Filipino defense secretary lists agenda in next 6 months

MANILA - Acting Defense Secretary in the Philippines Norberto Gonzales allayed fears raised by some anti-Arroyo politicians and the militant sectors that his takeover of a very important government portfolio would result in violations of human rights.

“As a matter of act,” he said, “the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), to uphold a long-held tradition, will remain defenders of the oppressed, a statement that should assert that soldiers are not violators.” Gonzales has been linked by militant organizations to Oplan Bantay Laya, a supposed government counter-insurgency project designed to hunt down rebel elements, and the Oplan August Moon, another project that allegedly supports the establishment of a civilian-military junta to takeover the government. Both accusations were later found out to be baseless and untrue. Only recently, Gonzales, who is concurrently the national security adviser (NSA), assured the communist-oriented groups that they will be properly protected for as long as they embrace democratic means in the pursuit of change in the country, adding that those who continue to promote violence as a tool in bringing down the government would be dealt accordingly. “My agenda in the next six months,” he said, “would be to push for the signing of peace covenants with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MILF), install the appropriate responses in case there are disasters and emergencies, and the improvement of the country’s external defense capacity.” The assertion re-echoes a February 2005 statement he made regarding the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and NDF peace talks. In that statement he reiterated the position of the government to negotiate for a ceasefire in line with a paradigm shift that junks the use of armed struggle in seizing state power but through parliamentary struggle as a peaceful tool in achieving social change. “The demand for a ceasefire,” he explained, “is also gauge not only for government but also for the people to find out if the CPP and the NDF are ready to pursue the peaceful option that the parliamentary struggle provides.” Despite the optimism his predecessor, now presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro has asserted that the defense department is in “good hands,” certain sectors in the political opposition calls Gonzales’ appointment as “dangerous” because of his alleged efforts to politicize the AFP during his first term as acting defense secretary in August 2007. But the AFP under chief of staff Gen. Victor Ibrado issued a statement that Gonzales’ selection as top defense honcho “is okay with us,” adding that “as far as the military is concerned, there is going to be no big adjustment because we have been working with him as NSA, in his capacity as NSA.” Gonzales is also the head of the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), a socialist democratic party known for its politico-ideological direction.