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CPP reveals Baguio raid victim was top leader, vows justice

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GENEVA, Switzerland—A victim of the Baguio City raid last Friday, March 13, turned out to be a top leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), statements by the underground revolutionary movement in the Philippines revealed.

In a statement, the CPP said Julius Giron, one of the victims in the early morning raid, was a stalwart of the Party’s Central Committee, its Political Bureau and Executive Committee member who served the party’s central organs over the past three decades.

The underground group said Giron played a key role in reconstituting the Party’s leadership in 2014 when alleged CPP chairperson Benito Tiamzon and secretary general Wilma Tiamzon were arrested in Cebu province.

It said Giron brought together more than a hundred Party cadres to hold the Party’s Second Congress in 2016 when he was elected to the CPP’s Central Committee, its Political Bureau and as one of the key officers of its Executive Committee.

The government announced Giron’s killing, along with one Lourdes Tan Torres/Ma. Lourdes Dineros Tangco and an unnamed aide in a joint military and police operation at about 3:30 AM in Barangay Queen of Peace in Baguio City last Friday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed Giron and companions “resisted arrest, prompting authorities to retaliate in a search warrant operation.”

The CPP however said there was no fire fight and the raiding party fired at the victims at close range in an execution-style killing.

“Claims made by the military and police that they were about to serve an arrest warrant are outright lies. It was a liquidation operation, a massacre, carried out at 3 a.m. with the clear aim of assassinating Giron and eliminating all witnesses,” the CPP said.

“The entire Party and all revolutionary forces are enraged over the murder of Ka Nars,” the group added.

Stellar revolutionary career

The CPP said Giron was among the young cadres who pioneered revolutionary work in the Cordilleras and other Northern Luzon regions in the 1970s.

The group said Giron helped forged Igorot unity, and in rousing, organizing and mobilizing the national minority groups in resisting national oppression, defense of their ancestral land, and in their fight for autonomy.

Giron was in the Cordilleras during the people’s epic struggle against the Chico River Dam Project, the CPP revealed.

CPP founding chairperson Jose Maria Sison gave Giron high praises in a statement Tuesday, March 17, revealing the victim, like him, received religious tutelage from his mother and served as a sacristan to the Catholic priests in his grade school days.

Sison said Giron was a bright and sociable person in high school with plenty of friends.

“He was charismatic because he was intelligent and had a talent for singing and dancing. He also excelled at numbers and hoped to become an engineer. He enrolled in the course of Engineering in the University of the Philippines in Baguio but was able to finish only the first two years because of his heavy responsibilities as a leading activist,” Sison wrote.

He added that Giron joined the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) in 1970 and was a product of the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970. Giron led the KM in Baguio City during the FQS.

“He often delighted and inspired the mass protests by reciting Amado Hernandez’s ‘Kung Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo, Aking Bayan’ to the music of ‘Ang Gabing Mapanglaw’. He helped build the Samahan ng mga Anak Pawis (SaAnPa) in Baguio City in 1970. He became an outstanding activist of the national democratic movement as he engaged in organizing workers in the transport, energy, and mining sectors,” Sison recalled.

Sison added that Giron became a member of the CPP in 1971 and assumed major responsibilities, serving with its Trade Union Bureau, participating in the organization of the CPP’s Northern Luzon Regional Party group, being designated a staff member of the Instructor’s Bureau of the CPP under the Education Department, and serving as team leader of an armed propaganda unit in Ifugao province.

Giron then went to Isabela province to instruct Political Officers of the New People’s Army (NPA) for regional and national deployment.

Giron during CPP’S Second National Congress in an undisclosed location in 2016. (CPP photo)

“As Founding Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, I honor Comrade Julius Soriano Giron with the Red salute and express the highest respect and commendation for his martyrdom and for his long record as a communist leader and revolutionary fighter in the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation and democracy,” Sison said.

He also condoled with his late comrade’s family and to all of Giron’s comrades, relatives and friends.

“I share with them profound grief over his demise and at the same the pride and joy for his lifelong and fruitful service to the people in their noble cause and struggle for national and social liberation from foreign monopoly capitalism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism,” Sison said.

“Comrade Julius served the people in the best way that he could and in the most exemplary way, died as a martyr and will therefore live forever in the hearts and minds of the people and in the continuance of the people’s democratic revolution with a socialist perspective. His murder in the hands of the armed minions of the traitorous, tyrannical, genocidal, corrupt and mendacious [Rodrigo] Duterte regime outrages the people and incites them to intensify their revolutionary struggle,” Sison said.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Negotiating Panel, its consultants, personnel and staff also extended condolences to the comrades, family, relatives and friends of Giron and his two companions.

“While in detention during the years of the Marcos dictatorship, we came to know of Comrade Julius’ artistry.  He was a good painter and headed the painting group inside prison. Indeed, his deep love for the Cordillera people is reflected in his paintings and poetry which are on display in his wake,” NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said.

“We render the highest salute to Comrade Julius for his selfless commitment and lifelong dedication to the revolutionary movement of the people for national freedom, democracy, social justice and genuine peace,” Agcaoili said.

Peace consultant

Agcaoili revealed that Giron was one of NDFP’s senior consultants in the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines)-NDFP peace talks on social, economic and political reforms, as well as end of hostilities and disposition of forces and was in fact designated as National Consultant Number 1.

“He was holder of Document of Identification (DI) number 978410 under the name of Arnold Cruz as National Consultant 1, which entitled him to protection and immunity under the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees),” Agcaoili said.

“The martyrdom of Comrade Julius and his companions inspires us even more to firmly pursue the Filipino people’s struggle for national and social liberation and for genuine and lasting peace,” he added.

The CPP said it will exact justice on Giron’s killers.

“Giron was, in fact, murdered in cold blood. The perpetrators and masterminds of the assassination of the Girons are criminals. The Party and revolutionary movement will make sure that they will pay for their crime,” it said.

Giron was convalescing in Baguio due to illnesses brought about by his advanced age, the CPP said. He was 70 years old. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP says no need to rush into reciprocating Duterte’s unilateral ceasefire announcement

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GENEVA, Switzerland—There is no clear basis for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to rush into reciprocating the government’s unilateral declaration of ceasefire, its chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said.

In a statement, Sison said that while there is ongoing communication between the NDFP and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiating panels, there is yet no agreement for reciprocal unilateral ceasefires in regard to efforts in containing the corona virus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

In asking for certain “considerations, requirements and modalities” for the NDFP to think about reciprocating GRP’s unilateral ceasefire announcement, Sison said there has to be clarifications.

He added that without such understanding, the ceasefire announcement by Malacañang Palace is “premature, if not insincere and false.”

President Duterte has decided to declare a unilateral ceasefire against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the NDFP effective 00:00 hour of March 19 to 24:00 hours of April 15, Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced Wednesday evening in Manila.

According to Panelo, the President directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), including the national defense as well as the interior and local government departments, to cease and desist from carrying out operations against the revolutionary forces.

Duterte last Monday publicly asked the underground communist groups for a ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, promising to repay them “with a good heart in the coming days” if they agree.

Sison however said the NDFP is not assured and satisfied that the ceasefire announcement is based on national unity against Covid-19, the appropriate solution of the pandemic as a medical problem and the protection of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, including workers, health workers, those with any serious ailments and the political prisoners.

“Unless it receives sufficient assurances from the GRP, the NDFP will be inclined to think that the GRP unilateral ceasefire declaration is not sincere and is not intended to invite reciprocation by the NDFP but is meant to be a mere psywar (psychological warfare) trick,” Sison warned.

Sison pointed out that according to the people and their own forces in the Philippines, Duterte’s lack of sincerity in seeking a real ceasefire is manifested by the following”

  1. The militarist lockdown on the whole of Luzon is mean not to fight the Covid-19 pandemic but to intimidate the people, suppress democratic rights, commit human rights violations and prevent the working people from going to their workplaces, and immobilize even the health workers and people who wish to be tested and treated for Covid-19 and other serious ailments; and
  2. The AFP and the PNP continue to redtag, abduct and murder social activists, including human rights defenders, in urban areas and to unleash attacks against the people in the guerrilla fronts of the NPA.

The NDFP and the CPP earlier condemned the killing of senior cadre Julius Giron, his physician Lourdes Tan Torres and their aide last March 13 in Baguio City. Human rights activists also blamed the military for the abduction and killing of choreographer and activist Marlon Maldos last Tuesday, March 17, in De la Paz, Cortes in Bohol province.

Sison said that despite all the above, the NDFP continues to hope that Duterte orders the GRP negotiating panel come to clear terms with its counterpart “for the benefit of the people.”

“Promises of Duterte, such as doing a good turn from a good heart, can be believed only as they are realized promptly and according to a definite schedule,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

IMKP: Hinggil sa Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER)

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Panayam kay Prof. Jose Maria Sison ni Prof. Sarah Raymundo para sa Kodao Productions.

ITANONG MO KAY PROF
Topic: CASER
4 February 2020

Prof Sarah: Magandang Araw sa ating mga tagapakinig! Sa gitna ng lumalalang krisis pang-ekonomiya at mga pang-araw-araw na pangamba dala ng kahirapan, kawalan ng trabaho, abuso sa mga manggagawa, mga sakuna, virus at paglabag sa ating mga karapatan, may paraan pa nga ba para umalagwa ang bayan?

Sa mga nakaraan nating pakikpanayam sa Chair Emeritus ng ILPS at panghunahing konsultant sa Usapang Pangkapayapaan, na si Professor Jose Maria Sison, atin nang napag-usapan ang Peace Talks. Sa pamamagitan ng Peace Talks, maaaring mapag-usapan ang mga alternatibo at repormang maaaring pagtulungan ng gobyerno at ng kilusang rebolusyonaryo na kinakatawan ng CPP-NPA-NDFP. Ngunit matindi ang pambabara rito lalo na ng mga personaheng nagmumula sa mga militar. Bakit kaya?

Bukod diyan, matindi rin ang pagtutol ng mga elemento ng militar sa CASER. Ano ba ang mayroon sa CASER at ayaw kumasa ng militar o ng gobyerno rito? Paano umaangkop ang rebolusyonaryong kilusan sa mga repormang dapat na maisaktuparan sa ikauunlad ng taumbayan. Sa panayam na ito, unawain natin kung bakit mahalaga para sa NDFP, maging sa CPP at NPA ang mga kagyat na reporma para sa ikauunlad ng bansa.

JMS: Maalab na makabayang pagbati sa inyo Prop. Sarah Raymundo at sa lahat ng ating tagapakinig.

Mga Tanong

SR1: Prof Sison, ang isa sa tinatalakay sa usapang pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng Government of the Republic of the Philippines o GRP at ng National Democratic Front of the Philippnes o NDFP ay ang tungkol sa Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms o mas kilala sa tawag na CASER. Maaari po bang ipaliwanag muna natin sa ating mga tagapakinig, ano po ang ibig sabihin ng CASER.

JMS: Ibig sabihin ng CASER ay Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms o Komprehensibong Kasunduan sa mga Repormang Panlipunan at Pang-Ekonomiya. Pangunahing nilalaman nito ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industrialisasyon. Sinasabi ng mga negotiating panel ng GRP at NDFP, mga peace advocates at malawak na masa na ang CASER ay laman ng makatarungang kapayapaan.

SR2: Ano ang pakinabang ng mamamayang Pilipino kapag napirmahan na ng dalawang panig ang CASER?

JMS: Sa ilalim ng CASER, isasakatuparan ang tunay na reporma sa lupa na kaiba sa kasalukuyang bogus na land reform. Ipapamahagi ang lupa sa mga magsasakang walang lupa o kulang sa lupa mula sa public domain at mula sa mga lupang pag-aari ng mga asendero o panginoong maylupa na bibilhin ng gobyerno sa mababang presyo at ipamumudmod ito sa mga magsasaka sa kaya nilang presyo. Hindi katulad ngayon na hindi kayang bayaran ng mga magsasaka ang lupang ipinamamahagi sa ilalim ng bogus na land reform ng gobyerno.

Sa ilalim din ng CASER, isasakatuparan ang pambansang industrialisasyon. Magkakaroon ang Pilipinas ng kasarinlan sa ekonomiya, mapapangalagaan ang pambansang patrimonya sa likas na yaman at paggamit nito at gayundin ng pag-unlad sa industriya. Itatayo ang mga industriya na may kapabilidad na gumawa ng mga makinang kagamitan sa pagmamanupaktura at mga pangunahing sangkap, tulad ng mga metal, kimika at elektronika, at mga manupakturang kinakain at ginagamit ng karaniwang tao.

Sa gayon, uunlad ang Pilipinas tulad ng mga industrialisadong bansa, tulad ng Amerika, Hapon, Tsina, Europa at Korea. Lilikha ang mga ito ng trabaho para sa milyun-milyong kababayan na walang trabaho o kulang sa trabaho sa kanayunan at kalunsuran. Giginhawa ang sambayanang Pilipino mula sa kasalukuyang kalagayan ng inaapi at pinagsasamalantalahan ng mga dayuhang monopolyo, malalaking komprador at asendero at mga korap na opisyal sa burukrasya at sa militar.

SR3: Ang sabi po ni Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., paso na raw po ang laman ng CASER, wala ng halaga ang mga nilalaman nito at ang Communist Party of the Philippines lang daw po ang makikinabang dito. Ano po ang inyong pagtingin sa bagay na ito, Prof Sison?

JMS: Hindi totoo ang sabi ni General Galvez. Sinungaling siya. Malakolonyal at malapyudal ang Pilipinas. Pinalubha ito ng tinawag na neoliberal globalization, ang patakarang pinabilis ang pag-ipon ng kapital sa kamay ng mga dayuhang monopolyo at malalaking komprador at asendro sa pamamagitan ng pagpapababa sa antas ng pasahod. Lalong hinaharang ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industrialisasyon. Lalong nakikinabang ang mga halimaw sa pagsasamantala sa mga manggagawa, magsasaka at pati na mga nasa gitnang saray ng lipunan. Ito ang dahilan ng pagkaatrasado ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas.

Ilinuluwas ng mga imperyalista at mga mapagsamantalang uri ang kayamanan ng Pilipinas sa anyo ng supertubo at sa pamamagitan ng kalakalang kolonyal. Nagluluwas ng hilaw na sangkap at murang paggawa at nag-aangkat ng mga yaring produkto pati na ang mga gamit na panluho ng mga nagsasamantalang uri.

Kapag may tunay na land reform, ang makikinabang ay mga magsasaka at buong bansa na magkakaroon ng sapat na pagkain at malawak na palengke ng mga manupaktura ng bansa. Kapag may pambansang industrialisasyon, ang makikinabang ay mga mangagagawa, mga taong walang trabaho na magkakaron ng trabaho at buong bansa na makikinabang sa pagtaas ng antas ng kaunlaran at ginhawa sa kabuhayan.

SR4: Ayon naman kay National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., hindi tutuo na isasalba ng CASER sa kahirapan ang mamamayang Pilipno. Ang lahat ng nakatala sa CASER ay pulos kaisipang komunismo. Tatanggalin din nito sa serbisyo ang mga elemento ng Armed Forces of the Philippines o AFP at tanging ang New People’s Army o NPA lang ang makikinabang sa CASER dahil ang mga ito ang magpapatupad ng agrarian reform. Ano po ang masasabi ninyo sa pahayag ni Esperon, Prof. Sison?

JMS: Bobo si General Esperon. Hindi komunismo ang tunay na land reform at pambansang industrialisasyon. Patriotismo ito at mga repormang ito ay burges-demokratiko pa. Hindi man sosyalismo ang mga repormang ito. Lalong malayo sa komunismo. Walang nalalaman at sinungaling itong si Esperon.

Kapag nagkaroon ng mga makabayang reporma tulad ng tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industrialisasyon, makikinabang pareho ang mga sundalo ng AFP at mandirigma ng NPA at mga pamilya nila tulad ng lahat ng mamamayan. Kapag nagkaroon talaga ng mga repormang ito, hindi na kailangan na maglabanan pa ang AFP at NPA.

Mawawala na ang dahilan ng guerra sibil o sandatahang labanan. Ang lumalaking badyet para sa militar ay puede nang ilagay sa pagtatayo ng mga industriya at mga kooperatiba sa agrikultura. Wala nang pag-aaksaya ng pondo ng bayan at maramihang pamamaslang na ginagawa ng militar na utusan lamang ng mga imperyalista at mga papet nitong pulitiko sa ating bayan.

SR5: Para po sa kapatiran ng ating mga tagapakinig, sina Galvez at Esperon po ay mga dating Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines o AFP. Pareho silang ayaw ng ipagpatuloy ang peace talks sa ating bansa. Pareho silang nananalig na kakayanin ng gubyerno na tapusin ang insurhensiya sa bansa at maaaring gawin ang local peace talks sa mga rehiyon. Ano po ang inyong opinyon Prof Sison hinggil sa bagay na ito?

JMS: Habang nananatili ang pang-aapi at pagsasamantala ng mga dayuhang kapitalista, mga malaking komprador at asendero sa mga anakpawis at sa sambayanang Pilipino, lalong lalaki at lalakas ang rebolusyonaryong kilusan ng sambayanang Pilipino at hindi makakayang supilin o linlangin ng militar ng kontrarebolusyonaryong estado.

May pambansang katangian at saklaw ng mga batayang problema na naging sanhi ng pagrerebolusyon ng masang Pilipino. Kung gayon, ang karapatdapat na mag-usap sa peace negotiations ay mga negotiating panel na inatasan ng GRP at NDFP sa pambansang antas. Ang mga reporma na kinakailangang pag-usapan at pagkasunduan sa ekonomiya, pulitika at konstitusyon ay may pambansang saklaw.

Kung gayon, ang lahat ng organo ng CPP at kumand ng NPA sa lahat ng antas, magmula sa pinakamababa hanggang sa pinakamataas, ay tumanggi na sa alok ng tinawag na localized peace talks. Kinokondena nila ito bilang isang mapanlinlang at malisyosong pakana ng mga militarista at pasista para hatiin ang kilusang rebolusyonaryo at isang patibong para magpasurender at patayin ang mga magsurender tulad sa Oplan Tokhang.

Walang localized peace talks na nangyayari kundi photo-ops ng mga militar at mga asset nila o mga pamiting ng mga sibilyan sa utos at pananakot ng militar. Pagkatapos palilitawin nilang mga nag-surrender ang mga nasa retrato o list of attendance para ibulsa ng mga opisyal na militar ang pera mula sa tinawag na E-CLIP o mula sa intelligence at discretionary fund. Raket lamang ng militar ang pekeng localized peace talks.

Dating raket na ito tulad ng PAMANA conditional cash transfer na pinalaki lamang. Walang taong naloloko nito dahil sa maliwanag ang mga militar ang nagbubulsa ng malaking bahagi ng pera para sa mga tinawag sa surrenderers at pagkatapos papatayin nila ang ito para makakuha pa ng mas malaking pera.

Yong mga mas tusong military officer nag-iimbento sa papel ng mga listahan ng nagsurrender at napatay sa mga pekeng engkwentro. Katawa-tawa na ipinaghahambog ng rehimeng Duterte na maraming ulit sa aktwal na bilang ng mandirigmang NPA ang nagsurrender at pinatay. Madalas ang aktwal na pinapatay ay mga sibilyan na sinisiraan muna ng red-tagging sa ilalim ng National Task Force-ELCAC.

SR6: Isang mahalagang paksa na naman ang ating tinalakay sa araw na ito. Ano po ang inyong ipapabaon sa ating mga tagapakinig, Prof Sison?

JMS: Tapos na ang mas malaking bahagi ng termino ni Duterte. Nasa takipsilim na ang administrasyon niya. Sinikap nitong patayin ang kilusang rebolusyonaryo ng sambayanang Pilipino. Subalit hindi lang siya bigo, lalo pang lumakas ang rebolusyon. Tumpak na tawagin siyang best recruiter ng NPA dahil sa lalong dumami ang armadong rebolusyonaryo dahil sa ibayong pagsasamantala at pagmamalupit sa mga mamamayan.

Wasto ang kapasyahan at tunguhin na lumaban kayo, mga kababayan, hanggang tagumpay. Nasa inyong pakikibaka ang pagkakamit ng pambansang kalayaan at tunay na demokrasya. Kung sakali mang magkaroon ng peace negotiations sa pambansang antas huwag kayong manlubay sa pakikibaka habang hindi ipinapatupad ang anupamang kasunduan ukol sa mga repormang batayan ng makatarungang kapayapaan.

Habang paliit na ang panahon ni Duterte sa kapangyarihan, lalong huwag tayong umasa na handa siyang makipag-usap para sa makatarungang kapayapaan. Napapalibutan siya ng mga militaristang heneral na katulad niyang berdugo at papet ng mga imperyalista. Kung magpataw ng pormalisado at lubusang pasistang diktadura sa Pilipinas ang mga nasa kapangyarihan, paigtingin pang lalo ang ating paglaban hanggang makamit ang ganap na tagumpay.

JMS:: Mga kababayan, nagpapaalam ako sa inyo hanggang sa susunod na panayam namin ni Prop.Sarah Raymundo. Maraming salamat sa inyong pakikinig. Mabuhay kayo!

Prof Sarah: Maraming maraming salamat po Prof. Sison sa inyong matalas at malinaw na pagtatalakay ng mga isyu na kaugnay ng CASER o Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms.

Matagal na debate kung paano ba babaguhin ang lipunang Pilipino: reporma o rebolusyon? Para sa mga kagaya nina Esperon at Galvez, masama ang rebolusyon, masama rin ang reporma tulad ng CASER. Kung gayon, pinagtatanggol lang nila ang namamayaning sistema. Batid naman ng mga rebolusyonaryo na kinakailangan ang pagpapatupad ng mga repormang makatutugon sa pangangailangan ng taumbayan sa proseso ng pagkakamit ng rebolusyonaryong pagbabago.

Kung ano ang inilawak at iniluwang ng puwang sa alternatibo na inilalaan ng NDFP sa usapin ng CASER para sa Peace Talks ay gayon na lang ang kitid at makaisang-panig ang pananaw ng mga elemento ng militar na kumakatawan sa gobyerno sa usaping ito, walang pinagkaiba sa pananakal na ginagawa ng gobyerno sa sambayanang Pilpino. Taglay ng CASER ang paunang hakbang sa pagkamit sa ekonomiko at panlipunang hustisya. Isulong natin ito kasabay ang panawagan sa Peace Talks.

Ito po si Sarah Raymundo, aktibista ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan o BAYAN at guro ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas-Diliman. Maraming salamat sa inyong pakikinig at hanggang sa muli dito sa Itanong Mo Kay Prof.

End

NDFP: OPAPP irrelevant and anti-peace under Galvez

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The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has betrayed its mandate to push for peace and had been irrelevant for a long time, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said.

“Instead of promoting peace negotiations, OPAPP has been demonizing the revolutionary forces, as well as the Chief Political Consultant of the NDF, Prof. Jose Maria Sison, with worn out lies long debunked by fact and evidence, NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoili in a statement, Thursday, February 6, said.

Agcaoili added OPAPP is acting against the interest of the Filipino people who have been clamoring for the resumption of peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

The NDFP blames presidential peace adviser and retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Carlito Galvez Jr. for turning OPAPP into the military’ psychological warfare machinery.

It said the OPAPP now denies the existence of the armed conflict between GRP and NDFP forces, particularly the New People’s Army (NPA).

In an article published on the OPAPP website Saturday, February 1, Galvez alleged Sison and company are working overtime to sabotage the GRP’s anti-communist insurgency programs for fear of becoming irrelevant.

“The armed struggle has no legitimacy in a civilized society. Armed violence is an anathema of peace and development, and the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA should be disbanded,” Galvez said.

The NDFP retorted that all Galvez had been consistently doing is attacking peace process and all signed agreements between the GRP and NDFP.

The group added Galvez even terminated the appointment of the members of the government’s negotiating panel and the services of its Joint Secretariat in the Joint Monitoring Committee, the office tasked to oversee the implementation of thr GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

“Just as the call for the resumption of the peace negotiations is gathering strength and the Duterte regime appears prodded back to the negotiating table, OPAPP seems hell bent on derailing every effort to resume the peace talks,” the NDFP said.

“OPAPP has long lost all credibility as it is exposed to be sinister, corrupt and a saboteur of the Filipino people’s aspiration for a just and lasting peace. It has indeed become irrelevant,” the group added.

The NDFP also slammed OPAPP’s latest press release proclaiming the so-called successes of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 70 creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

  • Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. (OPAPP photo)

State terrorism and corruption

The NDFP said NTF-ELCAC is an integral part of the government’s counter-insurgency program Operation Plan Kapanatagan that has been “terrorizing and wreaking havoc on communities through sustained military operations.”

The group said EO 70’s other human rights violations include indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardments of villages, assasination of civilians, illegal arrests, detention and torture of suspected NPA sympathizers, and with hunting or red-tagging of churches and organizations as well as their leaders.

But aside from unleashing state terrorism on the people, the NDFP said the NTF-ELCAC is rife with corruption.

“With a P21 billion budget, the NTF-ELCAC, under the rubric of localized peace talks and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), has been devising all sorts of money-making schemes to line the pockets of military and police commanders and local bureaucrats,” the NDFP said.

According to the NDFP, implementers of the task force also commit the following:

1. Buying off (with kickbacks) city and municipal councils into declaring the NPA persona-non-grata in their areas;

2. Manufacturing fake surrenderees to obtain the reward and integration monies (as recently exposed in the photoshopped picture of previous surrenderees and the alleged surrender if Alde Salusa, a military agent who killed anti-mining activist Datu Jimmy Liguyon);

3. Appointing paramilitaries Alamara and New Indigenous People’s Army to local councils that extend permit fees to mining and logging companies as well as multinational agribusiness corporations for the exploitation of ancetral lands; and

4. Renegotiating a bigger amount of “settlement” with the previously surrendered and paid Rebolusyonaryong Partidong Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group in a new agreement called Clarificatory Implementing Document. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Joma: Militarists making talks resumption impossible

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison condemned recent statements made by the government’s top security officials, accusing them of trying to prevent the resumption of formal peace negotiations.

In a reaction to statements by presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez, national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., Sison said President Rodrigo Duterte has allowed his highest military officials to oppose the resumption of the talks.

“Despite the over-all nationwide success of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefire agreement which occurred from December 23, 2019 to January 7, 2020, the Duterte regime has issued public statements that continue to terminate and prevent peace negotiations and render impossible the resumption of these between the duly-authorized panels of the GRP and NDFP,” Sison said in a statement Saturday, January 11.

Sison said that Duterte’s highest military subordinates, including interior and local government secretary Eduardo Año, national defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana and new AFP chief of staff Filemon Santos Jr., made utterances that they oppose peace and prefer to wage all-out war against the Filipino people instead. 

“[T]hey would rather continue the militarization and fascisation of the government and society under Executive Order No. 70,” he said.

Sison said the officials, all retired and active military generals, believe that peace negotiations are not needed because they are already in the process of destroying the New People’s Army (NPA) before 2022. 

“They boast that they are open only to surrender negotiations in a Philippine venue under their control. They claim to be satisfied with the psywar (psychological warfare) campaign of fake surrenders, fake encounters and persona non grata declarations,” Sison said.

Anti-talks pronouncements

Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) chairperson Carlito Galvez dismissed last Friday further negotiations on social and economic reforms with the NDFP, likening the prospective approval of the main agenda of the peace talks to an act of “treason”.

In a news article published by his office, Galvez said the Filipino people do not need the Comprehensive Agreement on Social (and) Economic Reforms (CASER) and Interim Peace Agreement (IPC) that are the proposed bases for the resumption of formal negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Galvez described the CASER as an “irrelevant proposition and simply a copycat of the programs of the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDFP) as outlined in the plagiarized content of Jose Maria Sison’s publication Philippine Society and Revolution.”

He said that adopting the CASER and the IPC could be likened to committing treason since the communists will implement these programs based on their constitution while the government needs to change its charter to apply the reforms.

“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. It is a formula for the surrender of the national government’s integrity as well as the state’s sovereignty,” he said.

Galvez said the NDFP draft of the CASER has several questionable provisions, including financing national industrialization from confiscated and expropriated assets of “foreign monopoly capitalists, big compradors and bureaucrat capitalists.”

He said the language in which the provision has been framed may “cast a dark cloud over the nation’s economy” and could lead to “the weakening and eventual decline of the country’s economic standing in global markets.” 

He also said it is worrisome that the proposed CASER orders the demobilization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the establishment of a coalition government with the communist group by setting up “programs for the People’s Democratic Government.”

“CASER is a product of a secret backchannel maneuver by the communist insurgents. There was zero consultation with the government’s economic team, security forces, local agencies, and local government units, and most importantly, the Filipino people,” Galvez alleged.

Esperon Jr. for his part expressed opposition to the planned revival of peace talks with the NDFP last Tuesday, accusing the CASER of reflecting the NDFP’s “duplicitous character and self-interest.” 

Like Galvez, Esperon said the proposed CASER “do not directly reflect the best interest of the nation,” but that of the communist rebels.

“After presenting the objectionable provisions of their proposed CASER, would it be beneficial to the nation that we engage the (communists) in another round of peace talks?” Esperon asked, adding the government is instead pursuing local peace talks.

Last Christmas Day, Parlade also accused the communists of duplicity, particularly CPP founding chairperson Sison and members within the churches.

Parlade said Christmas and its Christian ideals are incompatible with the mindset of communists, accusing them of following the likes of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin he said were members of a satanic cult.

‘What progress?’

Sison, however, challenged the generals’ claims of economic progress in the Philippines that make economic, social and political reforms through peace negotiations irrelevant.

“The Filipino people are supposed to be already living in an industrialized paradise without social injustices, massive unemployment, low incomes and rampant poverty. The Duterte regime is supposed to be solving all problems and rendering unnecessary peace negotiations,” Sison mocked.

By allowing the officials to openly defy efforts to resume peace negotiations, the Duterte regime is practically telling the Filipino people that peace negotiations are impossible until 2022, he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP names 5 Cabinet officials as worst peace talks foes

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) accused high-ranking government and military officials of opposing efforts to revive peace negotiations and launching actions that violated the recently concluded ceasefire agreement between the Communist Party of the Philippines and the Manila government.

NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison named Duterte’s national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon, national defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana, interior and local government secretary Eduardo Año, presidential adviser on the peace process chairperson Carlito Galvez and new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Felimon Santos of opposing efforts to revive the peace process.

“Either Duterte has been pretending to be for peace negotiations all along or he fails as commander-in-chief to put in line his military subordinates for the resumption of the peace negotiations,” Sison said.

Sison said Duterte’s five subordinates made the following declarations to disobey the President’s public declarations on his desire to resume peace negotiations with the NDFP:

1. They can destroy the CPP and NPA before the end of the Duterte regime despite the failure of all previous regimes to destroy the people’s revolutionary movement and the repeated failure of the current Duterte regime to comply with its deadlines for destroying said movement.

2. They oppose peace negotiations in a neutral venue abroad but favor negotiations for the surrender of the CPP, the NPA and entire revolutionary movement in a Philippine venue under the control and manipulation of the regime and its armed minions.

3. They can stage fake localized peace talks despite the glaring fact that all organs of the CPP and commands of the NPA at all levels have publicly rejected and condemned such fakery.

4. They are happy with and enjoy the escalating conditions of oppression and exploitation under the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system of big compradors, landlords and corrupt bureaucrats who are servile to the imperialist powers, their banks and monopoly firms.

5. They shun social, economic and political reforms to realize full independence, democracy, social justice and all-round development and they are most vehemently against genuine land reform and national industrialization.

“[T]he Filipino people should not be surprised if the GRP-NDFP will not be resumed in the twilight years of the Duterte regime,” Sison said.

Sison said that even before the end of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefire agreement last January 7, Duterte’s military and police subordinates “have been calling for war and blood and have been making offensive deployments against the Filipino people and revolutionary forces throughout the archipelago.”

The NDFP in Negros island, one of three rebel strongholds Duterte ordered to be flooded with military forces last year, reported “unabated military operations” during the two-week holiday truce.

Military movements

In a statement Wednesday, January 8, a day after the ceasefire agreement concluded, Ka Bayani Obrero, NDF-Negros spokesperson, said they received the following reports of AFP combat operations throughout the island from the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command of the New People’s Army (AGC-NPA):

1. December 24, 2019 – 1 military truck full of 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) troops descended on Brgy. Mansablay, Isabela, Negros Occidental; 

2. December 27, 2019 – 21 soldiers of the 62nd IB descended on Sitio Kuyawyaw, Brgy. Inolingan, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental; 

3. December 27, 2019 – 21 soldiers of the 62nd IB descended on Sitios Oway-oway and Binataan, Brgy. Quinten Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental; 

4. December 27, 2019 – 30 soldiers of the 62nd IB descended on Sitio Tibobong, Brgy. Quinten Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental; 

5. December 28, 2019 – 33 soldiers of the 62nd IB descended on Sitio Tiyos, Brgy. Quinten Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental; 

6. December 30, 2019 – Undetermined number of 62nd IB soldiers descended on Sitio Saisi, Brgy. Tan-awan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental; 

7. December 31, 2019 – 62nd IB soldiers also descended on Sitio Bayi, Sitio Cande-is and Sitio Ulitaw, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental; 

8. December 31, 2019 – 20 soldiers of the 79th IB led by a certain Maj. Tupaz descended on Sitio Tanquinto and Hacienda Amparo, Brgy. Mabini, Escalante City, Negros Occidental; 

9. January 1-3, 2020 – 62nd IB soldiers descended on Sitio Pisok, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental; 

10. January 3, 2020 – 14 soldiers of the 79th IB descended on Sitio Brodjen, Brgy. Malasibog, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, and;

11. January 6, 2020 – 40 soldiers of the 79th IB descended on Brgy. Paitan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

The NDF-Negros also reported troop movements and operations by the 11th IB under the 302nd Brigade and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Brgy. Talalac in Sta. Catalina and other municipalities in the Third Congressional District of Negros Oriental.

 “[These] manifest the dubious sincerity of the Duterte regime regarding peace talks resumptions,” Obrero said.

Obrero said the AFP and the PNP implemented combat operations in peasant communities in the mountainous areas “to persistently spread terror, threats, and harm on the Negrosanons.” 

“This simply shows that Duterte has no control over his bloodthirsty and warmongering dogs in the military and police,” AGC-NPA spokesperson Ka Juanito Magbanua said.

Magbanua said all NPA guerrilla fronts in Negros successfully celebrated the CPP’s 51st founding anniversary last December 26. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Advocates urge rejection of peace spoilers

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On the last day of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefire agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Communist Party of the Philippines, supporters of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) held a protest rally at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City to urge for the rejection of peace spoilers.

The protesters said the government must reject militarist calls by defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana, national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon, interior secretary Eduardo Año and others who have openly declared their opposition to ongoing efforts to revive the peace talks.

They also called for the release of NDFP peace consultants and other political prisoners as a boost to confidence-building measures for the resumption of peace negotiations. (Video by Jek Alcaraz/Kodao)

Ceasefire ends ‘successfully’, but no extension

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The reciprocal unilateral ceasefire agreement between the government and the communist rebels ended without further incident at midnight last night, but Jose Maria Sison thinks there is no reason to extend the truce at this point.

Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant, expressed disappointment that despite the ceasefire’s success, the Rodrigo Duterte government did not release a single political prisoner in the last two weeks to further bolster chances of resuming formal peace negotiations between the parties.

“There is no reason for the NDFP to recommend to the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) the extension of the ceasefire, especially because GRP did not release a single political prisoner who is sickly, elderly or NDFP consultant in the entire period of the ceasefire agreement,” Sison told Kodao in an online interview.

Sison said the holiday truce between the CPP and the government had been successful nationwide “despite some two incidents of self-defense by the New People’s Army (NPA) before the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) submitted its SOMO (Suspension of Military Operations) and SOPO (Suspension of Police Operations) to the NDFP belatedly on December 26.”

Sison was referring to the separate ambuscades undertaken by the NPA in Camarines Norte and Iloilo provinces that killed one police officer and injured several others on the morning of December 23 on the day the ceasefire agreement was supposed to take effect.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) admitted its troops were on combat operations on both occasions but claimed they were in the process of pulling out when waylaid by the communist guerrillas.

On the other hand, government soldiers belonging to the 401st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army “swarmed” a village in Bacuag, Surigao del Sur last December 30, causing the NPA to cancel its celebration of the CPP’s 51st founding anniversary and mass wedding of its members.

Sison said the troop movement was offensive, provocative to the NPA, disturbing to the community and was, therefore, a violation of the ceasefire.

Despite the general success of the nearly two-week truce, however, Sison revealed there is no further agreement between the two parties to extend the ceasefire agreement.

“Instead, what the NDFP is getting from the GRP side are the warmongering statements of AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP officials announcing offensives and insisting on fake localized peace talks staged by AFP military officers for racketeering,” Sison said.

Sison was referring to the 9th Infantry Division-Philippine Army’s claim that 306 alleged NPA members surrendered last December 26 on the occasion of the CPP’s 51st founding anniversary that immediately backfired when netizens pointed out that photographs released by the Philippine Army purportedly showing the surrenderers were faked.

The AFP later admitted to the fakery.

Sources in the backchannel talks between government representatives and the NDFP said labor secretary Silvestre Bello III is expected in The Netherlands in the third week of the month for another “informal talk” aimed as preparatory to a formal meeting for the resumption of formal peace negotiations. # (Raymund B. Villanueva) 

NDFP: After successful ceasefire, time to release peace consultants

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) seeks the release of its detained peace consultants and staff as a goodwill measure to boost chances of peace talks resumption this month. 

Along with the success of the ongoing ceasefire between the Rodrigo Duterte administration and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said it is widely expected that the government ought to release consultants who are under detention.

“The release of the political prisoners on humanitarian grounds will ensure the success of the formal meeting to resume the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations within January,” Sison said.

He said the consultants are being detained in violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees that prohibits harassment, arrest and detention against personnel of both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP negotiating panels.

Long-time NDFP peace consultants Vicente Ladlad, Adelberto Silva, Renante Gamara, Rey Claro Casambre, Frank Fernandez, Cleofe Lagtapon, Esterlita Suaybaguio, and Leopoldo Caloza as well as NDFP panel staff Alex and Winona Birondo were arrested in succession after negotiations broke down in November 2017. 

All had been similarly charged with illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.

Consultant Rafael Baylosis was the first to be arrested in January 2018 but was released by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court a year later due to lack of evidence.

Consultants Eduardo Sarmiento and Ferdinand Castillo were arrested by previous administrations.

NDFP consultant Lora T. Manipis has been reported missing since February 24, 2018, last seen with her husband Jeruel B. Domingo in Kidapawan City.

Manipis joined other missing NDFP consultants believed abducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, such as Leo Velasco, Rogelio Calubad, Prudencio Calubid, NDFP staff members Philip Limjoco, Leopoldo Ancheta, and Federico Intise. 

Meanwhile, youngest NDFP consultant Randy Felix P. Malayao was assassinated in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya by still unidentified gunmen in January 2019. Another peace consultant, Sotero Llamas was killed in Tabaco, Albay in May 2006. 

Sison said Duterte should also immediately release sick and elderly political prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

“As regards the rest of the political prisoners, they can look forward to the general amnesty that is already slated for proclamation upon the approval of the Interim Peace Agreement (IPA),” Sison said.

Reaffirming past agreements

Sison said the formal meeting to resume the peace negotiations has the task of reaffirming all previous joint agreements since The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 and setting the agenda for negotiating and approving the Interim Peace Agreement 

The IPA has three components: 1. the general amnesty and release of all political prisoners; 2. approval of the articles of CASER (Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms) on land reform and national industrialization; and 3. coordinated unilateral ceasefires, Sison said.

“The CASER will benefit the entire Filipino people, including families of adherents to the GRP and NDFP, through land reform and the generation of jobs under the program of national industrialization. These provide the economic and social substance for a just peace,” Sison said.

He added that a resumption of formal negotiations shall effectively supersede all Duterte issuance that terminated and prevented peace negotiations since November 2017. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP-GRP ceasefire successful so far, Joma acknowledges

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The ongoing ceasefire between the government and the communist rebels had largely been successful, paving the way for more meetings between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) negotiators, Jose Maria Sison acknowledged.

“By and large, the two parties have complied with the ceasefire agreement and allowed it to serve as goodwill and confidence-building measure for enhancing the environment for the resumption of the GRP-NDFP negotiations,” Sison said in a statement two days before the end of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefires on Tuesday, January 7.

Sison added that since December 26, when the GRP had provided the NDFP with copies of suspension of military and police operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, there had been no reported firefights between combatants of both parties.

The NDFP earlier explained that the firefights in Camarines Norte and Iloilo on the morning of December 23 when the holiday truce was scheduled to start happened before the GRP issued its own orders to effectively start the ceasefires.

The PNP on both occasions admitted that they were on combat patrol when waylaid by NPA guerrillas but said they were in the process of pulling out of their operations.

But Sison claimed that 401st Infantry Brigade-Philippine Army’s troop movement that disrupted a Communist Party of the Philippines event in Bacuag, Surigao del Sur last December 30 was offensive in nature and a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The communist leader, however, seeks to downplay the incidents, saying there had been “no incident in which one side fired at the other side” since December 26.

“The few allegations of ceasefire violations have not disrupted the nationwide implementation of the reciprocal unilateral ceasefire agreement. Such allegations can be threshed out by the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels and the Joint Monitoring Committee under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law,” Sison explained.

In an earlier online interview with Kodao, Sison said that a successful ceasefire may be extended while meetings to set up a formal round of NDFP-GRP negotiations this month are underway.

“That can be considered by the NDFP negotiating panel if its GRP counterpart proposes,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)