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

Oppose the fascist proposal to revive the ROTC requirement

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the Filipino youth and people in opposing the proposal to revive the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) as a requirement for college students. That bringing back ROTC will “instill discipline and love of country” is a fascist notion that must be opposed with all-out effort.

Only the absolutists will insist that the Filipino youth and people lackdiscipline. They want to revive the Marcos line “para sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan”, in order to instill blind obedience to state authority and submission to the will of the dictator. The revival of the ROTC will only lead to the fascist mind-conditioning of a new generation of Filipinos.

The only discipline that the ROTC will instill is one that is based on fear. The ROTC and bourgeois military training in general is fundamentally anti-democratic and based on robotic obedience to authority. It promotes dogmatism, zealotry, regimentation and acceptance of dictatorial systems.

At the core of bourgeois military training is the use of physical, verbal and psychological abuse. Hazing and torture in military training is not an excess. These are standard fare. It dehumanizes its trainees in order to prepare them to wage an inhuman war against the people and trample on the people’s rights with impunity. There is no way of preventing abuse under the ROTC without doing away with the training itself.

The ROTC will never instill “love of country.” The US-indoctrinated officials and men of the AFP can never be teachers of genuine patriotism. The AFP is the most reliable machinery of US domination in the country. It was formed and is continuously trained, supported and armed by the US military. The AFP has always been trusted to suppress forces which advocate protection of national patrimony and advance the struggle for national freedom. It is always the first to welcome and justify US military and political intervention.

A bureaucratic capitalist state will never inspire discipline. Corruption and crime in government and conditions of social crisis induces people to break the rules themselves. With his pronouncements expressing contempt for rules (especially in police operations as well as in government procurement), GRP President Duterte himself is inducing people to step on the laws and do away with discipline even as projects himself as being incorruptible.

Imposing discipline on the people while exempting oneself from rules make a dangerous combination for autocracy.

The CPP extends its all-out support to the Filipino youth in opposing the revival of the ROTC. It will do well for them to recall the history of the AFP as an instrument of foreign domination and fascist rule and how it remains beholden to the US military and continues to serve US geo-political interests in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region.

They must rebel against the imposition of discipline by the oppressive and bureaucrat capitalist state and uphold self-discipline of genuine selfless service to the people.

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

Red salute to Ka Wendell M. Gumban, communist, Red fighter, UP alumnus

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[Bisaya »]

The National Democratic Front in Southern Mindanao gives its highest honors to Wendell “Ka Joaquin” M. Gumban, communist, Red Army officer and University of the Philippines alumnus who was martyred along with Sario “Ka Glen” Mabanding during a firefight against the 66th Infantry Battalion-AFP on July 23 in Sitio Pong-pong, Brgy. Andap, New Bataan, Compostela Valley.

Ka Joaquin, 30, joined the national democratic movement as a member of the Kabataang Makabayan during his college days at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He was recruited to the Communist Party of the Philippines shortly after and became the secretary of the Party organ that consolidated the Philippine Collegian, UP’s student publication. Later, he became a member of the leading Party organ assigned in the university. In 2010, he was tasked to do full-time work in the trade union movement before joining the New People’s Army in Mindanao in late 2011.

He became a valuable part of the Party’s consolidation work in the Red bases and expansion work in the guerilla zone. As a political instructor of an NPA unit, he contributed to the expansion of guerrilla units and political consolidation of Red fighters.

As a communist, Ka Joaquin wrestled with his petty bourgeois origin and struggled to live in the spirit of simple living and hard struggle. He overcame the limitations of his frail frame, weak eyesight, even an unfamiliar dialect, to serve the Lumads and peasants of Southern Mindanao. Brilliant and daring, Ka Joaquin is an inspiration to the intellectual youth. He chose not the life of comfort that he could have otherwise led, but the life of selfless service and sacrifice at the bosom of people’s war.

The revolutionary forces in the region, the Red Army and the Communist Party celebrate the life of Ka Joaquin for his significant contribution to the people’s war and for his unwavering belief that a youthful intellectual’s place—as are all exploited classes in our society—is in the revolution.

Bisaya:

Pulang saludo kang Ka Wendell M. Gumban, komunista, Pulang manggugubat, UP alumnus

Photo by Myan Lordiane | PinoyWeekly.org

Photo by Myan Lordiane | PinoyWeekly.org

Gitanyag sa National Democratic Front of the Philippines sa Southern Mindanao ang pinakataas nga pagsaludo kang Wendell “Ka Joaquin” Gumban, komunista, opisyal sa Pulang Hukbo ug alumnus sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, nga namartir kuyog ni Sario “Ka Glen” Mabanding sa usa ka panagsangka batuk sa 66IB-AFP niadtong Hulyo 23 sa Sitio Pong-pong, Brgy. Andap, New Bataan Compostela Valley.

Miduyog si Ka Joaquin, 30, sa kalihukang nasudnon-demokratiko isip membro sa Kabataang Makabayan panahon sa iyang kolehiyo sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa Diliman. Wala nadugay, narekrut siya sa Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ug nahimong kalihim sa organo sa Partido nga nagkonsolida sa Philippine Collegian, ang mantalaan sa mga estudyante sa UP. Kadugayan, nahimo siyang membro sa nangulong organo nga gitahasan sa Partido sulod sa unibersidad. Niadtong 2010, natahasan siya nga mag-pultaym sa kalihukang mamumuo ayha siya misampa sa New People’s Army ulahing bahin sa 2011.

Mahinungdanong bahin si Ka Joaquin sa gimbuhatong konsolidasyon sa Pulang base ug gimbuhatong pagpalapad sa sonang gerilya. Isip political instructor sa usa ka yunit sa NPA, mitampo siya sa pagpalapad sa mga yunit gerilya ug pangpulitikang konsolidasyon sa mga Pulang manggugubat.

Isip komunista, naningkamot si Ka Joaquin nga patigbabawan ang iyang petiburgis nga kagikan ug ikinabuhi ang diwa sa simpleng panginabuhi ug bug-os nga pakigbisog. Gipatigbabawan niya ang limitasyon sa iyang panglawas, huyang nga panan-aw, bisan ang langyaw nga pinulongan, aron moalagad sa mga Lumad ug mag-uuma sa Southern Mindanao. Maalam ug mapangahason, usa ka inspirasyon si Ka Joaquin sa kabatan-onang intelektwal. Gipili niya dili ang makikaugalingong kinabuhi nga haruhay apan ang kinabuhi sa wala’y kinutobang pag-alagad ug sakripisyo sa sabakan sa gubat sa kaatawhan.

Ginapasidunggan sa tanang rebolusyonaryong pwersa sa rehiyon, sa Pulang hukbo ug sa Partido Komunista ang kinabuhi ni Ka Joaquin alang sa iyang mahinungdanong tampo sa gubat sa katawhan ug sa iyang hugot nga pagtuo nga ang luna sa tanang kabatan-onang intelektwal—sama sa tanang pinahimuslang hut-ong sa katilingban—wala lain kundili sa rebolusyon.

 

STATEMENT AGAINST US MISLABELLING CPP AND NPA AS TERRORIST

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By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
June 4, 2016

In Philippine history, US imperialism is the biggest terrorist force by massacring 1.5 million Filipinos from 1899 to 1913. Since after World War II, the US has carried out wars of aggression and instigated massacres in several continents, murdering more than 35 million people. In the whole world today, it is the biggest terrorist force by carrying out wars of aggression in the Middle East and Africa, killing millions of people, destroying social infrastructure and rendering millions of people homeless and without means of livelihood and forcing them to flee to Europe by the millions. Read more

On the positive outcome of Oslo talks — CPP

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AQUINO DISTORTS FACTS ON PEACE TALKS WITH THE NDFP

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Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiatiang Panel
28/05/2016

Out-going President Benigno S. Aquino III distorts the facts in saying that it was not his regime but the NDFP that walked out of the peace talks.

On February 26, 2013 when both sides were discussing the proposed truce and cooperation between the Aquino government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, Aquino’s delegation of special representatives, led by his Political Adviser walked out of the negotiations. Whereafter, Norwegian Special Envoy Ture Lundh called him and Prof. Jose Maria Sison, Founding Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines to a sidebar meeting. Ambassador Lundh proposed a reconvening after the GPH delegation walk-out. Read more

Militant Greetings to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on the 43rd Anniversary of its Founding

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We, foully detained National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants and other political prisoners in Camp Bagong Diwa and in other detention areas throughout the country, send our militant greetings to the NDFP on the 43rd anniversry of its founding.

The NDFP, a solid and deep alliance of 18 national democratic revolutionary organizations with millions in total membership throughout the country and abroad, has consistently been growing and gaining significant inroads through the wide swath of struggles these patriotic and progressive people’s organizations have been waging, in the interest of the mass of the Filipino people, in the country and abroad.

The NDFP has been carrying on revolutionary struggles of the Filipino people and its various sectors in the country and abroad. Its revolutionary activities have been ranging from arousing, educating, and organizing the masses; waging of mass struggles for agrarian reform, production, health care, environmental protection; waging of revolutionary armed struggle; and building local organs of political power. It has also been promoting extra-parliamentary struggles, and forging various levels of unities and cooperation with other revolutionary, patriotic and other allied forces in the country.

It has also been actively supporting people’s wars and other struggles of fraternal people’s organizations in other countries, joining a number of international organizations, leagues and associations of peoples, and participating in international people’s fora, tribunals and other progressive people’s activities abroad.

The NDFP has, since the downfall of the outright fascist regime of Ferdinand Marcos, also been engaged in peace talks with successive post-martial law regimes.

Just as it had been doing with earlier post-martial law regimes, the NDFP has consistently been seeking peace talks with the current — even if outgoing — ruling regime of Benigno S. Aquino III.

It has, however, been under the present reactionary puppet regime of Benigno S. Aquino III, where practically nothing has been achieved in the peace process. Nor has the latter shown any real interest in the peace process with the NDFP.

Since the downfall of the outright Martial Law regime, it has also been under the present regime where the biggest number of NDFP peace consultants and other political prisoners have been foully hurled into and viciously kept in jail on the basis of trumped-up charges — all, in violation of standing peace agreements, as well as of local and international protocols and laws. Despite the clear, documented existence of more than 500 NDFP-related political prisoners at present, the ruling reactionary regime of Benigno S. Aquino III has even kept on denying the existence of political prisoners.

Since Day One of its rule up to the present eve of its exit and replacement, the current reactionary puppet regime of Benigno S. Aquino III has only shown that it knows nothing and has done nothing, but to kowtow to the interests of its U.S. imperialist master and the interests of the big compradors, big feudal lords and big bureaucrat capitalists.

Worse, it has conditioned the committing of outright fascist violence against hungry, exploited and oppressed people asking for their right to land, food and protection from violence.

The massacre committed in 2004 against peasants and their supporters demanding agrarian reform in the Hacienda Luisita of Benigno S. Aquino III’s clan has recently been followed by the firing of bullets, beatings, arrests, harrasments, hurling into jail and other gross acts of violence — against other hungry, exploited and oppressed masses — committed under the reign of Benigno S. Aquino III.

Most recent among these have been the September 2015 and onward killings and other acts of fascism against the lumad and their communities, their educators and the shutting down of their schools. They have instigated forced evacuations and further acts of fascism against lumad refugees seeking protection in the Haran compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Davao del Norte; the November 2015 total burning down of the lumad Alternative Learning Center for Livelihood and Development (ALCADEV) and harassment of surrounding lumad communities in Tandag City; and the April 1, 2016 and onward killings and other acts of fascism against hungry peasants merely asking for rice and seeking protection from violence in the Methodist compound in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.

Even as it relies mainly on the people’s war — waged by the New People’s Army and related NDFP forces — for as long as such fascist acts will only continue unabated and even be heightened further, and for as long as the other age-old basic problems of the people continue to be ignored and unresolved, and for as long as the people’s demands for substantive solutions are met only with deaf ears and violence from the reactionary ruling state and regimes, still the NDFP remains always open to peace talks with the other side. This, for as long as the other side would also be open to peace efforts.

Aside from its many crimes against the people — including the aforementioned grave acts of violence against the displaced lumad and hungry peasants — because of the lack of intent and little time left for it to change, the outgoing regime of Benigno S. Aquino III is already a dead duck.

On its 43rd anniversary, the NDFP celebrates the all-rounded victories of the people’s war and the continuing defeat of the U.S. and its local puppet regime’s Oplan Bayanihan and the latter’s arrogant objective of defeating and marginalizing the NPA within a few years.

At the same time, the NDFP always remain open to peace talks and hopeful for the progress of such, and is thus always willing to sit at the negotiating table with its opposite at the helm of the ruling state — for as long as the latter is also truly open to it and serious enough about it.

The NDFP looks forward to more victories for the people at present and in the future!

Long live the NDFP and its allied organizations!
Victory to the causes and struggles of the NDFP and the Filipino people!

National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants
Adelberto Silva
Alan Jazmines
Ernesto Lorenzo
Loida Magpatoc
Ruben Saluta
Tirso Alcantara
and other political prisoners in Camp Bagong Diwa.

Political Prisoners’ Strong Condemnation of the Cruel Fascist Treatment against Hungry Farmers and Lumad Who Rallied Just to Ask for Rice

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We, detained peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and other political prisoners here in Camp Bagong Diwa, strongly condemn the brutal assaults, killings, other acts of violence and gross violations of human rights committed by reactionary police forces against the hungry peasants and lumad, who, since March 30, have massed at the Kidapawan City center in North Cotabato to seek urgent hunger and disaster relief.

The fascism that has just been taking place is no different from what had been taking place during the outright martial law of the Marcos regime.

Those hungry peasants and lumad are indeed victims of the long dry spell caused by the El Niño that dried up their farms. But they are are also victims of gross negligence of the ruling national government of Benigno S. Aquino III and the local government of North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza in even just monitoring the dire situation of the suffering peasants and lumad, much less looking after the victims, and rendering them immediate and long-term relief.

Those peasants and lumad, who have been suffering already about a billion pesos worth of destruction of their farms, are fully aware that many billions of pesos in the form of cash and in the form of stocked rice have long been in the hands of the ruling powers, supposedly for food security and support to victims of disasters and hunger as in the cases of those peasants and lumad.

Those peasants and lumad merely asked for immediate relief… at least for rice, so that they may have something to eat in the face of the disaster and their hunger.

But the ruling powers and their police forces unleashed on the rallying hungry peasants and lumad, bullets, beatings and deaths… instead of the rice these victims of disaster and hunger were rallying and asking for.

Two of the rallyists immediately died from gunshots, another died later, and 116 more have suffered bullet wounds, violent beatings and detention in the hands of the fascist police forces.

The rest had to seek safety in a nearby Methodist Church compound. Still, the fascist police forces continued with their hostile reaction by conducting saturation drives and continuing fascist harassment, even where the rallying peasants and lumad had sought immediate sanctuary from the fascist response to their pleas for food.

The violent fascist reaction against the rally of the peasants and lumads to merely ask for rice also affected journalists covering the event, as one news reporter was hit and wounded, while another was arrested — and only released after he was later confirmed to be a news reporter.

Instead of rectifying the fascist treatment rendered to the rallying hungry peasants and lumad, the reactionary national and local governments and their police forces have gone to the extent of distorting the reports and inventing ridiculous stories about the rallyists as being the ones who had guns and who had been shooting at the dispersal forces, and that it is actually the New People’s Army that was organizing the rally. The fascist police forces even absurdly brought to jail and charged with criminal cases a number of rallyists, including pregnant women and elderlies.

Even rice and other humanitarian assistance, immediately to be given to the rallyists, have been blocked by the fascist police forces.

The Filipino people know full well that the reactionary national and local governments and police forces have only been viciously seeking to shift to others the blame for their indifference and negligence in the face of the widespread disaster and hunger among the masses of peasants and lumad, and the blame for the violence that took place in the Kidapawan rally.

The fascist and violent treatment these suffering peasants and lumad have been undergoing are no different from the fascism and violence rendered to other lumad communities, including the killing of lumad educators and school personnel in the Alternative Learning Center for Livelihood and Development (ALCADEV) and harassment of surrounding lumad communities in Tandag City in September, 2015, and the eventual total burning down of the ALCADEV compound last November; the continued harassment of lumad refugees from Surigao del Sur who had to seek protection in the Haran compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Davao del Norte in March last year, and the continued application of fascist pressures early this year to force the lumad refugees to return to their harassed communities.

Many of the sympathetic people in our country are no longer waiting for the reactionary national and local governments to give support to the hungry peasants and lumads who rallied to ask for food. Aside from progressive mass organizations like Kilusang Mayo Uno, many workers’ unions and other people’s organizations, progressive legislators like Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares; and many sympathetic actors and actresses, like Robin Padilla, Anne Curtis, Jasmine Curtis, Angel Locsin, Daniel Padilla, Bianca Gonzales-Intal , the entire crew of “Radyo ni Juan”, and many residents in neigboring Davao have immediately sent truckloads of rice and generous amounts of cash in response to the cry for food by the hungry peasants and lumad in Kidapawan, and to make up for the mere excuses and actual lack of sympathy and response by the reactionary national and local governments.

More celebrities, including Nora Aunor, Aiza Seguerra, Liza Diño-Seguerra, Seb Castro and Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Queen Carlene Aguilar and the Browman Revival musicians also voiced out strong condemnations against the fascist cruelties applied against the hungry peasants and lumads who simply rallied to ask for food. “Bigas, hindi bala” has also now become a popular internet hash tag.

We, political prisoners, are also sending our support, not only in spirit, but also in material form — in the form of a part of the sale of our art works and handicrafts — for even a little such can contribute to help the suffering hungry peasants and lumads.

Detained NDFP Peace Consultants

Adelberto Silva
Alan Jazmines
Ernesto Lorenzo
Ma. Loida Magpatoc
Ruben Saluta
Tirso Alcantara

and other political prisoners
in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City

Alberto Macasinag
Alex Arias
Alex Birondo
Armand Matres
Cesar Balmaceda
Dennis Ortiz
Diony Borre
Eddie Cruz
Edward Lanzanas
Elmer Torres
Evelyn Legaspi
Gemma Carag
George Bruce
Hermogenes Reyes, Jr.
Isidro de Lima
Jake Calayag
Jared Morales
Jesus Abetria, Jr.
Joel Enano
Jose Nayve
Joseph Cuevas
Jovy Ortiz
Ma. Miradel Torres
Marissa Espedido
Miguela Pinero
Modesto Araza
Pastora Latagan
Pedro Camilita
Presentacion Estrada-Saluta
Rex Villaflor
Rhea Pareja
Rommel Nuñez
Ruben Rupido
Rene Nuyda
Senon Sambola
Sharon Cabusao
Voltaire Guray
Winona Oñate-Birondo

(April 8, 2016)