Aquino’s Extension of Arroyo’s Dreaded Oplan Bantay Laya Draws Fire from Victims’ Kin Published on August 20, 2010

President Benigno S. Aquino III is “doing the exact opposite of his pronouncement that he will put closure to the human-rights violations of Arroyo and her cohorts. As commander-in-chief, he allowed the AFP to extend the counter-insurgency plan which was proven to have violated human rights.”
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MANILA — For a mother of a slain human-rights defender, the extension of the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) proves that President Benigno S. Aquino III is no different from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when it comes to human rights.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David announced on August 15 the extension of the implementation of OBL, which has been blamed for the spate of killings and other rights abuses in the Philippines. Human-rights group Karapatan has documented 1,206 victims of extrajudicial killings, 205 victims of enforced disappearance, and countless cases of torture and harassment.

“We, the families of the victims, were right when we said that Aquino will soon show his true color,” Evangeline Hernandez, spokesperson of Hustisya! and mother of slain journalist and human-rights defender Benjaline Hernandez, said in a phone interview with Bulatlat.

Benjaline, then vice president for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao, was killed by soldiers in Arakan Valley in North Cotabato on April 5, 2002.

Hernandez expressed disgust over Aquino’s move. “Instead of punishing the perpetrators of human-rights violations and put a stop to the OBL that leads to various human-rights violations, he has allowed the counter-insurgency campaign to be extended until January 2011,” she said....MORE