Our otherwise contented political class is definitely on edge with the terrorist branding of suspended Congressman Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr.
While the innovative terrorist branding seemingly solely targets mainstream politician Mr. Teves, the branding is actually also a live political grenade thrown right onto the laps of the mainstream political class.
Mr. Teves’s case is the first time an elected official is officially designated a terrorist by the nascent Anti-Terrorism Council or ATC.
Previously, the ATC consistently tacked terrorist tags on red-tagged activist groups and armed extremist groups. But obviously, now it’s on the right side of the political spectrum.
As a matter of course, Mr. Teves — the suspected mastermind in the March 4 assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo — is vehemently contesting the terrorist tag and is trying to reverse it.
Anyway, we don’t see yet any telltale signs of mainstream politicians taking serious notice of the terrorist branding, much less starting to scamper for cover. But they will certainly have to.
Without a doubt, the unfamiliar use of the anti-terror law complicates matters for politicians, particularly provincial-based pols who maintain private armed groups to ensure their political dominance.
And, going by how it describes its intention, the ATC is clearly going after private armed groups.
“The tragic incident on 4 March 2023, which claimed several lives and left many others injured, is a stark reminder of the threat posed by private armed groups within our country,” the ATC said in its resolution.
ATC’s move also comes after Mr. Marcos Jr., in the wake of Degamo’s killing, ordered the dismantling of “private armies.”
Mr. Marcos Jr.’s order shouldn’t be surprising. He actually has no choice but to interdict. Otherwise, he violates the Constitution.
The 1987 Constitution provides in Article XVIII, Section 24 that “private armies and other armed groups not recognized by duly constituted authority shall be dismantled.”
Private armed groups, of course, had long been an ugly blight on our electoral politics, not only on violence-prone Negros Island.
In fact, because of private armies, politicians from North to South, both historically and at present, have been paying a deadly price, with probably 100 politicians killed every year.
And in most cases, says a 2022 study, “the principals ordering the killings are not investigated, remain in the shadows and enjoy almost complete impunity. As a result, in the vast majority of cases, it cannot be proven who actually ordered the killings.”
Such impunities have, of course, morphed into a violent “culture of fear” all over the country.
A point ATC emphasizes in its Teves resolution: “The numerous killings and harassments in Negros Oriental which culminated in the assassination of Gov. Degamo must not be taken as isolated and random incidents of violence. A closer evaluation of these killings and harassments have an unmistakable pattern of a rather organized and orchestrated action. These killings and harassments are meticulously and deliberately planned and executed for the purpose of intimidating the residents of Negros Oriental as well as to create an atmosphere or spread a message of fear.”
Despite these substantial political issues, no law — oddly enough despite repeated attempts — has been enacted to penalize private armies and other armed groups, which the Philippine National Police says numbered some 155 in 2021.
Of that number, police say they consider almost half as “highly active.”
Clearly, something sweeping needs to be done against private armed groups to dramatically change the political landscape.
Inadvertently, the Teves camp decries the “weaponization” of the Anti-Terror Act, claiming that the government is using it “for the purpose for which it was not designed.”
Yet, a private army is unquestionably designed for terror.
This fact leaves us with one provocative question: If this government had accidentally found a powerful weapon, does this mean now this government is bold enough to totally wipe out all entrenched private armies?