Time Magazine laments: Philippines shamed by unchecked political killings

Time Magazine is unconvinced by the Arroyo administration’s empty pronouncements condemning the killings of activists — simply because the killings continue, and the body supposed to investigate the incidents miserably fail to win the trust and confidence of victims’ families and witnesses.

The Time article is the latest expression of the international uproar over the Arroyo administration’s role in the slaughter of activists. The black propaganda from the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have no effect at all at the level of condemnation the government is reaping.

Here’s a quotation from the scathing Time report:

In August, in response to international concern, Arroyo set up the six-member Melo Commission, led by a retired Supreme Court judge, to probe the killings. Some bereaved families doubt its independence and have refused to testify. This distrust is symptomatic of a profound loss of faith in Arroyo herself. She is an unpopular President, plagued by corruption scandals and slammed for her failure to improve living standards. Arroyo has condemned the killings, but she will not implicate the military—even as it implicates itself. Col. Eduardo del Rosario, head of a military antiterrorist unit called Task Force Davao, admitted to TIME earlier this year that “individual commanders” might be responsible for the killings.