‘US-style’ use of sonic weapon vs ASEAN protesters is brutal – Agham

November 18, 2017 Metro BLISTT

Filipino scientist group, Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (Agham) condemned the use of the sonic weapon Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) of anti-riot policemen against the ASEAN Summit protesters.
“(It) is a manifestation of the increasing fascism of the Duterte administration and its readiness to use dangerous methods to suppress the people calling for their demands,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, Agham chairperson.
LRAD is a sonic weapon which indiscriminately emits a loud sound way above the average human limit for hearing of 85 decibels. Its intense, high-pitched sound is proven to have health consequences, causing potential ear damage or permanent loss of hearing to activists, bystanders and members of the police force alike.
The model that PNP allegedly used during the rally can be either the LRAD 1000 or the 1950XL. Both models can reach an output as high as 149db.
According to a study, targets 50 meters away from the LRAD 1000 can still be exposed to more than 110db and that exposure at this intensity may still cause permanent hearing damage if it lasts for more than a few seconds.
The PNP’s indiscriminate use of such device placed all within hearing range of it in serious potential harm, denounced Dr. Tapang.
The PNP’s use of LRAD is patterned after “US-style” fascism to suppress the people by whatever means, Agham added.
LRAD was first used to disperse a protest in 2009 during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where victims sustained permanent hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing of the ears), barotrauma, ear pain, and disorientation when the LRAD was activated without warning.
Dr. Tapang reminds the government that, “it is the people’s right to voice out their legitimate demands against the anti-people agenda of the United States, China, Russia and other imperialist countries in the Southeast Asia region through the ASEAN.”
For 50 years, ASEAN has served as a platform for these nations to keep control of their neocolonies, where the member countries enter into multilateral and bilateral agreements on trade and security at the expense of sovereignty, he explained their sentiment.
In concrete terms, ASEAN is one of the mechanisms that led to the current state of the country’s import-dependent and export-oriented economy where we become a source of raw materials and cheap labor and a market for surplus products, Dr. Tapang further claimed.
Agham though promised, “at a time when science and technology is being used against us, we will strengthen our collective action and raise our voices against Duterte and Trump’s fascism and militarism,” adding, they will “continue to struggle for justice and genuine change, and for science that serves the interest of the people.” ACE ALEGRE / ABN