The threat to civil liberties under the GMA administration did not begin with Presidential Proclamation 1017. Nor has it ended with its withdrawal.

For government workers alone, who include public school teachers and public health workers, we have many experiences that prove this since GMA’s installation as President through people power in 2001.

Beyond her administration’s refusal to approve any salary increase for government workers, its implementation of a rationalization program that aims to cut by 1/3 the government bureaucracy, its toleration of corruption in the GSIS that has squandered government employees’ security funds, the GMA administration has tightened civil service policies to stifle the rights of government workers to express their grievances. Among these are policies regarding prohibited concerted actions in the public sector.

And beyond maintaining a very low budget for education and health, which has resulted in deterioration and reduction of services, government has not listened to teachers and health workers who are now fast going abroad out of survival or for greener pastures.

Harassment, repression, and now, escalating to murder of leaders of professionals’ organization have become a phenomenon under her term. The latest of these are the killing of Albert Terredano, COURAGE Abra convenor last Nov 29 and Napoleon Pornasdoro, ACT National Council member and Bayan Muna coordinator in Lucena last March 27.

With the intensifying political crisis sparked by the Hello Garci tapes, the GMA administration has employed measures, one after the other, to curtail civil liberties in a desperate effort to prevent the truth from coming out. After killing the impeachment process in Congress and implementing the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) policy on mobilizations, her issuance of EO 464 to stop government officials from testifying in the Senate has silenced all public workers up to the top. Now, it will be more difficult for people to know what happened with the fertilizer funds, nor the PhilHealth funds that were allegedly used to fund her candidacy in the 2004 elections.

To resolve a coup that was sparked by brewing issues of corruption in the military and which almost grew into the next people power, she has declared Presidential Proclamation 1017 that resulted in a ban on all rallies, a continuous watch on media and.
the arrest of leaders which includes that of 6 congressmen of progressive partylists.

With this, the undeclared martial law under the GMA administration, which has long been there, has become clearer. And it has also become clearer that its revocation was done only in paper.

Where civil liberties are curtailed, true service to the people cannot be realized. Transparency, accountability, equitability and people’s participation are definitely sacrificed.

But now, in continuous efforts to quell a growing people’s protest, GMA has announced an increase in benefits for soldiers and government employees. Grabbing the limelight from Congress which was about to approve a P1,000 additional allowance for government workers, she issued an administrative order providing for the said increase. The amount is a far cry from the employees’ 6-year old demand of P3,000 salary increase.

As progressive organizations, we must not be duped. The P1,000 is gain in our P3t campaign which we must continue to assert. In this crucial moment, we must stand with our countrymen and women in this fight:

Never again to Martial Law!
Defend our Civil Liberties!

Alliance of Concerned Teachers – Metro Baguio
Alliance of Health Workers – Cordillera
Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) – Cordillera
6 March, 2006