MANILA, December 12, 2009—The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) asked all Filipinos to be vigilant in the search for justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
“We urgently ask for all Filipinos to be vigilant—to watch, pray and act together with one mind and one heart,” said Ambassador Henrietta de Villa, National Chairperson of PPCRV.
PPCRV has also called for the immediate revocation of the Martial Law and resolution of the Maguindanao massacre case and prayed “That the government, particularly the President of the Philippines will be visited by wisdom and saved from the temptation of declaring Martial Law in the Philippines.”
De Villa also challenged Congress to be true to its mandate of safeguarding the nation from the threat of Martial Law.
“The Congress (must) assure our people that it will not play into the hands of whoever may have the hidden agenda of Martial Law in the Philippines now or in the near future,” she declared.
PPCRV stressed that massacre, being a “heinous election-related crime,” needs the full force of the law be “meted out to the perpetrators which includes the masterminds of this despicable beastly killing of innocent civilians, most of whom were women and journalists.”
De Villa fears that the declaration of Martial Law might be “a part of a grand design to do the same nationwide prior to the 2010 elections.”
“Tempt the ruling power to do so, considering that there are quite a number of critical ‘hot spots’ around the country where political dynasties and their private armies are prone to election related violence (then this) could be used as a reason to justify Martial Law in the entire country,” De Villa said.
PPCRV admitted that the declaration of Martial Law might speed up the arrest of the suspects of the Maguindanao case and the dismantling of their private armies. (Kate Laceda)
