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One last question I wanted to ask Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos

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By Raymund B. Villanueva

(The author has been covering the peace process between the NDFP and the GRP and has interviewed Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos on several occasions. Here is the journalist’s look-back on one of his most respected sources.)

He was inside a swidden hut that Christmas night I first laid eyes on Mindanao’s legendary rebel leader. An electric bulb was casting a wan glow on a makeshift porch and Jorge Madlos was wearing a stubby flashlight on his forehead as he furiously tapped on his laptop, seemingly unaware of the frenzied atmosphere around him. It was the eve of the Communist Party of the Philippines’s (CPP) 42nd founding anniversary and the then National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)-Mindanao spokesperson was busy polishing the statement he was to issue the next day.

His comrades directed us to a nearby creek to wash up, noticing our pants and shoes were caked with drying mud, victims of several spills on rice paddies and mud puddles on the way to the New People’s Army (NPA) encampment on Mt. Diwata’s foothills. Finding our way back to his hut, Madlos, more famous as Ka Oris, was done typing, beaming a toothy smile and waiting to finally welcome the new arrivals from the city.

“Maligayang pagdating. Salamat sa pagpunta. Kumusta ang biyahe?” Oris asked, eager to hear what we had to say in return. (Welcome. Thank you for coming. How was your trip?) His interest was understandable; we have been told he had a direct hand in organizing the trips. He had done so in the many decades that he welcomed to NPA camps journalists and many other kinds of visitors.

He invited us to dinner, a surprisingly sumptuous fare of adobo and lechon on heaps of piping hot fragrant mountain rice. “Are these the ones being cooked in the barrios we passed by?” we asked. “No. What the masses are cooking tonight will be brought to the celebrations tomorrow. December 26 is their real holiday,” he said. “These adobo and lechon are gifts from local politicians,” he added, laughing. Oris however had fish stew, a healthier meal to manage his urination problems brought about by a spine infection.

It was getting late and Oris held back on asking the many questions he was also known for. Journalists from all over trooped to where they could get hold of him, but he was equally famous for quizzing them in turn. “Baka pagod na kayo. Maaga tayo bukas. Doon sa may mangga ang pwesto niyo,” he said, pointing to where our tents were being put up. (You may already be tired. We have an early day tomorrow. Your tents are being put up under that mango tree.)

We almost never got the chance to have Oris to ourselves again the next day. Along with the thousands of attendees who descended on an open field were Mindanaoan reporters and national and international journalists there to cover the biggest story of the day and interview one of the country’s media darlings. Even journalists who were known to be critical of the communists were invited and welcomed.

During the celebrations, we witnessed firsthand how Oris was one of the journalists’ most beloved sources, especially by Mindanaoan reporters. He had ordered special spots for us to be able to take good photos of the NPA parade. He issued us press passes and badges that were proudly worn the entire day. He made the press conference part of the day long celebrations, fielding the seemingly never-ending stream of questions with dashes of wry humor. He repeatedly thanked the journalists who came, easily identifying which parts of Mindanao or elsewhere in the world they were from or writing for. He handed out “certificates of attendance,” accepted with much jollity and, I suspect, are being kept to this day. A “class picture” with the journalists capped our day, with Oris at the center, looking much like a grandfatherly school principal among wards. I very much doubt any Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) general went as famously with the journalists as the diminutive guerilla did.

Hard-nosed journalists emerge satisfied with every interview session with Oris. He was obviously naturally intelligent, conversant in at least four languages. Questions designed to trap him were deftly turned around, such as, “You have been waging this war for decades, yet you have failed to win,” to which Oris replied, “The much stronger government and imperialists could not defeat us either.” A correspondent of an international news wire agency asked, “Will it not be more difficult for the movement at this time, given that President Aquino is popular?” “He is not popular in our areas of control,” was Oris’ riposte.

The AFP was furious at the brazenness of the CPP celebrations that day that, despite the existence of ceasefire declarations, it put up checkpoints on the roads leading out of the area to harass attendees on their way home. The local Philippine Army (PA) battalion commander was in a towering rage, sources said, especially when a politician’s mindless aide delivered his donation of lechon to the PA camp, instead of the intended NPA camp. “Mabuhi ang CPP! Mabuhi ang NPA!” the mayor’s written message on the lechon carton reportedly read.

At about three in the afternoon and while the celebrations were still on full blast, Oris granted us some time to ask him about the NDFP’s peace negotiations with the Benigno Aquino government. With the 15-minute interview over, he suggested we hitch a ride with other civilian attendees out of the area later that afternoon. “There will be other opportunities for us to talk. It is more important that you get home safe. Thank you for spending today with your friendly NPA,” he jestingly said. There, tired and preoccupied with everyone’s safety, Oris’ famous brand of humor sent us on our way home.

It took us another four years to get another chance to cover Ka Oris in a CPP anniversary celebration. This time, the AFP was more vociferous in preventing the thousands from attending CPP’s 46th anniversary celebrations. Even with local politicians and a congressman telling government soldiers that the mutual rebel and government-declared ceasefires allowed for another open CPP celebration, they delayed the attendees by hours. Revelations that the occasion would even be attended by a Malacanan Palace emissary for peace negotiations consultations were ignored. Many other journalists were also delayed.

As in 2011, I and some colleagues arrived at the venue on Christmas night precisely to avoid the hassle of passing through AFP checkpoints in broad daylight when they are known to be braver. We also hoped to spend more time with Oris alone before the frenzy sets in. When we arrived however, he was already busy welcoming the throng arriving with us, including a group of Catholic nuns. What he did not fail in doing was to ask how our trip was, insisting that we grab a bite and ensuring we have a place to sleep.

The rumpus the government soldiers caused prevented Oris from giving us time for an exclusive interview in the morning. What he did was to give a presser for the many journalists who arrived and answer all our questions as per usual. He also gave copies of the statement he read in the delayed program. Later, he managed to give Kodao an on-cam interview. When it was time for goodbyes, he made sure we would be safe in our travels, as was his wont.

Sometime in between those two coverage, we received a letter from Oris, saying it is time for that exclusive no-time-limit interview. I thought it would be in the same type of area and I packed lightly. It turned out that the venue was at a major NPA camp up high in the mountains. From one of the island’s major cities, it took me and my guide the entire day to travel by bus to a fairly large central Mindanao town and by motorcycle up more and taller mountains. When we ran out of roads and began seeing NPA fighters by the roadside, I thought we’ve reached our destination. I was then told we were just halfway up. What followed was a night-time climb up steep and narrow mountain trails, slogging through swamps and crossing burbling creeks, aided only by small flashlights. We reached camp at near two o’clock in the morning and there was Oris, waiting for us while boiling water to disinfect his urinary drainage bags (urobags).

“You made it!” he beamed, offering us the unique Mindanao NPA handshake. “How was your trip?” he asked, this time with a guffaw, seeing I was near collapse, tethering on my walking stick. Again, beside him, also beaming, was Alvin Luque, alias Ka Joaquin Jacinto, the activist who succeeded Oris as NDFP-Mindanao spokesperson. (Oris and Luque, both ill at the time of their respective deaths, were killed by government soldiers less than a year apart.)

The next morning, Oris gave us a tour of the camp where huge tents housed activists on week-long educational discussions. Other tents served as offices, kitchens and dining halls. All around were individual huts for camp regulars. No, there were no huts or tents that served as armory. He then invited us to conduct the interview, “Before the noisy insects start their concert.”

But the ever-curious Oris wanted something from us in return. He asked young-looking NPA fighters to observe as we set up our equipment. After the interview came his string of questions on which cameras, tripod, microphones, lights and other equipment would best survive their environment. He encouraged his comrades to ask questions on camera panning, tilting and tracking as well as visual composition he obviously already read up on. Months later, the rebels would be uploading videos of Oris issuing statements online.

It was brutally cold on our second night in the mountaintop NPA camp and I began shivering as soon as I tried to go to sleep. I wore all my shirts underneath my thin jacket to no avail. It did not help that my sleeping station was a hammock fashioned from rice sacks under a plastic sheet (tarapal). Past midnight, I felt hands lifting my malong and putting a soda bottle filled with warm water between my legs. It was Oris. Noticing I was woken, he whispered; “I can hear you shivering. This will warm you up.” It indeed did and I slept restfully until morning.

It was time for us to go back home the next day and we left with another special Oris quip: “You are welcome for the honor of visiting another NPA camp,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

It turned out that those were my only chances to personally interview Jorge Madlos. There have been two other CPP anniversaries I covered in Mindanao since. One was in Surigao del Norte 2015 and the biggest yet in Davao City in 2016 when even several Rodrigo Duterte government Cabinet members were in attendance. We were informed that Oris may attend both occasions, but the AFP was even more determined to get him, ongoing peace negotiations notwithstanding. He stayed out.

On October 29, 2021, the AFP killed the 73-year old icon of the revolution in the Philippines. His wife Maria Malaya said Oris was unarmed and was on his way to a medical treatment with an aide when waylaid by the soldiers. Possibly in spite, government soldiers cremated his remains a few days later without giving his family the chance to view his remains one last time. In a twisted way, this could be understood as their way of getting back at Oris even more for eluding them for more than five decades.

Jorge Madlos, Mindanao’s most successful rebel leader and one the Philippines’ most legendary communist cadres, is physically gone. But it would have been nice for me to meet him one last time and field the one question I had long wanted to ask: Did the warm water bottle come from his urobag disinfection ritual? #

Military cremates Oris’ remains; CPP furious

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Government troops have cremated Jorge Madlos’ remains and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is furious.

Reacting to reports that the slain rebel leader’s remains were cremated, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is trying to get away with murder.

“The AFP’s lies to cover up their murder of Ka Oris (Madlos) and Ka Pika (his aide Eighfel Dela Peña) just continue to pile up. They are trying to get away with murder by burning all evidence, when they had Ka Oris’ remains cremated with dispatch, on the pretext of Covid-19 protocols,” Valbuena said.

“They did not even have the human decency to wait for the family to view his remains for the last time,” he added.

A Rappler report said that Philippine Army 4th Infantry Division commander Major General Romeo Brawner Jr., announced on Wednesday, November 3, that the swab test performed on Madlos showed he was COVID-19 positive and his remains were turned over to the town government of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

Brawner said the town’s COVID-19 task force took Madlos to the Divine Shepherd Crematorium in Cagayan de Oro City for cremation and returned the ashes back to Impasug-ong.

Brawner reportedly said it would be up to the Impasug-ong town government to decide to whom the urn would be given.

Rappler’s report added that younger brother Rito was on his way to Bukidnon to collect the ashes.

The CPP however questioned the move, asking who gave the AFP the right to decide to cremate Madlos’s remains?

“If they wanted to follow protocols, then Ka Oris’ remains could (and should) have been buried in Impasug-ong, especially since there are no cremation facilities in Bukidnon,” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson also noted that Department of Health COVID-19 protocols do not provide cremation as the only option for disposing of remains.

“This further reinforces our view that the AFP is covering-up their crime,” Valbuena said.

Valbuena added that by unilaterally having Madlos’ remains cremated, the AFP has also eliminated all chances of clearing their (military’s) name.

Madlos and Dela Peña were reportedly on board a motorcycle from Impasug-ong on their way to a medical treatment session when killed by 4thID troopers.

The NPA spokesperson is publicly known to be suffering from renal failure for years.

In separate statements, the CPP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-North East Mindanao Region alleged Madlos was waylaid when he is unarmed and was in no condition to fight on Friday, October 29.

Valbuena said that even if Madlos was indeed COVID-19 infected, the military should not have feared having independent pathologists perform an autopsy.

He noted that the same tactic was used on fallen rebel leader Kerima Tariman’s remains in Negros Island that the military agreed to give back to her family only after being cremated.

“Indeed, cremation has become part of the AFP’s protocol to hide their crimes and prop up a false image of respecting human rights,” Valbuena said.

The tactic violates cultural sensitivities, Valbuena said, adding in a separate statement that the AFP “set aside honor in facing an adversary.”

“In waging war, it is natural to win some and lose some. But there are rules that govern war that humanity have established in the course of civilization. Ka Oris, himself, did not preclude himself getting killed in battle,” Valbuena explained.

Madlos was erstwhile NDFP-Mindanao spokesperson before becoming spokesperson of the New People’s Army’s national operational command in 2016.

In its second national congress in the same year, the CPP elected him as a member of its Central Committee, its Political Bureau, and its Executive Committee.

The CPP congress also tasked Madlos to be among the leading cadres in the CPP’s Military Commission and its Mindanao Commission.

He was also assigned as a consultant of the NDFP in peace negotiations.

Madlos is the most senior CPP cadre to die at the hands of the AFP after fellow CPP Central Committee, Political Bureau and Executive Committee stalwart Julius Giron who died in a military raid in Baguio City last March 13. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP to AFP: Give Oris’ remains back to his family

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“Ka Oris had long wished to return to Siargao Island where he grew up as a boy. Perhaps, his wish could be fulfilled.”–CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it supports the wishes of Ka Oris’ family to retrieve his remains and conduct a proper wake for the fallen New People’s Army (NPA) spokesperson.

In a statement, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said that the military is engaged in a cover-up of the real circumstances surrounding Oris and his aide’s deaths and their families are in a position to demand for an autopsy by an independent pathologist.

Oris (born Jorge Madlos) and his aide the CPP identified as Ka Pika (Eighfel Dela Peña) were killed on Friday in Sitio Gabunan, Barangay Dumalaguing, Impasug-ong town in Bukidnon.

The CPP’s statement came after reports quoted 403rd Infantry Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon saying Oris and Pika will be buried at the “encounter site” if found to be COVID-19 positive.

A Rappler report said the military showed to reporters a photograph of a dead person who resembled Oris being swabbed for COVID-19 at the “encounter site.”

Barandon reportedly  said Oris’ remains was swabbed so that samples could be tested for COVID-19, citing other NPA rebels killed in clashes with the military or have been arrested since October showed COVID-19 symptoms.

If the swab tests turn up negative, Barandon said the bodies would be brought down to Impasug-ong town proper and turned over to the Philippine National Police.

Valbuena said Oris had long wished to return to Siargao Island where he grew up.

“Perhaps, his wish could be fulfilled,” the CPP spokesperson said.

Murder

In his statement, Valbuena echoed National Democratic Front of the Philippines-North East Mindanao Region spokesperson and Oris’ widow Maria Malaya’s accusation that the NPA spokesperson and his aide were murdered and not killed in an encounter.

“Ka Oris and aide Eighfel Dela Peña (Ka Pika) were both unarmed when ambushed. Whether they were ambushed while moving or were accosted and thereafter executed is still unclear,” Valbuena said.

In a news conference at Camp Osito Bahian in Malaybalay City, Major General Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division, claimed Oris and Pika were killed in an encounter with 8th Infantry Battalion, the 1st Special Forces Battalion, and Scout Ranger soldiers.

Malaya however said Oris and Pika were riding a motorcycle on their way to seek medical treatment.

The elderly Oris was publicly known to have suffered from renal failure for years.

 “Clearly, however, they were not in a position to give battle or fight back and were murdered in cold-blood,” Valbuena said.

Cover-up

Valbuena added the aerial strikes in the vicinity of Barangay Dumalaguing the military first claimed killed Oris were done four hours after the NPA spokesperson and his aide were killed.

“For around two hours, from 12:40 a.m. to past 2 a.m. the AFP dropped at least six large bombs, fired dozens of rockets and strafed the mountainside shattering the peace and causing fear and panic among the people,” he said.

The bombing was to conceal the military’s “crime of murdering unarmed revolutionaries and create a false picture of an armed encounter,” he said.

“They then issued a fat lie claiming of an armed encounter at 11 am (10 hours later) where Ka Oris and Ka Pica were supposedly killed,” Valbuena said.

The CPP said that Brawner and other 4th ID officers’ statements to reporters were brazen lies.

“They are utterly dishonorable officers for propagating false information. We hold Gen. Brawner and the men and officers of the 403 IBde responsible for the murder of Ka Oris and Ka Pica and its coverup,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP in Northeast Mindanao confirms Oris’ death

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Ka Oris is dead, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in North-East Mindanao Region (NDFP-NEMR) confirmed.

In a statement, NDFP-NEMR spokesperson Maria Malaya said government forces ambushed and killed Oris, born Jorge Madlos, while on board a motorcycle in the town of Impasug-ong Bukidnon last October 29, Friday.

Malaya clarified that 4th Infantry Division commander Brig. Gen. Romeo Brawner’s claim that Oris was killed in an encounter with government soldiers was a lie.

“Ka Oris and his female medic were onboard a motorcycle from the poblacion of the town of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon going towards the national highway where, it is believed, they were ambushed and killed. They never reached the highway,” Malaya said.

The NDFP-NEMR spokesperson said that, according to their sources, there was no gunfight and the military did not conduct an airstrike in the area.

Oris was unarmed and was on his way to a medical treatment, Malaya said.

The prominent revolutionary was publicly known to be suffering from a renal ailment.

Malaya added that the military is still in possession of Oris’ remains.

“We challenge Brig. Gen. Brawner to reveal to the media and the public what really happened, to not be a big liar, for only then can he truly take pride in his achievement of killing Ka Oris,” she said.

Oris was a legendary New People’s Army commander for several decades and was the revolutionary army’s national operational command spokesperson at the time of his death.

NDFP-NEMR said it hopes the Rodrigo Duterte government will allow a public wake for Oris, similar to what Duterte, then Davao City mayor, allowed for Leoncio Pitao in 2015. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CHR, Red Cross asked to ensure safety of jailed peace consultants in ATC list

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The Commission on Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross had been asked to regularly check on the condition of three political prisoners designated by a government task force as alleged terrorists.

In a statement, political detainee support group Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim asked the two agencies to ensure the safety of her husband Vicente Ladlad and fellow National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants Rey Claro Casambre and Adelberto Silva.

“I have reason to fear for their lives because seven consultants of the (NDFP) have already been murdered within the last two years,” Lim said.

Lim’s appeal was in reaction to a resolution released Thursday, May 13, by the Anti-Terrorism Council designating 19 individuals as alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippine Central Committee and as so-called terrorists.

Aside from Ladlad, Casambre and Silva, the list includes NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison, New People’s Army National Operations Command spokesperson Jorge Madlos, NDFP Negotiating Panel interim chairperson Julietta de Lima, NDFP Negotiating Panel Member Benito Tiamzon and NDFP peace consultants Alan Jazmines, Wilma Tiamzon, Ma. Concepcion Araneta-Bocala, Tirso Alcantara, Pedro Codaste, and Loida Magpatoc.

The list also includes alleged CPP officials Abdias Gaudiana, Dionesio Micabato, Myrna Sularte, Tomas Dominado and Menandro Villanueva.

Five of the NDFP peace consultants killed in the last two years referred to by Lim include Randy Malayao, Randall Echanis, Julius Giron, Eugenia Magpantay, and Agaton Topacio.

Lim said the ATC listing is being used to persecute individuals and maliciously jumping the gun on the ongoing Supreme Court deliberations on the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The ATC’s designation needs a court order to become official.

‘Treacherous’

The CPP for its part denounced the ATC list as arbitrary, dismissing it a mere recycled record of unsubstantiated allegations from so-called military intelligence.

“The arbitrary naming of known peace consultants and revolutionaries underscore why the Anti-Terror Law and the ATC itself are illegitimate and should be repudiated. It was done in complete contempt of judicially recognized due process,” the CPP said.

“It is a veritable slap on face of the justices of the Supreme Court who have yet to complete hearings over questions of the constitutionality of the Anti-Terror Law,” the group added.

The CPP also said the ATC list is an act of treachery against the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the peace process.

“This act of the ATC is (GRP President Rodrigo) Duterte getting back at the NDFP for not bowing to his wishes for the revolutionary forces to surrender their principles to his fascist tyranny,” the CPP said.

Human rights group Karapatan also said the ATC designation of NDFP peace panel members and consultants as alleged terrorists is “red-tagging in its most blatant and most dangerous.”

The designation is “brazenly arbitrary that it violates basic principles of due process — and whose consequences have proven to be deadly,” the group said.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay asked the Supreme Court to act with urgency on their petitions to declare the terror law unconstitutional or at least issue a temporary restraining order against the law.

“[T]he Duterte administration is wasting no time using this draconian piece of legislation to heighten the crackdown on dissent and reign of terror. We call on the public to continue asserting the calls to junk the terror law and resist Duterte’s tyranny and dictatorship,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Oris: Many surrenderees AFP’s own

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The New People’s Army (NPA) hit at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for parading “thousands of fake surrenderees” nationwide.

In a video message, NPA National Operations Command spokesperson Jorge Madlos said many of those paraded by the AFP before President Rodrigo Duterte are in fact members of their own paramilitary forces or innocent civilians who were forced by the military to pose as surrenderees.

“When we checked, the (AFP) list includes 36 Lumad paramilitaries from Lianga (Surigao del Sur) who are also on the list of those who massacred three fellow Lumads in September 1 (2015),” Madlos said.

Madlos added that the 36 paramilitary troopers are being led by Calpet Egua who is reported to have been trained, armed, supported and protected by the Philippine Army.

“The AFP uses this paramilitary group as fake NPA surrenderees to clear their names as having been involved in the massacre,” Madlos said.

Madlos, also known by his nom de guerre as Ka Oris, said it adds insult to injury that the so-called surrenderees were given houses and lots as well as pocket money by Duterte in a ceremony in Malacañan Palace.

Madlos said that the AFP also picked up civilians who were later presented as surrenderees as well as those who have long left the NPA and have already been living as ordinary farmers.

“They were again picked up and recycled as new surrenderees,” Madlos said.

“Although, in fact, there were real surrenderees, such as the alleged National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Far South Mindanao spokesperson,” he added, referring to Nilo Legaspi and his wife who surrendered last January.

Madlos said real surrenderees are very few and were only mixed with thousands of fake surrenderees.

The five or ten surrenderees does not make for a mass surrender of NPA forces, Madlos said.

Both Duterte and the AFP have repeatedly said the NPA is down to a few thousands of fighters left.

Far from being defeated

In January, former AFP chief of staff Rey Guerrero said the military is committed to weaken by 50 percent the NPA, which he said has only about 3,700 fighters nationwide.

In its presentation of hundreds of surrenderees to Duterte, the AFP said the so-called surrenderees were part of 4,000 who recently abandoned armed struggle.

“These are indicators of growing discontent within their organizations, the success of our programs, and the cooperation between residents and local government units,” AFP spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a press conference last January.

Netizens, however, pointed out that the Duterte government in fact presented 300 more so-called surrendered members than the AFP’s claim of NPA’s 3,700 fighters.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in their 49th anniversary statement last March that the NPA has more than a hundred guerilla fronts with at least company sized formations in addition as many People’s Militia units all over the country.

The CPP also said that Duterte and the AFP are wasting public funds on fake surrenderees.

“Over the past few months, Duterte himself and the entire military and defence establishment have spent hundreds of millions of pesos to stage Malacañang dinners with the president, tours around Luneta and other cheap gimmickry. The bigger portion of the monies, of course, line the pockets of armed forces field officials,” the CPP said in a statement last March.

“If we are to believe claims made by officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at the end of 2017 that the NPA is down to 3,700 members, then by simple subtraction, one can conclude that the AFP under Duterte has already accomplished what the previous regimes have failed to do: defeat the NPA,” it added.

In a separate announcement, CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison said the NPA is nowhere near being defeated, being present in at least 73 of the country’s 81 provinces.

Sison added that NPA presence in these provinces “denotes the existence of the people´s militia and the self-defense units of the revolutionary mass organizations. These two layers of people´s defense are the auxiliary and reserve force of the NPA.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

NPA to launch offensives vs GRP’s all-out war—Ka Oris

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THE National Operational Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) has announced all its units can now “take full initiative” as the 10-day grace period for the termination of its unilateral ceasefire declaration expired today.

“Starting today, the Unilateral Declaration of Interim Ceasefire is now completely terminated. All NPA commands and territorial units, as well as people’s militia and self defense units, can now take the full initiative to defend the people and advance their interests, especially in the face of the declaration of all-out war of the (Rodrigo) Duterte regime,” NPA spokesperson Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos in a statement said. Read more

NDFP-Mindanao on the CPP’s 47th anniversary (w/ English subtitles)

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos delivers their statement on the 47th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Madlos says the New People’s Army in Mindanao has doubled its tactical offensives against the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 250 in 2010 to more than 500 in 2015 as the Benigno Aquino administration is about to end. He also announced that the NPA has increased its guerrilla fronts from 40 in 2010 to 46 in 2015. Furthermore, NPA operations has increased from 1,850 barrios in 2010 to 2,500 barrios in 2015.

Madlos did not attend the anniversary celebrations held in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte because of the heavy military presence in the adjacent Zapanta Valley. Philippine Army checkpoints did not deter the thousands of guests from attending the celebrations, however.