Labor party-list group calls on Congress to revoke PP 1959

Press Release
December 7, 2009

Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959 in its joint session tomorrow.

Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”

The group is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.

PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.

“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.