PRESS STATEMENT OCTOBER 25, 213 LABOR ORGANIZER ANOTHER VICTIM OF OPLAN BAYANIHAN DAVAO CITY- A labor organizer of Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao was the latest individual to be victimized by the dreaded counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, adding to the continuing list of human rights violations under the present US-Aquino regime. Crisanto Anter, one of the staffs of Kilusang Mayo Uno was the latest to be victimized when he received a letter threatening him and his family for his alleged involvement in underground movement. The incident happened last October 17, 2013 when Anter uncovered a letter placed on his motorcycle helmet at a certain mall in Tagum City. Based on the said letter, he was apprised that he has already a standing warrant of arrest based on his alleged participation in illegal activities. He was then encouraged to cooperate with the perpetrators so that nobody will be harmed including his family. A certain mobile number 09306478239 was left on the letter instructing him to contact immediately. Aside from the threat in the letter, printed along with it were pictures of Mr. Anter, his wife and daughter who were taken separately in different occasions without their knowledge. Crisanto Anter is a former union leader before he decided to dedicate his time in helping other workers to organize themselves as staff of KMU. He was neither involved in any illegal activities as what in the letter alleges nor have any grudges to anybody. The many workers that he had related through the years, even local government officials and his neighborhood can attest to his personality and involvement. With the recent incident, KMU-SMR directly pinpoints the Aquino government as the one responsible in this serious threat to the life of Anter and his family. Definitely this is a handiwork of state forces’ AFP and PNP under the Oplan Bayanihan. To recall, early this month both Chiefs-of-Staff of AFP and PNP came in the city and penned a Joint Letter Directives to stress their anti-insurgency campaign in Davao Region. It was then revealed that one of the directives is filing of cases to individuals who were perceived as enemies of the state. What had happened to Crisanto Anter is a confirmation of what the Oplan Bayanihan is, as opposed to what the AFP is trying to portray. The Oplan Bayanihan is not different to previous Operational Plans that targeted not only the revolutionary forces but also individuals and legal mass organizations that were critical to the ruling government. It is a military strategy that was patterned to United States’ Counter-Insurgency. Under the jurisdiction of AFP’s EASTMINCOM, its remarkable feat is the increasing political killings, intensified harassments, and human rights violations. The killings of Italian Priest Fr. Pops Tentorio, Judy Capion, Rudy Dejos, Cristina Jose, Eddie Canyon, Benjie Planos and many more, are all victims of this bloodthirsty Aquino government. Moreover, aside from the recent killings of peasant leaders in Loreto, Agusan del Sur, lowly peasants were continuously harassed and beaten by state forces in different parts of the region. This latest harassment experienced by Anter is not an isolated case but a manifestation of the all-pronged and intensified vicious attack of the Aquino government to the different sectors, as the economic and political crises worsens. With this, KMU is even more resolute to continue to fight not only to frustrate the Oplan Bayanihan but most of all for economic and political change. Political persecution cannot repudiate or even gag the workers and the people because the present system guarantees the great source of people’s fervor.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:14:24 +0000
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