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Lawyers condemn brutal deaths of Tiamzons; fraternity condoles with family

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Human rights lawyers condemned the brutal deaths of their clients Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, calling it a “grave breach of international humanitarian law (IHL).”

In separate statements, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) called for accountability for the deaths of Benito, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) executive committee chairperson, and his wife Wilma, CPP central committee secretary general between August 21 and 22, 2023.

“The reported manner of killings, signs of torture on the unarmed victims’ bodies and the insidious cover-up involving the explosion and sinking of a ‘hostile boat’ in the waters of Catbalogan City…all point to the commission of war crimes by the military,” the NUPL said.

“These grave breaches of (IHL) expose the injustice of the current counterterrorism framework, which blurs the distinction between armed conflict and terrorism, enables the arbitrary terrorist designation of parties to the protracted armed struggle, and enfeebles the application of protective legal norms to hors de combat, prisoners of war, and protected persons,” the group said.

The PILC for its part said the loss of a client in a savage extrajudicial killing in the midst of unresolved injustices is far worse painful than the loss of a case in court.

“The news about the brutal killing of our clients Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, with eight companions, shows how the system has failed again,” the PILC said.

The law firm said the Tiamzons first became their clients upon their arrest in Cebu in March 2014, a difficult task since they were branded as “enemies the state” given their extensive knowledge of the nature and problems of Philippine society and deep involvement in the armed struggle to bring about structural change.

“Contrary to the vilification, they were both level-headed, patient, and soft spoken. They would often give us insightful analysis of the case. Our conversations with them as our clients taught us to be more meticulous and analytical in our work,” they said.

Peace warriors

The Tiamzons were released from jail by the previous Rodrigo Duterte administration to participate in formal peace negotiations in Europe between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Formal talks lasted less than a year, between 2016 and 2017, but was enough for the Tiamzons to make their mark in the process, PILC said.

“[I]n the peace negotiations with the Philippine government, they provided significant contributions with the sincere aim of reflecting in the agreement the aspirations of the oppressed Filipino masses,” the law firm said.

The Tiamzons actively participated during the discussions on specific provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), the most substantive of the four peace talks agenda that includes respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, political and constitutional reforms (PCR), and cessation of hostilities and disposition of forces (CHDP) as laid down by the parties in their Joint Hague Declaration signed in September 1992.

Even while the drafting of a common draft of the CASER was still being finalized, Benito and Wilma had already started work on the next agenda of the peace negotiations, their lawyers said.

Benito, aside from being a member of the NDFP negotiating panel, was also the head of the reciprocal working group tasked to study the agenda on the PCR, while Wilma was the head of the reciprocal working group assigned to research and draft proposed provisions on the agenda of CHDP.

The peace negotiations could have been an opportunity for the Philippine government to end the armed conflict and achieve a just and lasting peace, PILC narrated.

Where are government’s obligations?

In an announcement Monday, the CPP reported the Tiamzons and eight others were caught in a military dragnet near Catbalogan on August 21 last year.

The revolutionary group added the Tiamzons were severely beaten and their bodies subsequently blown up off the coast of Samar province in what the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) described was a running firefight.

Former AFP officials involved in the said incident denied CPP’s allegations, pointing out that DNA tests being conucted abroad have yet to confirm if body parts recovered from the scene belonged to the Tiamzons.

The NUPL however still called on the Manila government to fulfill its obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law in all circumstances as stated in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Protocols, the domestic Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, and even the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by both the GRP and the NDFP as a mutual agreement connected with the peace process between the parties.

“This non-derogable obligation includes the duty to recognize the equal applicability of international humanitarian law to both parties of an armed conflict and to hold the military to account for the inhumane treatment and deaths not only of the Tiamzon spouses but of many other casualties of its war crimes,” they said

Fraternity condoles

Meanwhile, Benito’s University of the Philippines (UP) Alpha Sigma Fraternity brothers expressed condolences for the death of their member they described as having lived their brotherhood’s principles.

Benito was a member of the fraternity’s 1969-D batch, indicating the year of his entry into the group.

“Bilang isang miyembro ng aming kapatiran, naging malaki ang naging kontribusyon ni Brod Benito, at ang kanyang bunga ay naramdaman din sa labas ng aming organisasyon. Ang kanyang liderato at aktibismo, sa loob at labas ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, ay nag-iwan ng hindi malilimutang marka sa aming kapatiran at sa lipunan na pinagsisilbihan namin. Ang kanyang dedikasyon at matatag na paninindigan para sa mga tao ay nagbigay inspirasyon sa aming lahat,” the group in its message said.

(As a member of our brotherhood, Benito’s contributions had been immense that we feel even outside of the organization. His leadership and activist, within and outside UP, leave an unforgettable mark on our fraternity and the society we serve. His dedication and unflinching principles inspire us all.)

“Bilang isang kapatiran, nangangako kami na patuloy na itataguyod ang aming pinakamataas na layunin na Alay sa Sambayanan na isinabuhay ni Brod Benito at Wilma Austria at patuloy na maglilingkod sa mga tao upang makagawa ng positibong pagbabago sa ating lipunan. Taos-puso naming ipinagmamalaki si Brod Benito bilang isang tunay na myembro ng UP Alpha Sigma Fraternity na hanggang sa dulo ng kanyang buhay ay ubos lakas na pinaglilingkuran ang sambayanan,” it added.

(As a brotherhood, we vow to pursue our loftiest ideal of serving the people that our brother Benito and Wilma lived by to bring about positive changes in society. We are wholeheartedly proud of Brother Benito as a genuine member of the UP Alpha sigma Fraternity who until the end of his life gave his all for the people.) # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Happiness is in the revolution’

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Reportedly captured, tortured and killed on August 21, 2022 with wife Wilma Austria and eight others:

“Happiness is in the revolution. I could not think of any other life. There is no other way. The revolution is not a burden, an obligation I perform with a heavy heart. It comes out naturally.”—BENITO TIAMZON, Communist Party of the Philippines Executive Committee Chairperson

NDFP Peace Panel ‘immensely outraged’ at Tiamzons’ brutal deaths

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel said it is “immensely outraged” at the killing of its member Benito Tiamzon and peace consultant Wilma Austria Tiamzon it blames on the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Following the announcement Thursday by the Communist Party of the Philippines that the Tiamzons were arrested, tortured and killed in Catbalogan, Samar last August 21, NDFP Negotiating Panel interim chairperson Julieta de Lima said they are also in deep mourning for the Tiamzons and their eight companions.

“The reported manner of their questionable capture, inhuman treatment and barbaric torture, and the deceptive scheme to dispose of their and eight of their comrades’ mutilated bodies are despicable acts of evil persons from the GRP State’s terror machinery,” de Lima said.

According to the CPP, the Tiamzons and their companions were captured at a military checkpoint near Catbalogan and and suffered severe beating in the hands of their captors, citing witnesses who saw how the faces and bodies of the victims were smashed with hard objects.

Their dead bodies were then taken to a boat that was blown up off the coast of Samar province to make it appear that they were killed in a firefight with the military’s Joint Task Force Storm, the 8th Infantry Division and the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trident in the early morning hours of August 22, 2022 off the coast of Catbalogan.

The CPP added that the “Catbalogan 10” suffered the same fate as other CPP and New People’s Army (NPA) leaders who were brutally killed after capture, such as in the case of NPA spokesperson Jorge Madlos (Ka Oris) in October 2021, NPA national commander Menandro Villanueva (Ka Bok) in January 2022, revolutionary leader Antonio Cabantan (Ka Manlimbasog) in December 2020, CPP Central Committee leader Julius Giron (Ka Nars) in March 2020 and a number of others.

“This deliberate pattern of either arbitrarily arresting or outrightly murdering activists and revolutionaries must immediately stop,” de Lima said.

Instead of meaningful resolution of the armed conflict, the killings and other damaging acts and statements by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) make it more difficult to address the root causes of the armed conflict, she added.

AFP denies CPP report

In media interviews Thursday, retired 8th Infantry Division-Philippine Army commander Edgardo de Leon denied the CPP report that the Tiamzons were captured in a military checkpoint and were subsequently killed.

De Leon confirmed however that they implemented a dragnet in the area and purposefully engaged a number of alleged NPA fighters off the coast of Catbalogan where there is little chance of civilians being caught in the crossfire.

He also denied that their Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trident directly involved American troops.

 Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police said the results of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) results from abroad to establish if body parts retrieved on the coast of Catbalogan were indeed those of the Tiamzons.

The CPP however said that the supposed offshore firefight was an elaborate way to hide the torture the Tiamzons suffered in the hands of the military.

“The claimed mid-sea firefight and explosion were all a drama hatched by the AFP and its US military advisers, to hide all evidence of the ignominy of their fascist crime. In truth, the already lifeless bodies of the Tiamzons and their group were dumped on a motorboat filled with explosives, and tugged from Catbalogan midway towards Taranganan island before it was detonated. Only eight bodies were subsequently retrieved by the military,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.  

The NDFP Negotiating Panel said the Tiamzons should not have suffered arrest, torture and murder as they were protected by several signed agreements and protocols.

“Being protected persons under the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) as well as the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), in particular, and of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, in general, they should have been accorded all their rights and not murdered in cold blood by remorse-deficit GRP State terrorists,” de Lima said.

Arrested for the second time in southern Cebu in 2014, the Tiamzons were released from jail in 2016 to enable their participation in formal peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP in Europe.

Benito was a member of the NDFP Peace Panel and a key political consultant of the NDFP Reciprocal Working Group (RWG) on Political and Constitutional Reforms (PCR). He was 71 years old.

Wilma a political consultant of the NDFP RWG on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces (EHDF). She was 70 years old.

Childhood sweethearts, the two were classmates at Rizal High School in Pasig where they graduated at the top of their class.

They both studied at the University of the Philippines where they separately joined the Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan but jointly went underground when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Imposed martial law in 1972.

They rose to become two of the CPP’s top leaders and was credited for leading the party in its Second Great Rectification Movement in the 1990s.

The CPP said Benito was chairperson of its executive committee while Wilma was secretary general of its central committee at the time of their deaths.

“Ka Benny and Ka Wilma are incontestably two of the most beloved, selfless and brightest leaders of the struggle. They, like Joma (Sison), Fidel (Agcaoili), Randall Echanis, Randy Malayao, Pedro Codaste and countless others, have steadfastly dedicated their whole lives, energies, wisdom and talent to achieve a truly  just and lasting peace for the people,” de Lima said.

“We honor their legacy by carrying on what they have passed on with even more vigor and resolve.  There is no other option,” de Lima added.

Meanwhile, the CPP’s Central Committee urged all NPA units nationwide to perform 21 gun salutes for the Tiamzons on April 24, the 50th founding anniversary of the NDFP. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP reports capture, torture and murder of Tiamzons by the military

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today confirmed Benito Tiamzon, chairman of its executive committee, and his wife, Wilma Austria Tiamzon, its secretary general, are dead.

Contrary to stories told by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) however that the top Communist leaders were killed when their boat was blown up by government troopers in the sea off Samar province, the CPP said the two and companions were captured near Catbalogan City last August 21.

They were then heavily tortured and killed, CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena in a statement said.

“The entire leadership and membership of the (CPP) condemn in the strongest terms the (AFP) for the brutal torture and cowardly killing of Party leaders Benito Tiamzon (Ka Laan) and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon (Ka Bagong-tao), together with eight other revolutionaries after they were captured in Samar province on August 21, 2022,” Valbuena’s statement said.

Benito was 71 while Wilma was 70, the CPP said.

The group said the two were travelling with Ka Divino (Joel Arceo), a subregional secretary in Eastern Visayas, along with Ka Yen, Ka Jaja, Ka Matt, Ka Ash, Ka Delfin, Ka Lupe, Ka Butig who all belonged to the guerrilla force of the central headquarters.

In a report, the CPP’s political bureau said the Tiamzons were traveling on two separate vans along the national highway eastwards towards Catbalogan City. They were flagged down between 12:00 noon and 1:00 in the afternoon, after which all communications with the group were lost.

They were unarmed, the group said.

Valbuena said it took them took several weeks to investigate reports the AFP released last year about the Tiamzon’s death off the western coast of Samar island. He said it also took them months to piece together the details of the capture and subsequent massacre of the Tiamzons and companions.

The AFP said the Tiamzons were killed when their boat exploded while engaging in a firefight with the military’s Joint Task Force Storm, the 8th Infantry Division and the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trident in the early morning hours of August 22, 2022 off the coast of Catbalogan.

The Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trident is a unit trained and commanded by the US (United States of America) military, the CPP said.

“The claimed mid-sea firefight and explosion were all a drama hatched by the AFP and its US military advisers, to hide all evidence of the ignominy of their fascist crime. In truth, the already lifeless bodies of the Tiamzons and their group were dumped on a motorboat filled with explosives, and tugged from Catbalogan midway towards Taranganan island before it was detonated. Only eight bodies were subsequently retrieved by the military,” Valbuena said.

‘Heavily tortured’

According to the information gathered by the CPP Central Committee, the Tiamzons were in fact captured and suffered severe beating in the hands of their captors, citing witnesses who saw how the faces and bodies of the victims were smashed with hard objects.

“The murder of the Tiamzons follow the pattern of the wilful killings perpetrated by the AFP against captured revolutionaries. The same cruel and cowardly methods were used in the killing of Jorge Madlos (Ka Oris), Menandro Villanueva (Ka Bok), Antonio Cabantan (Ka Manlimbasog), Julius Giron (Ka Nars) and a number of others,” Valbuena said.

Valbuena added that the CPP demands justice for the August 21 massacre of the Tiamzons and companions, naming top AFP generals and commander in chief President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as among those responsible.

The Tiamzons were last seen publicly when they participated in several formal peace negotiations in Norway, Italy and the Netherlands in 2016 and 2017 with the Rodrigo Duterte administration of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

They also attended several peace forums in the Philippines before again going underground when the talks collapsed due to orders from Duterte and the military.

Benito and Wilma were top graduates of Rizal High School in Pasig City before becoming a couple while they were University of the Philippines students.

They were already members of several revolutionary organizations when they went underground after President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law in 1972.

Along with Giron, the Tiamzons were the highest-ranking CPP leaders who were allegedly killed by the AFP. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Alleged CPP leader in Mindanao arrested in Malaysia; brother expresses concern for his safety

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PNP chief Azurin to hold press conference on arrest instead of shabu controversy

A former congressman said he is “very worried” for the safety of his brother detained by Malaysian authorities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) since Sunday afternoon, April 16.

In an urgent appeal, former Anakpawis Representative Ariel Casilao said his brother Eric Jun Casilao was arrested in Malaysia and is in the process of being transferred to the custody of Philippine Embassy officials.

Ariel said he was informed by Eric’s lawyers of the latter’s arrest.

Sources said that Philippine National Police (PNP) General Rodolfo Azurin and Police Brig. Gen, Jerry Bearis are set to hold a press briefing at Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila at 10 o’clock in the morning.

The PNP chief was reportedly originally scheduled to hold a press conference this morning regarding 49 PNP officers and personnel involved in alleged trafficking of nearly a ton of shabu found in Manila late last year.

Azurin’s name was mentioned by the chief of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group as having been knowledgeable in reported cover-up operations.

The police media advisory alleged that Eric is the secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Ariel however said Eric’s lawyers were denied information regarding details of his deportation to the Philippines.

“I now fear for his life and safety, while he is in the custody of Philippine officials as they have refused to give his legal representatives relevant information regarding his current status,” the former legislator said.

“I believe that Eric has the right to have access to his lawyers, at every stage of his being in the custody of authorities, and especially in the duration of his deportation and travel from Malaysia to the Philippines, I am very worried of his safety,” Ariel added.

He called on both the Malaysian and Philippine authorities to respect and ensure the protection of Eric’s rights under international and national human rights instruments, “whatever the charges or accusations against him.”

In an interview by ANC’s Jobert Navallo, Ariel said Eric may be in the process of seeking political asylum abroad due to incessant harassments by State authorities against their entire family.

Navallo in a tweet added that Eric was already deported to the Philippines this morning. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP praises NPA’s ‘achievements and victories’ on its 54th anniversary today

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) praised the New People’s Army (NPA) on its 54th founding anniversary Wednesday, March 29, citing achievements and victories through more than five decades of revolutionary armed struggle in the country.

In a statement, the CPP said the NPA has defeated numerous government campaigns of encirclement and suppression from the first Marcos regime to the present, growing from its original “60 fighters and commanders, nine automatic rifles, 26 single-shot rifles and handguns, and a mass base of around 80,000 in the first district of Tarlac province.”

While balance of forces overwhelmingly remain in favor of the Manila government, the CPP said the NPA has fought indefatigably over the over the decades and “it has grown by leaps and bounds.”

In its 54th founding anniversary statement last December 26, the CPP said the NPA currently has more than 110 guerilla fronts all over the country.

“The NPA is the most powerful weapon of the Party for waging the people’s democratic revolution. It carries out protracted people’s war along the strategic line of encircling the cities from the countryside,” the CPP said.

The revolutionary group said the NPA has adapted to the particular conditions of the country, achieving “great successes in carrying out guerrilla warfare, building guerrilla zones and base areas, and establishing Red political power covering vast areas in the countryside.”

“Day by day, the seeds of the future people’s democratic government are sown in thousands of villages across the country, existing side by side with and antithesis to the present reactionary and fascist government,” it added.

‘Heavier tasks’

The CPP said the NPA however faces heavier and greater tasks ahead, needing to “surmount and defeat the intensified campaigns of encirclement and armed suppression being carried out by the US puppet army,” referring to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We must continue to accumulate strength by smashing the AFP part by part in order to bring the people’s war from its current level to the next higher level. The Party and NPA remain fully determined to carry forward the people’s war to victory,” it said.

The CPP said NPA commanders and Red fighters have to “stir up and spread the flames of the people’s war for national freedom and democracy.”

The underground party cited “intensified imperialist oppression against the Filipino people” and emphasized the need to “attain freedom from US control and domination, and carry out land reform and national industrialization” which it said are key steps to improve the lives of the Filipino people.

It also denounced the plan of the US to construct more military bases in the Philippines to use the country “as part of its war theater preparations against China.”

The CPP said “the broad masses of the Filipino people are suffering from increasingly intolerable forms of oppression and exploitation… they are ever determined to wage resistance in order to free the country from clutches of US imperialism and the subservient ruling classes, and attain genuine national freedom and democracy.”

‘It lasts because it is loved’

In a separate statement, the NPA in Southern Panay said it joins all revolutionary forces in the country in celebrating the Red army’s anniversary.

Ariston Remus, NPA-Southern Panay spokesperson said the people’s love and support enabled them to outlast massive military operations launched by the government.

“The masses continue to put their faith in armed struggle as the only effective solution to their poverty and with the NPA as their true defenders,” Remus said in Filipino.

“The masses are getting better in their underground activities to show their love and give their fathomless support to their army,” he added.

‘Lofty ideals’

Founded in Capas, Tarlac in 1969, NPA’s armed struggle is often regarded as the longest-running Communist Party-led armed revolution in the world.

It has been designated as a so-called terrorist organization by the Philippine, United States and other Western governments, an accusation the revolutionary groups vehemently rejects.

In September 2022, a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) rejected Manila government’s bid to have both the CPP and the NPA proscribed as terrorist organizations.

Manila RTC Branch Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar wrote that while both organizations may be regarded as rebels, they are not terrorists because violence is simply part of their means but not their end.

“A perusal of the foregoing Program consisting of lofty ideals readily shows that the CPP-NPA is organized or exists not for the purpose [of] engaging in terrorism,” Judge Magdoza-Malagar ruled. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups demand removal of terrorist designation to revolutionary organizations

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Activist groups trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday morning to press the Philippine government to remove its designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as a terrorist organization and to resume peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

On the occasion of the late NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison’s 84thbirth anniversary, about 40 national and regional organizations said it is time for the government to remove its “arbitrary and erroneous” terrorist designation of the CPP, NDFP and the New People’s Army.

“Instead of the practice of ‘terrorist designation’, the Philippine government should embark on serious peace negotiations to address the roots of the armed conflict. The Marcos regime is the first post-EDSA regime that has not undertaken peace negotiations with the NDFP,” the groups said in a statement.

In the absence of negotiations, the groups added that the basic civil and political rights of NDFP peace consultants, political prisoners and other individuals are violated through the actions of the government’s Anti-Terrorism Council.

Another peace consultant arrested

After the rally at the DOJ, however, human rights group Karapatan reported that NDFP peace consultant Ariel Badiang, was taken under custody by military men in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon last Monday, February 6.

NDFP peace consultant Ariel Badiang Karapatan reported to be missing since Monday after taken into custody by government soldiers. (Karapatan photo)

The 64 years old Badiang could not be contacted by his family who have sought the public help in determining his whereabouts.

“If he is in the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we demand that they immediately surface Badiang, and that they respect his constitutional rights as well as rights under international humanitarian law,” Karapatan said.

In a forum before the rally, the groups said that the terrorist designation of NDFP peace negotiators such as Sison, former NDFP chief negotiatior Louis Jalandoni and peace consultants, activists and other individuals is a violation of their basic universal right to due process.

“We believe that the designation leads to even more human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. The indiscriminate terrorist designation of individuals, groups and movements, along with the persistent practice of red-tagging, has led to surveillance, extrajudicial killings, abductions and torture of activists, the groups said.

They cited NDFP negotiators who were “summarily executed”, such as poet Ericson Acosta, Menandro Villanueva, NPA spokesperson Jorge Madlos and others.

They also cited civilians killed who were earlier tagged by government forces as so-called terrorists, Chad Booc and companions as well as activists in Manila, Cebu, Kalinga, Central Luzon and Batangas who were abducted by state security forces because of allegations of “terrorist activities.”  

“We attribute the brutal treatment of these persons, including the elderly and sick, to the terrorist-labeling done by State forces. From the above incidents, it now appears that the terrorist designation has given rise to a ‘Guantanamo mindset’ where a labeled person is no longer entitled to basic rights as a human being,” they said.

Unfair and dangerous

The groups said the terrorist designation of the revolutionary groups is unfair and dangerous as it is politicized, lacks transparency, admissible evidence, nor any objective standards as to what specific acts constitute “terrorism”.

“As such, the act of designating groups and individuals as terrorists has become arbitrary and subject to grave abuse. This has been so clearly exhibited in the terrorist designation of community doctor Natividad Castro who was unilaterally labeled a terrorist in a resolution that did not provide any credible, competent and admissible evidence nor specific acts that would support the claim of the ATC,’ they said.

Among the groups that signed the statement areBagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), GABRIELA National Alliance of Filipino Women, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), League of Filipino Students (LFS), Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP),

Migrante Philippines, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), Sandugo — Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination, Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR),
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women and many others.

The groups cited Manila RTC under Judge Marlo Malagar’s September 2022 decision in a previous case under the Human Security Act that pointed out that the CPP and NPA are not “terrorist” groups and that their resort to armed struggle is in furtherance of their political program which includes land reform and national industrialization.

They also pointed out that membership in the CPP is not illegal after the anti-subversion law had been repealed under the Fidel Ramos presidency.

Stumbling block to peace

In their statement, the groups asserted that the terrorist designation is a stumbling block to peace as it shuts the door to any meaningful peace negotiations and does away with the important agreements made in the course of the peace talks since 1992.

Important agreements signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

Before the Rodrigo Duterte government turned away from the negotiations in June 2017, the GRP and NDFP Panels have initialed drafts on important parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms that include land reform, rural development and national industrialization.

“To start with, the almost universal legal principle on the nature and object of rebellion as a political act militate against designating its actors as ‘terrorists’,” the petitioners said.

“We call on the Philippine government to remove the terrorist designations and other stumbling blocks to peace and work to resume formal peace negotiations towards addressing the roots of the armed conflict, the groups said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Sison, PH’s most influential political figure, cremated in Utrecht

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Diplomats, comrades, friends and family pay tribute

Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison was laid to rest in Utrecht, The Netherlands on Tuesday, December 27.

A two-hour farewell ceremony was held prior to Sison’s cremation the NDFP said was attended by family, comrades, representatives of political parties and groups, progressive allies, former staff members, friends and admirers.

“They came from the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Philippines, Turkey, Iceland, the UK, Spain, France, Switzerland and Norway. Representatives of NDFP revolutionary mass organizations in Europe were also present, among them the CPP, Kabataang Makabayan, Makibaka, and Christians for National Liberation,” the NDFP information office said in a statement.

Representatives of the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG) were also present, led by Special Envoy Kristina Lie Revheim, Third Party Facilitator to the peace process between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

The NDFP said the farewell ceremony was filled with poetry and songs, the fallen leader being well-known for his award-winning poetry and passion for singing.

NDFP National Council Member and NDFP Chief International Representative Luis Jalandoni led in the tributes to Sison, describing his comrade as “an imperishable leader” who was loved by the masses in the guerilla zones he had visited.

Jalandoni said that Sison declared in his last message to the Filipino before he died that “the Filipino people’s democratic revolution is invincible.”

In her tribute, NDFP Peace Panel member and underground women’s liberation group MAKIBAKA international representative Coni Ledesma said Sison was “a friend, a teacher, a leader.”

“I and so many others will be guided by his wisdom, thoughts and vision…..we will go on with the struggle knowing he will still be there leading us. Joma (Sison’s moniker), we will continue bearing the torch and fight on until victory. Thank you, Joma, for the gift of you,” Ledesma said.

The international tribute for Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison in Utrecht, The Netherlands on December 27. (NDFP photo)

International tribute

In her tribute, Revheim said that on behalf of Norwegian diplomats, it was a privilege to have worked with Sison on the peace process through the years.

The Special Envoy described Sison as having a “rich personality and having a great impact on Philippine politics, history and society, where navigating controversies is part of the political landscape”.

She said Ka Joma was respectful and kind who patiently explained the intricacies of Philippine politics to the various Norwegian diplomats involved in the peace process.

Revheim said one can have an open and honest discussion with Sison, disagreeing on some issues but always with mutual respect. She added that aside from Sison’s intellectual capacity, he had a pragmatic side to always find new possibilities to break the impasse in the negotiations.

The RNG representative revealed that five days before he died, Sison messaged her, saying, “Please tell Kristina we are always open to peace negotiations.”

Representative of political parties and progressive groups from Belgium, Germany and Norway also paid tribute to Sison at the ceremony, saying Sison has been an inspiration to European progressives and activists.

“For Joma, it wasn’t only about theory and practice but also attitude and camaraderie. His revolutionary optimism and perseverance will echo for a long time not only in the Philippines but also in Europe,” a speaker from Belgium said.

Filipino underground revolutionary groups and friends of Sison also spoke, including a former Utrecht neighbor who described him as a kind, amiable, friendly and jolly person. The neighbor said he was her inspiration for studying law.

Joma’s work to continue

Sison’s daughter Joy, responding to the tributes in behalf of the family, said her father’s greatest gifts to her were teaching her the ability to empathize with the plight others and being introduced to his comrades who selflessly serve the people.

Julie de Lima, NDFP Peace Panel chairperson and Sison’s wife and comrade-in-arms narrated the pain she suffers in her husband’s passing.

“[Y]ou took your last breathe and now you are relieved of pain. The pain is with me now and forever will be. It squeezes my heart every time I breathe, and I will always, until I join you,” de Lima said in an emotional farewell.

“It is love that binds us and us to our four children and grandchildren, to our comrades and friends, and the people whom we have served all our lives. I shall always love you. I shall always feel your presence with every air that I breathe, in the sunlight that sheds on me, in the water that I drink on the ground which I tread, and in all the things that I do,” she added.

De Lima, Sison’s editor in many of his books, said their unfinished projects keep her going.

She revealed that Sison left her many notes that she may be finish as additional books to her husband’s nearly 30 volumes of collected writings so far.

In an earlier tribute, de Lima said that there are unfinished articles however that only Sison could have completed. She expressed hope that someone may be able to take them up and finish them in the future.

De Lima then read Sison’s last scribble in his note pad: “It is unfair that an entire society is called capitalist, and yet so few can call themselves capitalist and look down on the rest of the people. It is outrageous that the capitalists boast of being the creators of the wealth created by labor. It is simply unjust and revolting that the capitalists dominate the exploited and exploit living labor. It is best to fight for a society where everyone can call oneself like others a socialist, and live with honor and equality.”

The NDFP said Sison’s ashes will remain in the crematorium for one month, in keeping with Dutch legal laws. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NPA reports recent victories in Albay; AFP counters with rebel surrender claims

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Bicol reports successful ambuscades in Albay province this month, countering Philippine Army claims of demoralization in the ranks of communist guerrillas in the region.

The NPA said its Santos Binamera Command in Albay killed seven soldiers of the Philippine Army’s (PA) 49th Infantry Battalion in a clash in the town of Jovellar last October 3 while suffering no casualty of their own.

This followed a series of offensive military operations in the province that resulted in the death of nine more government troopers since September, the NPA claimed.

Raymundo Buenfuerza, NPA Bicol spokesperson, said their recent successes in Albay is a slap on both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) that claim counter-insurgency programs have weakened the rebel army in the region.

“[The] Red army still is, and will remain, unfaltering,” Buenfuerza said in a statement.

The rebel spokesperson said their recent victories continue to defeat “massive and intensive” government military operations in Albay.

“Not less than 11 combat companies of AFP-PNP are deployed while 20 CAFGU detachments are in the area. The Philippine Air Force’s Tactical Operations Group 5, Philippine Navy’s 4th Naval Station and Naval Task Force 41 – NAVFORSOL as well as PNP Region V’s central commands also have their bases in Albay,” the NPA-Romulo Jallores Command spokesperson said.

“Despite this, the Red army is exemplary in continuously reaping victories in the field,” Buenfuerza said.

The PA has not made statements on the latest NPA claims of recent successful ambuscades.

Instead, the PA’s 9th Infantry Division announced that seven NPA members surrendered in Masbate province last October 16 while one of its units have killed a rebel fighter in a clash in Barangay Liong, Cataingan town last October 8.

Second Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col. Orlando Ramos Jr. identified the slain alleged NPA fighter as Lito Villaces Ajena, alias Cesar.

Buenfuerza said the NPA in Bicol are set to launch more and bigger military offensives in the region in the future.

“The NPA cannot be stopped and will never be defeated. It will continue to advance until the people’s democratic revolution’s complete victory,” Buenfuerza said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Twitter suspends more CPP, NPA and NDF accounts

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‘Please standby for new accounts,’ regional NPA spokesperson announces

Social media platform Twitter has “permanently suspended” accounts connected with personalities and groups of the underground Left in the Philippines, a regional New People’s Army (NPA) spokesperson announced.

Apolinario Gatmaitan Command (AGC)-NPA Negros spokesperson Juanito Magbanua told journalists that Twitter has removed the account of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesperson Marco Valbuena along with the AGC and the National Democratic Front-Negros on Monday, August 1.

Valbuena’s Twitter account is the last known social media platform openly connected with the CPP spokesperson.

Other known CPP, NPA and NDF accounts, including that of CPP founder and NDF-Philippines chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison have earlier been banned by other social networking services such as Facebook and Instagram.

Facebook said that the decision came after the underground groups have violated its community standards on propagating violence.

Valbuena last June said the suspensions were “part of heightened efforts to silence anti-imperialist voices on social media on the pretext of the sham US ‘war against terror’.”

Last June, Twitter accounts @prwc_info, @cpp_angbayan and @sineproletaryo have been suspended along with Sison’s, a move that Valbuena said came “without warning or advice.”

Magbanua said he disagrees with the latest suspension of their other social media accounts as well.

“We see this as another round of attacks against the Philippine revolutionary movement that exposes the truth of what is happening especially in the countryside and calls out the ruling class for the worsening oppression and exploitation of the Filipino people,” Magbanua told reporters.

He said that the “attacks” would not deter them from continuing their revolution.

“The people’s democratic revolution goes on. We will continue to fight back in all fields of battle,” Gatmaitan said.

“Please standby for new accounts,” he added.

Magbanua has since told reporters the creation of a new Twitter account by 2:28 PM. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)