As a multimedia group, Kodao publishes news stories, opinion essays, cartoons, photos and others here.

Only spoilers are happy with peace talks postponement—Bayan Muna

/in /by

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate expressed dismay in the delay of the resumption of formal talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Reacting to Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza’s announcement Thursday that the scheduled formal talks on June 28 is postponed by President Rodrigo Duterte, Zarate said the issue of public consultations can be addressed while the negotiations are ongoing.

“They should not be used as stumbling blocks or preconditions for the resumption of the negotiations,” Zarate said.

The progressive solon added the Filipino people have long supported the peace talks for a just and lasting peace.

“Indeed, addressing the root causes of the armed conflict like landlessness, oppression and exploitation, among others, will certainly get the continued support of the majority of Filipinos,” Zarate explained.

Meanwhile, defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted military and police authorities expressed concerns the New People’s Army will only use the resumption of the peace talks to strengthen their forces, media outfit Rappler reported.

Lorenzana confirmed this were among the issues GRP security forces raised when GRP negotiators briefed Duterte Wednesday, June 13, on the results of the four round of informal talks in The Netherlands.

“The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) wholly support the President’s peace initiative. But they also raised the alarm that the peace process could be used by the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) to regroup and strengthen their mass base as they have done numerous times before,” Lorenzana told Rappler.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also said this was among the matters raised by security officials during the meeting, Rappler said.

Zarate, however, said such delays will only give “peace spoilers and saboteurs” longer time to sabotage the peace process.

“Resume the talks now. It is only those who benefit and profit from the current inequitable and unjust system will not support the peace talks and will do all they can to sabotage it,” Zarate said.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Joma frustrated with Duterte’s postponement of talks

/in /by

While National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili was diplomatic in expressing his disappointment, Jose Maria Sison expressed outright frustration over President Rodrigo Duterte’s postponement of the resumption of formal talks.

READ: Duterte postpones resumption of formal GRP-NDFP talks

In a statement after the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’s (GRP) Thursday, Sison said it is both disappointing and frustrating Duterte has unilaterally cancelled the scheduled start of the stand-down ceasefire on June 21 and the resumption of formal talks in the peace negotiations in Oslo a week later on June 28.

“The written agreements pertaining to the aforesaid scheduled events have been signed by no less than the respective chairpersons of the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels, DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) Secretary Silvestre Bello and Fidel V. Agcaoili, and witnessed by the Royal Norwegian special envoy Ambasador Idun Tevdt on June 9,” Sison said.

In a press briefing in Malacañan Thursday, Dureza said the initial timeline both parties worked on had to be “necessarily adjusted” after Duterte instructed to government panel to “engage the bigger peace table, the general public.”

“Our peace efforts to succeed should have good support from the general public. Hence, it is necessary that all efforts must be exerted first to inform then engage them in the same way that the government engages the rebels in addressing the root causes of conflict,” Dureza explained.

Dureza’s announcement came after Duterte has said in his Independence Day speech last June 12 the talks shall happen sometime in mid-July, which Agcaoili suspects the GRP President has already decided upon even before meeting the GRP peace panel Wednesday.

In light of Duterte’s order to his negotiators to consult the wider public, Sison challenged the NDFP and GRP panels to divulge the results of four backchannel talks since March.

“I urge the two negotiating panels to release to the public and to the press the written and signed agreements of June 9 and 10 signed by the chairmen of the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels and by the members of their respective special teams,” he said.

Sison said the President’s unilateral decision makes it starkly clear that the GRP under Duterte is not interested in serious peace negotiations with the NDFP

“It is interested vainly in obtaining the NDFP capitulation under the guise of an indefinite ceasefire agreements and breaking the provision in the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on the Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) which requires formal negotiations in a foreign neutral venue and therefore putting the negotiations under the control and under duress of an emerging fascist dictatorship and its armed minions,” Sison said.

“Because the GRP under Duterte is obviously not interested in serious peace negotiations, the revolutionary forces and the people have no choice but to single-mindedly wage people’s war to achieve the national and social liberation of the Filipino people,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Duterte postpones resumption of formal GRP-NDFP talks

/in /by

Government peace adviser Jesus Dureza announced President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to postpone the scheduled June 28 resumption of formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

In a press briefing in Malacañan Thursday, Dureza said the initial timeline both parties worked on had to be “necessarily adjusted” after Duterte instructed to government panel to “engage the bigger peace table, the general public.”

“Our peace efforts to succeed should have good support from the general public. Hence, it is necessary that all efforts must be exerted first to inform then engage them in the same way that the government engages the rebels in addressing the root causes of conflict,” Dureza explained.

It was earlier announced that the thrice-cancelled fifth round of formal talks shall be held on June 28 to 30 after a week of implementing a seven day “stand down agreement” between their respective armed forces starting June 21

“We are now on the cusp of major breakthroughs in the peace talks, hence the urgent need now to take deliberate steps to ensure that we do not falter. Just and sustainable and lasting peace will happen only when our people understand and support these efforts,” Dureza added.

Dureza said that GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III has already called his counterpart to inform them of Duterte’s postponement of the talks.

He added that GRP representatives are set to fly to The Netherlands to personally explain the GRP decision.

Setback

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said they consider the postponement a setback from the schedule that both parties have already agreed upon.

Agcaoili revealed that even before Dureza’s announcement to postpone both the “stand down agreement” and the resumption of formal talks on June 21 and June 28, respectively, the GRP has already told him and the Third Party Facilitator (TPF), the Royal Norwegian Government, of its unilateral decision.

“The GRP also said they would send a team here to The Netherlands this weekend to explain to us the basis of their decision and the Third Party Facilitator shall be present,” Agcaoili told Kodao.

“Of course we consider this a setback from the schedule that we have already agreed upon. But we are ready to receive their team this weekend to explain to us the reasons for their unilateral decision to make adjustments to the schedule,” Agcaoili said.

The NDFP chief negotiator said he was told by the GRP that Duterte wants to study the documents of the four backchannel talks since he ordered the resumption of the negotiations last March.

“But there may also be other reasons. Remember, before he even met his peace panel yesterday, Duterte already announced that the resumption of the talks shall be in mid-July,” Agcaoili said.

He added that the NDFP panel considers the development as merely a rescheduling of the talks, given that GRP courts have agreed to allow six NDFP negotiators to travel to Oslo, Norway for the resumption of formal negotiations.

The six are Benito Tiamzon, Allan Jazmines, Rafael Baylosis, Adelberto Silva, Randall Echanis and Vicente Ladlad.

“The only problem is that the six have yet to be issued visa and departure orders,” Agcaoili said.

The GRP has also yet to answer NDFP and TPF’s queries on the finalization of the coordinated unilateral ceasefire as well as the agrarian reform and rural development and national industrialization and economic development sections of the prospective comprehensive social and economic agreement, he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NUJP, AIJC launch books on journalism

/in /by

By April Burce

“Are we really a democracy when we kill journalists?” asked National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairperson Nonoy Espina as he welcomed partners and guests to the launch of two journalism books “Defending Journalism” and the “Impact of the Reporting of the Mamasapano Incident on the Peace Process” in the Philippines in Quezon City Wednesday.

“These are trying times because we have already lost 11, which according to our records, is the worst ever in the first two years of any president,” Espina said, referring to the number of journalists killed under the Rodrigo Duterte presidency.

“We are afraid it might get worse before it gets better,” he added.

The first book, “Defending Journalism”, is a comparative analysis of how national mechanisms can protect journalists and address the issue of impunity in seven countries.

“Impact of Reporting of the Mamasapano Incident on the Peace Process in the Philippines,” is a review of how the Philippine mass media affected the national discourse after the incident that plunged former President Benigno Aquino to unprecedented lows during the last years of his term.

The books are a collaboration of the NUJP and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication with support from International Media Support (IMS).

In their messages, Lidasan and Ocampo stressed the importance of providing context in the reportage of vital issues, including conflict and human rights.

Journalist Satur Ocampo said, “the coverage of the investigations on countries with experiences of killings of journalists are mostly characterized by long-term social, economic, political and military conflicts. There’s always a connection between the way a state deals with armed conflicts and coverage of armed conflicts and how governments regarded journalists in accordance with the content of what they write.”

Commission on Human Rights chairperson Chito Gascon lauded journalists as human rights defenders, saying freedom of expression and freedom to information are non-derogable rights and cannot be exempted, excused or set aside even in cases of national emergency.

“That is how fundamental these rights are. And our journalists are at the forefront of upholding these rights. Unfortunately, these reports and our experience and history will show that there remains much to be done,” Gascon said.

Gascon pledged the CHR’s support for the campaign to defend freedom of the press and of expression, and to keep journalists safe in a country long described as one of the deadliest places for the profession.

IMS’s Lars Bestle pointed out that the launching of the books is crucial because freedom of expression is under threat in the Philippines.

In his message, IMS’s Lars Bestle pointed out that the launching of the books is crucial because freedom of expression is under threat in the Philippines.

Bestle added that a journalist is killed every five days around the world.

“Our key finding is that all media stakeholders –from government to media, police, and civil society—have to take responsibility and work together to ensure the media’s ability to report freely, safely and accurately without fear of retribution,” he added.

AIJC President Ramon Tuazon said that “Defending Journalism” is not just a book title but a constant reminder to continuously protect freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

“We often encounter publications that examine, ad infinitum, the root causes of impunity in the killing of journalists. ‘Defending Journalism’ provides a fresh approach by choosing to highlight what various stakeholders have successfully done and can do to address the issue and not to be hostaged by the problem,” Tuazon said.

The event was participated in by representatives from major journalism and news organizations including NUJP, IMS, AIJC, UNESCO, Philippine Press Institute (PPI), Center for Community Journalism and Development, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Moro-Christian People’s Alliance, as well as representatives from the Royal Danish Embassy, and Sri Lankan ambassador to the Philippines Aruni Ranaraja. #

It’s ok for Duterte to insist I visit home—Joma

/in /by

President Rodrigo Duterte is not being disruptive in his insistence for Jose Maria Sison to come home and conduct the peace negotiations in the Philippines despite written agreements that the fifth round of formal talks will be held in Norway, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said.

Replying to Duterte’s latest statement that Sison should come home to the Philippines, Sison told Kodao it is likely that Duterte has yet to be briefed on the agreements reached at the informal talks between the NDFP and representatives of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiating panel.

“I tend to believe that [Duterte] is not being discordant or disruptive. It is more likely that he has not yet been briefed by his negotiating panel,” Sison said.

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said he also thinks Duterte has yet to meet with the GRP panel on the results of the informal talks last June 5 to 10.

“In fact, we were informed that the members of the GRP Panel who attended the informal talks have a scheduled meeting with him on Wednesday, June 13,” Agcaoili told Kodao.

“So he (Duterte) would know only [today] that the two sides have agreed to hold the resumption of formal talks on 28-30 June in Oslo,” he said.

In his Independence Day speech, Duterte again said he wishes for Sison to come home for two months, describing his offer as a “small window of opportunity” for the GRP and the NDFP to reach a peace agreement.

“I said I will talk to the enemies. That is why I am talking to Sison. I said, ‘we can talk. Come back here. I will take care of all the expenses,” Duterte said in his speech in Kawit, Cavite.

“We will talk and we will give each other 60 days to agree,” Duterte added.

Sison, however, said the June 28 schedule for the resumption of formal talks has already been agreed upon by the GRP and NDFP negotiators.

“It is most reasonable that the June 28 resumption of formal peace talks proceed in Oslo. The agreements to be signed under the general title of interim peace agreement are well within the competence of the negotiating panels. However, Duterte or his Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea can grace the occasion and co-witness with me the signing of the agreement,” Sison told Kodao.

He, however, did not dismiss outright coming home to the Philippines to confer with Duterte and stimulate the further acceleration of the peace negotiations.

“The best time for me to go to the Philippines will be anytime between the last week of July and second week of August,” Sison said.

He added that those dates will allow time for the legal and security guarantees for his safety, for the amnesty proclamation to become effective with the concurrence of Congress, and for the national peace conference to be organized by the GRP and NDFP for celebrating the progress of the peace negotiations.

Not possible

Agcaoili said it is not possible to comply with all the legal and security requirements for Sison’s visit to the Philippines in time for the resumption of the formal talks on June 28 as mutually agreed upon by the Parties or in mid-July as proposed by Duterte.

“There are other countries involved, as well as treaty obligations, to ensure that all the legal and security requirements are complied with in the planned visit of Prof. Sison to the Philippines. The process would take some time to accomplish,” Agcaoili said.

The NDFP chief negotiator is referring to the possibility of Sison losing his political refugee status should he visit the Philippines without guarantees from both the European Union and the Manila government for his safe return to The Netherlands.

Sison is a recognized political refugee under the Geneva Convention on Refugees and is guaranteed protection by the European Convention on Human Rights Against Torture and Inhumane and Degrading Treatment.

Sison was first set to visit the Philippines in 1998 to participate in a public signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) by the NDFP and the GRP under former President Fidel Ramos.

He was then reissued a GRP passport as a replacement to his passport cancelled by the GRP under Corazon Aquino in 1988 while he was on a global university lecture tour, forcing him to seek asylum in The Netherlands.

Sison failed to use his passport then because the Ramos government was delayed in asking the Dutch government to give him a return visa to the European country.

Agcaoili said Sison’s visit to the Philippines is possible only if all the requirements have been worked out. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

GRP-NDFP’s week-long ‘stand down’ agreement to start June 21

/in /by

The “stand down” agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) shall start on June 21, one week before the resumption of formal talks in Oslo on June 28.

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison confirmed to Kodao that the stand down ceasefire was agreed upon by the two parties in writing during their successful backchannel talks in The Netherlands last June 5 to 10.

Sison said the thrice-cancelled fifth round of formal talks shall push through on June 28 to 30, contrary to GRP President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest statement that the negotiations would resume sometime in mid-July.

Kodao earlier learned from government sources that the backchannel talks pushed through last week on the strength of the GRP’s efforts to allow NDFP panel member Benito Tiamzon and other consultants to travel to Europe for the negotiations.

Vicente Ladlad, Randall Echanis, Edilberto Silva, Allan Jazmines and Rafael Baylosis, are also due to join the NDFP panel in Europe for the negotiations.

Baylosis was arrested last February on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and is jailed at Camp Bagong Diwa. He denied the charges, saying the so-called evidences were planted by the military and police.

Tiamzon, Ladlad, Echanis, Silva and Jazmines were also under threat of arrest when their bail bonds were cancelled and were named in a GRP petition proscribing the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations following Duterte’s third cancellation of the fifth round of talks last November.

NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili for his part said he thinks Duterte has yet to be briefed by the GRP panel on the results of the informal talks last June 5 to 10.

“In fact, we were informed that the members of the GRP Panel who attended the informal talks have a scheduled meeting with him on Wednesday, June 13,” Agcaoili told Kodao.

“So he (Duterte) would know only tomorrow that the two sides have agreed to hold the resumption of formal talks on 28-30 June in Oslo and to make a joint announcement of a stand down of their forces a week before the resumption or on 21 June in Manila,” he said.

Agcaoili added it is clear to both parties and the Third Party Facilitator, the Royal Norwegian Government, that the announcement of the stand down depends on the date of the resumption and shall be effective for no longer than one week.

The NDFP earlier said a stand down ceasefire agreement means that both the NPA on their side and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police on the GRP side are to cease conducting offensive military operations to pave the way for the signing of an interim peace agreement.

The interim peace agreement is expected to be signed by the GRP and the NDFP during the fifth round of formal talks and shall consist of a coordinated unilateral ceasefire, general amnesty for more than 500 NDFP-listed political prisoners, and agrarian reform and rural development as well as national industrialization and economic development agreements.

Both parties have said the social and economic reform negotiations are the most important parts of the peace negotiations. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups denounce ‘Duterte’s crimes’ at ‘HINDIpendence Day’ rally

/in /by

By April Burcer

Despite pouring rain, political, human rights, faith-based, labor and other groups gathered at Liwasang Bonifacio Tuesday afternoon, June 12, to commemorate ‘HINDIpendence Day’, their own version of Philippine Independence Day.

“We are not genuinely free,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary-General Renato Reyes said about their message with holding the rally.

“Even if we commemorate Independence Day today, we feel it is HINDIpendence Day. We need to continue with our ancestors’ struggle for freedom,” Reyes said.

“Hindi” is the Filipino word for “not”.

The rally included speeches by leaders about issues including President Rodrigo Duterte’s tax reform law, extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations, violence against minority groups, China’s encroachment on the West Philippine Sea, attacks against freedom of expression, the president’s misogynic statements, labor issues and poverty.

Earlier, the same groups held Independence Day rallies in front of the Chinese Embassy in Makati and the United States Embassy in Manila while Bayan-Southern Tagalog protested as Duterte delivered his Independence Day speech at the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit Cavite.

“In our celebration of Independence Day, it is right that we ask ourselves: Are we enjoying genuine freedom? Is there freedom when our fisherfolk are like foreigners in our own seas, they who are already poor whose catch at sequestered on the high seas?,” a message from detained Senator Leila de Lima asked the Liwasang Bonifacio crowd.

“Is it freedom that we have a cowardly government in regard to our right to freedom of expression? Is it freedom that women’s dignity is being trampled and the people’s right is crudely violated?” the Senator added.

Anakpawis Partylist Representative Fernando Hicap echoed de Lima’s condemnation, saying the harassments against fisherfolk started when China conducted construction activities and occupied islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Protesters filled Liwasang Bonifacio despite pouring rain at their “HINDIpendence Day rally” (Photo by April Burcer)

Gabriela secretary general Joms Salvador for her part denounced the Duterte governments Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, saying women the unpopular measure continue to impose greater burden on the Filipino family through higher prices of basic goods and services.

Labor leaders Lito Ustarez from Kilusang Mayo Uno and Joshua Mata of Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa criticized the failure of the Duterte government to end contractualization and its rejection of the P750 national minimum wage proposal.

Other participating groups included #BabaeAko, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Alitaptap, Dampi, Girls for Peace, Youth Act Now Against Tyranny, and Suara Bangsamoro.

When asked why he joined the rally, Bicolano artist Edwin dela Torre said, “First, is there still hope? I wanted to hear other people’s motivation. As an artist, I believe in the power of songs, visual arts, dances for the achievement of change—even if we just start with ourselves.”

The program featured performances by Danny Fabella of Musikang Bayan, Maya Santos of Girls for Peace, Tubaw Music Collective and CRC Children’s Collective.

Tension cropped up when the participants tried to take down a Duterte poster hung by President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters at the Bonifacio munoment, but police intervened.#

Co-workers condemn murder of Batangas election officer

/in /by

Commission on Elections (Comelec) employees condemned the murder of an election officer in a Batangas town Monday, saying the killing highlights the culture of impunity prevailing in the country.

The Comelec Employees Union (EU) in a statement said it condemns in no uncertain terms the brutal killing of Mabini, Batangas election officer Noel Miralles who was gunned down by two still unknown assailants in Bauan town.

Miralles, 53, was about to board a tricycle in Barangay 4, Poblacion in Bauan when shot by “riding in tandem” assailants, killing him on the spot.

Comelec-EU president Mac Ramirez said the victim was a cheerful person who loved karaoke.

“I could not imagine Noel having enemies,” Ramirez said.

A former journalism colleague said the victim previously worked as a writer with the Philippine Information Agency and as a broadcaster with defunct Batangas City radio stations Radio DZBR and DWAM AM in the 1990s before joining the poll body as election officer.

“[He was] humble, unassuming, kind. I can’t even imagine why he should be killed, unless work related in Comelec, especially Bauan and Mabini areas,” Miralle’s friend and colleague Nomer “Bong” Macalalad told Kodao.

Macalalad said he hopes Miralles’s murder will be an exemption to the “notorious” string of unsolved murders in Bauan for the past 18 years.

Another source told Kodao that Miralles handled several electoral fraud cases when he served as election officer of Bauan.

Bauan has been ruled by the Dolor dynasty led by its patriarch Ryan for decades.

Municipal officials of Bauan have yet to issue a statement on Miralles’ killing.

Comelec-EU said the killing of Miralles highlights the prevailing culture of impunity in the country.

Comelec-EU noted that Miralles’s murder came at the heels of the killing of Office of the Ombudsman assistant special prosecutor Madonna Joy Tanyag in Quezon City and Fr. Richmond Villafor in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.

“The killings must stop. The culture of impunity in the country must end. We demand no less than justice,” the group said.

Election officers and employees nationwide will wear black tomorrow, June 13, to call for justice for Miralles as well as all other victims of senseless killings in the country, Comelec-EU said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Warrior chieftain hostaged and tricked to surrender, Lumad say

/in /by

The reported surrender of a legendary tribal leader last June 9 in Talaingod, Davao del Norte was an orchestrated gathering by the military that victimized the ailing and elderly chieftain, Lumad organizations and leaders said.

Lumad organizations Salupongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon and PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao Region said Datu Guibang Apoga, who led the Manobo’s successful resistance against logging and mining operations at the Pantaron Mountain Range, did not surrender nor spoke of giving up their struggle to defend their ancestral land.

“In his speech delivered at the assembly, Datu Guibang Apoga spoke of his desire for the Lumad schools to continue to serve his people. Owing to his failing health and increasing age, he spoke of what he perceived as his inadequacies as the tribe’s tribal chieftain,” Salupongan said in a statement.

“Nowhere in his brief discourse did he speak of surrendering his conviction nor did he endorse the demise of his tribe and his people,” the group added.

The 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (IDPA) said Apoga was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who has defected to the military by turning over his M16 rifle to Brigadier General Ernesto C Torres Jr AFP, Commander of the 1003rd Brigade during the ceremony.

Five hundred Lumads witnessed the event, the military said.

“After more than two decades of being ‘out’ and having been legendary among his circle for his political efforts in supporting the NPA, Datu Gibang is now back to Nasilaban. His surrender would definitely hasten the clearing of areas in and around Talaingod from CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and NPA influence,” the 10th IDPA added.

Pasaka chairperson Kerlan Fanagel, however, said Apoga was lured into attending an assembly of about 150 Lumad only, orchestrated by the paramilitary group Alamara and the military.

Fanagel said Apoga was “hostaged and pressured” by the overwhelming presence of the military.

A downcast Datu Guibang presenting a rifle to a group of euphoric army officers. (Philippine Army photo)

“In his brief speech, Datu Guibang never said mining operations may already be allowed on Pantaron and their Lumad schools should already be closed,” Fanagel told Kodao, quoting Salupongan council officers and members present at the event.

Fanagel said Rural Missionaries of the Philippines paramedics tried to approach Apoga to give him a physical check up but the octogenarian chieftain was constantly surrounded by the military.

Fanagel added that based on the chieftain’s medical history, they suspect Apoga to be suffering from a kidney ailment.

Apoga and other Manobo chieftains in Talaingod launched a pangayaw (a tribal war) in 1993 to prevent logging operations by the Alcantara & Sons (Alsons) corporation.

Apoga and the other datu (chieftain) formed the Salupongan ‘Ta Igkanugon (Unity for the Defense of Ancestral Land) fought off Alsons’s private army and the military with native weapons and old rifles and won.

The government, however, ordered the arrest of Apoga and 25 other datus and have since been hunted by the military, until June 9.

Salupongan said the government has failed to sway its members by deceiving Apoga into attending a tribal assembly that turned into a fake surrender ceremony.

“[The government] has grown desperate in quelling our ranks in the last few months, first by pouring an overwhelming number of state forces in our lands by three Army battalions, second by campaigning for the closure of community schools and harassing community teachers, students and parents, and third by finagling Datu Guibang as a surrendered leader,” Salupongan said.

Apoga (center, third row) looking sullen as a military officer leads a collective reading of an oath. (Philippine Army photo)

Apoga’s fellow Talaingod chieftain, Bai Bibiyaon Ligkayan Bigkay said the military and the paramilitary Alamara used Apoga’s frail health and advanced age into “pressuring” him to a “staged surrender ceremony.”

In a statement, Bibiyaon rallied the Manobo people to remain unfaltering in defending the Pantaron Range, reminding them of their decades of resistance against military operations from Alsa Lumad and Alamara since the 1990s.

“Many more leaders from among our people who continue to suffer from hunger, government neglect and military abuses will rise to continue Salugpongan’s legacy of resistance. Hence, to all the Manobo and lumad people, our resolve must remain unfaltering like the Pantaron on which generations of our people have lived and depended on for generations,” Bibiyaon said.

“We must prevail for as long as the causes of our oppression continue to persist and deny us of the right to live with dignity,” Bibiyaon said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

Joma says NDFP will follow stand down agreement if signed

/in /by

Jose Maria Sison said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) will follow the terms of their prospective stand down agreement with Government of the Republic of Philippines (GRP) should both parties push through with its declaration on June 14.

Sison was reacting to the Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that the military doubts the Reds would abide by the agreement.

“The stand down agreement creates a favorable atmosphere for the resumption of the formal peace negotiations and the interim peace agreement to be signed in Oslo, hopefully on June 28,” Sison explained.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Friday that Lorenzana and Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno doubt communist guerrillas would respect any ceasefire ahead of the resumption of formal peace negotiations with the government.

The report quoted Lorenzana telling reporters during an Air Force forum at Camp Aguinaldo Thursday that it might only be the military that would follow a stand down agreement between the NDFP and the GRP.

“What does stand down mean anyway? We might stand down but they wouldn’t,” Lorenza said.

“Stand down means ‘cease operations.’ Stand down for them might mean there would be no attacks but we suspect they will continue their recruitment. They also have to stop that if there is a stand-down,” the Inquirer reported Lorenzana saying.

Lorenza said the rebels are actually intensifying their expansion of their areas.

In the past, however, NDFP negotiators have said their recruitment activities have nothing to do with the NPA’s military operations, which would be the subject of the prospective stand down agreement between the NDFP and GRP negotiating panels.

Peace saboteurs

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate hit Lorenzana and the military for issuing statements that “spoil and sabotage the peace negotiations.”

“Stop monkey-wrenching the GRP-NDFP peace talks,” Zarate told Lorenzana and the military.

Zarate said Lorenzana and the military have been launching attacks against the peace process in all fronts but fail to put forward a paradigm that would effectively address the root causes of the armed conflict.

“Their default solution to the problem is still the US-prescribed combination of psychological warfare and military counter-insurgency operations that they have been doing for decades and have been proven to be a failure and a waste of lives and resources,” Zarate said.

Zarate said he calls on all peace advocates to be watchful of spoilers and saboteurs as the negotiating panels push for the forging a comprehensive agreements on socio-economic and political reforms.

“It would be best for the DND and the AFP to concentrate on the defense of the Philippines from China and the US that are now increasing their military activities in our territories instead of trying to sabotage the peace talks that can pave the way for a just and lasting peace and uplift the lives of majority of Filipinos,” Zarate said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)