NAGLABAS ng kanyang unsolicited advice si dating Congressman at Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares kay Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., matapos n itong muling italaga ang mga heneral ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

“Watch your back.” Ang babala ni Colmenares sa Pangulo matapos nitong italaga bilang National Security Adviser ang dating Interior and Local Government secretary ni Duterte na si Eduardo Año.

Si Año ang ikatlong tinaguriang “Duterte general” na itinalaga ni Marcos sa defense key position ng kanyang administrasyon kasunod nina Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Andres Centino at Carlito Galvez sa Department of National Defense (DND).

Tulad ni Año, nagsilbi kay Duterte sina Centino dahil ito ang huling Chief of Staff ng AFP sa kanyang termino habang si Galvez na dati ring AFP chief of staff ay itinalaga bilang Presidential adviser on peace and reconciliation and unity bago inilagay bilang vaccine czar.

Bad omen?

Itinuturing din ni Colmenares ang appointment ni Año bilang “bad omen” sa mga kritiko ng gobyerno dahil mangangahulugan na magpapatuloy sa Marcos administration ang human rights violations at red-tagging na ginawa noong panahon ni Duterte.

“The human rights violations of these generals such as Eduardo Año goes back for decades and placing him as the National Security Adviser would mean that he would continue and escalate these human rights violations like red-tagging, harassment, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings against ordinary citizens and critics of the Marcos administration,” ani Colmenares.

“We must remember that it was during his stint at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that the killings during the fake drug war raged and illegal arrests, massacres and trumped charges flew left and right against the opposition and critics of the Duterte administration,” dagdag pa ng dating mambabatas.

Dahil dito, kailangan aniyang magbantay subalit ipagpatuloy na ipaglaban ang karapatan ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino.

“We are calling on all freedom loving Filipinos to be very vigilant and defend our rights because the Duterte generals are back and that is a bad omen for civil liberties,” ayon pa kay Colmenares. (BERNARD TAGUINOD)