The announcement of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) of a supposed security threat from armed revolutionary groups in Brgy. Felisa, Bacolod City, is nothing more than a mind-conditioning tactic aimed at justifying intensified crackdowns in urban centers, Bayan Negros said Tuesday, Jan. 7.
“This fear-mongering is a thinly veiled attempt to sow panic among the public while laying the groundwork for heightened surveillance and repression of progressive groups that are often red-tagged and baselessly linked to revolutionary groups,” a press release from Bayan said.
The Marcos Jr. regime is under pressure to project an image that the fight against the armed revolutionary movement has already been won, it said.
To achieve this, it has shifted internal security operations from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bayan claimed.
Bayan Negros said it condemns this strategy in the strongest terms and calls on the public to remain vigilant.
“We must stand together to protect our democratic rights against the Marcos regime’s escalating campaign of repression,” it said.*