing, outright takeover of civilian facilities such as schools, or harassments/coercion from uniformed and non-uniformed elements- that diminishes the civic and humanitarian programs that primarily aims to "coordinate both civilian and military resources in its offencive" against terrorism and crime. Wouldn't be surprised if state elements also toyed the idea of disbanding the "office of the adviser of the peace process" in order to justify further the basis of discontinuing the negotiations in favour of an all out war "solution."
But despite this, the people who have taken a stand against Duterte's actions chose to stand up and resist against his tyranny. From the recent protests to those of memes in social media, the people, including those who once supported him, realise the fact how the man who once promised "change" turned to be a farce, a mockery of people's hopes and aspirations regardless of what the administration tries to brag such as carryovers of past infrastructure programs or "reforms" that actually rephrased from the past both altogether meant to evade people from seeing the bloodied agenda. These forces, in valuing human rights and national interests are trying to assert and defend through whatever is left of legal courses with greater courage despite reprisals from the order and its attack dogs and only armed with principles and determination to resist against their motives.