The streets of Malacañang
have been riddled with cries for justice that echo through from the dark days
of Martial Law. It was as if the cold blood of those who had fallen to the
Marcos regime had coursed through the indignant citizens of today, turning it
into steam that tries to rectify the seemingly yellow-riddled irony of the
government.
The Marcos regime proved
to be covered in controversy, most of which were not completely revealed to the
public. In fact, the ruling of Martial Law is said to involve some of the most
heinous and gruesome abuses of human rights. Today, many of those who had
fallen to these unfortunate events have not been properly compensated and cared
for by the government. To add to the already painful blow, President Benigno
Aquino III had made the decision to appoint police general Lina
Castillo-Sarmiento as chairperson of the Martial Law Victims Claims Board.
Contentiously linked to the Philippine Constabulary, a body that is notoriously
linked to some of the gravest abuses of human rights during the time of Martial
Law, Sarmiento stands in a pool of controversy that many have openly called
out. This has roused a great deal of anger and hostility amongst certain
members of the government and many antagonized citizens. The mere decision of
President Aquino to appoint someone from a group that is very well known as
human rights violators sends out a completely wrong message to those who had
been victimized and also somehow lionizes the victimizers.
Sarmiento also lacks sufficient proof of
proper qualifications as head of the Law Victims Claims Board. Having joined the police force in
1980, and even having headed Human Rights Affair Office (HRAO) later on, many
questions still remain unanswered as to concrete actions Sarmiento has ever taken
to further anything towards the direction of human rights.
Aside from the retired police general
being heavily unqualified for the position, cries from the petitioners have
repeatedly been voiced out to Aquino and his government. Former Bayan Muna Representative,
Rep. Satur Ocampo, was one of the petitioners that made sure his thoughts were
clearly voiced out. Rep. Ocampo, along with members of the Samahan ng mga
Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detention at Aresto (SELDA), had filed a petition for
certiorari at the Supreme Court in order to intensify their grief towards the
questionable decision of Aquino to place Sarmiento in command.
The petition stated, “By appointing a
former police general to head the Human Rights Claims Board, the President is
practically exonerating the entire system that perpetrated the abuses,
justified their occurrence, and concealed them with a veneer of impunity.” The
petition continued to highlight the lack of qualification of the retired police
general including the idea that when she headed the HRAO she, “became part of
the machinery, which ‘attempted to deodorize the stench of the internationally
condemned cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.”
Sarmiento has also been continually
grilled for wrongfully handling the Renante Romagus case, a farmer who was
allegedly stabbed, tortured and left dead in the area of the Compostela Valley
province. Sarmiento, instead of furthering the investigation, dismissed these
actions and completely blamed the victim for not being able to provide
sufficient evidence to defend his case.
Sarmiento has also been known to have
meddled with certain scandalous affairs of former president Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. The extra-judicial killings and numerous disappearances that
were said to have occurred during the Arroyo administration have often been
brushed off and Sarmiento boldly defended the president and exonerated her
actions.
The administration of President Benigno
Aquino III seems to have followed in the footsteps of his infamous predecessors
by not being able to properly address the situation, one that unfolds as an
irony to what his late father, Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was morally against.
Although President Aquino always tried to be about positive change and the
nationwide clamor for it, his choice of leadership for the compensation board
and lack of care and justice for the victims of Martial Law, has pushed them
further behind in any sign of progress moving forward.
With an overwhelming count of about
10,000 people who were regrettably victimized by the apparent abuses of Martial
Law, many today continue to feel the waves of pain and suffering those dark
times have brought about. The fight for justice continues as more and more are
exposed to the tragic occurrences and the unfortunate failure of the current
government to dispense appropriate action and heal the wounds of the past. As
Rep. Satur Ocampo had fittingly stated, “We want to mark it in our history that
never again shall we allow perpetrators of human rights violations go
unpunished. Letting a Martial Law relic head the Human Rights Victims Claims
Board is a betrayal of that purpose.”
