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Environment advocate bares torture during abduction, enforced disappearance

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by Maujerie Ann Miranda

Environment advocate and abduction survivor Francisco “Eco” Dangla III bared in a press conference at the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City today the ordeal he and a fellow activist underwent in the hands of their attackers.

Last March 24, Dangla and Joxelle “Jak” Tiaong were violently kidnapped in San Carlos City, Pangasinan by probable state agents while on board a tricycle on their way home from a consultation with community leaders. 

They were surfaced after three days of harrowing physical and psychological torture he feared he and Tiaong would not survive.

“After some time in the hands of our abductors, we really thought we would be killed,” he said.

The victims were convenors of the Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment, fighting against projects such as offshore black sand mining and the establishment of coal power plants they said are being opposed by many Pangasinan residents and institutions such as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

Dangla said he tried using his mobile phone but was ordered at gunpoint to stop. After a prolonged struggle with his abductors that left him with wounds and bruises, he also shouted for help from the residents.

Dangla said they were blindfolded in all the three days and nights they were kept in a safe house, leaving him with deep scars around his eyes.

He revealed that they were constantly interrogated about their alleged links with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA).

They were also given names the two were supposed to profile.

 “The first night of the abduction was the worse because they did not allow us to sleep with their incessant questioning,” he said.

The two environmentalists tried reasoning with their abductors, saying they are working with the Church in resisting the construction of more coal-fired power plants in the area, as well as the massive offshore magnetite mining project on Lingayen Gulf.

“I even cited Pope Francis’ Laudato Si as the reason for our activities,” to which our attackers retorted we are just using the church for our alleged activities as NPA recruiters,” he said in Filipino.

Both Dangla and Tiaong are environment ministry affiliates of the archdiocese.

Environment activist, and abduction and enforced disappearance survivor Francisco ‘Eco’ Dangla III. (Photo by R. Villanueva/Kodao)

Days and nights of torture

Dangla said he and Tiaong were repeatedly hit on the head, arms and torso when the abductors disliked their answers.

Dangla said that the pyschological torture was greater than the physical.

He revealed their abductors said there was a cobra beside them ready to bite. He also heard a back hoe in the background the kidnappers said they will use to bury them if they do not admit to their allegations.

Dangla added, “Susunugin kami, tapos ilalaga kami sa gulong. May naaamoy [ naman ako] na nasusunog na plastic, na gulong.” (They will burn us, stew us in burning rubber tires. That was when I smelled burning plastic, rubber.)

The abductors also threatened to electrocute them and were told that the biscuits offered them were laced with truth serum.

Dangla said that the death threats to their family were the worse. 

“They asked about our family background and told us they would kill them as well if we do not confess to whatever they were accusing us of,” he said.

Just before they were freed, the abductors allowed them to take a shower but put marks on their backs to continue the intimidation.

“Iniisip ko kung babarilin ba [ako] o sisipain tapos ihuhulog sa pozo negro,” Dangla said. (I was thinking, they would shoot us and dump us in a septic tank.)

On March 27, they were released. 

Surviving the ordeal

The environment activist shared, “Noong nasa kamay [kami] ng mga abductor ,nananantya [ako] kung mabubuhay o mamamatay [kami]. Gusto [ko] ding i-assure [si Jak] kung mamamatay man [kami], siguro naghahanap ‘yung mga kasama. Marami namang nagmamahal sa atin, na tama yung ginagawa namin.”

(While we were in the hands of the abductors, I did not know whether we would survive or die. I wanted to assure Jak that, if we indeed die, our colleagues were probably looking for us. There are many who love us; that what we are doing is right.)

He thanked the community, the churches and fellow advocates who helped them and called for their surfacing.

Francisco ‘Eco’ Dangla III with fellow environment activist and abduction survivor Jonila Castro (left) and Karapatan-Central Luzon leader Pia Montalban (right). [Photo by MA Miranda/Kodao)

It could only be state forces

The environment advocate shared that he has been experiencing harassment from state forces since 2014, which intensified in 2018 and 2019 when he was tagged as a “regional threat” by the Ilocos Regional Peace and Security Council.

Dangla revealed that placards were also hung around Pangasinan in the past accusing him of being a recruiter for the NPA for his environmental activism.

He was also a victim of online red-tagging during the pandemic.

Jonila Castro, herself an environmental activist, abducted and then surfaced last September with fellow anti-Manila Bay reclamation activities campaigner Jhed Tamano, called for accountability and justice for all victims of enforced disappearance during the press conference.

Castro said Dangla and Tiaong’s case is another proof that the human rights situation has not improved under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.

She condemned the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and its practice of forcing communities and leaders to falsely “surrender” as Communist insurgents.

Karapatan Central Luzon regional coordinator Pia Montalban said enforced disappearance cases follow the pattern of red-tagging and harassment by the State before the abducted of victims.

“Kaya di po kami masisisi na ang sisisihin namin ay ang Estado o ang armadong pwersa nito,” said Montalban. (That is why we cannot be faulted for pointing out to the State and its armed forces as the perpetrators.)

Lee Sudario, Norman Ortiz, Steve Abua, Ma. Elena “Cha” Pampoza, and Elgene “Leleng” Mungcal are some of the abducted activists in Central Luzon that have yet to be surfaced, according to Montalban. 

The human rights advocate emphasized the legitimate advocacies of the abducted, such as the protection of the environment, land for the farmers, among others.

Karapatan Central Luzon called for the surfacing of all desaparacidos and the end to the abduction and other forms of harassment to activists. #

Groups mourn passing of nationalist senator Rene Saguisag

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Groups mourn the death of human rights lawyer Rene AV Saguisag, part of the “Magnificent 12” group of senators who voted against the extension of the US-Philippines Military Bases Agreement in September 1991.

A stalwart of the legal profession, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) described Saguisag as a “Filipino patriot, staunch human rights lawyer and civil libertarian, indefatigable fighter for justice, nationalism and democracy.”

“We join the nation in giving thanks and paying tribute to Sen. Saguisag, an activist who never lost his bearings through the twists and turns of the people’s struggle. From taking the cudgels for human rights victims during the Marcos dictatorship, voting against the US Military Bases Agreement in the Senate, to opposing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte’s fascist regimes, Sen. Saguisag’s long life of service to the nation and the people will always be cherished,” BAYAN said upon learning of Saguisag’s death on Wednesday, April 24.

 Arrested due to his opposition to Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s declaration of martial rule in 1972, Saguisag joined the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) of Senators Jose Diokno and Lorenzo Tanada upon his release from prison.

He later co-founded the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism, Inc. (MABINI) in 1980 with Tañada, future Senator Joker Arroyo, future Labor Secretary Augusto “Bobbit” Sanchez and future Vice President Jejomar Binay, among other civil libertarians.

After Marcos Sr.’s ouster in 1986, President Corazon Aquino appointed Saguisag her first presidential spokesperson who also encouraged his successful run for the Senate. Aquino reportedly referred to Saguisag as her possible successor to the presidency.

He however went against Aquino’s wish for an extension of the military bases agreement and honored his campaign promise to only become a one-term senator.

Saguisag (center) with former Senate colleagues Leticia Ramos-Shahani (+) and Victor Ziga (+). [Kodao file photo]

‘Magnificent until the end’

Fellow lawyers paid tribute to Saguisag, saying their colleague had been unswayed by power, “chasing away the darkness from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr.”

“We mourn alongside his children and family the loss of an indefatigable, incorruptible, and principled Filipino,” the group Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties (CLCL) said in a statement yesterday.

Saguisag co-founded CLCL in 2006 to help combat the spate of extra-judicial killings under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and was a founding convenor of the Manananggol Laban sa Extra-judicial Killings, set up at the height of the killings and abuses under President Rodrigo Duterte.

It counts among its members Binay, Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares, former De la Salle University Law Dean Chel Diokno, Ateneo de Manila University Law Dean Antonio La Vina, former Quezon Rep. Erin Tanada, and other human rights lawyers.

CLCL pointed out that even in his advancing age and deteriorating health, Saguisag stood against the return of US troops through the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement.

Saguisag also insisted in joining the petition against the Anti-Terror Act of 2020.

“Through the years, Sen. Rene with his signature wit and humor was a core of movements for free and impactful legal aid, for the rule of law, against disinformation and revisionism, and against all assaults on human rights,” CLCL said.

“Sen. Saguisag showed us how to recognize the insidious approach of anything dangerous or evil, and more importantly, how to slay it. He led by example, and there is no other way to honor his enduring legacy but to continue his work for the poor and the disenfranchised inside and outside the courtroom,” the group added.

But Saguisag once earned criticisms even from among his friends for pointing out the “unconstitutionality” of President Joseph Estrada’s ouster in 2001.

He however led investigations on the rigging of government contracts under Estrada who requested his participation in the probes. He also once described Estrada as a “substandard president.”

BAYAN said that even while Saguisag remained true to his legal profession, he remained their warm friend despite political and ideological differences in the pursuit for common aspirations such as people’s rights and welfare.

Despite old age and ailments, Saguisag also became an active convenor of the Movement Against Tyranny (MAT), the No to Cha-cha Coalition, and the Pilipinong Nagkakaisa Para sa Soberanya (P1NAS) that opposed China’s bogus claims over the West PH Sea as well as the US’ increasing role in stoking the PH-China conflict.

“May Sen. Saguisag’s life serve as a shining example and inspiration to our fellow Filipinos in their continuing struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy,” BAYAN said.

Bar topnotcher, top-notch journalist

Born in a poor family on August 14, 1939, in Mauban, Tayabas (now Quezon Province), Saguisag grew up in Pasig City where he graduated from Rizal High School (RHS) with honors. He was schoolmates and friends with the late Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria, reported top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines he described to Kodao as two of the brightest RHS alumni ever.

Saguisag earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Beda University in 1959, graduating cum laude while serving as editor-in-chief (EIC) of its college student publication The Bedan.

The Bedan eventually honored Saguisag by naming him as its EIC emeritus.

He earned his law degree from the same school in 1963 and placed sixth in the bar examinations of the same year. He went on to earn his Master of Laws from Harvard University as a scholar in 1968.

While building a successful career, he was invited to teach at his alma mater where he eventually became its law college’s assistant dean from 1971–1972.

It was while he was dean-in-charge that he recommended Duterte’s dismissal from the school for figuring in an in-campus shooting incident.

In the Senate, Saguisag was one of only two who lodged perfect attendance in all 415 session days from July 1987 to June 1990.

He co-authored the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (R.A. 6713) with his uncle and former Senate President Jovito Salonga and was the main author of the Ombudsman Act of 1989 (R.A. 6770).

After his Senate stint, Saguisag became a long-time columnist for The Manila Times and build a loyal following for his witty column “TGIF”. He also authored several books, notably “Saguisag Wit-1” and “Saguisag Wit-2.”

Saguisag was married to Dulce Quintans who later became Department of Social Work and Development secretary. They had five children.

Saguisag and wife figured in a vehicular accident on November 8, 1997 that killed Dulce and seriously injured the lawyer. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP celebrates 51st anniversary, foresees resurgence

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) foresees another resurgence in its revolutionary struggle following the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) third rectification movement launched last December.

In a message to members and supporters on the occasion of its 51st founding anniversary today, April 24, Luis Jalandoni, NDFP chief international representative, said they remain confident of complete victory in the struggle for national and social liberation.

“On the firm foundation of the 51 years of glorious revolutionary struggle and the resurgence that inevitably follows rectification we are confident of winning more battles in the years to come,” he said.

In his statement, Jalandoni also urged NDFP allied organizations as well as the “fighting Filipino masses” to continue “resist[ing] imperialist wars and confront chronic crises.”

Jalandoni said Filipinos are facing the real threat of “inter-imperialist armed confrontation” between the United States and China, made worse by the ongoing Balikatan war exercises “intent to transform the Philippine archipelago into a forward military base where the US can station is military personnel, warships, anti-aircraft weapons and other war materiel.”

A weakling amid bullies

For the ongoing exercises, the US Army for the first time has deployed new ground-based missile launchers, in Northern Luzon capable of supporting Tomahawk cruise missiles and other projectiles against China.

US Naval News said the mid-range capable launchers, known as the Typhon Weapon system were created to address “the wide range of threats” from both China and Russia.

China for its part condemned the Balikatan, saying it will only lead to greater insecurity in the South China Sea.

China warned that the Philippine government should be “sober enough to realize” that allowing external countries to hold war games is a provocation that will only aggravate tensions and undermine regional stability.

“Attempts to bring in external forces to safeguard its so-called security will only lead to greater insecurity for itself,” People’s Republic of China foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Jalandoni said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is serving the Filipino people on a silver platter to its US imperialist master is dragging the Philippines in a brewing hot war with China.

Reasons to resist

The former NDFP chief peace negotiator said that while Philippine sovereignty is being undermined by both the US and China, Filipinos are also subjected to worsening economic conditions under Marcos Jr.

He pointed that farmers are subjected to systematic and criminal neglect by not providing substantial air and support during El Nino.

Jalandoni added that the working classes suffer from varying schemes of labor exploitation as wages remain depressed amid sky-rocketing prices of basic goods and services.  

 “Despite the consecutive onslaughts of economic crises and the threat of war, the Filipino fighting masses remain persistent in the struggle for national liberation and democracy,” he said.

Jalandoni said the NDFP persists in uniting the peasants and the working class in their struggle for national and social liberation.

An underground organization composed of revolutionary groups such as the CPP and the New People’s Army, the NDFP is engaged in peace negotiations with the Manila government for more than three decades. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

When peace dialogues should be ongoing, Marcos gov’t pronounces revolutionary groups as ‘terrorists’

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The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government maintains its designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as so-called terrorist organizations and declared two National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants as alleged terrorist individuals.

On separate resolutions passed around the time when Malacañan Palace announced efforts to resume formal peace negotiations with the NDFP, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) said that based on evidence gathered by law enforcement agencies, the basis for the designation on the CPP and NPA still exists.

ATC Resolution 54–approved last December 6 but only uploaded only last Wednesday to the Manila government’s Official Gazette website–alleges that both the CPP and the NPA committed 268 “atrocities” from December 2020 to August 2023.

The ATC first designated the CPP and the NPA as “terrorist organizations” in its Resolution No. 17 passed in 2021.

ATC Resolution 53, also approved last December 6 but only uploaded last April 17, designated NDFP peace consultant Elizabeth Principe as a so-called terrorist individual.

Earlier ATC Resolution 52, approved last October 25 but only uploaded to the Official Gazette last January 9, also declared Ma. Concepcion Araneta-Bocala as a so-called terrorist individual.

The ATC alleges that both Principe and Araneta-Bocala are CPP Central Committee members and are thus qualified for the designation.

Resolution 53 also alleges the elderly Principe has participated in NPA attacks in Cagayan Valley as late as March 2023, such as in the burning of heavy mining and dam construction equipment in Isabela Province.

Principe has attended a formal round of peace negotiations between the Benigno Aquino Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP in Oslo, Norway January 2011 while Araneta-Bocala has repeatedly attended formal peace negotiations with the Rodrigo Duterte administration throughout Europe from 2016 to 2017.

Both peace consultants are GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees documents of identification holders and included in a reconstituted list of protected peace talks personnel submitted to the Old Catholic Church Patriarch in The Netherlands in 2017.

The GRP already included Araneta-Bocala in an earlier list of so-called terrorists under the Human Security Act of 2007.

The ATC resolutions were signed by Marcos’ executive secretary, Atty. Lucas Bersamin, as chairperson of the ATC as well as other council officials.

The council was created by the passage of Republic Act 11479, otherwise known as the Anti-Terror Act of 2020.

‘Talking to terrorists?’

ATC’s approval of its resolutions 53 and 54 came mere days after both GRP, NDFP and Royal Norwegian Government, Third Party Facilitator to the peace process, simultaneously announced that dialogues between the parties have resumed to try to revive the stalled formal talks last November 28.

ATC’s uploading of both resolutions to the Official Gazette also came at a time when further dialogues between both parties were expected.

The parties’ simultaneous press conferences last November 28 said that further dialogues may be expected in the first quarter of the current year.

The CPP, NPA and NDFP dispute the designation and were affirmed by a September 2022 Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) decision junking their attempted proscription by the GRP as “terrorists”.

In a 135-page resolution penned by Presiding Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar, the Manila RTC said a perusal of the CPP-NPA’s program shows that it is organized not for the purpose of engaging in terrorism.

NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima earlier told Kodao that the retraction of the terrorist designation of the revolutionary groups shall be among the issues to be discussed in further dialogues with the GRP as part of efforts to resume formal peace negotiations.

“They can’t be negotiating with parties they allege to be terrorists, can they?” de Lima said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)  

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)

Red fighters welcome 3rd rectification movement, CPP reports on NPA’s 55th anniversary

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The New People’s Army (NPA) has “wholeheartedly welcomed” the third rectification movement recently launched by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the revolutionary Left reported.

In its traditional NPA founding anniversary statement published today, the CPP’s Central Committee said all of the guerrilla army’s regional commands have responded positively to the rectification movement launched last December 26 on the occasion of the Party’s own 55th founding anniversary. 

“They have responded positively and are presently carrying out summing-up conferences and study meetings to identify the errors and shortcomings in order to rectify these, and steadily and comprehensively carry forward all revolutionary tasks,” the CPP said.

In a nearly eight thousand word statement entitled “Set to blaze the revolutionary armed struggle for national democracy! Carry out the critical and urgent tasks to rectify errors and advance the revolution!” the CPP said the NPA and all other revolutionary forces are in the process of identifying and getting rid of the ideological roots of “past errors, weaknesses and shortcomings.”

The Party said the NPA had been stalled by military conservatism in recent years resulting in fewer tactical offensives against Manila government’s armed forces.

The CPP also acknowledged the loss of veteran NPA commanders in the ongoing total war that started after former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, a strategy that is continuing under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

NPA defeat ’wishful thinking’

The underground Party said their third rectification movement is frustrating government plans to annihilate the NPA however, similar to how its Second Great Rectification Movement has salvaged their revolution from total self-destruction in the 1990s.

This report is in stark contrast to Marcos Jr.’s announcement last January that the NPA has suffered “strategic defeat,” citing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claims that there are no more active Red guerrilla fronts left in the country.

The CPP dismissed the new (AFP) deadline of June 2024 as the date for the destruction of all Red guerrilla fronts and the end of this year as the annihilation of the entire NPA.

Last Tuesday, March 26, Chinese outfit XinhuaNet reported national security adviser Eduardo Ano’s reiteration of AFP’s claim of the NPA’s strategic defeat and total annihilation by year-end.

On the same day, however, the NPA in Quezon province announced it ambushed a 30-man unit of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Barangay Doña Aurora, Calauag  town.

Three government troopers were wounded in the attack, Apolonio Mendoza Command-NPA spokesperson Cleo del Mundo reported.

The Manila government has declared Quezon province as “insurgency-free” and was put under the so-called Stable Internal Peace and Security category only last June.

All NPA regional commands intact

In today’s statement, the CPP Central Committee said that all 14 NPA regional commands remain intact and is starting to arrest its reverses through intense ideological activities such as the study of Marxist, Leninist and Maoist writings as well as those of its founding chairperson Sison.

The CPP said the NPA is in the process of correcting its military conservatism and directed the guerrilla army to launch attacks to regain strengthen and defend the people from widespread human rights violations resulting from intense government military operations.

“In response, the enemy poured even greater amounts of funds and resources to its counterrevolutionary war and has further intensified its campaign of encirclement and suppression,” the CPP said.

“This has now taken the form of relentless and widespread campaigns of armed suppression against peasant communities, aerial bombing and artillery shelling and large-scale combat operations in scores of guerrilla fronts across the country.”

Acknowledged as the army engaged in the longest armed revolution in Asia, the NPA was founded on this day in 1969 in Barangay Sta. Rita in Capas, Tarlac, a few months after Sison and several others re-established the CPP in neighboring  Pangasinan province a few months earlier in December 26, 1968. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP consultants welcome return of peace talks to national level

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Detained National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants welcome reported dialogues to revive stalled formal peace negotiations with the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), expressing hope to join the talks if efforts succeed.

Long-time NDFP consultant Vicente Ladlad said they welcome efforts to resume formal peace talks with the GRP and the start of its policy changes regarding negotiations with the revolutionary Left.

“It is good they (GRP) decided to elevate peace talks to the national level once again and reverse former president Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of so-called localized peace talks,” Ladlad said.

The 30-year veteran of the GRP-NDFP talks noted that Duterte was of the “mistaken” belief that the GRP shall have eliminated the NPA by the end of his term in June 2022.

“Apparently, they realized that under Marcos Jr., they realized that the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA (New People’s Army)-NDFP is still a viable force. That is why they are going back to negotiating with the NDFP,” Ladlad added.

Following Duterte’s cancellation of formal negotiations in mid-2017, no local CPP, NPA and NDFP formation has also officially engaged the GRP in so-called localized peace talks, the groups clarifying they have only authorized the NDFP Negotiating Panel to negotiate with the Manila government.

Outstanding issues

Ladlad said that one of the hurdles in efforts to revive the talks is Vice President Sara Duterte’s open opposition to the policy change on negotiations with the NDFP.

He said the vice president’s statement on the peace efforts was “very hostile and belligerent” to her president, Marcos Jr.

In an interview after the simultaneous announcement by the NDFP, GRP and the Royal Norwegian Government—Third Party Facilitator of the peace talks–of ongoing dialogues to revive negotiations last December, Vice President Duterte said it was “an agreement with the devil.”

NDFP peace consultant Adelberto Silva for his part said another hurdle to the success of the ongoing dialogues is the insistence of other officials in the Marcos Jr. cabinet to do away with previously signed agreements such as The Hague Joint Declaration and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

Silva said that The Hague Joint Declaration should remain as the framework of the negotiations as it had already been signed and reaffirmed by both parties numerous times.

“The GRP must also guarantee the safety of the consultants the NDFP wishes to join in the revived peace talks under the JASIG,” Silva said.

Both consultants added the Marcos Jr. GRP must remember that the negotiations are not just about ending the armed conflict but addressing its root causes.

“Otherwise, that’s just surrender talks,” they said.

In an interview with Kodao, NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Julie de Lima said there have been at least five dialogues with GRP emissaries since early 2022 when NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison was still alive. (Sison died of illness in December 2022.)

The first four dialogues happened in The Netherlands and the fifth was in Oslo where the November 26, 2023 Joint Communique was signed between GRP officials and the NDFP Negotiating Panel.

De Lima said it was former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Emmanuel Bautista who initiated the dialogues who was later joined by Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo  Jr. at the fifth round of dialogues in Oslo, Norway. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Huling Bahagi)

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Sa ika-apat at huling episode ng panayam na ito, sinagot ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison kung ano ang kabuluhan ng ikatlong kilusang pagwawasto ng Communist Party of the Philippines sa usapang pangkapayapaan. Mangyayari ba ang pagpapasuko ng administrasyong Marcos Jr. sa rebolusyonaryong kilusan? Ano ang epekto sa pagkawala nina Prof. Joma Sison, Fidel Agcaoili, Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria at iba pa sa negosasyon? Ano ang panawagan niya sa mga kasapi ng NDFP at mamamayan kaugnay sa usapang pangkapayapaan?

PANOORIN:

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

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Sa episode na ito, ano ang masasabi ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison sa mga pahayag ng mga opisyal ng pamahalaang Marcos Jr. kung ano ang gusto nilang katangian ng sinusubukang buhayin na usapang pangkapayapaan? Bakit nga ba nakikipag-usap ang NDFP sa isa na namang gubyernong Marcos? Ano nga ba ang tunay na interes ng gobyernong Marcos Jr. sa mga diskusyon sa posibleng pagbuhay ng usapang pangkapayapaan? Paano kapaki-pakinabang ang usapang pangkapayapaan sa mga maiinit na isyung pambayan?

PANOORIN:

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

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Sa episode na ito, ibinahagi ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison ang kwento kung paano nagsimula ang kasalukuyang pag-uusap sa posibleng pagbuhay ng negosasyong pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng kanilang panig at ng Gubyerno ng Republika ng Pilipinas sa ilalim ng administrasyong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Sino ang unang lumapit? Ano ang mga isyung kanilang pinag-uusapan? Ano ang talagang nais ng gubyernong Marcos Jr? Ano ang tugon ng NDFP? At ano ang estado ng mga dayalogo sa kasalukuyan?

Panoorin ang unang bahagi ng panayam rito: PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)