MILITANTS RIDE-ON MAGUINDANAO BLOODBATH “Inopacan Mass Grave in Memoriam”

It is highly unlikely for Bayan Muna’s Satur Ocampo to snoop on the recent Maguindanao bloodbath like he was some saint. The former Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) leader (Ocampo) is making a mock on the bewailing public. Has he completely lost his “delicadeza”, particularly on around sixty-nine (69) unearthed corpses in Inopacan, Leyte which was attested as his doing way back in 1985? Does he honestly think that the victims of the mass grave dug out on the isolated woodland in Leyte have thrown-out their enmity towards his masked Communist despotism?

The Ampatuan leadership in Maguindanao, which witnesses speak-of as tyrannical and obtrusive, is a mirror-image of Ocampo’s headship of the NPA-threatened areas in Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas. The purging or cleansing operations of the CPP-NPA in the early 1980’s that involve massacres of erring comrades and government supportive locals and agents are just as disgusting as the rotten cadavers dug-up in Maguindanao. Oplan Veneral Disease or Oplan VD of the CPP-NPA is one horrifying example of which.

The said Left-initiated mass execution that included mutilation of victims’ genitals and prolonged tortures were ordered by the members of the AHOS Committee headed by Jose Maria Sison and his alter-ego, Satur Ocampo. Like the Ampatuan, who presumably decapitated their political rivals topped by Mayor Ishmael Mangudadatu to put off sole control in the province, Ocampo was among the Communist leaders who wanted to preserve their clout in Eastern Visayas by virtue of constant fear. Oplan VD was a testimonial of fear. It catapulted NPA’s vast intimidation among innocent and helpless civilians who they continue to “milk” for money and recruits.

Sison’s continued support and boast of Ocampo’s feat in Bayan Muna that included the CPP-NPA’s open-support to the latter’s senatorial candidacy this 2010 proves how the Reds’ “esteemed” Ocampo’s allegiance to the Communist leadership. This shows how the NPA or the armed bandits of Sison help in the push for Ocampo’s political ambition. Like the paid-private armed groups that shielded and “guaranteed” the Ampatuan’s’ influence in Maguindanao, the NPA has constantly cared for Ocampo’s sake. The 1 billion pesos generated by the NPA to help fund the campaign of Ocampo and other militant candidates and Party List Groups (PLGs) sealed this so-called dodgy “friendship”. More or less, the NPAs who opposed the “serve Ocampo drive” are rather held at gun point or else at paid service. Benito Tiamzon, CPP-NPA’s “figure head”, is among those who are dragged along Ocampo’s candidacy can speak well of how manipulative the BM solon is inside the Party and now among his “minions” in Kamara.

Without the armed groups that Ampatuan used to pressure his rivals, he would not be this frightful political figure. On the other hand, without the NPA that sustained Ocampo’s political plight, he would have remained insignificant. BM would not have the right machinery to boost their group and the likes of Ocampo. Thus, Ocampo and the Ampatuans are no different; the Maguindanao and Inopacan massacres aver it. Thus, a red-handed criminal incriminating another felon is more or less a masquerading hypocrite that thinks the public is naïve enough to believe him.

REBS’ HIGH CRIMES REVISITED “NPA's are just as guilty as the Ampatuans”

What the justice system and civil rights groups lack in its pursuit to solve high crimes in the country that includes mass murder is consistency and neutrality. Take for example the recent Maguindanao massacre that pictured terrifying political gangsterism in the country. The public hover over the issue for obvious reasons of partisan hype as it implicates an administration constituent. If it it is plainly for the underlying gravity of the murders the issue would not have propped-up this big. The 57 death toll indicted on the Ampatuans is not exactly this state’s grossly recorded victims of high crimes.

The Inopacan mass grave identified as a doing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) gives a much higher number in casualties and extent of execution. The purging operations or anti-infiltration campaign of the CPP launched in the early 1980’s speaks well of unresolved high crimes and use of illegally acquisitioned guns and ammunitions. The mass execution initiated by the Left may not be politically-inclined but it was also a show of force directed at the weak that fought against their pushed autocracy.

Instead of condemning the traces of purging operations in Inopacan, rights groups kept their silence. They were not interested on the magnitude of the murders since they cast it aside as immaterial. The probe on the veracity of the testimonials given by rebel surrenderees in line with the implication of Leftist personalities like Saturnino Ocampo did not even push through out since it came short of the public’s pressure or interests. The case died out and was ruled-out even before the investigations could take root.

We denounce the actions of the Ampatuans and yet we condoned those of the CPP-NPA. It is noticeable that selective approach on high crimes has been taking its toll on the country’s judicial system. This should be elemental in unmasking rights groups’ intents as they marvel on one controversy to the next to give the public a bird’s eye view on how bias and unreliable most civic groups are as they associate on hullabaloos with high crimes such as mass murder. They (rights groups) do not even attend to incidents that bear actual political relevance. It is easier for them to mark out Inopacan since it was for the interest of the government against a known insurgent. Riding-on the Inopacan massacre is like commending the administration they hate.

What is being overlooked in this stigma of partisanship is that the interests of the victims and the fair execution of justice are being cut back. It is directed to create another “issue” other than encouraging best solutions. Interest on a particular case should not be limited on whether it falls on a certain group’s “business” or mantra. It should be weighed base on the seriousness of the offense that caused human lives. Double standards have no place especially when so many victims are affected.