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Groups demand investigation on ‘summary execution’ of former UP student leader

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Activist groups mourn the death of a former University of the Philippines (UP) student activist they said was a “revolutionary serving the people of Mindanao” and condemn the manner of her “summary execution.”

Killed last April 10 by combined elements of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Barangay Butong, Quezon town, Bukidnon, the groups said Kaliska Dominica Peralta was tortured and summarily killed like many other New People’s Army (NPA) fighters captured by state forces.

“We raise concerns, and condemn in no uncertain terms, the manner of her death and call on relevant agencies and institutions to conduct a thorough and impartial probe,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said in a statement.

 The group said reports emerging from Mindanao show that there was no armed encounter in Bukidnon on the day of Peralta’s death.

Women’s group GABRIELA also said the Peralta’s death may be another violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

“The willful killing of Peralta by the military, who was unarmed at the time of her arrest, is a war crime that can never be justified under any circumstance. This is a blatant violation of (the IHL),” GABRIELA secretary general Clarice Palce said in a separate statement.

Kaliska Dominica Peralta

‘Another IHL violation under Marcos Jr’

Both BAYAN and GABRIELA cited an earlier report from the League of Filipino Students (LFS) saying Peralta was killed last Wednesday, contrary to the military’s claims that an “encounter” occurred on April 11 that resulted in her death.

The LFS said that Peralta’s death certificate confirms she died on April 10 and her remains were not subjected to an autopsy.

The student group added that according to witnesses, Peralta and three of her comrades were already unarmed when captured and that she was later “taken to another part of the community and mercilessly killed.”

“Peralta’s body was unrecognizable and severely desecrated, showing marks of brutal torture and abuse,” GABRIELA added.

BAYAN also added that Peralta’s killing fits the pattern of many other NPA fighters and activists who were captured and summarily executed by the military, including NPA spokesperson Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Ericson Acosta and others.

“The violations of (IHL) continue to rise under the Marcos regime. The viciousness of these killings has intensified in light of the terrorist-labeling of revolutionaries by the Philippine government,” BAYAN said.

Peralta was a Film student and served as the chairperson of the LFS-UP Diliman chapter in 2014-2015. She was involved in various student campaigns against education budget cuts, academic calendar shift, and various socialized tuition schemes.

“After several years, she decided to embrace the highest form of struggle to free society from the current prevailing system. She struggled with the Lumad and farmers of Mindanao for their rights to land and ancestral domain that are being taken by landlords and bombed by the military,” LFS said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups condemn AFP bombings in Abra, Ilocos Sur

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By Maujerie Ann Miranda

Human rights advocates trooped to Camp Aguinaldo on April 5, Friday, condemning the recent bombings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra and Ilocos Sur they said affected at least 700 residents.

Kaammoyo Ti Kappia (KTK), a human rights organization in the region, said the indiscriminate bombings on April 2 near the communities at Pilar, Abra province and Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur province occurred during firefights between the New People’s Army and the 501st Infantry Brigade of the AFP.

The 5th Infantry Division Philippine Army said two clashes were recorded at 11:50 in the morning and 5:00 in the afternoon of April 2. No casualties on either side had been reported.

KTK called for a stop to the military operations and the aerial strikes as it endangers the civilian population in the affected areas.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE BOMBING THOUGH THIS LINK: https://www.facebook.com/ktk.karapatan

“This is not a humane act as it not only puts a bigger burden on poor farmers in the area who are already affected by increasing prices of farm inputs, and the intense drought brought by El Niño, but also brings widespread fear, trauma, and panic. In addition, both parties should ensure the safety of the civilian population and observe the International Humanitarian Law (IHL),” the group said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Cordillera Administrative Region reported that at least 118 families evacuated while classes were suspended in nearby schools.

Human rights groups condemn the AFP bombings in Abra and Ilocos Sur in a rally in front of Camp Aguinaldo on April 5. (Photo by Maujerie Ann Miranda/Kodao)

The protesters in Quezon City called for accountability from the AFP and the Ferdinand Marcos Jr administration and implored the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent investigation on the ongoing human rights violations in the Ilocos region.

“Nakakagalit na ang gobyerno ni Bongbong Marcos ay may pera para sa gera, may pera para sa bomba pero wala para sa mga magsasaka,” said Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) secretary general Mong Palatino.

(That the Bongbong Marcos government has money to burn on war and on bombs and nothing for the farmers angers us.)

The government should re-channel funds to social services and financial aid to farmers affected by El Niño, he added.

Palatino also condemned the military aid coming from the United States (US) which he said is utilized in the attacks and the upcoming trilateral summit between the Philippines, US and Japan on April 11 in Washington DC.

He warned that the outcome of the talks regarding military aid and additional military bases will further intensify the attacks on the Filipino people.

BAYAN said it will hold another protest on April 11 in front of the US Embassy to denounce the trilateral summit and the decades-long infringement of the US of Philippine sovereignty and democracy. #

CPP rejects AFP’s call to surrender

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‘The need for armed struggle is greater than ever before.’

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rejected Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Romeo Brawner’s call for New People’s Army (NPA) fighters to surrender, saying the need for armed struggle is “greater than ever before.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement their party, the NPA, as well as all revolutionary forces know that armed revolution is needed in the face of worsening socioeconomic conditions, oppression and threats to the country’s sovereignty.

“For the broad masses of peasants, workers, and other toiling people suffering from land grabbing, economic dispossession, low wages, joblessness, and other forms of gross social injustice, waging armed struggle now is ever more just and necessary,” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson added their revolution is required to stop the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s subservience to the United States of America they said is dragging the Philippines into an armed confrontation with China.

A day after the NPA celebrated its 55th founding anniversary last Friday, March 29, Brawner urged Red fighters to lay down arms and work with the government, adding “ it is time to chart a new course towards reconciliation and healing.”

“I urge every remaining member of the (NPA) to take a moment of reflection and reconsideration,” Brawner said.

‘NPA regaining strength’

Brawner said only 11 “weakened” NPA guerilla fronts remain after government forces killed more than 400 Red fighters in 2023.

After admitting to setbacks in recent years on its own 55th founding anniversary statement last December 26, the CPP however said the NPA is on its way to recovery by implementing the Party’s third rectification movement.

The CPP also ordered NPA units to launch more tactical offensives to defend the people from AFP and Philippine National Police atrocities.

“Under Marcos, the fascist reactionary armed forces has become even more aggressive and brutal in driving the peasant masses and indigenous minorities from their land to allow mining companies, plantations, real estate, energy and other infrastructure projects to expand their environmentally-destructive business operations,” Valbuena said.

“Only by having the (NPA) can the peasant masses effectively fight back against the onslaught of foreign and big business economic aggressors. In the interest of the broad toiling masses, the armed struggle can never be abandoned,” Valbuena said.

“To fight with arms is the only way for the oppressed to defend their life and dignity and fight for a better future,” he added.

The CPP spokesperson said Brawner is also being “utterly hypocritical” when he urges Filipinos to defend Philippine sovereignty and unite against China when the Marcos government is allowing more US troops into the country.

NDFP forces celebrate NPA anniversary

Members of NDFP allied organizations celebrate the NPA’s 55th anniversary by issuing calls for the people to join the guerilla army. (NDFP photos)

Meanwhile, allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines celebrated the NPA’s anniversary by conducting slogan painting activities in Metro Manila cities this week.

Members of the Christians for National Liberation, Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan (Organization of Nationalist Teachers), Makabayang Samahan Pangkalusugan (Patriotic Health Association), Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan (Science League for the People), and Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan (Artists and Writers for the People) and others peppered some areas in Quezon City, Pasig and Manila with “Long live the NPA!” and “Join the NPA!” stenciled and spray-painted slogans.

Kabataang Makabayan (Nationalist Youth) members also held similar activities in Cebu City.

“There is no NPA if there is no hunger, poverty, oppression. The NPA exists to end these!” this poster at the University of the Philippines-Cebu reads. (PRWC photo)

Founded by the CPP in March 29, 1969 in Capas, Tarlac, the NPA is regarded as the longest-fighting guerilla army in Asia. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Jhed, Jonila post bail for defamation charge

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State abduction survivors Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano posted bail at the Dona Remedios Trinidad Municipal Trial Court in Bulacan province on Wednesday for the grave oral defamation charge against them by the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.

The environmental activists posted P18,000 each for their temporary liberty after being accused by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that they used a press conference to accuse the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict of abduction in Bataan Province.

In a press conference organized by the Plaridel Public Information Office last September 19, 17 days after their abduction in Orion, Bataan last September 2, the two victims revealed they have been abducted by the military and have not surrendered as the Philippine Army claimed.

Embarassed by Castro and Tamano’s brave revelation in front of their abductors, the military filed perjury charges that was dismissed by the DOJ in favor of the new defamation charge.

AFP’s ‘honor and reputation’

The new charge was filed by Lt. Col. Ronnel dela Cruz, commander of the 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Doña Remedios Trinidad.

Castro and Tamano were detained at the army unit’s headquarters during their ordeal.

In its resolution, the DOJ alleged the respondents “employed machinations and took advantage of the benevolence of the 70th IB (Infantry Battalion) and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to embarrass and put them in bad light.”

“There was a deep-rooted motive on the part of respondents to select a public forum that would express their sentiment. We consider the statement of respondents to be serious slander because the circumstances of the case show that they consciously, intentionally and on purpose waited and chose the press conference which would be held in public to air their grievance and plight,” the DOJ added.

“The slanderous words were obviously uttered with evident intent to strike deep into the character, honor and reputation of (the) complainant and the AFP,” the resolution reads.

Abductors and liars

In a joint statement, Tamano and Castro on Tuesday bewailed that the victims have become the respondents, even after the Supreme Court recently granted them Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data protection mechanisms.

“The abductors are very intent to jail those they’ve abducted,” the victims said.

The two also revealed that the Office of the Solicitor General has filed an omnibus motion appealing the writs granted them by the high tribunal.

“The only criminals here are the AFP and NTF-ELCAC abductors and liars, as well as the other government agencies that assist them,” the two added.

The only two victims who bravely revealed being abducted in the presence of their abductors, Tamano and Castro are being hailed as the faces of enforced disappearances and fake surrenders human rights organizations accuse the military of committing.

Their testimonies have also become instrumental in the issuance of recommendations for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC by the United Nations special rapporteurs on climate change and freedom of expression and opinion. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Gawa-gawang kaso’t dahas, kambal na mukha ng pasismo ng Estado

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Ni Nuel M. Bacarra

Sa pag-igting ng pasismo sa bansa, kasabay na pinag-iibayo rin ng mga armadong pwersa ng Estado ang paggamit ng iba’t ibang porma at pamamaraan para higit na gipitin ang mamamayang lumalaban. Ang mga batas na dapat nagpoprotekta sa mamamayan ay ginagamit ng ilang opisyal ng pamahalaan sa pagpapatindi ng pandarahas, paninindak at panunupil para protektahan ang kaayusang kanilang pinakikinabangan. Mas marahas, mas mainam para sa kanila.

Nakasaad sa Artikulo II Seksyon 11 ng Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas sa ilalim ng titulong “Mga Patakaran ng Estado” na: “Pinahahalagahan ng Estado ang karangalan ng bawat tao at ginagarantiyahan ang lubos na paggalang sa mga karapatang pantao.” Dagdag pa rito, mayroon nang batas kontra tortyur, ang R.A. 9745; batas sa sapilitang pagkawala o enforced disappearance (R.A. 10353) at R.A. 11862 o ang pinalawig na batas kontra sa human trafficking. Mayroon ding Magna Carta of Women, ang R.A. 9710. Mayroon pang nakasalang na panukala sa Senado na S.B. Blng. 2447 tungkol sa mga saligang karapatan at kalayaan ng mga tagapagtanggol sa mga karapatang pantao.

Kung ang mga batas na ito ay ilalapat sa mga kaso ng mahigit na 700 bilanggong pulitikal sa buong bansa, marami na sanang napalaya kabilang ang mga tagapayo ng rebolusyonaryong kilusan sa usapang pangkapayapaan; sina Frenchie Mae Cumpio at iba pang biktima ng modus na tanim-ebidensya at mga gawa-gawang kaso. Resolbado na rin sana ang kaso ng tinaguriang biktima ng “Bloody Sunday” sa Southern Tagalog kung saan siyam na aktibista ang pinatay at apat pa ang inaresto noong Marso 2021; at inilitaw na sana sina Dexter Capuyan at Bazoo de Jesus.

Iniikutan ng mga armadong pwersa ng Estado ang mga batas at ginagawang armas ito laban sa naghahangad ng panlipunang pagbabago.

Nais ng mga uhaw-sa-dugong pasista na walang pagkakontento sa pagpatay, pambobomba ng mga komunidad o sa simpleng panghuhuli o pagdukot, na maging karaniwang kaayusan ito sa lipunang Pilipino upang sindakin ang mga pwersang naghahangad ng pambansang kalayaan at demokrasya. Subalit sa kaso nina Jhed at Jonila na sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso, ito ay para isalba ang kahihiyan nila sa paggamit ng binaluktot na interpretasyon ng batas o pag-kriminalisa rito.

Nagpapatuloy na banta sa buhay

Nitong Pebrero 5, sa protesta ng mga progresibong tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao at kapaligiran, mga syentista at mga kabataan sa tanggapan ng Department of Justice at Korte Suprema sa Padre Faura, Manila, iginiit nila ang paggawad ng positibong desisyon sa isinampang writ of amparo at writ of habeas data nina Jonila Castro at Jhed Reiyana Tamano.

Ang petisyon para sa writ of amparo ay isang remedyo ng isang tao na ang karapatan sa buhay, kalayaan at seguridad ay nalalabag o nanganganib dahil sa iligal na gawain o pagkaligta sa mga batas ng mga upisyal ng gubyerno o empleyado o pribadong entidad o mamamayan. Mabibilang dito ang ginagawang red-tagging ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), iligal na pagtugaygay at iba pa na nararanasan pa rin nina Jonila at Jhed sa kasalukuyan.

Ang writ of habeas data naman ay isang karapatang konstitusyunal ng mamamayan para iwasto ang maling datos ng gubyerno o pribadong institusyon hinggil sa pagkatao ng isang indibidwal. Sa ganitong usapin, tahasang sinasabi ng dalawang aktibista na hindi sila rebelde na sumuko sa militar tulad ng ibinibintang sa kanila para papaniwalain ang publiko at bigyang-katwiran ang pagdukot sa dalawa.

Ang tapang at paninindigan nina Jonila at Jhed na ilantad nang harap-harapan ang katotohanan ng pagdukot sa kanila ng militar sa Bataan noong Setyembre 2, 2023 ang nagsandal sa pader sa militar para palayain silang dalawa. Hindi na sila mabinbin pa o patagalin sa kustodiya ng militar dahil katakut-takot na kahihiyan ang aabutin nila mula sa sambayanan.

Dahil depensibo ang militar sa politika, nanatili ang panghaharas sa kanila. Sinampahan sina Jonila at Jhed ng kasong perjury o pagsisinungaling. Dahil wala naman talagang batayan ito at lalong nagpatibay sa testimonya ng pagdukot sa kanila, ibinasura ito ng korte. Panibagong kaso naman na grave oral defamation o malalang paninirang-puri ang planong isampa sa kanila dahil diumano ay ginamit ng dalawa ang press conference (na inisponsor ng NTF-ELCAC) para “siraan” ang militar.

Hindi na bago

Ganito na ang padron ng mga panghaharas ng militar sa tuwing ibabasura ng korte ang mga gawa-gawang kasong isinasampa nila laban sa mga aktibista o kung makadaragdag ito sa ibayong kahihiyan nila. Napakadali sa kanila ang gumawa ng kaso at magmanupaktura ng mga ebidensya para sindakin at pahirapan ang mga taong nagtataguyod ng katarungan at kapayapaan at ng mga naghahangad ng pagbabago sa lipunan.

Ang dating National Security Adviser na si Hermogenes Esperon mismo ang nagsampa ng kasong perjury noong Mayo 2019 laban sa sampung indibidwal. Ginawa ito matapos magsampa ng petisyon ng writ of amparo at habeas data sa Korte Suprema ang organisasyon ng KARAPATAN, GABRIELA at Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

Noon lamang Enero 9, 2023 pinawalang-sala ng Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 138 ng Quezon City ang 10 indibidwal mula sa tatlong organisasyon.

Ang kasong ito ay isa lamang sa mga ligal na maniobra ng paggamit ng Estado sa mga batas para kahit paano ay mapigilan ang mga aktibista sa pagtataguyod ng mga karapatan ng mamamayan at sa paglalantad ng kabulukan ng Estado.

Sa Timog Katagalugan, maliban sa mga kaso ng extra-judicial killings, 13 indibidwal din mula sa iba’t ibang progresibong organisasyon ang sinampahan ng mga gawa-gawang kaso. Talamak nang ginagamit ng estado laban sa lumalabang mamamayan ang batas kontra sa terorismo o ang R.A 11479 at di na iilang bilanggong pulitikal ang kinasuhan gamit ang batas na ito. Pero kung gaano kabangis ang batas na ito, tinutugon ito ng paglaban ng mamamayan.

Mga tagasuporta nina Jonila at Jhed na nag-protesta sa harapan ng Korte Suprema sa iniisip ng DOJ na pagsasampa sa dalawang biktima ng pagdukot ng kasong “paninirang puri.” (Larawang kuha ni N. Bacarra)

Lakas ng mamamayan

Ang pagdukot kina Jonila at Jhed at ang pagsisiwalat nila rito ay batid na malawak na mamamayan. Ang pagbubunyag ng katotohanan na ikinagalit ng mga pasistang galamay ng estado ay kaso ng “malubhang pagsisinungaling” laban sa kanila na naging katawa-tawa na. Umuuk-ok ito sa tiwala ng taumbayan sa armadong pwersa ng bansa.

Nakarating na ito sa Komisyon ng Karapatang Pantao ng United Nations at lubos na malalantad pa ito sa darating na mga buwan.

Malakas ang loob ng mga progresibong organisasyon at indibidwal dahil ang lakas nila ay nagmumula sa kanilang pagkakaisa at sa suporta ng taumbayan. Sina Jonila at Jhed ay larawan ng laban ng sambayanan. Anumang pag-alipusta sa kanilang karapatan at pagtatangka sa kanilang buhay ay may katapat na paglaban at sigaw ng lumalabang mamamayan. #

New AFP spox contradicts Marcos, amuses CPP

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is only amused at inconsistencies in pronouncements made by government officials about the strength of the New People’s Army (NPA), its chief information officer said.

In a statement Wednesday, CPP officer Marco Valbuena said it was quite amusing to observe how new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla contradicted her commander in chief President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a few days into her new job.

In repeating the annual AFP announcement it will eliminate the NPA by the end of the year, the new spokesperson “already sounded like a broken record,” Valbuena said.

In a press briefing last Monday, Padilla said the AFP vows to defeat the NPA by the end of 2024, a promise made anew in the military’s first command conference of the New Year.

“We were given specific deadlines to do such.  So within a span of a year, we are looking at eliminating the threat of the internal insurgency situation,” Padilla said.

Valbuena however pointed out that Marcos himself declared only last January 13 that there are no more NPA fronts, which Brawner in turn rebuffed

“What was interesting, however, is the fact that she issued her statement just days after Marcos, their commander-in-chief, declared that ‘there are no more NPA fronts,’” Valbuena said.

AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner himself rebuffed Marcos two days later by saying the NPA has “eleven weakened fronts,” instead of zero.

“To say the least, these disconnected statements reveal inconsistencies in the Marcos government’s public assessment of the state of the revolutionary armed movement, arising from contradictions in its self-serving objectives,” Valbuena said.

Neither declaration of having strategically defeated the NPA after 55 years or eliminating it can cover up the AFP’s ongoing military offensives and large-scale military operations across the country, Valbuena said.

The CPP officer added that the AFP continues to squander hundreds of billions of public funds in a strategy bound to fail in ending the civil war, he added.

Valbuena explained that the AFP’s annual declaration of crushing the NPA always fails because its strategy results in worsening forms of human rights and international humanitarian law violations.

He added that civilians remain the main targets of AFP’s operation through brutal suppression extrajudicial killings, rounding up people and parading them as “surrenderees,” looting, encampment amid civilian communities, curfews and other arbitrary restrictions on people’s movements and economic activity, food blockades, checkpoints, aerial bombing, artillery shelling and other bloody and dirty tactics.

“The vain objective is to break the people’s spirit and make them cower to submission. The result is the opposite,” he said.

Valbuena cited the recent killings of peasant activists Boy Baloy and Ernesto Torres in Negros Occidental by the 62nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army who claimed the victims were NPA fighters killed in an armed encounter.

Such crimes help make the NPA numbers grow amid the CPP’s new rectification campaign launched last December, Valbuena said.

“All in all, we anticipate steady growth during the rest of the year and succeeding period…the Filipino people have no other recourse but to intensify their revolutionary mass movement and armed resistance,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP on AFP’s claim of strategic victory over the NPA: ‘Dream on’

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) dismissed claims by Manila government security officials the New People’s Army (NPA) has already been strategically defeated, describing the declarations are nothing more than dreamland statements.

In a reaction to an online press briefing by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) last Wednesday, the CPP branded as ludicrous government claims that all but 14 “weakened guerilla fronts” of the NPA have been dismantled.

“This is pure wishful thinking on the part of the US-Marcos regime. It is a desperate attempt to fool the people and dampen their spirit of resistance,” the CPP said in a statement.

‘Zero active guerilla fronts’

In the briefing, NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. said there are “zero active guerrilla fronts” and only 14 weakened units of the NPA remain. NTF-ELCAC said six guerilla fronts had recently been dismantled.

Torres did not identify the locations of the so-called remaining fronts but said it is Manila government’s priority to dismantle them to help in local peace talks engagements.

National Security Council (NSC) assistant director general Jonathan Malaya in the same briefing alleged the NPA is at its weakest in its 55-year history with less than 1,500 fighters remaining nationwide.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a New Year statement also boasted there are no longer active NPA fronts, reporting killing 67 leaders and 1,399 members as well as seizing 1,751 firearms throughout 2023.

The CPP however said the AFP, NSC and the NTF-ELCAC presented no proof in their self-congratulatory claims, saying in turn that majority of the guerilla fronts across 14 regional NPA commands are “far from dismantled.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said the NPA’s current strength remains deep and the wide mass support it enjoys is far from what the AFP wishes to imagine.

‘Why the increased AFP budget then?’

Valbuena admitted the NPA suffered grave losses from 2019 to 2022 due to internal weaknesses and errors as well as sustained military operations by close to 100,000 AFP troops since 2017.

“Squandering hundreds of billions of pesos, the reactionary armed forces have unleashed unimaginable state terrorist violence in the countryside,” Valbuena said.

But claims of strategic victory over the NPA are belied by the Marcos government’s increased military budget by almost 40% this year, Valbuena said, citing AFP’s ₱282.7 billion budget from last year’s ₱203.4 billion.

Valbuena said that a large part of the military’s funds go to the purchase and maintenance of US-supplied jet fighters and drones used in aerial bombing, artillery shelling and full-scale military operations in the countryside.

The CPP officer also said that a vast majority of AFP battalions remain deployed against the NPA despite announcements of wanting to shift to external defense against Chinese encroachment into Philippine territories.

Valbuena further said AFP’s claims of victories in the battlefield come at the expense of farmers and indigenous peoples’ communities who suffer de facto martial rule in the guise of “community support operations.”

“The AFP hinder the free movement of people, imposing curfew and prohibiting them from working in their fields, destroying their organizations, and other forms of suppression, in order to pave the way for the aggressive entry of mining operations, expansion of plantations, ecotourism and infrastructure projects,” he said.

“Fascist troops continue to carry out a campaign of state terrorism against the peasant masses, carrying out killings of civilians and covering up their crimes by claiming their victims to be NPA fighters,” Valbuena added.

Women NPA fighters at CPP’s 55th founding anniversary celebrations last December 26. (CPP photo)

‘Masses want their Red fighters back’

The CPP said in areas temporarily abandoned by NPA units due to intense military operations, the people wait for the return of the Red guerillas.

The Party said affected NPA units are determined to recover strength, rebuild their mass bases, and continue to wage armed revolution.

It added that the NPA has in fact started regaining its bearings since last year and have carried out maneuvers to frustrate AFP’s encirclement and focused military operations.

With the CPP’s third rectification movement launched on its 55th founding anniversary last December 26, it said the NPA shall soon regain lost territories and expand to new areas.

The CPP’s Central Committee also laid down several tasks the NPA should accomplish to recover strength, including the building of company-sized units for each guerrilla front and to launch basic or annihilative tactical military offensives that have a high percentage of succeeding.

Since December, CPP newsletter Ang Bayan has published reports of NPA operations that resulted in the killing of three Philippine Army troopers in Panay Island last December 9 and 10 and a paramilitary spy in Negros Island last December 27.

“The Red commanders and fighters of the NPA, and cadres of the Party are all determined to carry forward the people’s war as long as it takes until complete victory is attained,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP confirms 10 NPA casualties in Christmas Day carnage in Bukidnon

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) confirmed the deaths of 10 people in the bombing of a New People’s Army camp by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Christmas Day in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

In a statement Thursday, December 28, the CPP said it condemns the AFP for dropping scores of 250-pound bombs and firing Israeli-made 155 mm/52 caliber artillery rounds at the target that lasted until December 26.

“The aerial attack, which was carried out for several hours, constitutes a brazen violation of international humanitarian law and the civilized conduct of war as it is involves an disproportionate use of force relative to its target,” CPP information officer Marco Valbuena said.

“The bodies of some of fatalities were grossly mangled, while others were dismembered during the vicious overkill,” he added.

Valbuena said the bombs, over-flight of drones and fighter jets, and firing of howitzers caused widespread fear and trauma among the tens of thousands residents in various nearby barangays.

“It also caused the destruction of large masses of forest resources which are source of livelihood of people,” he further said.

Valbuena added that the use of massive 250-pound bombs against guerrilla fighters shows the blood lust of the AFP, unleashing firepower without respecting reason and the principles of laws of war.

The CPP said it declares the victims of the December 25 bombings as martyrs of the Filipino people.

In a press statement, the AFP said its attack was a pursuit operation by the 403rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division after receiving information about the guerrillas’ presence in Barangays Can-ayan, Kibalabag, Kulaman and Mapulo.

Major General Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the 4th ID, said there were three women among the NPA fighters killed.

A similar carnage happened in Balayan, Batangas last December 17 where eight NPA fighters and civilian supporters were killed by combined Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy troopers.

Local human rights groups also reported that the victims were mangled beyond recognition by government soldiers.

READ: Rights workers reveal AFP desecration of slain NPA fighters’ corpses

The Malaybalay incident happened at the start of a two-day unilateral ceasefire declaration of the NPA over Christmas and the CPP’s 55th founding anniversary last December 26.

The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government refused to reciprocate the CPP-NPA ceasefire declaration despite announcing last November ongoing dialogues for the possible resumption of formal peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Rights workers reveal AFP desecration of slain NPA fighters’ corpses

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Human rights groups accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines of desecrating the remains of seven alleged New People’s Army (NPA) members killed in a firefight in Balayan, Batangas last Sunday.

In a series of alerts, Karapatan-Southern Tagalog and Tanggol Batangan said the faces of some of the casualties could no longer be identified by family members at a funeral parlor.

“A grieving mother, in between sobs, identified her daughter only by her distinct stitch marks from a previous caesarean delivery. Half of her daughter’s face was broken as if smashed and banged,” Karapatan said.

The groups also accused the AFP and the Philippine National Police of violating International Humanitarian Law and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines by not allowing the corpses to be put inside freezers or embalmed.

They said the corpses already started to rot as these were made to lie on the floor of Romy’s Funeral Parlor for two days.

The groups said the government troopers did not only violate the IHL but the Department of Health’s sanitary protocols.

“Kitang kita sa mga labi ng biktima ang mga bakas ng pambababoy, na hindi gagawin ng sinuman na may makataong pag-iisip,” Karapatan said.

(Signs of desecration are clear, an act that will not be committed by someone humane.)

The seven still unidentified alleged NPA members were slain after soldiers from the 59th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, augmented by Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force troopers, attacked their encampment last December 17.

A government trooper, reportedly the commanding officer of a light reaction company of the Philippine Army, was also killed in the firefight, Kodao sources said.

Lt. Col. Hector Estolas, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office chief, said three other army troopers were wounded in the clash, The Manila Times reported.

Karapatan and Tanggol Batangan also accused the military and police for harassing family members and paralegals who tried to recover the corpses from the funeral parlor.

The wake of one of the casualties was also visited by the military to interrogate the family Karapatan said was an act of intimidation.

The groups said some of the NPA corpses are schedules for autopsy by experts. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups ask BBM to investigate abduction of 2 environmentalists

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Survivors demand surfacing of other desaperacidos

Rights defenders are asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to conduct an investigation into the abduction and enforced disappearances of activists after two young environmentalists revealed they have been snatched by the military and disappeared for 17 days.

After anti-Manila Bay reclamation project activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano revealed their ordeal in the hands of the 70th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army (70th IBPA), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said the victims’ revelation already warrants a full-blown investigation.

“Will you not call for an impartial investigation into the abduction of two environmental activists and the apparent cover up done by the military?” BAYAN president Renato Reyes Jr. asked.

“Shouldn’t you fire all the officials engaged in the elaborate cover up? Shouldn’t you finally abolish the NTF- ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict)?” Reyes added.

Reyes also asked, “Shouldn’t you issue an unequivocal statement that abductions and forced surrenders are not acceptable because they are human rights violations? Why the deafening silence when it comes to human rights? Is it 1972 all over again?”

Human rights group Karapatan said the NTF-ELCAC is accountable for the abduction, enforced disappearance and fake surrender of two women environmental defenders.

“Now that the truth is out, Karapatan demands that everyone involved in the abduction, enforced disappearance and fake surrender of environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano be held accountable, especially the (NTF-ELCAC) whose malicious and baseless accusations, harmful rhetoric and activities against ordinary folks and activist groups and individuals have enabled and encouraged the commission of countless human rights violations,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

“The perpetrators, including those who conspired to cover up what really happened in Orion, Bataan on the night of September 2, 2023 should be charged, prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law,” Palabay added.

Filipino groups abroad meanwhile applauded Tamano and Castro who “courageously declared the truth and exposed state terrorism through the NTF-ELCAC and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines).”

“They valiantly stood their ground, bringing also to focus the issue of reclamation in Bulacan that is causing massive livelihood loss. With their courageous expose, their lives are now endangered. We should stand with Jhed and Jonila and protect them from any retaliation of the terrorist AFP and the NTF-ELCAC,” BAYAN-Hong Kong and Macau said.

In a separate statement, the Hong Kong Campaign for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines said it “salutes the bravery and courage of Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano to speak the truth.”

“The international community is watching closely to see how the government will respond to the brave truth spoken by Jonila and Jhed,” the group said.

Jhed Tamano (left) and Jonila Castro at the Commission on Human Rights prior to their release Tuesday night. (Nuel M. Bacarra/Kodao)

Rude surprise

Despite the defiant revelation of the victims, however, the military insisted on its earlier report the two environmentalists surrendered.

Lt. Col. Ronnel de la Cruz, 70th IBPA commander, said Castro and Tamano requested their assistance as the two young women wanted to leave the underground Communist movement they were allegedly part of.

The 70th IBPA reportedly refused to give up custody of the two victims even as no charges have been filed against them and after they revealed the abduction, enforced disappearance and fake surrender they suffered from the military.

The NTF-ELCAC for its part said they were “betrayed” and “hoodwinked” as they only had “the best of intentions in mind” in attending Tuesday’s press conference.

The Task Force added it stands with de la Cruz’s story that the two youths surrendered.

Castro and Tamano have been reunited with family and friends Tuesday night after being turned over to the Commission on Human Rights by Mayor Jocell Vistan Casaje after a standoff at the Plaridel, Bulacan municipal hall.

Karapatan list of enforced disappearance victims under the Marcos Jr. government.

Surface the other disappeared

In a speech before well-wishers at the CHR grounds, the two said they are not the only victims of abductions and enforced disappearances and called for their surfacing and release.

Under the Marcos Jr. government, Karapatan said eight others remain missing after abduction by suspected state agents.

Elgene Mungcal and Ma. Elena Pampoza were abducted in Moncada, Tarlac in July 3, 2022; Arial Badiang was disappeared in Manolo Fortich, Bukindnon on February 7, 2023; Ronel delos Santos, Donald Laloy Mialen and Lyn Grace Martullinas were abducted in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental on April 19 this year; and Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamill de Jesus remain missing after their abduction in Taytay, Rizal last April 28, Karapatan said.

Palabay added that just last September15, peasant organizer Bea Lopez was reportedly abducted in Cauayan, Negros Occidental with tricycle driver Peter Agravante.

Agravante’s remains were found two days later in a cliff in Basay, Negros Oriental bearing torture marks and a gunshot wound to the head.

“Jhed and Jonila’s case should also prod the public and government officials, as it is their primordial duty, to strengthen investigations and efforts to find and surface all desaparecidos,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)