NDF-NEMR to release 5 POW as goodwill for the August Oslo talks with the Duterte government

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[Bisaya»]

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Northeastern Mindanao Region (NDFP-NEMR) announces the upcoming release of the five (5) prisoners of war of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

On July 5, 2016, PO1 Richard Vaz Yu of the PNP in Carmen, Surigao del Sur was arrested in Brgy. San Vicente by a team of the NPA Front 30-NEMR based on reports of his involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the municipality. He has been under the custody of NPA’s Front Operational Command 30 since his arrest.

On July 24, 2016 PO2 Caleb Sinaca, PO3 Jayroll Bagayas and NPU Rodrigo Angob of the Malimono Municipal Police Station and SPO3 Santiago Lamanilao of the Surigao City Police Office in Surigao del Norte were arrested in Brgy. Cagtinae in Malimono by a team of the NPA Front 16. They were arrested for their involvement in illegal drugs and illegal gambling in Malimono and Surigao City. PO2 Sinaca is linked as police protector to illegal drug syndicates and the illegal logging trade in the same town. He is also known for his extortion activities of small-scale miners, threatening and harassing peasants working for his father, Dario Sinaca. The 4 has been under the custody of NPA’s Front Operational Command 16.

These arrests were made by the NPA in NEMR as part of its own anti-drug campaign. The NDFP-NEMR has done preliminary investigation of the 5 POW and will turn over the results of the NPA’s investigation to the third party facilitator and the PNP through its Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in the hope that it will assist them in their own investigation.

We congratulate the custodial forces of the New People’s Army’s Front Operational Command 30 and 16 who continue to successfully ensure the safety of the POW despite the relentless combat and community operations for peace and development (COPD) of the AFP. The custodial forces painstakingly adheres to Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law on the treatment of prisoners of war.

The release of the 5 POW is in response to the appeal of the 5 POW’s families with the facilitation of religious members of the different churches in the two provinces. Their release signifies the revolutionary movement’s serious intent in pursuing peace talks between the NDFP and the GPH and as a gesture of goodwill for the resumption of formal talks in Oslo, Norway on August 22, 2016.

BUHIAN SA NDF-NEMR ANG 5 KA POW ISIP PAKIGDAIT ALANG SA PAKIGHISGUT SA KALINAW SA GOBYERNONG DUTERTE SA OSLO KARONG AGOSTO

Ang National Democratic Front of the Philippines sa Northeastern Mindanao Region (NDFP-NEMR) nagpahibalo sa umaabot nga pagbuhi sa lima (5) ka prisoners of war sa Bagong Hukbong Bayan (BHB) sa Surigao del Norte ug Surigao del Sur.

Niadtong Hulyo 5, 2016, gidakop si PO1 Richard Vaz Yu sa PNP-Carmen, Surigao del Sur didto sa Brgy. San Vicente sa usa ka tim sa BHB Front 30-NEMR, base sa taho sa iyang kalambigitan sa pagkaylap sa iligal nga droga sa maong munisipyo. Anaa siya sa kustodiya BHB Front Operational Command 30 sukad sa iyang pagkadakop.

Niadtong Hulyo 24, 2016 gidakop sila PO2 Caleb Sinaca, PO3 Jayroll Bagayas ug NPU Rodrigo Angob sa Malimono Municipal Police Station ug SPO3 Santiago Lamanilao sa Surigao City Police Office sa Surigao del Norte didto sa Brgy. Cagtinae sa Malimono sa usa ka tim sa BHB Front 16. Gidakop sila tungod sa ilang kalambigitan sa iligal nga droga ug iligal nga sugal sa Malimono ug Surigao City. Si PO2 Sinaca nalambigit isip pulis protektor sa sindikato sa iligal nga droga ug iligal nga logging sa susamang lungsod. Nailhan usab siya nga ekstorsyonista sa gagmay’ng mga minero, nagbahad ug nanghasi sa mga mag-uuma nga nanarbaho para sa iyang amahan nga si Dario Sinaca. Ang 4 anaa sa kustodiya sa BHB Front Operational Command 16.

Gihimo kini nga mga pag-aresto sa BHB sa NEMR isip kabahin sa iyang kaugalingong kampanya kontra-droga. Ang NDFP-NEMR nakahimo sa pasiunang imbestigasyon sa 5 ka POW ug ihatag niini ang resulta sa imbestigasyon sa BHB sa third party facilitator ug sa PNP pinaagi sa iyang Hepe Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa sa paglaum nga makatabang kini sa ilang kaugalingong imbestigasyon.

Among gipasidunggan ang custodial forces sa Front Operational Command 30 ug 16 sa Bagong Hukbong Bayan nga padayong malampuson nga nagseguro sa kaluwasan sa mga POW luyo sa walay hunong nga kombat operisyon ug community operations for peace and development (COPD) sa AFP. Ang custodial forces hugot nga nagsubay sa Protocol II sa Geneva Conventions ug International Humanitarian Law sa pagtratar sa prisoners of war.

Ang pagbuhi sa 5 ka POW pagsango sa hangyo sa mga pamilya sa 5 ka POW sa tabang sa mga relihiyoso sa nagkalainlaing mga simbahan sa duha ka probinsya. Ang ilang pagbuhi nagpakita sa kaseryoso sa rebolusyonaryong kalihukan sa pagduso sa panaghisgut sa kalinaw tali sa NDFP ug sa GPH ug isip pagpakita sa pakigdait alang sa pagbalik sa pormal nga panaghisgut sa Oslo, Norway karong Agosto 22, 2016.

Oppose the hero’s burial for fascist dictator Marcos

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The CPP condemns the plan of the Duterte regime to give the former fascist dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

By claiming Marcos deserves to be buried with other former soldiers, Duterte is helping perpetuate the historical lies surrounding Marcos’ bogus medals and phoney Maharlika guerrilla unit. By further ordering that Marcos be accorded military honours befitting a former head of state, Duterte is virtually deleting Marcos’ bloody record as a military despot and the fascist violence, human rights violation, corruption and economic hardships he made the Filipino people suffer through 14 years of dictatorship.

The Filipino people hold all post-Marcos regimes equally culpable for the political restoration of the Marcos family—Imelda and their children, who all took part in the machinations of the Marcos dictatorship. According a hero’s burial to the dead dictator will complete the Marcoses’ political restoration and will complete the whitewash of all the crimes they perpetrated against the people.

Duterte is bull-headed with his decision to give Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. He is determined to squander the historical lessons treasured by the Filipino people. They are being politically disarmed from preventing the rise to power of future dictators. Many fear this will be self-serving as Duterte bandies threats to declare martial law if he doesn’t get his way in the frenzied “war against drugs.”

By flaunting his ties and alliance with the Marcos family, Duterte is helping the Marcosian scheme to revise history and make the younger generations overlook the colossal plunder and sale of the country’s patrimony, his debt-borrowing debt spree, his legacy of gross cronyism, his family’s ostentatious lifestyle built upon the poverty of the people, and his martial law’s massacre of freedom and democracy.

Duterte’s decision on the Marcos burial displays extreme insensitivity to the sensibilities of thousands of victims, families and survivors of martial law barbarities. He insults the memory of thousands of patriotic Filipinos from all walks of life who gave up their lives at the prime of their youth to fight for the dictatorship’s overthrow.

Riding on surveys claims of high approval ratings, Duterte taunts the people to protest as much as they want in the streets. He reveals his indifference to people’s demands.

The CPP supports the people’s protests against the Duterte regime’s plan to give a hero’s burial to Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The revolutionary forces continue to stand against the political restoration of the Marcoses and demand that they be made to pay for all the crimes against the Filipino people.

No more cooperation with Duterte’s undemocratic and anti-people “drug war”

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The anti-drug war of the Duterte regime has rapidly spiralled into a frenzied campaign of extra-judicial killings and vigilante murders perpetrated by the police and by police-linked criminal syndicates. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in just a little more than one month. The rights of tens upon thousands of people are being violated as the criminal justice system is upturned.

Police officials have brazenly carried out summary killings against suspected drug peddlers and users. Hundreds have been killed while “resisting arrest” or while under custody and detention, in police cars as well as in jails.

Duterte’s “drug war” has clearly become anti-people and anti-democratic. Human rights are being violated with impunity by police personnel, emboldened by Duterte’s assurances of “I got your back” and his public declarations of contempt against human rights.

The Duterte regime has unleashed unmitigated violence and threats of violence against the people, mostly victims and people at the lowest rungs of the criminal syndicate ladder. In contrast, the suspected big drug lords and their protectors are afforded courtesy calls to Malacañang, accommodations in Camp Crame’s guest house and preliminary investigations by the NBI. The worst that they have been made to undergo is to suffer the lectures of the PNP chief.

What was before the burden of the accuser to prove someone’s guilt is now the burden of the accused to prove his innocence. Duterte has come up with one list after another of so-called protectors, narco-politicians and judges without proof nor clear basis for accusations of their involvement in drugs. He could not even tell the people how the lists were drawn. It is a mystery even to the chief intelligence officer and head of the PNP.

Duterte has become so full of himself and intoxicated with the vast power he is not used to handle that he thinks he can get away with upturning the criminal judicial system and denouncing people for defending human rights. He dishes out threats of imposing martial law. He has made himself a laughing stock among legal circles. He, however, is not laughing and threatens anyone who chooses to stand in his way.

Duterte’s “drug war” is bound to fail because it does not address the socio-economic roots of the problem. It has been proven in history that no amount of killing will succeed in putting an end to the drug menace. After ten years of the “anti-drug war” in Mexico, and with almost 80,000 people killed, the intensity of the drug problem remains the same if not worse. In Thailand, around 3,000 people were killed from 2003 to 2005, at least half of whom were later proved to be not involved in drugs. The drug problem has become worse.

The “drug war” is set to spiral into a war among the criminal drug syndicates, between one narco-politician against another, using the resources of the state and to further entrench themselves in the reactionary state. The “drug war” is also fast becoming one of the facets of the factional struggle within the reactionary ruling classes, for control of resources, territories, police and military units.

Duterte’s war is set to unleash more violence and counter-violence, political maneuverings as well as media contests between rival criminal syndicates as represented by their politicians and police protectors.

In all likelihood, many of the summary and vigilante killings are being carried out by the criminal syndicates who use the “anti-drug war” as camouflage for waging all-out war against their rivals and their rival protectors in the police, bureaucracy and judiciary or to rub-out their own men. It would be no surprise that the information made public by Duterte about police protectors, narco-politicians and judges were fed to him by rival criminal syndicates.

All democratic forces must unite and demand justice and an end to the madness of police and vigilante killings. They must unite to defend human rights. At the same time, the people should amplify their urgent clamor for jobs and land to improve their economic condition, make them productive and draw them away from social misery and desperation, in order to, thus, end the conditions for the proliferation of drugs.

In line with standing orders, the New People’s Army (NPA) will continue to intensify its operations to arrest and disarm drug trade operators and protectors. However, these will no longer be considered as cooperative with the Duterte regime’s undemocratic and anti-people “war on drugs.” As before, the NPA will continue to exercise due process in dealing with suspects, such as those PNP officers presently in custody in Compostela Valley and Surigao del Sur.

The CPP calls on the people to struggle against the rampant problem of drug addiction, as they wage revolutionary struggle to overthrow the system that perpetuates it as well as other forms of oppression. The most effective way of waging war against drugs is by rousing the people and mobilizing them to become active participants in social revolution.

The rampant problem of drug addiction among the people should be addressed in the economic as well as political and cultural fields. In thousands of barangays and clusters of several where the revolutionary forces hold sway and exercise governmental authority, drug addiction has been virtually wiped out through mass struggles.

In the base areas of the NDFP, the active participation of the youth and other sectors in revolutionary political, cultural, economic, military and social affairs, have drawn them away from the culture of individualism, self-indulgence and escapism. Here, drug abuse and drug addiction can no longer take root.

Better to Resume Formal Peace Talks Than Not To Do So

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When the JASIG-protected NDFP consultants are released and get travel documents before August 20, it would be better than not to resume formal peace talks on August 20-27, 2016 because it is during the formal talks that the GPH and NDFP negotiating panels can discuss the mode of ceasefire and how best to arrange this. Read more

Expand use of command-detonated explosives in tactical offensives — CPP

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today said the New People’s Army (NPA) must further expand use of command-detonated explosives (CDX) in launching tactical offensives against the reactionary armed forces, police and all its attached paramilitaries.

“The CPP and NPA reject the baseless demand of GRP President Rodrigo Duterte for the NPA to stop using CDX landmines which are legitimate weapons of war and are allowed under the Geneva Conventions and the Ottawa Treaty on Landmines.”

According to Duterte, he has long repeatedly told the NPA in Mindanao to stop using landmines which he claims are banned under international conventions. “Perhaps, he has not been closely listening to explanations about landmine conventions and distinctions made about different types of landmines.”

“The aim of the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines is to protect civilians from accidental explosions,” pointed out the CPP. The Treaty defines anti-personnel mines as those designed to be exploded by “the presence, proximity or contact of a person.”

“The explosives and landmines used by NPA are command-detonated or blasted manually, some with a battery-powered electronic trigger held by a Red fighter,” added the CPP. “CDX landmines, which NPA ordnance units manufacture carefully, will not explode simply if it is stepped on, tripped upon or kicked around.”

“Furthermore, CDX landmines are not laid out indiscriminately and are always manned or within the immediate proximity of the NPA unit that emplaced them,” pointed out the CPP. “There has yet to be an incident where a CDX landmine laid by the NPA was accidentally exploded by a civilian.”

“The NPA is very careful about using weapons that may accidentally hurt or injure civilians,” said the CPP. “Even indigenous booby traps such as punji sticks are used with discrimination and are not left unmanned.”

“Contrary to Duterte’s demand for the NPA to stop using its CDX landmines, the NPA and the people’s militias must further expand the use of such weapons,” said the CPP.

It added: “CDX landmines are a poor man’s weapon. These are mass-produced by people who have no recourse to the expensive rockets and howitzers of state-funded armies. It is a weapon than can only be effectively used by those who have mastery of terrain. It must continue to be effectively and widely employed in waging mass guerrilla warfare. The mass movement to manufacture CDX landmines must be stepped-up. Every unit of the NPA, including all units of the people’s militias, must have their own supply of CDX landmines, and must have the skill and plan to employ these as defensive and offensive weapons against the enemy.”

“CDX landmines have been proven to be highly effective weapons at thwarting the frenzied military offensives of the AFP,” said the CPP. “This is the reason why the AFP has been so adamant in its demand for the NPA to stop using CDX landmines to the point of mindlessly citing international prohibitions even without a comprehensive and clear understanding of those.”

“For many years now, the AFP has repeatedly threatened to file charges against the NPA for violating international conventions over the use of CDX landmines. Until now, not one case has been filed. We challenge them to do so.”

Better to Resume Formal Peace Talks Than Not To Do So

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When the JASIG-protected NDFP consultants are released and get travel documents before August 20, it would be better than not to resume formal peace talks on August 20-27, 2016 because it is during the formal talks that the GPH and NDFP negotiating panels can discuss the mode of ceasefire and how best to arrange this.

Concerning President Duterte’s statement in Davao last night, we address him in his official capacity and not at a personal level. We understand that as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines he has the duty to show official and personal concern for his troops and mourn their death as casualties of war.

However, we wish to point out that the use of command-detonated land mines is not violative of the Geneva Convention and the Ottawa Treaty.

The New People’s Army can use these weapons in its military operations inasmuch as there is yet no ceasefire of any kind which is valid and effective between the NPA and the AFP.

Thus the resumption of formal talks is necessary to allow both negotiating panels to take up the mode of ceasefire, as stated in the Joint Statement signed in Oslo on June 15, 2016.

Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

Abusive AFP operating troops in Monkayo, Comval struck in NPA counter-offensives, 6 firearms seized

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The 8th Pulang Bagani Company-New People’s Army carried out a series of counter-offensives against the operating troops of the 25th Infantry Battalion, punishing 11 fascist soldiers and seizing six firearms during a raid, an attritive action and an ambush on August 2, 4 and 5, 2016 in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley.

The NPA’s punitive action is a just reprisal in the face of atrocities committed by the 25th IB combat soldiers such as ransacking of civilian houses and farms, mauling and intimidation of peasants and Lumads in Monkayo town since June. In fact, the notorious Army unit had not reduced the intensity of its combat-intel-psywar operations in the communities during GRP. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s short-lived unilateral ceasefire last week.

The 8th PBC-NPA on August 2, neutralized Cpl. Castro, an intelligence operative of the 25thIB who was caught conducting combat intel operation in the communities of Brgy. Baylo, Monkayo. Seized from him were a 9mm caliber and .22 caliber pistols.Two days later, the Red fighters engaged a platoon of the 25th IB in Brgy. Pasian, Monkayo, killing two Army soldiers and wounding three others.

At around 7:30 this morning, August 5, the Red fighters successfully ambushed a company of the 25th IB in Sitio Inuburan, Brgy. Rizal, killing 5 AFP troops, seizing two M203 grenade launchers, one M4 rifles, Harris radios, and several other military hardware.

The 8th PBC’s tactical counter-offensives against an abusive AFP unit in the peasant and Lumad villages should serve as a stern warning to other operating Army units in Southern Mindanao region. These AFP troops that are active in combat-intel-psywar operations in the countryside continue and remain to be legitimate targets of the Red Army.

The NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command has directed all Red fighters in the region to remain on alert status, intensify its base building and base defense work, expand its services in the guerilla bases and guerilla zones, punish AFP troops operating in civilian communities, and pursue revolutionary justice for the basic masses who are victims of repression and fascist abuses.

As it awaits positive development in the forthcoming peace negotiations between the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the Red Army shall defend its ranks and the masses through armed offensives and counter-offensives, foil the AFP’s treacherous and ruthless military operations, and remain committed in addressing the roots of the armed conflict.

Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
NPA-SMROC

Abusive AFP operating troops in Monkayo, Comval struck in NPA counter-offensives, 6 firearms seized

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Press Statement, New People’s Army, Regional Operations Command, Southern Mindanao Region

The 8th Pulang Bagani Company-New People’s Army carried out a series of counter-offensives against the operating troops of the 25th Infantry Battalion, punishing 11 fascist soldiers and seizing six firearms during a raid, an attritive action and an ambush on August 2, 4 and 5, 2016 in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley.

The NPA’s punitive action is a just reprisal in the face of atrocities committed by the 25th IB combat soldiers such as ransacking of civilian houses and farms, mauling and intimidation of peasants and Lumads in Monkayo town since June. In fact, the notorious Army unit had not reduced the intensity of its combat-intel-psywar operations in the communities during GRP. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s short-lived unilateral ceasefire last week.

The 8th PBC-NPA on August 2, neutralized Cpl. Castro, an intelligence operative of the 25thIB who was caught conducting combat intel operation in the communities of Brgy. Baylo, Monkayo. Seized from him were a 9mm caliber and .22 caliber pistols.Two days later, the Red fighters engaged a platoon of the 25th IB in Brgy. Pasian, Monkayo, killing two Army soldiers and wounding three others.

At around 7:30 this morning, August 5, the Red fighters successfully ambushed a company of the 25th IB in Sitio Inuburan, Brgy. Rizal, killing 5 AFP troops, seizing two M203 grenade launchers, one M4 rifles, Harris radios, and several other military hardware.

The 8th PBC’s tactical counter-offensives against an abusive AFP unit in the peasant and Lumad villages should serve as a stern warning to other operating Army units in Southern Mindanao region. These AFP troops that are active in combat-intel-psywar operations in the countryside continue and remain to be legitimate targets of the Red Army.

The NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command has directed all Red fighters in the region to remain on alert status, intensify its base building and base defense work, expand its services in the guerilla bases and guerilla zones, punish AFP troops operating in civilian communities, and pursue revolutionary justice for the basic masses who are victims of repression and fascist abuses.

As it awaits positive development in the forthcoming peace negotiations between the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the Red Army shall defend its ranks and the masses through armed offensives and counter-offensives, foil the AFP’s treacherous and ruthless military operations, and remain committed in addressing the roots of the armed conflict.

Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
NPA-SMROC

Kadaugang mas bililhon pa sa bulawan

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IMG_20131210_100659-e1432549510448Napahawa na ang multinasyunal nga kompanya sa mining nga Glencore-Xstrata. Human ang kapin duha ka dekadang makanunayon ug walay puas nga pakigbisog, napalayas na sa rebolusyonaryo ug progresibong mga pwersa ang impakto nga mihulgang gun-obon ang atong kayutaan ug atong katawhan. Atong naabog gikan sa south central Mindanao ang tulo ka labing peligrosong imperyalistang mga panulay: Xstrata, Glencore ug Western Mining Company.

Ang CPP-NPA-NDF ug ang tanang rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa sa FarSouth Mindanao Region ug ang tanang katawhang Pilipinong tinuod nga nagmahal sa atong kayutaan ug mga bahandi, nalipay niini nga kadaugan. Kadaugan kini nga mas bililhon ug lalom og dulot kaysa sa tanang bulawan ug minerales sa kalibutan.

Dili sayon ang makig-away sa nag-unang mga mangawkaway sa kalibutan. Duha ka dekada na ang milabay, ang Australyanong multinasyunal nga Western Mining Co. misulay nga abton ang bahandianong mga depositong mineral nga nahimutang sa upat ka mga probinsya sa south central Mindanao. Ilalom sa Mining Act of 1995 sa rehimeng Ramos, ang kompanya nakabaton og financial technical assistance agreement (FTAA) o katungod nga mo-explore ug minahon ang 99,400 ektaryang kayutaan, usa ka eryang moapekto sa dili moubos og 250,000 ka mga mag-uuma ug minoryang katawhan nga nagpuyo hasulod sa luna sa minahan niini. Ang usa ka open pit mine nga susama niini kadaku mobungkag sa atong kabukiran, mokontamina sa atong mga suba, mokawkaw sa atong copper ug bulawan ug walay hunong nga mopahimulos sa mga masa.

Sa walaý paglubad sa kaakuhan niini, ang rebolusyonaryong kalihukan mibarug ug mipalihok sa katawhan aron suklan ang naasoy nga imperyalistang panulay. Mga taktikal nga opensiba ug aksyong pagsilot ang gilunsad batok sa AFP ug sa Investment Defense Forces nga nag-alagad isip armadong security contingents sa kompanya. Kadungan niini, ang demokratikong mga pwersa sa FarSouth Mindanao mimartsa sa kadalanan aron iprotesta ang pag-atake sa mga higante sa mining nganha sa atong patrimonya ug ibutyag ang wala’y-katagbawang kahakog sa ganansya sa imperyalista nga mialaut sa atong kabus nga lumad ug mag-uumang molupyo. Liboan ka katawhan ang aktibong nagsalmot sa naasoy nga mga serye sa militanteng mga aksyong masa nga padayong nagkadaku sa paglabay sa mga katuigan. Usa ka ligal nga pakig-away sab ang gilunsad sa people’s organization nga La Bugal, nga nagkwestyon sa ligalidad sa Mining Act. Niadtong 2004, midaug ang kaso sa katawhan. Apan wala maabti og usa ka tuig, gibali sa Korte Suprema and desisyon niini, nga nag-ingong gikinahanglan sa estado ang kita gikan sa langyawng mamumuhunan sa mining.

Tungod dili na niini kayahon ang pagsukol sa rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa ug katawhan, ang Western Mining Co. niadtong 2005 sikreto nga mibaligya sa ilang mga sapi sa laing higanteng kompanya sa mining nga Xstrata Plc. Sa tabang sa lokal nga kasosyo niini nga Sagittarius Mines Inc. nga gipanag-iyahan sa dakung kumprador burgisyang si Alcantara ug lokal nga mga burukrata, milampos ang Xstrata nga sudlon ang luna sa minahan aron ipadayon ang gimbuhatong eksplorasyon didto. Aron mamahimo kini, gipadak-an sa kompanya ang pwersang pangseguridad niini, mipahigayon og operasyong saywar nga naglakip sa pagpanuhol ug pagkabig sa pipila ka mga lider sa lumad, ug agresibong pro-mining nga kampanyang propaganda – ilalom sa proteksyon sa AFP ug mga paramilitar niini. Pinaagi sa sistemang padrino, pagpanuhol ug korapsyon, sayon nga nakamang sa kompanya ang “bulahang grasya” sa rehimen ug mga ahensya niini.

Aron makaugat ang Xstrata-SMI sa mga erya sa mining, gipahigayon ang labing madautong mga kampanyang militar nga pagpamig-ot batok sa rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa ug mga masa sa mining area sa kompanya. Ilalom sa Oplan Bantay Laya ug Oplan Bayanihan sa mga rehimen nila Arroyo ug Aquino, usa ka kampanyang terrorismo ug pagpanglingla ang gilunsad diin puloan ka libong alaut nga mga residente ang napalayas gikan sa ilang mga panimalay, ug gipanggukod ug gipamatay ang mga lider sa masa ug mga aktibista. Ang labing bangis niini mao ang ekstrahudisyal nga mga pagpatay sa mga aktibistang kontra-mina nga sila ni Renato Pacaide, ang mag-igsoong Lagaro, Boy Billanes, Jovy Capion ug ang iyang duha ka mga batang anak nga lalaki, Datu Anting Freay ug ang iyang anak nga si Viktor ug ang pinanggang misyonaryo ug tigpanalipod sa lumad nga si Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio. Anaa sab mga pagpangdagit, mga pagtortyur, pagpanghulga ug mga pagkahanaw sa inosenteng mga sibilyan nga gipasanginlang nagakontra sa kompanya. Malungtaron ug dili-sayon ug nabulit sa dugo ang atong pakig-away.

Tungod sa mapadayunong mga kalihukang masa, ang gubyerno sa probinsya sa South Cotabato niadtong 2010 napugos nga moisyu og environmental code nga nagabawal sa open pit mining sa naasoy nga probinsya. Labaw pa kining nakapalagsik sa aktibong adbokasiya sa mga nanalipod sa kinaiyahan nga padayong nagkontra ug nagbabag sa kompanya bisan og ang Executive Order #79 sa rehimeng BS Aquino gidisenyo aron patigbabawan ang pagbawal sa open pit.

Ang sustenidong armadong mga aksyong pagsilot nga gilunsad sa mga Pulang manggugubat ug rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa nga naglakip sa mga raid ug mga pag-ambus sa armadong tauhan sa kompanya; ug ang mga masa, ang dayag nga demokratikong mga kalihukang masa walaý paglurang nga nagpadayon, samtang mas nagkadaghan ang katawhang nakamatngon sa dagkung kadaut nga dalhon sa large scale nga pagmina sa Xstrata-SMI. Atubangan sa pagkontra gikan sa halos tanang mga sektor sa populasyon ug sa armadong pagsukol sa rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa, ang Xstrata wala nakakab-ot sa gitakdang operasyon niini. Busa, napugos kining ibaligya ang ilang katungod sa pagmina didto sa Glencore nga usa sab ka gamhanang multinasyunal. Apan human ang pipila ka tuig sa desperadong mga pagmaniubra aron palig-onon ang ilang kaugalingon, pakyas ang naasoy nga mga kompanya. Niadtong 2014, miatras na sila ug mibiya.

Samtang nagsadya kita alang niini nga kadaugan, usa ka mas peligrosong hulga ang nagalutaw. Ang Indophil, usa ka Australyanong multinasyunal nga gitukod sa kanhing mga manager sa WMC, kuyog ang labing adunahang Pilipino nga mga kumprador-agalong yutaan nga sila Henry Sy, Consunji, Alcantara, ug Lucio Tan nagapadayag og interes nga ipadayon ang Tampakan copper-gold project. Ginamit ang mas malinglahong plano sa pagmina sa erya, gikaingon nga ilang gipalihok ang Iglesia ni Kristo (nanag-iya og sapi sa SM Holdings Co. ni Henry Sy) aron mopahigayon og “small scale mining”ug sa ingon malusotan ang pagbawal sa open pit mining.

Ang New People’s Army ug ang tibuok rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa sa FarSouth Mindanao kanunayng matinud-anon sa pagpadayon sa mandato sa paglunsad og gubat batok sa labing makadaut, limbongan ug madaugdaugong mga kompanya nga naga-opereyt sa Pilipinas. Sama sa mga nahimo niini sa milabayng mga dekada, buhaton niini ang pinakamaayong mahimo aron babagan kining labing ulahing paglapas, ug duyog sa katawhan, padayon nga depensahan ang yuta ug ilang panginabuhian. Labaw sa tanan, ipadayon niini ang pagduso sa nasudnong industriyalisasyon ug itisok ang liso alang sa progresibo ug gawasnong katilingban.

Ka Efren Aksasato
Tigpamaba, NDF-FarSouth Mindanao Region

The armed resistance and unceasing broad and intensified protests of the masses stop the Tampakan copper-gold project

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[Bisaya»]

DENR Sec. Gina Lopez is commendable for her remarkably firm stand against open pit mining in the country, as well as her decisive asseveration of the Duterte administration’s disapproval of the controversial and environmentally destructive US$5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato.

The Philippine government was never determined in defending the environment and the people’s welfare. Instead guileful schemes and atrocious policies such as RA 7942 and EO 79 were created to legitimize mining plunder.

Photo: Sagitarius Mines

Photo: Sagitarius Mines

In February 2013, the BS Aquino government even issued an environment compliance certificate (ECC) for Xstrata-SMI, the operator of the Tampakan mine, despite the intensifying people’s resentment against the devastative effects of large-scale mining. The issuance of the ECC blatantly defy and shelve the anti-open pit mining provisions of the Environment Code of South Cotabato which reflects the people’s real sentiment against the Tampakan copper-gold project.

Widespread human rights violations and killings highlighted the “cleansing” of the mining site in preparation for the mining operations. Not only did the foreign mining company effectively rob the indigenous people of their ancestral land, it also bankrolled AFP troops and operatives who do the murdering of anti-mining activists and slaying of Lumad mining dissidents.

In the face of the state-backed aggressive attacks on the indigenous people and civilians, the Lumad people in the mining site have waged armed resistance to defend their ancestral land and right to self-determination. An unceasing fight in the legal front against the Xstrata-SMI mining encroachment was also carried out by the broad masses in FarSouth Mindanao Region. The vicious exploits of the greedy miners and the military were exposed, earning widespread denunciation from anti-mining and human rights advocates in the country and around the globe.

While the government took no serious consideration about the issues pertaining to the environment and the indigenous people’s welfare, the national democratic movement in FarSouth Mindanao has always been a consistent leading force in the people’s struggle against environmentally destructive large-scale mining protected by the reactionary state.

The New People’s Army and the revolutionary forces in the region are the most reliable allies of the weak and disenfranchised victims of the mining company encroachment and state atrocities. Over the past years, the NPA have carried out several punitive actions against the company, its private armed guards and the AFP and PNP troops protecting its operation.

The masses and the revolutionary movement have proven that their revolutionary armed resistance and the unceasing broad and intensified protests are the most powerful weapons in defending themselves and hinder the large-scale mining operation. These are also the primal reasons that pushed the Australian company Western Mining Corporation to withdraw in 2005, and the Anglo-Swiss multinational Glencore-Xstrata International Plc to divest from the Tampakan project putting its operation on hold since 2014. And these are the most compelling factors for the DENR to come up with the crucial decision to stop the Tampakan copper-gold project.

Sec. Lopez’s announcement to cease the mining operation in Tampakan is congruent with the people’s stand in objecting the disastrous and plunderous mining project. Certainly, it is a victory of the democratic mass movement and the unwavering revolutionary armed struggle in the countryside who will never give up the fight in defending the people’s interests and welfare and the protection of the environment.

It is anticipated that in the presence of the open-pit mining ban, superprofit-greedy miners are likely to employ other mining methods so that their operation would be uninterrupted. Still, they will be putting the lives of the people and the environment at risk. But the NPA and revolutionary forces and the broad masses in FarSouth Mindanao are determined to carry on the battle against mining destruction and plunder, and win bigger victories for the people and the environment.

Ka Efren Aksasato
Spokesperson, NDF – FarSouth Mindanao Region

Bisaya

Ang armadong pagsukol ug walay-hunong nga halapad ug kusgan nga mga protesta sa mga masa ang nakapahunong sa Tampakan copper-gold project

Angay dayegon si Sec. Gina Lopez sa iyang gipakitang kalig-on sa baruganan batok sa open pit mining sa nasud, ug sa iyang mahukmanong pagduso sa pagbasura sa administrayong Duterte sa kontrobersyal ug labihan ka makadaut sa kinaiyahang nagkantidad og US$5.9 bilyon nga Tampakan copper-gold project sa South Cotabato.

Ang gubyerno walay gipakitang determinasyon aron panalipdan ang kinaiyahan ug kaayohan sa katawhan. Inay nagmugna hinoon og malinglahong mga pamaagi ug madautong mga palisiya sama sa RA 7942 ug EO 79 aron himoong lehitimo ang pagpangawkaw sa mining.

Niadtong Pebrero 2013, ang gubyernong BS Aquino mi-isyu og environment compliance certificate (ECC) alang sa Xstrata-SMI nga naga-opereyt sa minahan sa Tampakan taliwa sa nagkagrabeng kasuko sa katawhan sa labihan ka magun-obong mga epekto sa dinagkung pagmina. Ang pag-isyu sa ECC lantarang pagsupak ug pagsalikway sab sa anti-open pit nga mga probisyon sa Environment Code sa South Cotabato nga nagapadayag sa tinuod nga sentimento sa katawhan sa batok sa Tampakan copper-gold project.

Nagbansiwag ang kaylap nga mga pagpanglapas sa tawhanong katungod ug mga pagpamatay aron “hinloan” ang mining site atul sa pagpangamdam alang sa operasyon sa mining. Dili lamang epektibong nailog sa langyawng kompanya sa mining ang yutang kabilin sa mga Lumad, ilaha sab gisuholan ang mga tropa ug mga operatiba sa AFP aron mohimo sa pagpamatay sa mga aktibistang kontra-mina ug pagpang-ihaw sa mga Lumad nga nagbabag sa mining.

Atubangan sa gipaluyohan sa estado nga agresibong mga pagpangatake batok sa minoryang tribu ug mga sibilyan, ang mga Lumad nga katawhan sa mining site naglunsad og armadong pagsukol aron panalipdan ang ilang yutang kabilin ug katungod sa kaugalingong paghukom. Mipahigayon sab ang halapad nga katawhang masa sa FarSouth Mindanao Region og walay-hunong nga pakiglantugi sa ligal nga nataran batok sa pagpanulong sa Xstrata-SMI. Nabutyag ang mga dautang binuhatan sa hakog nga mga minero ug militar nga nakadawat og halapad nga pagpanghimaraut gikan sa mga kontramina ug makatawhanong mga entidad sa nasud ug sa tibuok kalibutan.

Samtang ang gubyerno walay seryosong pagpakabana sa mga hisgutanan kalabot sa kaayohan sa kinaiyahan ug mga minoryang katawhan, and nasudnon-demokratikong kalihukan sa FarSouth Mindanao mao ang makanunayon nga namunong pwersa sa pakigbisog sa katawhan batok sa makadaut sa kinaiyahan nga large-scale mining nga ginapanalipdan sa reaksyunaryong estado.

Ang New People’s Army ug ang rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa sa rehiyon mao ang labing masaligang mga alyado sa huyang ug nahikawan sa katungod nga mga biktima sa pagpanulong sa kompanya sa mina ug pagpangatake sa estado.

Napamatud-an sa masang katawhan ug sa rebolusyonaryong kalihukan nga ang ilahang rebolusyonaryong armadong pagsukol ug ang walay-hunong nga halapad ug nagkakusog nga mga protesta mao ang labing gamhanan nga mga hinagiban sa pagpanalipod sa ilang kaugalingon ug babagan ang operasyon sa makaut nga dinagkung pagmina. Mao sab kini ang nag-unang mga hinungdan nga nakatukmod Australyanong kompanya nga Western Mining Corporation nga mobiya niadtong 2005, ug sa Anglo-Swiss nga kompanyang multinasyunal nga Glencore-Xstrata International Plc sa pag-atras sa ilang puhunan sa proyekto sa Tampakan nga nakapaoktaba sa operasyon sa minahan sukad pa niadtong 2014. Ug mao sab kini ang pinakamadut-anong mga butang alang sa DENR aron mopagula sa mahinungdanon kaayong desisyon nga undangon ang Tampakan copper-gold project.

Ang pag-anunsyo ni Sec. Lopez sa pagpahunong sa mining operation sa Tampakan nagauyon sa baruganang pagsupak sa katawhan sa labihan ka peligroso ug limbongan nga proyekto sa mining. Tuod man, kadaugan kini sa demokratikong kalihukang masa ug sa walay puas nga rebolusyonaryong armadong pakigbisog sa kabukiran nga dili mohunong sa pakig-away aron depensahan ang interes ug kaayohan sa katawhan ug panalipdan ang kinaiyahan.

Ginadamhan nga sa pagbawal sa open-pit mining, ang hakog sa superganansya nga mga minero mogamit og uban pang mga pamaagi sa pagmina aron makapadayon ang ilang operasyon. Sa ingon, ilaha gihapon ibutang sa peligro ang kinabuhi sa katawhan ug ang kinaiyahan. Apan ang NPA ug rebolusyonaryong mga pwersa ug ang halapad nga mga masa sa FarSouth Mindanao determinado nga ipadayon ang pakig-away batok sa pagpangdaut ug pagpanglimbong sa mining, ug kab-oton ang mas dagkung kadaugan alang sa katawhan ug sa kinaiyahan.

Ka Efren Aksasato
Tigpamaba, NDF-FarSouth Mindanao Region