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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)

NDFP denounces ‘shamelessly inhuman’ treatment of Casilao

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‘Only real terrorists parade their captives in public for humiliation and ignominy that is a throwback to the dark ages of uncivil conduct’

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) protested the labelling given to one of its peace consultants arrested in Malaysia early this month and deported to the Philippines yesterday, April 17.

In a statement, NDFP Negotiating Panel interim chairperson Juliet de Lima said the treatment given to Casilao by the Philippine National Police (PNP) was “totally unacceptable” as it did not only violate his basic human rights and the international humanitarian law but was also “shamelessly inhuman.”

Casilao was marched by full battle-geared PNP personnel as he alighted from a van through several journalists at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, taken to the departure area and flown to Davao City Monday afternoon.

The PNP also repeatedly described Casilao as one of the top leaders of the “communist terrorist group,” a police and military labelling of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) vehemently rejected by the said groups.

De Lima said it is the PNP, not Casilao, who are the real terrorists.

“Only real terrorists parade their captives in public for humiliation and ignominy that is a throwback to the dark ages of uncivil conduct,” de Lima fumed.

She reminded the Philippine government that Casilao has the universal right to be presumed innocent until his case is heard in an impartial court of law under due process. 

“He has the right to legal counsel and other basic civil rights that should be observed by civilized systems,” she added, echoing a point earlier made by Casilao’s brother and former Anakpawis Representative Ariel Casilao on Monday.

Harassment victim

The PNP claimed Eric Jun is the secretary of the CPP’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee who has recently been elected to the party’s Central Committee.

The police said he has existing warrants of arrest for murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and attempted murder charges and carries a P5.4 million bounty on his head.

The NDFP however said Casilao was a victim of constant harassment upon his designation as the second nominee of the Anak ng Bayan party in 2004.

He has decided to go underground to seek sanctuary with the masses since, the NDFP added.

He then served as an NDFP consultant for the Reciprocal Working Committee on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio Economic Reforms (CASER) in Southern Mindanao, the group said.

The NDFP-Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has approved free land distribution for poor farmers under the social and economic reform substantive agenda when former GRP President Rodrigo Duterte decided to walk away from formal peace negotiations in 2017.

Several NDFP peace consultants have since been brutally murdered and arrested under suspiciously uniform charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, murder, arson, and kidnapping and serious illegal detention such as those Casilao are being charged with.

“The Negotiating Panel demands that his (Casilao) life, security and safety are guaranteed also in compliance with the binding mandates of the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law  (CARHRIHL),” de Lima said, citing the formal agreements that should exempt peace consultants and staff from arrest and harm. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
 

UN slams PH gov’t for failing to protect ‘comfort women’

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The Philippines failed to redress continuous discrimination and suffering of sexual slavery victims perpetrated by Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, the United Nations (UN) women’s rights committee reported on international women’s day, March 8.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) based in Geneva, Switzerland in a decision said the country’s failure to fight for justice for the victims had essentially resulted in ongoing discrimination against them that continues to this day, nearly seven decades since the war ended in 1945.

CEDAW issued the decision after examining a complaint filed by 24 Filipina nationals, commonly known as “comfort women”, asking the Philippine government to support their claims against Japan for reparations for their suffering from sexual slavery in the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army.

CEDAW member Marion Bethel said the decision is a symbolic moment of victory for the victims who were previously silenced, ignored, written off and erased from history in the Philippines.

 “The committee’s views pave the way for restoring their dignity, integrity, reputation and honour,” Bethel said.

The complainants, members of Malaya Lolas (Free Grandmothers), an organization of sexual slavery survivors and supporters, testified that on November 23, 1944, they were taken to an old mansion called “Bahay na Pula” (Red House) in San Ildefonso in Bulacan province where there were repeatedly raped, tortured and subjected to inhumane conditions for up to three weeks.   

“They have since then endured long-term physical, psychological, social and economic consequences, including physical injuries, post-traumatic stress, permanent damage to their reproductive capacity and harm to their social relationships in their community, marriage and work,” CEDAW said in a news release.

They asserted that they had consistently raised their claims at the domestic level, requesting that the Government of the Philippines espouse their claims and their right to reparations against the Government of Japan, the committee reported.

Their repeated efforts, however, were dismissed by authorities, with their last action turned down by the Supreme Court in 2014. The Philippine government has always maintained that it is not in a position to claim compensation from Japan after ratifying the Treaty of Peace with Japan in 1956, it added.

In 2019, the victims then brought their case to the committee, seeking to establish the responsibility of the State party to fulfill its commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in supporting the non-discrimination of women and girls on its territory.

The committee noted that the Philippines had waived its right to compensation by signing the Treaty of Peace with Japan.

It observed that the Philippine Commission on Women had not addressed the institutionalized system of wartime sexual slavery, its consequences for victims and survivors or their protection needs.

In contrast, Philippine war veterans, who are mostly men, are entitled to special and esteemed treatment from the Government, such as educational benefits, health-care benefits, old age, disability and death pensions.

The comfort women’s case is one of continuous discrimination, CEDAW asserted.

Given the extreme severity of gender-based violence suffered by the victims, and the continuing discrimination against them regarding restitution, compensation and rehabilitation, CEDAW concluded that the Philippines had breached its obligations under the Convention.

In particular, the Committee found that the State party had failed to adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to prohibit all discrimination against women and protect women’s rights on an equal basis with men.

The Committee requested that the Philippines provide the victims full reparation, including material compensation and an official apology for the continuing discrimination.

“This case demonstrates that minimizing or ignoring sexual violence against women and girls in war and conflict situations is, indeed, another egregious form of violation of women’s rights. We hope that the committee’s decision serves to restore human dignity for all of the victims, both deceased and living,” Bethel said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Reds say ambushed troopers ‘armed, ready to fight’

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CPP: AFP unit involved in May 2020 massacre in Sorsogon

The New People’s Army (NPA) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denied the two soldiers killed in an ambush in Camalig, Albay last February 20 were part of the search and retrieval operations for the victims of the plane crash on Mayon Volcano.

In a statement, Santos Binamera Command (NPA-Albay) spokesperson Florante Orobia said the two soldiers of the 31st Infantry Battallion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) were buying supplies at a market place around 7:20 AM when fired upon by its partisans.

Orobia said Private First Class (PFC) Mark June Esico and PFC John Dave Adcolin were also part of the security detail of an infrastructure project in the same town at the time of the incident.

The CPP said in a separate statement issued to journalists that the ambush was a legitimate military operation against government soldiers actively involved in counterinsurgency operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Military supply lines comprise an important aspect of war operations…Disrupting the AFP’s supply lines are among the tactics for waging guerrilla warfare,” CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena said.

Earlier, Philippine Army 9th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao claimed the two soldiers were assigned to extend assistance to the search and retrieval operations of the four victims of a plane crash on Mayon Volcano.

Bajao added that the ambush was in retaliation to his division’s successes against the NPA in the Bicol region.

The CPP however said the soldiers were armed, ready to engage in battle when ambushed, and a .45 caliber pistol was in fact taken from them.

“The claim of the 9th ID that the troops were preparing for search and rescue operations over a missing Cessna plane is a sorry PR attempt to gloss over the brutal counterinsurgency record of the 31st IB, in the hope of gaining public sympathy,” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson said the two soldiers’ unit is responsible for scores of human rights violations, including the May 8, 2020 massacre of five farmer in Bulan, Sorsogon.

He added the 31st IBPA was also involved in other cases of killings, torture, illegal arrests and detention, threats and harassments of farming communities in Sorsogon and Camarines Sur provinces.

“The partisan operations of the NPA in Albay point to the fact that armed guerrilla operations in Bicol continue to expand. It shows the ability of the NPA to deploy teams anywhere in order to strike at enemy military targets,” Valbuena said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

REPORTS: Acosta and Jimenez stabbed, hacked

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Churches, groups demand impartial investigation on the death of celebrated poet and peasant organizer

The National Democratic Front in Negros (NDF-Negros) said peace talks consultant and celebrated poet Ericson Acosta and peasant organizer Joseph Jimenez have been stabbed and hacked, further belying military claims the two were casualties in a running gun battle in Kabankalan City last November 30.

NDF-Negros spokesperson Bayani Obrero said soldiers of the 94th and 47th infantry battalions of the Philippine Army first strafed the house were Acosta and Jimenez have taken shelter to rest before dawn yesterday.

They were then “taken forcefully and then ‘salvaged’ (summarily killed),” Obrero added.

READ: NDF-Negros: Military murdered peace consultant-poet Ericson Acosta

Quoting the Jimenez family, Obrero said Acosta and Jimenez “have indications that they were stabbed and hacked.”

In a separate statement, human rights group Karapatan said initial reports by its local chapter in Negros indicate that Acosta and Jimenez were captured alive as of 2 a.m. of November 30, 2022 in Sitio Makilo, Barangay Camansi but were tagged hours later by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as casualties in a “fake encounter.”

“Residents also said that the bodies of the two bore stab wounds. Acosta was also said to be recuperating from illness in the said community,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

NDF-Negros said the deaths of Acosta and Jimenez “raised the number of fake encounters in Negros under the [Ferdinand] Marcos Jr regime to 14.”

The group added that Jimenez was the 7th farmer killed in the island by state forces since July 2022.

“All peasant killings were notably declared by state forces as ‘encounters’,” Obrero said.

The house where the two victims were taken belongs to a Ronald Francisco, who was also taken by the soldiers to the 47th IB headquarters, along with his wife and three children, NDF-Negros said.

Francisco’s family could not contact them while the local police station dismissed their requests for a blotter report, it added.

In its announcement last Wednesday, the 94th IB claimed Acosta and Jimenez were part of a 10-man New People’s Army (NPA) team that engaged government soldiers in two separate fire fights in two sites that are 100 meters apart.

The military added that the “encounters” happened within 15 minutes of each other.

‘Impartial investigation’

Church and civil society leaders however called for an impartial and independent investigation of the incident in light of reports that the victims were captured alive before declared dead by the military hours later.

“In light of this information, as well as the numerous cases in the past of such fabricated stories to cover up acts of summary execution, Pilgrims for Peace calls for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by both the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines), so that an impartial investigation may be conducted,” they said.

“We also call on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to undertake the same. If found that the reports of the extrajudicial killing of Acosta and his companion by the military are true, the AFP must be taken to task for this abomination, which is part and parcel of a militaristic, ‘take-no-prisoners’ approach to the long running armed conflict with the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA,” the group added.

The group’s statement was signed by Iglesia Filipina Independiente Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang, San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza and representatives of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, the Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response, Kapatirang Simbahan Para sa Bayan and the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines.

They were joined by the groups ACT for Peace, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Karapatan, Gabriela, and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

Farmers’ group Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) also condemned the deaths of Acosta and Jimenez as well as the abduction of the Francisco family, saying the military may have violated the International Humanitarian Law.

“Maituturing na krimeng pandigma o ‘war crime’ ang pananakit sa mga sibilyan at pagsalakay sa kanilang tahanan, at maski mga armadong rebelde ay maling maltratuhin bilang ‘prisoners of war’ sakaling madakip,” UMA said.

(Hurting civilians and attacking their home is considered a war crime, even maltreating armed rebels when they have already been captured.)

In its separate statement, Karapatan also called on the government to surface the Francisco family. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

POEMS FOR THE MARTYRED POET

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Like red ink spilling

For Ericson Acosta

By Rebecca K. Lawson

Like red ink spilling

from a leaking pen,

an indelible stain spreads

onto the war-torn tapestry

of this nation.

We brace ourselves

for the price of struggle

and the pain of loss.

The gentle

offer themselves

in hopes for better tomorrows

for those poor and oppressed.

Their feet pound mountain heights

even as their pens scribble

our collective dreams for social justice

and tangibles for meaningful reforms

that will benefit the toiling majority.

And when a nimble pen

and brilliant heart

is felled by a fascist evil,

the earth shakes.

We are awakened once more

that peacebuilding

is an urgent task, for tyranny, militarism,

and cold-blooded violations

of human rights

and international humanitarian law

must not be allowed

to have the last word.

We go on!

-30 November 2022

Narinig niyo na ba?

Ni Ibarra Banaag

Narinig niyo na ba,

Ang kanyang mga tula

at kanta?

Nahulaan niyo na ba,

Saan hinango ang linya

at himig nito?

Naramdaman niyo ba,

ang lalim at talas

ng pahimakas?

Nabasa niyo na ba,

mga akdang pawang

makamasa?

Nataros niyo na ba,

makauring himaymay

ng bawat tudla?

Namulat ka na ba,

sa taglay na linyang masa at paksa?

Kasama bang nasawi,

ang talastas niyang

walang kupas?

Ang kanyang mga likha,

ng kanyang pagsanib sa aba,

Mula sa landas,

na bibihira ang bumabagtas.

Makamit lamang, isang buhay na may dangal.

Ang pangalan niya,

ay Ericson Acosta,

Kadre,

makata,

mandirigma.

-30 November 2022

DEATH IN THE MORNING

By Pablo Tariman

One more time

You rewind another life

Gone at fifty

With just his poems

For his only son to peruse

As last mementoes.

No more time to grieve

The container of sadness is dry

From previous year’s constant grief

You have rehearsed this before

Going to a roomful of dead people

And identifying your loved one

And then you bring him

To nearest crematorium

To later settle in an urn

Of memories.

There is no time

For bitterness

Or rancor.

They have chosen

Another way to live

And reach their ideal

Fighting

For the hungry

And the oppressed

And constantly coping

With well-funded

Lackeys of war.

A day before his death

He was talking about

Seeing a doctor

For his recurring ailment.

Alas

He didn’t make it

To his doctor’s appointment.

From what I heard

He was arrested alive

And later riddled with bullets

Typical of dogs of war.

His son expected

To see his father

In detention

For a last hug and embrace.

But early morning

Of a fateful Thursday

He is gone.

Like the way he saw

His mother for the last time

Lifeless on a cold stretcher

In a morgue

In the shadow of Mt. Silay.

I can only rewind

Fifty years of his life

And forty two years

Of my daughter’s life.

Am figuring out his grave:

Should I bury him

Beside my daughter’s crypt

Or beside his father’s tomb

In another town?

I am airport-bound

Once more

For last appointment

With the departed.

I have come to terms

With this life

As I have lived it.

Happy my loved ones

Have come to terms

With dying

The brave way

Mula kay Ericson, Para kay Ericson

Ni Kislap Alitaptap

Ito ang pagsanib ng kaba

Sa lupang magaspang

At pagsiyasat sa kaluskusan ng mga dahon

Ito ang marahang tapik sa balikat

Ang tingin na may pagtitiyak

Ito ang buntong-hininga

Habang nasa likod ang araw ng umaga

Isang minutong katahimikan

Ngayon na ang katuparan

Ang bugso ng balaraw

Ang paglikha ng balang-araw.

-30 November 2022

Death of a poet

Ni Xian Patricio

tila tubig na dumadaloy

ang mga tulang ibinuhos

ng inyong pawis at luha.

Nag-iiwan ng bakas,

at umuukit sa lupa

upang hanapin ang kaniyang landas.

Mananatili sa isang panahon

para bumuo ng lawa,

hanggang humukay nang malalim

at magbuo ng mundong may búhay.

Ngunit minsang umapaw,

kasabay ng mga nauna pang pag-agos,

mahahagilap din niya ang sarili

sa mga patubig ng sakahan,

sa tubig inumin,

sa mga esterong nanlilimahid,

hanggang sa dumaop ang mga salita

sa karagatan, at yayakapin

ng libu-libong isdang nabubuhay,

at maipapasa ang mga tula

sa susunod pang laksa

habang mayroon pang umaagos

sa batis.

mamatay man ang bukal

ng tubig ng inyong mga salita,

nakapagpabuhay na ito,

at sila na ang bahalang magpadaloy.

Limasingko

Ni Khavn dela Cruz

limasingko limasingko limasingko limasingko limasingko

limasingko ang buhay sa bayan ko

dito magtungo para pasabugin ang bungo

para wasakin ang puso

limasin ang dugo

umaasa ang berdugo

na sa pagkalabit ng gatilyo

maglalaho ang mga kataga at konsepto

bawal magsalita

huwag magsabi ng totoo

tumahimik

manahimik

mag-ingay

huwag magpalamon sa bangungot na bumabalot

sa araw-araw na humihiyaw

tungkol sa katiwalian, karahasan, katangahan

ano nga ba ang napapala ng mamamatay-tao?

buhay na walang-hanggan?

trabaho lang?

bakit sila kailangang puksain

parang ipis at daga ang turing?

percy lapid

kerima tariman

eman lacaba

at marami pang iba

bakit napakarami nila sa munting bayan ko?

ngayong araw, pinanganak si bonifacio

ngayong araw, pinatay si ericson acosta

mabuhay ang pilipinas nating wazak!

Hindi magagapi

Ni Arnold Padilla

Kunin man nila ang ating mga ina at ama

di magiging ulila ang ating mga anak

sa tahanang ilaw ang pakikibaka

haliging matatag ang kilusan ng masa.

Kunin man nila ang ating mga makata

di pupurol ang talas ng ating dila

ang diwang hinasa ng kanilang taludtod

tabak na papatid sa kaisipang iginapos.

Kunin man nila ang ating mga mandirigma

di hihinahon ang apoy ng gera sa nayon

sa lupang kinamkam ng mga diyos-diyosan

titindig ang mga bagong kawal ng bayan.

-December 1, 2022

Hindi Ko Kilala

Ni Aida CF Santos

Hindi ko kilala si Ericson Acosta

o ang kanyang asawa na si Kerima

ilang dekada ang pagitan

ng aming henerasyon

ngunit hindi naiiba

ang mga layunin ng pag-aalsa

o pagsulat ng mga tula at awit

ng kuyom na mga kamao

mahigpit ang tangan sa paniniwalang may bukas

na maaliwalas ang pamana nila sa anak na si Emman at libong tulad niya

Binabasa ko ang kanilang maiikling talambuhay

ang mga tulang hindi na nila mabibigkas o maririnig nilang bibigkasin ng mga kaibigan

at kasama, ng masa

na humanga sa kanilang kabayanihan

iginupo ng mga bala at itak

ng mga traydor sa bayan

Kinilala ko sila

at ang pusod ng puso ng

pakikidigma

ang pulso na may tibok

ng paniniwala

taos ang panghihinayang

taos ang galit sa dibdib

taos ang tulo ng mga luha

taos ang pagsaludo

sa apoy na magdadala muli

sa mga abo na pinagmulan

ilang Ericson at Kerima pa

ilang henerasyon pa

– 6 Disyembre 2022

Moving On

By Pablo Tariman

We are done

With grieving

And wiping away

Persistent grief

Like my grandson

Who let it all fall

Where it should

On a street corner

Where his parents used to tread

Along the hollowed street of Mendiola

What were those tears for?

He expected to reunite

With dear father

In a detention cell

And perhaps strum

Their guitars together

For the last time

The next thing he knew

His father was arrested

In the hinterlands of Kabankalan

Then made to do a few turns

With his companion

Only to meet their imminent death

In a sudden rain of bullets

And bolos tearing away

At their skin

Months back

I always request

Massenet’s Meditation

To remember

My late daughter

Now it is time

For that soulful music

To remember his father

I always ask my grandson

To seat with me in rehearsals

While Massenet’s Meditation

Floats eerily

In the auditorium

Surely

Music has a way with grief

Perhaps it is a good way

To confront death

Perhaps the gentle way?

I don’t know

How my grandson feels

Letting the music

Come to his psyche

With yet another death

In the family

Now tell me

How should music metamorphose

Into balm

For our weary spirit?

Perhaps music

Can guide us

Into the periphery of acceptance

Even if the labyrinth

Is oozing

With excruciating pain

It is quiet and humid

In that angry street

With ominous graffiti

Shouting justice

For my grandson’s father

I did carry that urn

With his mother a year ago

Now I am torn with grief

Seeing him

Carrying his father’s ashes.

Is it

Time to move on

And fly on the wings

Of song

And remembrance?

–7 December 2022

* * *

Negros Redux

By Pablo Tariman

It is suddenly quiet

And eerie in my garden

I figure out my potted trees

Tall and almost reaching out

To lampposts

On this deserted street

Where I live

I look for

My share of solace

In the garden

As grandson

Finally came home

After seven days

Of travelling

From Manila to Silay

And Bacolod

And on to a barrio

In Kabankalan

We have questions

In our mind:

Why did they embalm body

Without knowledge

Of family

And without death certificate?

We decided not to be too nosy

About legal procedures;

In this part of the country

It is dangerous

To ask too many questions

The funeral parlor

Is teeming with

Men in uniform

Moving about

And looking scary

While sniffing visitors

Like trained police dogs

The funeral parlor owner

Is a character straight

From Hitchcock horror films

He is Christian pastor

On special days

And traffic officer by day

At night he is funeral parlor owner

And taking notes

Of the dead coming in

For embalming

Some corpses

Are special

As they are

Heavily escorted by

Police and military

In the dead of night

We figure out:

Do military men

And funeral parlor owners

Run big business

Out of victims

Of vicious killings?

Meanwhile

My grandson’s father

Is reduced

To an airline cargo

After getting assorted permits

From barangay demigods

To city hall executives

And health officers

And final permit to transport body

From Bacolod to Manila

Back in the city

We cremate the body

And given proper

Religious ritual

For the dead

From the funeral parlor

After cremation

And on to this final wake

Grandson has to be present

To deliver his final tribute

To his late father

It has occurred to me:

Is this how poets die

In this country

Ravaged by storms

And earthquakes

And constantly

Reeling from scams

As police officers

And assorted public servants

Are caught with their dirty

Fingers in the proverbial

Cookie jar of corruption

They kill poets and cultural workers

And torture the families

With assorted permits

Before they could see

Bodies of their loved ones

Contrast this with thieves

And serial killers

Given heroes’ funeral

Negros

Is a lesson on living

And surviving

And coming to terms

With sad realities

In this benighted land

I open my grandson’s room

And see a tired and solitary figure

Finally deep in slumber

After another sad chapter

In his young life

-8 December 2022

NPA-Negros regional spokesperson Juanito Magbanua dies

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Guerrillas claim gov’t troopers summarily-killed ailing leader

The spokesperson of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Island had been killed by government troopers Monday afternoon, the communist guerrilla’s regional command confirmed.

Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command (AGC), was killed by Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (IB) troopers in Sitio Medel, Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City at around 5:45 in the afternoon, the group announced.

The NPA however said Magbanua (born Romeo V. Nanta) was summarily-killed as there was no clash in the area and only four shots were fired that ended the ailing rebel spokesperson’s life.

The AGC said Magbanua was suffering from hypertension and arthritis and chose to stay at Sitio Medel to closely monitor the mass evacuation of civilians as well as the NPA’s manoeuvres during the ongoing military operations in the area.

[WHAT WENT BEFORE] Philippine Army orders mass evacuation in Himamaylan City

The 303rd Infantry Brigade ordered the evacuation of thousands of civilians last weekend following a clash with the NPA’s Mt. Cansermon Command that killed two government soldiers and injured six others.

The NPA said Magbanua was captured and should have been accorded hors de combat (unable to fight) status.

B/Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, claimed that Magbanua was killed during a 10-minute clash between the 94th IB and 10 NPA fighters.

Magbanua’s remains was brought to Himamaylan City proper where he was identified.

The NPA said it mourns Magbanua’s death and vowed to exact justice for his “cold-blooded murder.”

“This is a day of mourning for all comrades, revolutionary forces, friends and family and especially the exploited and oppressed masses, not only in Negros but the whole country,” the NPA said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Former GMA reporter among 4 NPA dead in Negros

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Spate of clashes reveal NPA remains strong

(UPDATED) A former radio reporter was among the four guerilla fighters killed in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental last July 6 in what the New People’s Army (NPA) said was a massacre, contrary to what the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed was an encounter.

The NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command (NPA-AGC), its Negros Island Regional Operational Command, said that Nikka Dela Cruz and her three comrades were earlier captured by government troops but were subsequently “slaughtered.”

The four were ailing and their medical condition rendered them incapable to fight, NPA-AGC spokesperson Juanito Magbanua said in a July 8 statement.

“[F]ascist troops…slaughtered four ailing Red fighters in cold blood at Barangay Biao, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental and shamelessly paraded their bodies as casualties of the fake encounter concocted by the AFP’s top commanders as a cover-up for their war crime,” Magbanua said.

“It was a massacre,” he added.

The 94th Infantry Battallion of the Philippine Army said the four were part of a 14-member NPA team who died in a clash with soldiers and police officers at about nine o’clock in the morning in Sitio Amilis, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan.

Lt. Col. Van Donald Almonte, commander of the 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB), said the fatalities belonged to the NPA’s Central Negros 2, Komiteng Rehiyong-Negros Cebu Bohol Siquijor.

Aside from Dela Cruz, also identified as Ka (Comrade) Chai, the NPA said the three other victims were Roel “Ka Jack”Ladera, Alden “Ka Rocky” Rodriguez and Roel “Ka Caloy” Deguit.

Nikka “Ka Chai” Dela Cruz. (Supplied photo)

‘Final militant red salute’

The NPA-AGC said their four fallen comrades were martyrs of the revolution who “surmounted all sacrifices and difficulties to arouse, organize and mobilize the people in the revolution and to fight for their interests and aspirations.”

The four came from different social backgrounds, Magbanua said.

Magbanua revealed that Dela Cruz, 26, was a former reporter of GMA Network’s Cebu City radio station dySS after graduating from the Catholic University of San Jose-Recoletos in the said city with a journalism degree.

A native of Medellin town in Cebu Province, Dela Cruz was the youngest among three siblings of a well-off middle class family whose mother is a medical doctor.

As a student, Dela Cruz was reportedly already active in the struggles of Cebu City’s urban poor, vendors and other people’s advocacies.

“She played a crucial role in the struggle of Carbon Market vendors against the privatization program of the Cebu City local government. After being hunted by [government] intelligence agencies, she went incognito and focused in revolutionary underground work among students and intellectual youths in 2017,” Magbanua said.

Dela Cruz became one of the leaders of her Communist Party of the Philippines unit who went to Negros to gain exposure to the Communists’ people’s war and decided to serve as a full time NPA fighter, Magbanua added.

Ladera, 30, was a NPA squad leader at the time of their death, Magbanua said.

He was a native of Himamaylan City and first experienced brutality in the hands of the military who they were assaulted after winning a basketball game against soldiers, Magbanua said.

The NPA spokesperson added Ladera was active in the anti-mining campaign in Negros before joining the guerilla army in 2016.

Like Ladera, Rodriguez also suffered maltreatment from abusive local officials before enlisting in 2019. The native of Manjuyod, Negros Occidental also hailed from peasant family, the NPA said.

The oldest among the four victims, Deguit was also a victim of trumped-up charges by government prosecutors before joining the NPA. He was also from Himamaylan, Magbanua said.

“Their untimely demise in the hands of the fascists will only arouse more Negrosanons to the revolution as the AFP is further exposed as a terrorist cabal and protector of the ruling class,” he added.

Not over

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced the death of a police officer in an encounter with suspected members of the NPA in Samar province on Saturday morning, July 16.

Patrolman Mark Monge of the Eastern Visayas Regional Mobile Force Battalion in a clash with the NPA in the boundary of Barangay San Nicolas of San Jose de Buan town and Barangay Mabuhay of Gandara town in the said province.

PNP officer-in-charge Police Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. on Monday condemned the incident, saying he wants to curse the rebels and wishes to ambush them himself.

Danao cautioned police officers to be extra careful when conducting operations in the field.

Seven soldiers were also wounded in a clash with the NPA in nearby Mapanas town in neighboring Northern Samar province last July 5 while three alleged NPA fighters were killed in another encounter last July 13, the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army reported.

Both the AFP and the PNP repeatedly vowed that the NPA would have been decimated by this month as the Manila government transitions from former President Rodrigo Duterte to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The clashes, however, reveal that the NPA and its 53-year old insurgency remain strong in various parts of the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Family asks, ‘Where is NDFP consultant Esteban Manuel?’

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The family of arrested activist Esteban Manuel Jr. has asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to help look for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant reportedly arrested last February 16.

The elderly peace worker is now believed missing as his family could not locate his real location 16 days after his reported arrest in Samar 17 days ago.

“[H]is family is seeking the help of the [CHR] and human rights organizations to locate him with the ‘utmost urgency’ while appealing to his captors to ‘keep him safe and alive,’” political prisoner support organization Kapatid said in an alert.

Manuel’s son Albert wrote to the CHR seeking help to find his father and to know if he is receiving proper care.

“My father is 73 years old and of fragile health. He has hypertension and needs medicines. But we have not received replies to our queries to locate him,” Albert wrote.

“We appeal to his captors to keep him safe and alive,” Albert added.

Kapatid said there have been conflicting press releases from the military and police on the reported arrest of the elder Manuel in Villareal town, Samar.

Kapatid said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police has called Manuel under different names when they reported the arrest.

The military and the police also could not agree on the number of firearms allegedly seized from Manuel.

Kapatid said the government’s information immediately raised concerns about the possibility of the firearms being “planted” it said is a well-established method by the police and military to keep activists in indefinite detention.

Albert said they heard conflicting information that his father was either detained in a military camp in Calbiga or at the police station in Villareal town.

Kapatid also said they are also reaching out to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help ensure humanitarian protection and assistance for the elder Manuel in line with its mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and promote respect for international law.

READ: Elderly NDFP peace consultant arrested in Samar

Bright student

Kapatid said Esteban was a native of Laoag, Ilocos Norte whose father, Esteban Manuel Sr., was a veteran of the infamous Bataan Death March in World War II.

A birght student, Esteban graduated valedictorian from the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo High School in Quezon City.

He went on to study engineering at the University of the Philippines where he joined the Kabataang Makabayan (KM).

Esteban went underground when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and KM became an underground organization.

Esteban’s father was arrested when the military came looking for him and his brother Napoleon it believed also became activist.

Manuel Sr. was detained for over 50 days without any charges. He was posthumously awarded a human rights compensation claim. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Chad Booc and 4 others were massacred’ – Save Our Schools Network

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It was a massacre that killed a celebrated volunteer teacher and four others in Davao de Oro last Thursday, an indigenous peoples’ organization said.

The Save Our Schools (SOS) Network said the February 24 incident that resulted in the death of University of the Philippines (UP) cum laude graduate Chad Booc, fellow volunteer teacher Gelejurain Ngujo II and three others was “in fact a massacre of civilians.”

In confirming the death of one of its two volunteer teachers, the SOS said Barangay Andap, New Bataan residents confirmed to them that no clash happened between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) at the reported time of the incident.

“And in its attempt to justify these gruesome killings, the armed forces once again twist the truth to play into their narrative as they have done many times before,” SOS said.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) echoed the group’s report, saying the AFP’s “encounter” claim is an outright lie.

“There was no encounter in New Bataan, Davao de Oro, yesterday (Thursday), where the AFP claims it killed activist Chad Booc and four others. This was confirmed to us by the local NPA unit in the area,” CPP information officer Marco Valbuena tweeted.

“Indeed, the AFP’s ‘killed in an encounter’ story line has repeatedly been used in the past to cover up the cold-blooded murder of civilians or unarmed people. We urge their family and friends to uncover the facts surrounding their deaths and demand justice for their murders,” Valbuena added.

The 1001st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA) claimed it engaged alleged NPA rebels in a 15-minute gunfight that resulted in the death of Booc, Nguho, an alias Daday and two unidentified others.

PA 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief Captain Mark Anthony S. Tito further claimed government soldiers recovered one M653 rifle, one caliber .45 pistol, one hand grenade, one anti-personnel mine, assorted food supplies, and personal belongings from the victims.

The AFP also publicly released photos of the victims laying bloodied and dead on the ground, a move condemned by the SOS.

“To add insult to injury, the 1001st Infantry Brigade of the AFP has paraded the bodies of the deceased as war trophies. Even to the extent of planting guns and ammunition on the bodies to make it out as if they were combatants who shot at the AFP,” the group said.

“Photos of the deceased are supposed to be taken for the sole purpose of documentation, not as trophies released and paraded without the consent of the families… a testament to the AFP’s disrespect and non-adherence to the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law),” SOS added, referring to the document signed by the Manila government with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in 1998.

Booc last figured in the news in 2021 when he was arrested in Cebu City after being accused by the military of kidnapping Lumad children and indoctrinating them to take up arms against the Philippine government.

‘Teacher Chad’ forging one of his countless rivers and streams on the way to a Lumad community. (Photo from Chad’s FB account)

Booc however is celebrated in various articles as well as in campaigns for his release as a selfless people’s scholar who chose to dedicate his life to the service of indigenous peoples’ communities.

A cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines with a degree in computer science, Booc worked full time as a volunteer teacher for Lumad schools in Mindanao. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)