Arroyo/U.S. "Low Intensity" State Terrorism By Brian McAfee 26 December
Philippine President Gloria Macapagati Arroyo's Melo Commission to investigate the killings of leftists and journalists has apparantly concluded that investigation and will submit their report in early January. Most in the Phillippines believe the Melo Commission and its upcoming report to be part of an ongoing ruse by the Arroyo government to cover up that the government itself, in colusion with the military and state police are the actual perpetrators of the mass killings.
The ongoing killings now number 803 after the shooting death of Francisco Bantog, provincial chairman of the Bayon Muna party-list group. Then the shooting death of Nelson Asocenor a 19 year old youth leader and member of a peasant group. Karapatan. The nation's leading human rights group, has kept an ongoing tally along with amnasty international and the Asian Human Rights Commission. The human rights groups, particularly Karapatan have meticulously kept the name, locations, and circumstances of the murders, by contrast. The Arroyo government's Melo Commission puts the number of dead at 136.
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