Joma Willing to Meet PNoy, Talk Peace

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Report by Danny Buenafe, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Reposted from abs-cbnnews.com 21 February 2014
UTRECHT, The Netherlands – Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison is willing to revive peace talks with the Aquino administration.
He is even open to meet with President Aquino, similar to what the latter did in meeting Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Tokyo almost three years ago.
However, he also admitted a peace accord is almost nil and impossible with barely two years left for the Aquino administration.
The CPP chairman has been in Holland for almost 27 years after his release during the time of President Corazon Aquino.
He celebrated his 75th birthday last February 8.
While talks are rife for a new legislation to create the Bangsamoro autonomy, Sison is extending his hand to renew peace talks with the Aquino government.
Peace talks between the CPP and the Philippine government bogged down exactly a year ago. Sison believes it could be attributed to lack of sincerity by the government.
According to Sison, the government wants to impose a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire without a strong communique or agreement that will resolve ticklish social and economic reforms.
These reforms, he said, are the basic framework to stop armed rebellion.
For Sison, it is unacceptable to lay down their firearms without concrete reforms.
He also said a meeting on neutral ground answers many political and security issues.
Sison recalled a planned meeting with the President in Hanoi last April 2013. The meeting was bungled by what he termed as turf and credit-grabbing issues between Political Adviser Ronaldo Llamas and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita “Ging” Deles.
Sison said Deles is the biggest stumbling block to the peace efforts.
With barely two years remaining in the Aquino administration, Sison said it is impossible to reach a lasting peace agreement.
He hopes both panels will continue to strive to open further consultations as forwarded by the Norwegian government as facilitator.

On turning 75, Peace, and Duterte as President

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Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison
By Davao Today
Turning 75 this February 8, Professor Jose Maria Sison, chief consultant of the National Democratic Front on the peace negotiations, answer questions from Davao Today on current issues ranging from peace talks to the possibility of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte running as president.
Davao Today (DT): How does it feel to have lived three quarters of a century, especially with regard to how Philippine history has turned out since your move to re-establish the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in 1968?
Prof. Jose Maria Sison (JMS): I feel happy for having lived long enough to see how the CPP has grown nationwide and struck deep roots among the toiling masses of workers and peasants. The CPP has 150,000 members. It leads the thousands of Red fighters in the New People’s Army and the millions of people in mass organizations. It is at the helm of the people’s democratic government in 115 guerrilla fronts which cover large portions of 71 provinces.
DT: Do you have a secret to longevity?
JMS: My key to longevity: Fighting spirit in the service of the people and a sense of humor to provide relief for the hard work.
DT: Speaking of longevity, how do you look at President Benigno Aquino III, can he survive all these controversies?
JMS: Definitely, the controversies have exposed the fact that Aquino is running a treasonous, exploitative, corrupt, cruel and mendacious regime. The propaganda that his regime is clean and honest and is good at delivering services is practically dead. Thus, the broad masses of the people and the patriotic and progressive forces are now trying to oust Aquino from power. They will become strong through the struggle, whether they succeed or not in overthrowing Aquino before the end of his term in 2016.
DT: On the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), what is the impact of this Bangsamoro Framework Agreement, and how different is this with the Tripoli Agreement and the 1996 peace accord signed by the government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chair Nur Misuari? Follow up : What is your assessment of the Bansamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)?
JMS: There are uncertainties surrounding the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement , the annexes and the Bangsamoro basic law. Constitutional issues will be raised in Congress and the Supreme Court against certain provisions. The MILF will have to consider how far it can submit itself to the state based in Manila and how other forces of the Bangsamoro like the MNLF and the BIFF will react. The BIFF is now trying to seize the political and military initiative in areas known to be MILF home ground.
The first provision of the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 stipulated that the Moro question was to be resolved within the framework of Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity and the last provision stipulated that all agreements were subject to the constitutional processes of the Manila government. The MILF arose in opposition to such provisions. Now the BIFF is rebelling against the MILF for the same reasons that the MILF rebelled against the MNLF.
The MILF was previously critical of the 1996 peace accord between MNLF and the Manila government. Now, the MILF expresses the view that it can validate and take on board such accord in a new comprehensive peace agreement. But speaking on behalf of MNLF, Nur Misuari has denounced the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement as contrary to the peace accord of 1996.
DT: How attainable is peace? What are the prospects of GPH-NDF peace negotiations?
JMS: Peace is not attainable in the Bangsamoro areas so long as there is no satisfaction of the Moro people’s demand for respect of the right to self-determination, ancestral domain and their democratic aspirations and so long as the US and other foreign plunderers and the local big compradors and landlords continue to exploit and oppress the Moro people.
The Aquino regime and its US imperialist masters are extremely vicious against the revolutionary forces and people represented by the NDFP. They think that Oplan Bayanihan can destroy or cripple the revolutionary movement. The Aquino regime has attacked The Hague Joint Declaration as a document of perpetual division and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) as inoperative and it has wantonly violated the Comprehensive Agreement of Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). Since April 2013, it has publicly terminated the JASIG and the peace negotiations without giving the required notice of termination to the the NDFP.
The Aquino regime is responsible for blocking the peace negotiations. It has not shown any interest in its resumption. To keep alive the hope for peace negotiations, the NDFP has expressed its willingness to negotiate with the next regime.
DT: In relation to that, the CPP has declared that revolutionary forces are poised to leap to a higher level of struggle or what it terms as strategic stalemate. How viable is this call?
JMS: The call is viable. It is highly probable that within the next few years the CPP membership would rise from 150.000 to 250,000, the number of Red fighters of the New People’s Army from around 10,000 to 25,000, the guerrilla fronts from 120 to 200 and the mass movement and the people’s democratic government (local organs of political power) would involve many millions more of the people. The revolutionary forces and people of Mindanao are outstanding and are showing the way to grow in strength and to advance.
The worsening crisis of the world capitalist system and the domestic ruling system is favorable for the advance of the people’s war from strategic defensive to strategic stalemate.
DT: What’s your assessment of Davao City Mayor Duterte? Do you see him as a possible presidential candidate come 2016? Rights advocates, including agencies under the GPH tag him for the summary killings in Davao, what’s your take to that?
JMS: The local revolutionary forces in Davao City consider Mayor Duterte as someone they can negotiate with and make reasonable agreements with. Perhaps, if he becomes president, he can act like a statesman and negotiate with the NDFP. But will the big financiers and media lords allow him to win the presidential elections?
The Commission on Human Rights has repeatedly accused Duterte of violating human rights but refuses to take up Duterte’s challenge to put up or shut up. The same commission has never said anything critical of the gross and systematic violation of human rights by the Aquino regime and its military, police and paramilitary forces.
DT: What is your take regarding the rice smuggling issue?
JMS: Rice smuggling is the consequence of the trade liberalization policy and the undermining of local rice production since the time of Cory Aquino. Currently, relatives and friends of BS Aquino are the biggest rice smugglers. Aquino is a liar for misrepresenting the rise of rice smuggling as the rise of local rice production.
DT: In this day and age, how valid is the philosophy of Marx to academics, students and political analysts?
JMS: The teachings of Marx in philosophy as well as in political economy and social science remain valid today. They are shining now in opposition to the capitalist and imperialist system of exploitation, ever worsening crisis, state terrorism and war. There is renewed interest in the teachings of Marx among the academics, students and political analysts because such teachings expose the root causes of exploitation and oppression and show us the revolutionary way out.
DT: Looking at the present crop of Filipino activists and revolutionaries, how do they fare with the activists of the First Quarter Storm and the activists of the 1960s?
JMS: There are definitely more competent and militant Filipino activists and revolutionaries now because of the long series of mass struggles since 1960s. They should fare better than those of the 1960s and the First Quarter Storm of 1970. They can arouse, organize and mobilize far more people now. There should be more proletarian revolutionaries who study Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and are ready to participate in the people’s war.
DT: On lighter things, what are your favorite books and movies in the past ten years?
JMS: I have favored the books that show the recurrent and worsening crisis of monopoly capitalism and the resurgence of the people’s anti-imperialist and socialist movements. I have also favored the documentary and feature films films critical of neoliberal greed and imperialist wars.
DT: What would be your birthday wish?
JMS: To stay healthy and live longer in order to further serve the people.

Hinggil sa Pagpapatalsik sa US-Aquino Regime

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Mensahe sa Forum ng ANAKBAYAN, Enero 20, 2014
Ni Prop. Jose Maria Sison
Tagapangulong Tagapagtatag ng Kabataang Makabayan
Taos puso kong  binabati ang ANAKBAYAN, ang tanyag na komprehensibong pambansa-demokratikong organisasyon ng kabataang  Pilipino.  Nakikiisa ako sa inyong layuning pukawin, organisahin at pakilusan ang malawak na masa ng kabataan para sa kanilang demokratikong karapatan at kahilingan alinsunod sa rebolusyonaryong tradisyon at linya ng Kabataang Makabayan.
Batid ko ang  malakas na organisadong pundasyon  ninyo.  Mayroon kayong kasapiang higit na sa 20,000 sa inyong mga sangay sa mga iskwela, komunidad ng mga  maralitang-lungsod, pamayananan ng mga magbubukid at iba pang lugar.  Sa batayang ito, malaki ang magagawa ninyo sa  pagsulong ng kilusang masa para ipaglaban ang mga karapatan at kabutihan ng kabataan at sambayanang Pilipino.
Karanasan sa Paglaban sa Estado
Marapat na sa darating na ika-20 ng Enero gugunitain at aralin ninyo  ang matagumpay na pagpapatalsik sa rehimeng US-Estrada  sa tinaguriang EDSA Dos noong 2001.   Mahalaga ang papel na ginampanan ng  ANAKBAYAN at ibang organisasyon ng kabataan sa pagtitipon ng malawak na masa sa Edsa at sa mapagsiyang pagdagsa ng 70,000 kabataan sa tarangkahan at paligid ng Malakanyang para paalisin si Estrada sa kanyang palasyo.
Sa pag-aaral sa kakayahan ng kabataan na lumaban sa  kapangyarihan ng reaksyonaryong papet na estado,  tandaan din ang Sigwa ng Unang Kwarto ng 1970 na nagpalakas sa Kabataang Makabayan.  Nang ipataw ni Marcos ang pasistang diktadura sa bansa noong  1972,  mayroon nang matibay na organisasyon ng kabataan sa buong kapuluan na pinanggalingan ng mga proletaryong rebolusyonaryo at Pulang mandirigma.  Kaagad at sa kalaunan,  natugunan ng digmang bayan ang batas militar..
Dahil sa pagkilos ng kabataan sa ibat ibang anyo ng pakikibaka, umabot ang lakas ng sambayanang Pilpino sa panahon na kayang  ibagsak ang pasistang diktadura ni Marcos noong 1986.  Dumagsa ang malaking bilang ng malawak na masa sa Edsa.  Kasabay nito, nagtalaga  rin ang Kilusang Mayo Uno at League of Filipino Students ng malaking bilang  ng mga manggagawa at kabataan sa harap at paligid ng Malakanyang.
Sukdulang Pagsasamanatala at Pang–api
Nakaharap tayo muli sa isang rehimen na sukdulang taksil sa bayan, mapagsamantala, mapangurakot, malupit at sinungaling.  Kapasyahan ng bayan na ibagsak ang kasuklam-suklam na rehimeng ito. Dahil sa pagsunod sa neoliberal na patakaran sa ekonomiya na pataw na US, pinalubha ng rehimeng US-Aquino ang pyudal at malapysudal na pagsasamantala sa masang anakpawis at  pinasidhi ang paghihirap nila.  Alinsunod sa Oplan Bayanihan na pataw din ng US, pinatindi ng rehimen ang panunupil, pagmamalupit at malawak na paglabag sa karapatang tao.
Palubha nang palubha ang  kawalan ng trabaho at ng lupa at pagbaba ng kita samantalang pataas nang pataas ang presyo ng mga batayang kalakal at serbisyo.  Umaalingasaw ang  korupsyon ng rehimeng Aquino at mga kasapakat sa  kongreso, militar at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno.  Ninanakawan pati ang foreign aid para sa mga biktima ng superbagyong Yolanda.  Sinasabi ng mga opisyal ng gobyerno na wala o kaunti ang pera para sa edukasyon, kalusugan, pabahay at iba pang serbisyo sosyal pero daan-daang bilyong piso ang perang inilalaan para sa militar, korupsyon at pambayad sa utang.
Tumpak ang pagsasagawa ng isang forum na may pamagat,   “OUST: Talakayan hinggil sa kilusang kabataan, kilusang pagpapatalsik at pagpapanibagong-panpunan.” Panahon na para gawin ang lahat na magagawa para patalsikin ang rehimeng US-Aquino.  Ang lahat ng pagsisikap para patalsikin ang rehimeng ito ay pagpapalakas sa bayan para ibagsak ang bulok na  naghaharing sistema sa kalaunan.
Pamamaraan sa Pagpapatalsik
Dapat nating sapulin ang katunayan na ang palasyo ng Malakanyang ay pinalilibutan ng mga eskwela at mga estudyante.  Pukawin, organisahin at pakilusin ang mga estudyante dito. Kayang-kaya nilang okupahin ang lahat ng kalsada patungong Malakanyang.   Ganito ang nangyari noong Unang Sigwa ng 1970  at nang ibagsak si Marcos noong 1986 at si Estrada noong 2001.  Puedeng gawin muli ito.  Pupuntahan sila ng mas malaking bilang ng masa  mula sa iba’t ibang direksyon kapag okupado na ng mga estudyante ang kalsada.
Paratingin din sa kapaligiran ng Malakanyang ang mga kolumna ng masang magmamartsa mula  sa Bonifacio Monumento-Caloocan, Tondo-Binondo,  QC Rotunda-Sampaloc,  Sta Ana-Pandacan,  Makati, Pasay att iba pang assembly point.  Ginawa ito nang paulit-ulit ng Kabataang  Makabayan at iba pang organisasyon noong 1969 hanggang 1972. Puede pa ring gawin ito ngayon. Kung dadagdag ang mga  Lakbayan mula sa mga lalalawigan sa hilaga at timog ng Manila,  lalong  mapaparami ang tuwirang  lalahok sa kilusang pagpapatalsik.
Nasa Inyo ang mga Pamamaraan
Nasa inyo ang mga pamamaraan sa pagtititipon  ng masa para umabot sa daan-daang libo at kahit sa isa o dalawang milyon.  Batay sa ating karanasan, paghahanda lamang ang mga gasampunlibong kalahok sa demonstrasyon.   Kapag umabot na sa gasandaang libo ang lalahok,  doon lilitaw ang probabilidad na mapatalsik ang hari mula sa kanyang trono.  Kapag ganito ang antas ng kilos masa, mag-uumpisa nang mag-isip ang mga naghaharing uri na palitan nila ang hari bago malusob ang palasyo.
Ang sinasabi ko ngayon ay mga posibilidad na hango sa dating mga karanasan sa pagpapalaki ng kilos masa.  Laging maliwanag naman ang pangkalahatang linya sa pakikibaka para sa pambansang kalayaan at demokrasya. Nasa inyo ang pagpapasya kung ano ang mabisang  mga islogan at taktika para pukawin, organisahin at pakilusin ang kabataan at sambayanan hanggang sa antas  at yugto na kaya na nilang patalsikin ang rehimeng US-Aquino.
Mabuhay ang ANAKBAYAN! at kabataang Pilipino!
Patalsikin ang rehimeng US-Aquino!
Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!

Resuming Peace Negotiations with Aquino or Next President

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20 January 2014
Interview with Prof. JOSE MARIA SISON
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.
Correspondent, Philippine Daily Inquirer
DELFIN T. MALLARI, Jr. (DTM): Is there really no more chance for the resumption of the peace negotiations under the Benigno Aquino III administration?
Prof. JOSE MARIA SISON (JMS): The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) policy is to negotiate with the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration, Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and other agreements. The Aquino regime is responsible for paralyzing the peace negotiations by refusing to comply with these agreements.
DTM: If there really is no more chance, would this mean that the Filipino people would need to wait three years before the resumption of peace talks? That is, if the next president would be interested in peace talks.
JMS: The Aquino regime is responsible for blocking the peace negotiations and is in contempt of the people who desire a just and lasting peace. In fact, the Aquino regime announced last April 2013 that it had already terminated the peace negotiations. Please look at the pertinent back issue of your newspaper. The NDFP does not take responsibility for the decision of the current or next president of the GPH to resume the peace negotiations or not.
DTM: If presidential elections were to occur tomorrow – and most likely even is 2016 – there would be only two possible main contenders: Jojo Binay and Mar Roxas. In your view, as peace consultant of the NDFP, who is more likely to resume peace talks and be successful at it? What would be your basis for saying so?
JMS: As Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP in peace negotiations, I am not in the business or game of publicly estimating or predicting who is the next GPH president. Whoever is the next president, he or she will consider peace negotiations as an option in the face of the worsening social and political crisis, and the growing strength of the people’s armed revolutionary movement for national liberation and democracy.
DTM: At the minimum, what are the demands of the NDFP to the GRP for you to return to the negotiating table?
JMS: It is the Aquino regime that has run away from peace negotiations. The NDFP can resume peace negotiations even with the Aquino regime if it shows respect for and comply with existing agreements. The agreements require that the GPH fulfill its obligations regarding the substantive agenda of the negotiations, the safety and immunity guarantees for NDFP peace consultants, and the release of political prisoners falsely accused of common crimes. These are not unilateral demands or preconditions by the NDFP. They are obligations of the GPH stipulated by agreements between the GPH and NDFP.
DTM: On your part, if the GRP gives in to your demands, what would the NDFP-CPP-NPA be prepared to grant in return?
JMS: The NDFP is not asking for anything outside of the existing agreements and is not offering anything outside of the same agreements, which have been mutually approved and signed. You or anyone else should not make it appear that the NDFP is begging for any favor from a reactionary government that refuses to fulfill its obligations and dishonors its own signature on solemnly made agreements.

On Oplan Bayanihan and the Prospects of Peace and Environmental Justice

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines
Chief Political Consultant, National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Presentation at the Media Forum on Oplan Bayanihan and the Prospects of Peace and Environmental Justice, sponsored by the Apo Sandawa Lumadnung Panaghiusa sa Cotabato (ASLPC) and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas- Probinsya sa Kutabato (KMP-PK), December 9, 2013, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato
Dear Compatriots and Friends,
Thank you for inviting me to be your speaker in this Media Forum on Oplan Bayanihan and the Prospects of Peace and Environmental Justice.  I am mindful of your concern about the peace and order and environmental situation in Mindanao and I appreciate your desire to understand the root causes of the problems.
It is a privilege for me to share information and views with the forum participants who come from leading media institutions, youth and student organizations, civil society groups, academe, and church people in various affiliations.  I am confident that  our forum can shed more light on the issues and that we shall be better able to take them up in our efforts at  public education and mobilization.
A. Oplan Bayanihan
1.  Nature and Purpose of the Oplan.  Like Oplan Bantay Laya, Oplan Bayanihan is a national military plan designed by the US and based on the US Counterinsurgency Guide for the vain purpose of destroying or reducing the New People’s Army to inconsequentiality.  But supposedly unlike Oplan Bantay Laya, which had become notorious for gross and systematic violations of human rights, Oplan Bayanihan is designed to be more emphatic on psywar and intelligence work, without lessening combat operations but making them more effective through psywar and intelligence work.
The basic premise of the US Counterinsurgency Guide and Oplan Bayanihan is that a regime can defeat a revolutionary movement by being credited for good governance, being clean on the straight path, and efficiently delivering services to the people. Even if untrue, claims of economic success are important in psywar and far more important than undertaking peace negotiations, which are considered dispensable and which may be undertaken only for the purpose of psywar.
2. The Key Role for Aquino.   As campaign financiers in 2010, the biggest foreign and domestic businessmen chose Aquino to become the president and play the key role in Oplan Bayanihan.  He enjoyed a honeymoon of more than three years with the bourgeois mass media, which touted him as the paragon of a clean, honest and efficient government and as the miracle maker of an economy growing fast and bubbling with hot money from abroad.
In coordination with the military, the key civilian agencies  of Aquino in combining psywar and intelligence work against the revolutionary movement are the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary, and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Chairman.  They are in charge of deploying the dole outs under the Conditional Cash Transfer and the PAMANA funds in a futile attempt to undermine the mass base of the revolutionary forces and get intelligence at the community level about revolutionary fighters,  mass activists  and their families for the purpose of enticing them with payments, similar to those under the Amnesty and Rehabilitation Program under Cory Aquino and Ramos.
3. Unravelling of the Aquino Regime. The  false image of Aquino and his regime as clean, honest and efficient has unravelled.  It began when the Napoles pork barrel scam related to the Priority Development Assistance Fund became exposed, uncovering Aquino as the pork barrel king who disburses for his personal gain and political advantage public funds in the Disbursement Acceleration Program and so many other lump-sum appropriations under his sole discretion.
Causing the Aquino regime to further unravel has been the disappearance of calamity funds and the failure of the regime to make pre-disaster preparations and to provide prompt and adequate rescue and relief assistance to the millions of victims of super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).  The OPAPP, DSWD and NAPC have become notorious for bureaucratic corruption rather than for promoting peace, aiding people in distress, and fighting poverty.
B. Prospects for Peace
1. Sabotage of the Peace Process.  At the very first formal meeting of the GPH and NDFP negotiating panels in Oslo in February 2011, the GPH attacked The Hague Joint Declaration as a document of perpetual division.  The NDFP pointed out that said declaration had been the framework agreement making possible more than 10 major agreements, including the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). The GPH proceeded in 2012 to declare the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) as inoperative.
It has refused to release the political prisoners protected by the JASIG and the hundreds of political prisoners imprisoned by the Arroyo regime in violation of CARHRIHL.  Absolutely ruthless and devoid of any human empathy, it has proceeded to imprison indefinitely more political prisoners. The NDFP cannot trust a regime that does not know how to respect agreements.  When offered the possibility of truce and alliance or cooperation on the basis of a general declaration of common intent, the regime demanded surrender under the guise of “unilateral simultaneous indefinite ceasefires”, without reference to the agenda stipulated in The Hague Joint Declaration.
2. NDFP Commitment to Peace Process.  The NDFP remains committed to the peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration and further agreements, despite the bad experience of negotiating with the Estrada, Arroyo, and Aquino regimes.  The most important reason of the NDFP for persevering in the peace negotiations is to seek the solution of the basic social, economic, and political problems that victimize the people in their millions.
There is no significant indication whatsoever that the Aquino regime is interested in resuming the formal talks in the peace negotiations with the NDFP.  Therefore, what the people need to do is to hasten the removal of the Aquino ruling clique from power and demand the commitment of the next president to resume the formal peace talks.
3. Crisis Requires the Peace Process.  For the sake of the Filipino people, the peace negotiations must be resumed, especially in the face of the protracted and worsening crisis of the world capitalist system and the domestic ruling system.  The people are already suffering a high rate of unemployment, soaring prices of basic goods and services, decreasing and deteriorating social services, widespread poverty and misery.  The illusion of economic growth bloated by hot money will soon burst and the people will suffer far more than they do now.
The successful advance of the peace negotiations is not an impossibility.  The peace process is a matter of building on what has been achieved.   It has already succeeded in producing a substantive agreement, the CARHRIHL, within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration. It is possible to have a comprehensive agreement on socio-economic reforms, with land reform and national industrialization as the key provisions.  It is also possible to have a comprehensive agreement on political and constitutional reforms, with national independence and people’s democracy as the key provisions.  On the basis of these substantive agreements, then it is possible to agree comprehensively on the end of hostilities and disposition of forces.  The people must be aroused, organized and mobilized to demand the resumption of peace negotiations.
C. Prospects of Environment Justice
1. Environmental Crisis in Mindanao. Nationwide, we see the wanton plunder of the natural resources and the destruction of the environment. The Philippines now has the second-lowest forest cover in the whole of Southeast Asia. The deforestation had been going on since the Spanish era in Luzon and Visayas, but in the past century has been principally caused by the operations of logging, agribusiness, and mining companies especially in Mindanao.
As of 2003 (the latest year for which official forestry data are available), the total remaining forest cover nationwide has gone down to just below 21 per cent. It is even worse in Mindanao where forest cover is only 15.2 per cent. The resultant loss of forest cover has left rural and urban communities alike more vulnerable to typhoons, constant soil erosion, landslides, heavy silting of rivers and lakes, biodiversity loss and diminished wildlife, and urban overheating.
The use of open pit mining and large amounts of chemicals to accelerate extraction of minerals, including magnetite or black sand mining along the coasts, have aggravated soil erosion and the poisoning of the streams, rivers, lakes and coastal waters at the expense of the peasants and fishermen.  The expansion of plantations for the production of bio-ethanol and such products for export like fruit, rubber and palm oil have involved excessive use of chemicals and  grave imbalances in land use to the detriment of the environment and staple food production.
2. Responsibility for the Crisis. The foreign multinational firms and their big comprador and high bureaucrat allies are mainly responsible for the destruction of the environment in the Philippines.  The Aquino regime is reprehensible for emboldening illegal logging,  unrestricted mining and the rapid expansion of plantations. It has consistently upheld the pro-foreign Mining Act of 1995, and has encouraged the influx of big foreign mining firms in Mindanao side by side with the militarization of mining areas. The regime made a show of declaring a so-called total log ban in natural forests. But in reality it has made numerous exemptions and even tolerates outright illegal logging by the AFP-CAFGU and local government units such as in the PICOP and Forest Research Institute areas.
The imperialist powers headed by the US are responsible, both historically and in current volumes, for the carbon emissions that are causing global warming.  Natural disasters caused both by extreme weather events such as cyclones,  and slow-onset hazards such as coastal flooding, have become more frequent and destructive because of the global warming.
Third world countries like the Philippines, which did not produce the bulk of greenhouse gases, are more vulnerable not only because they are directly in the path of tropical cyclone belts and overheated ocean currents but also because underdevelopment hinders their capacity to cope with disasters. The super typhoon Yolanda was definitely maximized by the warming of the Pacific Ocean.
As shown by the measly outcomes of the recent COP-19 climate talks in Warsaw, the imperialist powers stubbornly resist the Third World demand for them to compensate the victims of the natural disasters generated by global warming.  They impose on the world the use of fossil fuel and retain the privilege  of emitting carbon dioxide. For these reasons, it is but right for the oppressed peoples of the world to view the issue of climate change and its disastrous impacts as one of environmental injustice imposed by imperialism instead of being just a natural phenomenon that all countries face in equal measure.
It is true that the people, especially the most impoverished sections of the workers and peasants, are desperate enough to eke out a living in the margins at the expense of ecological balance and safe and healthy living conditions. But it is the height of callousness for the Aquino regime to put the blame on them for environmental problems and for living in disaster-prone areas, and even forcibly demolish and relocate their communities on that alibi. The broad masses of the people are the victims, not the culprits, of environmental injustice aggravated by human rights violations.
3.  Attainment of Environmental Justice.  For so long as the Philippines remains semicolonial and semifeudal, the imperialist powers and the reactionary puppets will continue to subject the Filipino people to environmental injustice.  The way for the people to attain environmental justice is to struggle for national independence, democracy, social justice, development and international solidarity with the people of the world.  But even now, we should be conscious of the need to stop the ruin of the environment and the wanton outflow of our precious nonrenewable  resources, especially mineral ores, and do whatever is possible in this regard.
By gaining national and social liberation, a truly empowered Filipino people can prevent the plunder of natural resources and destruction of the environment. We can ban the imperialist and big comprador-landlord firms from taking away the natural resources as fast as they can while leaving the country more underdeveloped and the masses more impoverished than ever before. It becomes possible to protect and manage  our natural resources and use them wisely by processing them  for national industrialization and to  support agricultural and all-sided rural development on the basis of agrarian reform.
With national industrialization and agrarian reform generating local production and employment many more times greater than what the imperialist and comprador-landlord firms can offer, it also becomes feasible for our people to adopt more ecologically wise methods of production, implement environmental protection, avoid geohazards, and cope with disasters more effectively through mass mobilization.
There is a direct link between the struggle for peace and the struggle for environmental justice. In fact, we have always said that the only basis for a genuine and lasting peace is on the basis of justice brought about by substantial social, economic, and political reforms. Fighting for environmental justice means struggling for such comprehensive reforms, towards a just and lasting peace. ###

Appeal for Aid to Victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)

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Prof. Jose Ma. Sison
Issued by the Office of the Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
November 10, 2013

We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, appeal to all our global region committees, national chapters, member-organizations, our friends and all the people of the world to carry out a campaign of raising resources and delivering them to the millions of people afflicted by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 35 provinces in the central part of the Philippines.

The aid is for immediate relief and rescue and long term rehabilitation of the devastated communities and families , especially of the impoverished workers, peasants, fishermen and the middle social strata who have suffered death and injury and whose homes, personal belongings and livelihoods have been either blown away by the overly strong winds or swept away by storm surges from the sea.

Due to the destruction of energy and communication lines, the full extent of the destruction of lives and property is still being assessed. But there are already images of the wide scale of destruction taken from air planes and satellites. Entire communities are flattened. Thousands of lives have been lost. Millions of people are in need of food, clean water, clothing, shelter, medical services and proper burial of the dead.

The most reliable private relief-and-rehabilitation organization in the Philippines is BALSA, which includes BAYAN and other ILPS member-organizations as well as civic and religious organizations that have an excellent record of undertaking humanitarian efforts in previous disasters. Within the Philippines, BALSA is taking initiative in assessing the destruction to life, property and livelihood and in collecting and delivering the aid to the victims. The ILPS advise Filipino organizations and their friends abroad to forward to BALSA the aid that they can collect.

It is necessary for the people’s organizations to raise the money and goods for the immediate relief and rescue and for long-term rehabilitation of the communities and families, especially because the so-called calamity funds of the Benigno Aquino government have been misused and continue to be misused as pork barrel for purposes of corruption and political patronage from the level of the chief bureaucrat Aquino downwards.

Both civil bureaucracy and military forces of the Aquino regime did not give timely and adequate warning to the people about the grave dangers of the overly strong winds of the super typhoon and the storm surges from the sea. They did not prepare evacuation centers. And they did not guide the people to move to relatively safer areas before the super typhoon struck.

We appreciate highly the efforts of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to mobilize the local revolutionary organs of political power, the mass organizations and the broad masses of the people to prepare themselves against the onslaught of the super typhoon and for collective action in undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations.

We also admire the revolutionary forces for unilaterally declaring ceasefire in all the areas devastated by the super typhoon. They stand on a high moral ground as they serve the people in need. In sharp contrast, the bureaucrats and military officers of the reactionary armed forces loot a big part of the relief goods from government warehouses and use another part for counterrevolutionary propaganda and psywar. They shamelessly coordinate with US planes and ships in interventions under the pretext of humanitarian aid. ###

For the International Coordinating Copmmittee
of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle

Tribute to Fr. Jose P. Dizon, Patriot and Revolutionary

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Founding Chairman
Communist Party of the Philippines
November 5, 2013
Julie and I express our most heartfelt condolences to the beloved family of Fr. Jose P. Dizon over his passing away. Like all his comrades, we are deeply saddened and can find comfort only by reminding ourselves of his devoted and fruitful service to the poor and exploited working people.
An Irish priest friend of ours (the late Jack Hynes), who was close to Bishop Perez within the Church-Labor Center, briefed us in 1976 about Fr. Joe D as a trusted assistant of the bishop, a staunch opponent of the Marcos fascist dictatorship and a supporter of the workers, particularly in the La Tondeña strike. Then, he introduced us to him and put us in his care. We were in transit from one place to another.
Fr. Joe D knew that we were in the underground fighting the Marcos fascist regime, but he did not know exactly who we were. For a few weeks, he provided us with a room to work in. We enjoyed the conversations with him and his mother who served us delicious meals. We had discussions with him about how malevolent Marcos was and how rotten was the ruling system.
Before we departed, we left him a copy of Philippine Society and Revolution. We would come to know later that he read the book avidly, agreed with it and discussed the content with his fellow priests and other friends. He got a big surprise when he would learn later who we were when we were captured in 1977.
When Julie was released from prison in early 1982, she resumed contact with Fr. Joe D. We came to know that he had become ever more resolute and militant as a patriot and revolutionary. He was active in the Basic Christian Community-Community Organizing which had arisen in 1978. He helped to organize the Conference of the National Coalition for the Protection of Workers’ Rights in 1982. It was he who asked me through Julie to write a speech for the conference.
Julie and I were proud of Fr. Joe D for being courageously in the forefront of the people’s struggle in the 1980s. He a was a prominent activist in the Justice for Aquino, Justice for All movement. He became the secretary general of the Nationalist Alliance for Justice, Freedom and Democracy. He became a strong supporter of the Coalition for the Restoration of Democracy (CORD) and then Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN). He became the Secretary-General of Bayan Southern Luzon, which brought significant numbers of people to Edsa during the overthrow of Marcos.
When I was released from prison after the downfall of Marcos in 1986, we renewed our comradely relations of mutual support and met several times in activities of the patriotic and progressive mass organizations. He was close to the activists of the youth, labor and peasant movements. He was supportive of the SELDA and the Partido ng Bayan and was always interested in the strengthening of the mass movement and the united front of patriotic and progressive forces.
While abroad, Julie and I were always elated to know the work of Fr. Joe D. in upholding, defending and promoting workers’ rights. He supported the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research. He established the Workers’ Assistance Center in 1995 and pushed the organization of trade unions in the Cavite export processing zone against the threats of local politicians notorious for their repressiveness in collaboration with the businessmen and military. He headed the National Conference of Church People and Workers in 2011.
He came to visit us in The Netherlands in 1999. And we took the opportunity of discussing how the broad masses of the people can be aroused, organized and mobilized against the arrogant and corrupt Estrada regime. He became the convenor of the Kairos religious movement and Solidarity Philippines.
He was a consistent critic of the anti-people, anti-national and anti-democratic character of the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system and the chain of corrupt and brutal regimes. In every way possible, he fought for the people’s rights and interests. He was active in the poll watchdog Kontra Daya and opposed the automated programmed cheating in the elections of 2010 and 2013.
Last September 13, he was at the Luneta despite his frail health. He was a prime mover in the people’s campaign against the pork barrel and corruption. He warned Aquino against persisting to defend the corrupt pork barrel system. His last rally was on September 21, the anniversary of the martial law proclamation by Marcos. He denounced the continuing corruption and repression under the Aquino regime.
He was the organizer of the Clergy Discernment Group, a formation of priests and nuns for the advancement of the social justice agenda of the Catholic Church. He consistently stood for the preferential option of the church for the poor. When he celebrated his 40 years of priesthood recently, he explained that he stayed on as a priest because of his vow to build further the Church of the Poor.
Fr. Jose P. Dizon served the people without any reservation and to his last breath. He sought to align the Church with the demands of the Filipino people for national and social liberation. He shall always be remembered as a patriot and revolutionary. And the people shall always honor him and cherish his memory. ###

Abolish the Presidential and Congressional Pork Barrel, Expose and Oppose All Forms of Corruption in Aquino Regime

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chief Political Consultant
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
26 August 2013
Both the presidential and congressional pork barrel must be abolished. B. S. Aquino III should stop pretending to abolish the congressional pork barrel, while in fact he is silent about his far bigger pork barrel and retains the congressional pork barrel up to 2014 under its current name and thereafter under a new name and under an itemized system of budgeting under his tighter control in the rotten scheme of political patronage.
The congressional pork for senators and congressmen, which is called Priority Development Assistance Fund, is Php 25 billion. This is a tiny amount in comparison to the presidential pork barrel which ranges from Php 1.3 trillion to 1.5 trillion. This is 58 to 70 per cent of the total national budget of Php 2.26 trillion for 2014.
The presidential pork barrel includes lump-sum allocations which allow corruption and political patronage by Aquino no less. These are under his sole discretion, with little or no oversight whatsoever. A huge part of the presidential pork barrel consists of special purpose funds, unprogrammed funds and automatic appropriations.
Long before the Napoles scam involving the misappropriation of Php 10 billion for nonexistent projects through ghost NGOs, there are the funds under Aquino which are big troughs of corruption, such as: the Malampaya fund, Php 132 billion; the Conditional Cash Transfer, Php 62.6 billion; PAMANA funds, Php 7.22 billion; the Confidential and intelligence funds, Php 1.46 billion, Pagcor President Social Fund, Php 12.4 billion; Support to GOCC, Php 62.9 billion; Support to infrastructure program, Php 14 billion; Allocation to LGU, Php 19.7 billion; Bottom up Budget, Php 20.03 billion; and so on.
Aquino has a lump sum discretionary fund running into hundreds of billions of pesos from so-called unobligated, unreleased or over-all savings. Only he decides how to spend the money. There are also off-budget accounts, which are the most mysterious. Only the President and his trusted minions know how much are received from sources like the PAGCOR and PCSO for the so-called Presidential Social Fund.
With the help of the mass media and poll survey firms co-owned by Aquino relatives and allies, bloggers and letter writing brigades paid by public funds in civil and military offices, the Aquino regime has been successful at touting itself as clean and honest on the straight path amidst the rise of corruption in government and as supposedly responsible for economic growth amidst the aggravation of unemployment, poverty and dwindling social services.
Among the people, the Aquino regime has become notorious for sharing the spoils of power with foreign and local corporations benefiting from the Public Private Partnership Program, especially in infrastructure projects and real estate speculation; for having intimate relations with the biggest tax evaders in the country who were his campaign financiers in the 2010 elections; and for technical smuggling at least three times worse than the Estrada and Arroyo regimes in terms of losses in customs revenues.
It is outrageous that the amount of Php 1.3 trillion to 1.5 trillion is lost or dissipated though the presidential pork barrel system alone in the multifaceted corruption of the Aquino regime. Such an amount would have gone a long way in developing the economy, alleviating poverty and improving social services.
It is therefore just for the people to demand that the pork barrel system and the entire system of corruption be condemned and stopped. The Aquino regime is so effective at conducting propaganda that the Filipino people and all patriotic and progressive forces must exert their most determined, sustained and militant efforts to expose and oppose all forms of corruption of the Aquino regime.###

Real reasons why Aquino Regime has ended Peace Negotiations with NDFP

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chief Political Consultant
NDFP Negotiating Panel
07 May 2013

By their pronouncements and actions, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) are highly desirous of continuing the peace negotiations between the Philippine reactionary government (GPH) and the NDFP in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration and subsequent agreements.
As Luis Jalandoni, chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel, has repeatedly confirmed, the members and consultants of his panel enjoy the full confidence of all members of the CPP Central Committee and the NDFP National Council. His panel continues to carry the authorization of the CPP and NDFP and is ever ready to resume the formal talks in the peace negotiations.
I am only the Chief Political Consultant of the panel. Since my arrest by the Marcos dictatorship in 1977, I have never claimed to be an official of the CPP Central Committee and the NDFP National Council. It is the journalists and my academic colleagues who accurately refer to me as the CPP Founding Chairman. This is a historic fact which I am always proud to acknowledge and include in my resume.
OPAPP secretary and GPH panel chairman Alex Padilla are presumptuous and ridiculous when they talk as if they had the power and right to choose the negotiators and consultants of the NDFP. They sink to the bottom of the garbage dump of intriques when they make false claims about my relations with the Tiamzons, whom I know to be excellent and sincere revolutionaries worthy of the highest respect.
The intrigues that Deles, Padilla and Lacierda are spewing out in the mass media are a desperate and futile attempt to obscure the real reasons why the regime is ending the peace negotiations, without giving the formal notice of termination to the NDFP. The real reasons are as follows:
First, the Aquino regime wants to scrap The Hague Joint Declaration and all subsequent agreements and to demonstrate that it does not have to negotiate with the NDFP because it depends totally on the violent and deceptive means under the US-designed Oplan Bayanihan.
Second, the Aquino regime is willing to talk to the NDFP only for the purpose of seeking the surrender and pacification of the revolutionary forces and people on the precondition of indefinite ceasefire that permanently evades the necessity of addressing the roots of the civil war through comprehensive agreements on basic social, economic and political reforms. The NDFP has already tested and proven on the “special track” that the Aquino regime is not willing to have a truce and cooperation with NDFP, even if such were based on a general declaration of common intent for the benefit of the people.
Third, the Aquino regime is allowing its corrupt bureaucrats and military officers to carry out fake localized talks and fake surrenders and to pocket privately lots of money from the Conditional Cash Transfer and PAMANA funds, which amount to more than Php 45 billion. The Commission on Audit has already exposed the misappropriation of such funds.
The much ballyhooed “new approach” of the Aquino regime involves the escalation of military campaigns of suppression and psychological warfare, the ending of the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations, replacing these with fake localized talks and fake surrenders and pocketing of CCT and PAMANA funds by corrupt bureaucrats and military officers.
The advice that I have given to the NDFP Negotiating Panel is to be always ready for peace negotiations on the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration and subsequent agreements. If the Aquino regime continues to be intransigent, its three remaining years is not too long to let pass. The puppet, exploitative, corrupt, brutal and mendacious character of the regime will further weaken the ruling system of big compradors and landlords.
The Aquino regime is a rabid follower of the bankrupt neoliberal economic policy and aggressive expansionism of the US. It pays no serious attention to the basic problems of the Filipino people but is overdependent on mere publicity stunts, rigged poll surveys and pre-programmed elections by Smartmatic. The ultra-reactionary character of the Aquino regime and the worsening economic and social crisis are favoring the growth of the people’s democratic government and the revolutionary forces and people supporting it. ###

Condemnation of Misrepresentation by Officials and Paid Hacks of Aquino Regime

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
05 May 2013
Officials and paid hacks of the Aquino regime are misrepresenting me as having made threats of NPA tactical offensives. I did not make such threats. I condemn the misrepresentation of my analysis.  I described and analyzed the situation and consequences of the termination of the peace negotiations by the Aquino regime.
My exact words in the interview by Sonny Mallari of the Philippine Daily Inquirer are as follows:
“Because of the worsening economic and social crisis and the lack of real peace negotiations, the people’s revolutionary armed struggle will intensify for sure. The Aquino regime is asking for intensified tactical offensives by the NPA.”
“If the GPH does the termination, the NDFP looks after the safety and immunity of its panelists, consultants and other related persons and anticipates that GRP is going to escalate its campaigns of military suppression and deception.
“The CPP, NPA and other revolutionary forces and people represented by the NDFP strengthen their strategic defensive posture. At the same time, the tactical offensives of the NPA fulltime fighters, people’s militia, armed city partisans and its newly-announced commando units are intensified.
“The US-Aquino regimes uses Oplan Bayanihan to seek the defeat of the revolutionary movement. The revolutionary forces fight back and strive to realize the advance from the strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate through the intensification of tactical offensives.
“By its termination of peace negotiations, the GPH inflames the armed conflict in the entire country. The US-Aquino regime will certainly go down in history as a puppet, corrupt. brutal and mendacious regime like the Marcos and Arroyo regimes. Human rights violations by the AFP, PNP and paramilitary forces of the GPH will increase rapidly.”
Below is the full transcript of my interview with Sonny Mallari of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Sonny Mallari, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Should the government have observed the process of terminating the peace talks – notice of termination, 30 days – what would be the position of the NDFP?
How would you view the prospect that the government would again aggressively pursue the localized peace talks?
Kausap ko kanina ang Solcom spokesperson and sinasabi niya na matagal na nilang ginagawa ang local peace talks kaya maraming NPA na ang sumusuko.
With this fresh local peace talks drive, lalo na daw babagsak na ang communist insurgency.
Thursday
Prof. Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant
Mallari: Should the government have observed the process of terminating the peace talks – notice of termination, 30 days – what would be the position of the NDFP?
SISON ANSWER: Yes, the JASIG provides the way for either side to terminate the peace negotiations by giving written notice of termination to the other side and the termination takes effect after 30 days. Estrada regime gave a written notice of termination to the NDFP in May 1989. But the Aquino regime has no respect for solemn agreements.
Mallari: How would you view the prospect that the government would again aggressively pursue the localized peace talks?
 SISON ANSWER: There is no such thing as localized peace talks because the NDFP Negotiating Panel is the body authorized by the CPP and NPA for peace negotiations. You can have fake negotiations and fake mass surrenders done by the military for psywar and corrupt purposes (a way for officials to pocket money in the name of fake surrenderees).
Mallari: Kausap ko kanina ang Solcom spokesperson and sinasabi niya na matagal na nilang ginagawa ang local peace talks kaya maraming NPA na ang sumusuko.
SISON ANSWER: Lumang tugtugin ang localized peace talks magmula pa kay Marcos. Walang tunay na rebolusyonaryo ang sumusuko.
Mallari: With this fresh local peace talks drive, lalo na daw babagsak na ang communist insurgency.
SISON ANSWER: Because of the worsening economic and social crisis and the lack of real peace negotiations, the people’s revolutionary armed struggle will intensify for sure. The Aquino regime is asking for intensified tactical offensives by the NPA.
Friday
Sonny Mallari
Kung sumunod sa proseso ng termination ng peace talks ang govt, may pormal notification ang third party at ndfp at sumunod sa 30 days period, tatanggapin na ninyo na stop na ang peace talks? Sa ganitong senaryo, ano ang susunod na hakbang ng revo movemnt?
Joma Sison
According to the JASIG, either one of the two negotiating parties can at anytime decide for its own reasons to give the other party the written notice of termination of the peace negotiations and the termination takes effect after 30 days.
It is at least a matter of courtesy but not a requirement stipulated in JASIG that the third party facilitator is informed by the party terminating the peace negotiations.
If the GPH does the termination, the NDFP looks after the safety and immunity of its panelists, consultants and other related persons and anticipates that GRP is going to escalate its campaigns of military suppression and deception.
The CPP, NPA and other revolutionary forces and people represented by the NDFP strengthen their strategic defensive posture. At the same time, the tactical offensives of the NPA fulltime fighters, people’s militia, armed city partisans and its newly-announced commando units are intensified.
The US-Aquino regimes uses Oplan Bayanihan to seek the defeat of the revolutionary movement. The revolutionary forces fight back and strive to realize the advance from the strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate through the intensification of tactical offensives.
By its termination of peace negotiations, the GPH inflames the armed conflict in the entire country. The US-Aquino regime will certainly go down in history as a puppet, corrupt. brutal and mendacious like the Marcos and Arroyo regimes. Human rights violations by the AFP, PNP and paramilitary forces of the GPH will increase rapidly.
Sonny Mallari
Salamat Ka Joma….