CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The National Federation of Peasant Women or Amihan denounced yesterday Pres. Duterte for plans to appoint retiring Army Lt. Gen. Rolando Bautista as the new Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary.
“Another general in the Cabinet displays the transformation of the Duterte administration into a militarist regime fueled by its Red October and ouster plot craze. This is a manifestation of the President’s increasing paranoia on the socio-political instability amidst the socio-economic crisis facing the country,” Amihan national chairperson Zenaida Soriano said in a statement.
She noted that Bautista would be the 60th military officer to serve in civilian capacity under the Duterte administration.
Soriano expressed fears that “militarization of the bureaucracy will only lead to intensified militarization and counter-insurgency measures by the government which only victimizes the poor and the marginalized.”
“How can a person with a militarist framework lead an agency catering to the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged sector when the Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) remains as the number one human rights violator especially in the countryside?” Soriano asked.
Amihan said in its statement that “under the Duterte administration, there has been 160 farmer victims of extra- judicial killings including 23 peasant women, six minors and 22 elderly.”
“Duterte’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan and Martial Law in Mindanao left thousands of peasant families and hundreds of peasant communities target of massive aerial bombings and military operations which generates mass trauma, affects psychological and physical health. Part of military operations include rights abuses such threats, rape, sexual harassment and military occupations of schools, barangay halls and communities,” the group said.
This, even as Soriano also said “we cannot expect a person coming from an institution which consistently fails to respect human dignity and uphold people’s rights to lead an agency which envisions empowerment, improved quality of life and social protection.”
“The Duterte administration will only use the programs of the DSWD including the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana) and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and its funds to suppress the people’s movement against anti-people policies the government has implemented,” Soriano warned.
