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NDFP vows continuation of agrarian reform campaigns, ‘with or without peace talks’

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said it continues to pursue agrarian reform to free poor farmers from exploitation and oppression even if the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration refuses to resume peace negotiations.

In an interview with Liberation International, the group’s global version of its magazine, NDFP Negotiating Panel interim chairperson Julie de Lima said peasant movements in certain areas of the Philippines launch campaigns from land rent reduction to confiscation of land for free distribution to landless tenants.

De Lima said these struggles are the main content of their national democratic revolution, which is also set in their social and economic reforms proposal in the suspended formal negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

In the interview, De Lima also dismissed GRP Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez Jr.’s claim the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) is obsolete.

Earlier, Galvez Jr. was quoted by a government website saying “CASER is based on an obsolete framework and is no longer relevant since it is largely based on the pre-industrialization and pre-globalization era.”

“Galvez does not know what he is talking about and is irrelevant to the issue of what is the character of the Philippine economy. We know for a fact that the Philippines is nonindustrial,” de Lima said.

De Lima pointed out that agriculture remains a major base of the Philippine economy, one that remains afflicted by “traditional feudal relations of production, by backward, non-mechanized, non-irrigated, and with low output.”

Composed mainly of two programs, namely agrarian reform and rural development as well as national industrialization, NDFP and GRP negotiators have actually agreed on substantial points such as free land distribution before former President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his administration’s  withdrawal from the negotiations in June 2017.

Various groups as well as former government negotiators have urged the current Marcos Jr. government to consider resuming peace negotiations with the NDFP.

The president has yet to officially issue any response to the demands, letting former generals in his administration to disavow peace talks resumption.

The NDFP for its part has consistently said it is always open to the resumption of peace negotiations with any GRP administration sincere in resolving the 54-year old civil war in the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Ex-GRP negotiator advises resumption of peace talks with NDFP

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A former Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) peace negotiator advised the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to help solve many of the government’s problems at once.

In an online interview with journalist Christian Esguerra, veteran GRP peace negotiator Hernani Braganza said a good outcome in the talks would possibly result in a lasting ceasefire with the NDFP.

“This is an unsolicited advice: they resume the peace talks with the NDFP. Because, the first thing that may happen if things turn out well, there will be lasting ceasefire,” Braganza said in Filipino.

Braganza’s advice came after Esguerra asked him about Marcos’ signing of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act last July 7 relieving 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries of amortization fees.

Aside from being a formal and “backchannel” government peace negotiator under three successive administrations, Braganza also served as Department of Agrarian Reform secretary under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government.

Branganza said the loan pardon program was actually a NDFP-GRP agreement in 2017 under a more comprehensive free land distribution concord.

“It is in one of our documents, free land distribution. Of course, when we say free, it will be the responsibility of the government for our farmers. It is the same as debt condonation. This was part of the peace talks,” he said.

Braganza said they duly submitted the document to Malacañan Palace and expressed regret that the previous Rodrigo Duterte government did not continue with the negotiations.

“If Presidente Duterte pushed through with the talks, this could have been part of it. It could have helped pacify Filipinos who take up arms,” he said.

Joma’s jest

Braganza said it is up to the Marcos Jr. government to take another look at the peace process if it wants to solve many problems at the same time.

He said it is obvious that poverty, lack of jobs and livelihood as well as opportunities for economic development pushes many Filipinos to join the armed struggle against social injustices.

The veteran peace negotiator added that if the government wishes to address social problems, “[it] might as well put in in a document that could end the armed conflict in a much shorter period.”

“[This,] rather than wait for them to lay down arms. If you can solve this by negotiating, that’s it. That’s the entire idea of it,” he said.

Braganza recalled a jest by the late NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison who told the government negotiators: “You don’t have to talk to us. The government only needs to do its job.”

“Most of all, Mr. Joma Sison, when he was still alive, signed that he will go home to the Philippines if the free land distribution agreement was signed by the GRP,” he said.

From Marcos to Marcos

In response to Esguerra’s question if the current political atmosphere is conducive to the resumption of the peace talks with the NDFP, Braganza said it all depends on a sitting president’s political will.

“Well, first of all, how many million votes did the president get? Thirty-one million. It is bigger than the previous president, so it is a huge political capital,” he said.

Second, the Marcos Jr. government enjoys control over the Senate and the House of Representatives, he cited. “How can you go wrong?” he asked.

Braganza, a student activist during Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s reign, added that it would one of the better legacies of the current Marcos administration to end the armed conflict with the NDFP.

“[B]ecause majority of the problem of insurgency in the Philippines started with the implementation of martial law (by Marcos Sr.).  So, if it started then, because they have the same surnames, wouldn’t it be better if this one ends it?” he asked.

Braganza said it would not be impossible, saying peace tables with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade and the Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army have successfully concluded under previous Manila governments.

“So it could be a good legacy for this administration to end what most of what started during the time of the father. It would be a good closure,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Peace advocates urge freedom for Fernandez, Lagtapon

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‘Frank’s life would be better used in peace-work and dialogue, rather than have him languishing behind bars’

A church-based peace advocacy group called on the Philippine government to free National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon after their conviction of illegal gun possession last June 29.

In a statement, the group Pilgrims for Peace (PfP) said they were surprised at the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 266’s verdict, more so that both Fernandez and Lagtapon were elderly and under medical treatment.

“As peace advocates, we continue to clamor that the golden years of Frank’s life would be better used in peace-work and dialogue, rather than have him languishing behind bars,” PfP’s statement said.

“This is especially so as his conviction is alleged to have been orchestrated using manufactured evidence, planted at the time of his arrest,” the group added.

PfP cited the couple’s defense that they were already under custody hours before their announced arrest and were in fact taken to and from a military hospital to have their photos taken with planted evidence of guns and explosives at the house they were staying in.

The couple was arrested in Barangay Calumpang, Liliw, Laguna on March 24 2019 while undergoing medical treatment with their caretaker Ge-Ann Perez, herself a Hansen’s Disease patient.

Like other NDFP peace consultants and companions arrested before and after, the three were alleged to be in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Supposedly immune from arrest

The PfP statement was signed by former Iglesia Filipina Independiente Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang, Roman Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, Sr. Maureen Catabian of the Religious of the Good Shepherd and Dr. Mike Pante of ACT for Peace.

Fernandez was among several Roman Catholic priests who left active priestly duties to join the underground revolutionary movement during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. government in the early 1970s.

He served as a long-time spokesperson of the NDFP in Negros Island.

In 2017, Fernandez was included in the reconstituted list of consultants and resource persons that was deposited with the Bishop of Utrecht, the head of the global Old Catholic Church communion, in accordance with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

With JASIG Document of Identification Number PP 978544, Fernandez should be immune from arrest, detention, threats and harassments, the NDFP said when he was arrested in 2019.

The 75-year old Fernandez is suffering from chronic artery disease, chronic stable angina, hypertension stage 2-uncontrolled, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hyponatremia, among other illnesses.

The 65-year old Lagtapon also suffers from various illnesses brought about by advancing age.

“As a peace consultant of the GRP-NDFP peace process, we urge for respect of Frank’s JASIG protection as well as humanitarian considerations given his advanced age,” the PfP said.

“Let us continue to pray for former priest, now NDFP peace consultant, Frank Fernandez… Let us pray the peace processes can resume so that genuine peace can take root in our country,” the group urged further. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Young political prisoner regains freedom ‘with a smile’

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Ge-Ann Perez, 24, was all smiles when she stepped out of a 4-year political imprisonment at the Female Dormitory of the Taguig City Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa last Friday night, June 30.

She was carrying all her jail-acquired possessions in two small shoulder bags, a small plastic box and a plastic bag containing what appears to be a basil plant that she must have taken care of in prison.

But getting out of jail was not as smooth for Ge-Ann. She was mistakenly given a dark red shirt to wear when she stepped out of the gate, a prohibited color if she is to be allowed exit through Camp Bagong Diwa’s many gates to her freedom. So she was asked to change into a stripped black and white before being handed her Certificate of Discharge by the jail guards.

Ge-Ann Perez (center, in striped shirt) holding her Certificate of Discharge with Kapatid well-wishers and a jail guard. [Kapatid photo]

Ge-Ann was just 20 when she was arrested together with National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon on March 24, 2019 in Liliw, Laguna.

Ailing with Hansen’s disease, she was under medical treatment while staying with Fernandez and Lagtapon in the town’s famed cool springs and clean air. The elderly couple are themselves ailing with various grave lung and heart ailments and Ge-Ann was their caretaker.

When arrested, they were first taken to a hospital for a medical check-up and later taken back to the house where they were staying for photo documentation of their arrest. What greeted them were a cache of guns and explosives Ge-Ann said she knew nothing about.

Last Thursday, a Taguig court convicted Fernandez and Lagtapon of illegal possession of firearms while Ge-Ann was judged innocent, a victim of incidental arrest.

Perez (left) arriving at a court trial with Frank Fernandez (center) and Cleofe Lagtapon (right). [Kapatid photo]

Her mother Erlinda said in a 2020 video documentary that Ge-Ann suffered discrimination from her jail guards and fellow inmate because of her ailment. She was one of 22 petitioners in Kapatid’s April 2020 Supreme Court petition for the humanitarian releases of the medically vulnerable elderly and very sick prisoners.

The petition was remanded to the lower courts, effectively stonewalling its course. Ge-Ann had to suffer four long-years of trial to regain her freedom.

On Friday night, Ge-ann’s release was facilitated by her lawyer, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer’s Jun Oliva. Also there were members of political prisoner support group Kapatid who just came out of a meeting with the jail warden. Kapatid said Ge-Ann was greeted by applause and not a few tears.

Perez with Kapatid well-wishers [Kapatid photo]

According to Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim, Ge-ann plans to go for her long-delayed checkup at the Philippine General Hospital before going back home to her family in Cebu. She will be assisted by the International Committee of the Red Cross in her travel back to Visayas.

Kapatid said Ge-Ann hopes to resume her studies and go to college to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a teacher. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Taguig Court convicts NDFP’s Frank Fernandez, wife Cleofe Lagtapon of illegal gun possession

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Frank Fernandez and wife Cleofe Lagtapon were convicted of illegal possession of firearms by Branch 266 of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC), human rights group Karapatan reported.

Karapatan said that while the couple were acquitted from additional charges of illegal possession of explosives and violation of the elections gun ban at the time of their arrest, they were found guilty of what they asserted was the first of three “trumped-up charges.”

Their companion Ge-ann Perez, arrested and charged along with the elderly couple, is acquitted of all charges by the court.

The three were arrested in Barangay Calumpang, Liliw, Laguna on March 24 2019 and, like other NDFP peace consultants and companions arrested before and after, were reportedly found to be in possession of firearms, ammunition and grenades.

READ: PNP surfaces NDFP’s Frank Fernandez

At the time of their arrest, then Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde claimed they found three caliber .45 pistols, three magazines with 15 live bullets and three grenades were in the couple’s possession.

They were then charged with violation of Commission on Election (Comelec) Resolution 10429 in relation to the Omnibus Election Code as well as violation of Republic Act 10591 (Illegal possession of firearms) and violation of Republic Act 9516 (Illegal possession of explosives), the PNP said.

A Roman Catholic priest, Fernandez took leave from his church in the 1970s, went underground and became a long-time NDFP spokesperson in Negros Island prior to their arrest.

The NDFP said Fernandez should not have been arrested as he is protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees between them and the Manila government with Document of Identification Number PP 978544.

Karapatan condemned the Fernandez and Lagtapon’s conviction, adding it supports the couple’s assertion that the trove of grenades and guns used against them were planted by arresting authorities.

The group said it was absurd that two elderly and sick individuals had the items in their possession.

Fernandez’ medical abstract by the Philippine Army General Hospital immediately after their arrest said he suffers from chronic artery disease, chronic stable angina, hypertension stage 2- uncontrolled, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hyponatremia, among other illnesses.

Fernandez is 75 years old while Lagtapon is 65.

READ: Philippine Army holding Frank Fernandez incommunicado

“The inconsistencies in the details of their arrest based on the accounts of the arresting authorities further reveal this glaring travesty of justice,” Karapatan said.

“We reiterate the call for the immediate release of the Fernandez, Lagtapon and Perez, and all political prisoners subjected to these forms of political persecution,” Karapatan added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Fausto massacre is latest in AFP’s kill list of Negros children, underground group says

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An underground organization of revolutionary women has accused the Philippine government of being unconcerned over the rights and welfare of children in Negros, saying the killing of Ben Fausto (15) and his brother Raven (12) are just two of a long list of victims in the island.

The Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan – Negros (MAKIBAKA-Negros) said that aside from the massacre that killed the Fausto children in Himamaylan City last June 14, three other minors have been killed by the military since 2021.

MAKIBAKA-Negros identified Aldren Faburada (17 ), Everly Kee Jacolbe (16), and Christopher Montecino (17) as the other victims in the hands of government soldiers.

“Focused military operations and the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) in the countryside have brought trepidation for people’s lives and security, particularly for children,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said in a statement dated June 19.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)-allied organization said Faburada was severely beaten and killed by the 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) last March 15, 2021. The child was earlier red-tagged as an NPA member when he was only fetching his school module from their hut near the encounter site at Sitio Kansampo, Brgy. Bagtik, La Libertad, Negros Oriental.

Like the Faustos, Jacolbe was massacred along with her pregnant mother and a relative by the 62nd IB at Sitio Banderahan, Brgy. Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental last July 26, the group said.

Montecino was killed with his father Pedro when the 94th IB assaulted locals of Sitio Cunalom, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City on September 11, 2021, MAKIBAKA-Negros alleged, adding the soldiers red-tagged Christopher in front of the media as an NPA “child warrior” who had surrendered.

‘Justice for the Faustos’

The AFP denied killing the Faustos, expectedly counter-accusing the New People’s Army (NPA) for the massacre instead.

PA’s 303rd IB commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin said earlier they themselves condemn the Fausto massacre and vowed to “spare no effort to pursue justice for the victims and their families.”

“[W]e will closely coordinate with the Philippine National Police to fast-track the resolution of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Edralin added.

Edralin claimed it was the NPA that killed the Faustos as it suspected the victims to have become spies for the military.

The general added that accusations the 94th IB brutally killed the family are “nothing but an attempt by the desperate NPA to tarnish the reputation of the Army in the province.”

“[They] quickly blame the Army without proof to mislead the people and to hide their guilty hands,” Edralin said.

An early incident report of the Fausto massacre of the human rights group September 21 Movement however pointed out that Emelda Fausto has reported harassments and attacks by the army unit prior to June 14.

Subsequent statements by church leaders and various organizations also said Roly Fausto had been repeatedly tortured and forced to serve as guide by the soldiers in an all-night military patrol days before they were killed.

‘Even babies are not spared’

MAKIBAKA-Negros said intense AFP operations have been indiscriminately showered bullets and bombs on peasant communities, ransacked houses, illegally arrested innocents, coerced civilians to surrender, and abducted and murdered civilians.

The group said these military strategy causes fear, anxiety, sorrow and anger in the minds and hearts of the people and their children.

“Trauma develops among children upon witnessing the lives of their father, mother, siblings and relatives taken away. In every destroyed home and each family victimized by state fascism, one to a thousand children are deprived of freedom to live as well,” the group said.

The NDFP in Negros monitored 17 cases of human rights violations by military troops on the island directly involving children, mainly by the 62nd IB and 94th IB, the group recalled.

“These were cases of extrajudicial killing, harassment and threat, indiscriminate firing and bombing, attempted abduction, forced surrender, and illegal detention,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

“Military troops occupying schools also cause intense fear as children and their teachers function as human shield for chicken-hearted soldiers. It disturbs the children’s education and places the community in danger,” the group added.

The women’s group also reported that 3rd Infantry Division troops also targeted and attacked babies and children they suspect are sons and daughters of NPA fighters, such as the 79th IB’s kidnapping of Baby Marx Cairo Salino, a two month old infant of guerillas taken from his caretaker on January 13, 2021.

The baby is reportedly currently with the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) of Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

“Despite the rights of Baby Marx’s family to claim and care for him, the fascist and merciless personages of the CSWD and military stubbornly insist that the freedom of Baby Marx depends on their decision,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

Last May 14, the 11th IB arrested a couple and their one-month old baby in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental over suspicions they were NPA members, the group said.

It added that 94th IB also chased after and attempted to abduct four children, aged one to two years old, in different barangays of Himamaylan City in 2022.

MAKIBAKA-Negros also expressed concern over reports that the 11th IB placed a P50,000 bounty on a two year old child of a Red fighter couple under the NPA’s Rachelle Mae Palang Command in Southeast Negros. The soldiers wish to use the child as hostage to coerce the parents to surrender, it added.

“This [3rd] Division of the Philippine Army is notorious for employing similar dirty tactics in warfare wherein children are used as bait to force the surrender and capture of their parents or relatives,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

The group said it welcomes the announcement of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to hold an investigation of the recent killings. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Negros Bishop pleads for justice for Faustos; NDFP accuses AFP as child killers

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San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said they mourn the “horrifying” deaths of the Fausto family killed last Wednesday, June 14, in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental allegedly by government soldiers.

In a petition released last Sunday, the prelate in neighboring Negros Oriental said he implores local and national government institutions to ensure justice for the victims and hold accountable those responsible for the massacre.

Brutally killed in their hut were Roly Fausto (55), his wife Emelda (50) and their children Ben (15) and Ravin (12) who had been repeatedly red-tagged and by the military weeks before their deaths.

Quoting a report by local human rights group September 21 Movement, Alminaza joined many organizations in identifying the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion as alleged perpetrators of the “heinous act.”

READ: IFI Bishop, groups denounce massacre in Negros

“Our hearts are heavy as we witness the escalating militarization under the current (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) administration,” Bishop Alminaza said.

The bishop also blamed Executive Order 70 issued by former president Rodrigo Duterte institutionalizing the so-called whole-of-nation approach in the government’s counter-insurgency program and creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for the incident.

“The’ whole-of-nation approach’ advocated by the (NTF-ELCAC) has led to the weaponization of ‘red-tagging’, armed harassment, and senseless killings,” Alminaza said.

Alminaza offered a prayer as a plea for justice in his petition.

‘AFP are child killers’

Meanwhile, the Special Office for the Protection of Children (SOPC) of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as child killers for the deaths of minors Ben and Ravin.

NDFP-SPOC head and NDFP Negotiating Panel member Coni Ledesma, a native of Negros Occidental, said her office vehemently condemns the “brutal massacre” by the said military unit.

“This heinous act is a blatant violation of the rights of the child and the special protections under international humanitarian law,” Ledesma said.

Ledesma said child rights violations have sharply increased under the Marcos Jr. government with reports of kidnappings, threats, forced evacuation, violence and murder.

In Negros Island alone, the NDFP has documented at least 22 cases of state violence involving children between the period of 2020 to 2022, Ledesma said, citing a special report by the Communist Party of the Philippines’ official organ Ang Bayan.

“The killing of the Fausto children and their parents exposes the AFP once more as lawless and mindless child killers. As commander-in-chief of the criminal, corrupt and brutal AFP, Marcos II is directly responsible for its war crimes against the Filipino people,” she said.

Ledesma also criticized the AFP for its penchant to blame the New People’s Army (NPA) for its reported crimes against civilians.

Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Battalion commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin told reporters in a briefing last Thursday it was the NPA that killed the Faustos.

Edralin claimed that Roly had become a military asset prior to his death.

“Pinning the blame on the NPA is an old and tired tactic the AFP uses to escape accountability for its crimes against the people. Confirmed reports stated that on 22 March, both Emelda and Rolly Fausto were interrogated and harassed by military agents,” Ledesma however said.

“Even prior to the incident, the AFP has red-tagged the Fausto family, slaughtered their livestock, and ransacked their property in attempts to force admission of ties to the NPA,” she added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Reds to try killers of NDFP peace consultant Posadas

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Island announced the killers of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Rogelio Posadas will be tried by the “Revolutionary People’s Court” in the island.

NPA-Negros’ Apolinario Gatmaitan Command spokesperson Maoche Legislador in a statement Saturday, June 10, said cases related to Posadas’ killing by the military have been filed in its own tribunal.

Legislador said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) are the respondents in the case.

“[T]here is no one else capable of cruel acts against revolutionary forces and the people but the mercenary and barbaric (AFP), (PNP) and (NTFELCAC) under the command of (President Ferdinand) Marcos Jr.,” Legislador said.

The Visayas Command (VisCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced last April 23 that Posadas died in a firefight with soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental last April 20.

READ: Missing NDFP peace consultant killed by AFP

Posadas, however, was announced missing as early as April 19 by the NDFP in Negros, along with companion Kyngrace Marturillas and motorcycle drivers Denald Mailen and Renel delos Santos.

Legislador said bystanders who witnessed the incident claimed a white van waylaid two motorcycles, afterwhich armed men wearing bonnets forced the drivers and passengers into the van.

He added Posadas was assassinated by the military in yet another fake encounter and that Marturillas and the drivers remain to be victims of enforced disappearances.

What’s a ‘People’s Court?’

Unlike Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) municipal and regional trial courts that are headed by a single judge, People’s Courts are usually composed of several members who try and decide on the cases as a tribunal similar to GRP’s Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court.

Respondents, whether present or in absentia, are assigned defenders as in regular courts.

Understandably, most trials are held clandestinely but CPP, NPA, NDFP supporters as well as civilians are allowed as observers.

In earlier interviews with Kodao, NDFP representatives explained that anyone, including civilians, may file complaints with the CPP and the NPA.

Cases that warrant the formation of a People’s Court often try serious cases, such as cattle rustling, land grabbing, rape, murder and “counter-revolutionary activities” that lead to the capture or death of CPP, NPA and NDFP members, the representatives explained.

Penalties on guilty verdicts range from the offender’s banishment from a certain place to death, such as in the case of former NPA leader Romulo Kintanar who was executed in November 2003 while having lunch at a Quezon City restaurant by a NPA team.

The CPP said People’s Courts are part of its governance of territories it has established in its more than five decades of armed struggle. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Gibo’s anti-peace talks stance no surprise to the Left

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Newly-appointed national defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro reiterated his position against the peace negotiations with the revolutionary Left who in turn said they are not surprised at all.

Immediately after his re-appointment to the post, Teodoro said he had always been against the peace process with the Left, something he added is also the position of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration’s security sector.

“My personal position is ‘no’. That has always been my position ever since. And I think that is the position of the security cluster as of this time,” he told reporters last Thursday, June 8.

Appointed by Marcos Jr. as defense secretary for the second time last May 5, Teodoro first occupied the post from 2007 to 2009 under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presidency.

Instead of peace negotiations, Teodoro said armed members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) should instead return to the fold of law.

“We can talk about their issues in the proper forum—the Congress—and they should participate in the legitimate political process. The CPP is legal because Republic Act 1700 (law outlawing the CPP) has been repealed long ago,” Teodoro said in a mix of English and Filipino.

No surprise

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel was quick to rebuke the returning defense chief, saying they are not surprised by Teodoro’s position against the peace talks.

“After all, Teodoro comes from the same ilk of military warmongers who served Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and supported convicted war criminal Jovito Palparan,” NDFP peace panel chairperson Julie de Lima said Friday, June 9.

“Teodoro was one of the main implementors of Oplan Bantay Laya which is one of the bloodiest counterrevolutionary campaigns under the US-Arroyo regime,” de Lima added.

The NDFP said there have been documented human rights abuses under Teodoro and Macapagal-Arroyo, including aerial bombings in Mindanao and various cases of enforced disappearances as part of Oplan Bantay-Laya.

“We reiterate the NDFP’s policy of openness to peace negotiations. But at the same time, we see no signs of the current administration’s willingness to create the necessary conditions for peace talks to continue,” added de Lima.

De Lima said that while the revolutionary movement is always ready to talk peace with the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines), “they will persist in advancing the people’s war to defend the Filipino people against more brutal fascist attacks and US military intervention which [they] expect to intensify with the newly appointed DND chief.”

‘Calling a spade a spade’

The CPP for its part called Teodoro a “United States (US) factotum (servant)” who does not want to pursue peace because his real bosses want wars to continue to consume surplus US military hardware.

 The CPP further alleged that Teodoro, corrupt officials in the Marcos Jr. government and general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “keep their share of the fat contracts” under such programs as the so-called modernization of the military.

“Thus, it comes as no surprise that the recycled defense secretary declared that he has no plans of pursuing the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations. He is only interested in armed suppression and pacification of the revolutionary forces who represent the people’s profound aspirations for genuine social change,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.

Valbuena also dismissed Teodoro’s demand for the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) to stop their armed struggle as “grossly ironic” given the defense chief’s personal history.

The CPP spokesperson recalled Teodoro chaired controversial companies Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) and Indophil Resources Corporation (formerly known as Glencore International) since 2015. Indophils owns 37.5% of SMI.

In September 2022, the local government of Tampakan, South Cotabato revoked SMI’s business permit for alleged fraud and misrepresentation, declaring itself to be a mineral exploration manufacturer but found to be operating as a general engineering contractor.

“So, do we expect him to have any interest in listening to the grievances of peasants and minority people who are being displaced in their hundreds of thousands by the expansion of mining companies? No. Can the people expect him to have any interest in addressing the socioeconomic and political roots of the current civil war in the country? No,” Valbuena said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Missing NDFP peace consultant killed by AFP

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The Visayas Command (VisCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has announced the death of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant and alleged top New People’s Army (NPA) leader in Central Visayas Rogelio Posadas.

Announced to be missing since April 19 by the NDFP in Negros, the AFP last Saturday said Posadas was killed “after a series of encounters in the boundaries of Isabela and Balbagan” in Negros Occidental Province last April 20.

VisCom alleged Posadas was Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor regional committee secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

NDF-Negros and the NPA’s South Negros Command however said Posadas was first arrested and subsequently summarily executed by his captors in the manner that befell Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, Juanito Magbanua, Ericson Acosta, Jorge Madlos, Menandro Villanueva, Antonio Cabantan and other  NDFP peace consultants in recent years.

Bayani Obrero, NDFP – Negros spokesperson said, “We believe Posadas and the other three were intercepted by state agents along the road. They are missing since April 19, around 6PM. They never reached their destination.”

The NPA’s Mt. Cansermon Command denied two encounters took place in Sitio Marikudo, Brgy. Camang-camang and Sitio Cabite, Brgy. Binalbagan, Negros Occidental on April 20, 2023.

The NPA said it strongly denounces the military’s claim, saying Posadas was in fact unlawfully apprehended, tortured and killed despite being defenseless.

In his January 9, 2015 arrest in Negros Oriental province, Posadas was identified by former NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Luis Jalandoni as a holder of NDFP Document of Identification Number ND978313 under the assumed name Angel Jose.

Posadas has also been issued a corresponding Letter of Acknowledgment signed by then GRP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Silvestre H. Bello III and was covered by the safety and immunity guarantees under the JASIG, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

Posadas was freed on March 7 of the same year after posting bail.

Still missing

The NDFP said Posadas was travelling with a “Ka (Comrade) Mikmik” and two motorcycle drivers hired to transport the two to their intended destination.

In a press conference in Negros Island last Sunday, the two motorcycle drivers were identified by their families as 21-year-old Renren delos Santos and 18-year-old Renald Mialen.

“Ka Mikmik” was also identified as 28-year old Lyngrace Martullinas.

In the press conference, delos Santos’ father said that witnesses had observed a white van obstructing two motorcycles, after which masked gunmen forced the riders into the van.

The announcement of Posadas’ death by the 303rd Infantry Brigade of Philippine Army did not mention other casualties and arrests. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)