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Police officer killed in clash with NPA

BAGUIO CITY — A police officer was killed and another was wounded in an encounter between the Regional Police Safety Battalion (RPSB) and New People’s Army (NPA) fighters in Pangasinan Friday.

According to the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO), Police Officer 2 Aries Tamondong was killed and PO2 Joneilon Marius Bagcal was wounded in a fire fight with an undetermined number of NPA guerrillas along areas of Camps 3 and 4 and boundaries of Barangays Sta. Maria and Barangay Malico of San Nicolas, Pangasinan.

The police said the encounter started at around 9:20 AM and lasted for almost two hours.

Police launched a pursuit operation after extricating their dead and wounded colleagues from the site.

The police received reinforcement from the Provincial Police Safety Company (PPSC) and the 84th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army (IBPA) during the pursuit operations.

The police said they saw blood stains at the possible escape route of the NPA fighters that may indicate there are wounded guerrillas.

Police and army forces are still conducting pursuit operations against the NPA.

The NPA still has to issue a statement on the incident. # (Kimberlie Ngabit-Quitasol)

Joma to Digong: You do not dictate on me

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison rebuffed President Rodrigo Duterte’s challenge for him to go home and continue his fight in the country.

“I do not have to prove again that I have the revolutionary will and courage to wage armed struggle against oppression,” Sison said, adding he surpasses the field record of many officers in the “reactionary military.”

Duterte continued his verbal attacks against Sison telling his former professor, “If you are truly a revolutionary leader…come home and fight here.”

“Your people here, your NPA (New People’s Army) members, have been dying, losing their husbands. (They) have not even seen Sison. (Their) leader is a coward. Is there a leader who just rest(s) in Utrecht?” Duterte said in a media interview after visiting the wake of the six police officers killed in an ambush in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.

Sison retorted he was an active part of the people’s war against the Marcos regime for nine years, 1969 to 1977 and then went to fascist prison for another nine years.

Sison is said to be among those who suffered the worst kinds of torture by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) under the Marcos dictatorship.

“I surpass the field record of many reactionary military officers who are in the field for a few years until they are assigned desk jobs and then retire at the age of 56,” Sison said.

Sison, also the chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), said he will return to the Philippines to “fight the Duterte puppet regime of US imperialism” if deemed necessary by the revolutionary movement.

“That means surmounting my being in the same old age bracket as Duterte and evading the constant surveillance by the US, Dutch, European and Philippine reactionary intelligence agencies,” Sison said.

“At any rate, I must remind Duterte that we are well past the age of retirement in the NPA and AFP,” he added.

“At his ripe old age of 72, he should not try to project an image of being a strutting young fighter at my expense,” Sison further said.

The CPP founder said he chooses the battlefield where he fights and the types of battles the wages, adding these cannot be dictated by Duterte.

“The way he continues to talk he really hates to engage in peace negotiations with the NDFP. He should sober up and allow his negotiating panel to seriously negotiate with the NDFP negotiating panel and make agreements on social, economic and political reforms that lay the basis of a just and lasting peace for the benefit of the Filipino people,” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva/Photo by Jon Bustamante)

CPP: Still no refrain order from Duterte

Has President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to stop its all-out war against the New People’s Army (NPA) yet?, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) asked Malacañan in a statement today.

Reacting to a statement yesterday by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella questioning the Left’s sincerity in resuming formal peace negotiations in light of recent clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the NPA, the CPP asked the Duterte government if it would order its troops to stop attacks against the rebel guerrillas at all. Read more

‘Iloilo not in Mindanao,’ Left tells Abella and Lorenzana

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) gave presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella and defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana a quick lesson in Philippine geography, reminding the two cabinet officials Iloilo is not part of Mindanao.

Following the secretaries’ denunciation of the New People’s Army (NPA) attack of the police station in Maasin, Iloilo last Sunday, the NDFP said Abella and Lorenzana’s statements were “baseless, unfair and unwarranted.”

“First of all, there is no ceasefire in place between the forces of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and NDFP in the Visayas and elsewhere in the country. What are in place are recommendatory gestures of goodwill by both Parties to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against each other’s forces in Mindanao,” the NDFP, through its chief peace negotiator Fidel Agcaoili, said in a statement.

“And Maasin, Iloilo is not in Mindanao,” the group added.

While acknowledging the NPA attack in Iloilo is not covered in the reciprocal directives issued by the NDFP and the Rodrigo Duterte government for their respective armed forces to refrain from offensive operations in Mindanao against each other, Abella in a press briefing in Malacañan today said it was nothing but an opportunistic act.

“Although the attack was not in Mindanao, the act was opportunistic in nature and disregards the nature of the NDF declaration,” Abella said.

“We ask the NDF to call on their armed comrades on the ground to walk the talk and to show genuine sincerity on the confidence-building measure initiated by the government and their side,” the presidential spokesperson added.

“Recent events have shown that the upper echelons of the communist movement do not have actual control of NPA units on the ground, which continue to commit atrocities even while their comrades talk peace with the government,” Lorenzana, for his part said in a press statement.

Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, however already clarified yesterday that the NPA raid in Maasin was not covered by the NDFP and GRP declarations.

“Since the latest statements of the National Democratic Front and the government to mutually refrain from taking offensive operations against each other cover only Mindanao, and since there is yet no mutually agreed bilateral ceasefire agreement in place nationwide, the NPA attack in Maasin, Iloilo and elsewhere must be dealt with accordingly and decisively by the AFP and the PNP with the cooperation of civilian agencies and the affected communities,” Dureza said.

Wreaking havoc in Mindanao

The NDFP said it is the Duterte government that does not have full control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that is wreaking havoc among civilian communities in Mindanao.

“Last Sunday, 18 June, the day of the GRP reciprocal announcement to refrain from conducting offensive operations against the NPA in Mindanao, the AFP publicly announced that their forces had killed four NPA fighters, including an alleged NPA Front Secretary, in three separate military operations conducted by the 67th Infantry Battalion, the 104th Division Reconnaissance Company and the 66th Infantry Battalion in the towns of Cateel and Banaybanay in Davao Oriental and the town of Pantukan in Compostela Valley,” the NDFP said.

The group added that teachers and students of a Lumad school in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, another province in Mindanao, have been prevented from holding classes by the military under the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) and the Alamara paramilitary group yesterday.

The NDFP said EastMinCom and the Alamara threatened to shoot the teachers and students should they return to their communities to attend their school.

“These brazen violations of the GRP’s own pronouncement to refrain from offensive operations against the people and revolutionary forces in Mindanao clearly manifest the need for the GRP to put words into actual deeds and eschew public relations gimmicks in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace in the country through agreements on social, economic and political reforms,” the NDFP said.

The group said it stands by its June 17 statement recommending to the CPP to order all other NPA units in Mindanao to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the AFP and Philippine National Police to enable all forces to concentrate against terror groups.

“Any suggestions to the contrary or accusations of bad faith are uncalled for, especially at this sensitive time when the two Parties are about to cooperate, in coordination with the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG), in the preparations to resume the 5th round of formal talks, which have been stalled by the martial law declaration in Mindanao,” the NDFP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Dureza: Maasin raid not covered by the Minda-wide no offensive declarations

The New People’s Army (NPA) raid on a police station in Iloilo yesterday was not covered by the government and the Left’s statements to mutually refrain from offensive operations in Mindanao, a cabinet secretary clarified today.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said in a statement the Maasin, Iloilo incident must be dealt with by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as there is no mutually-agreed bilateral ceasefire agreement in place nationwide.

While “disheartened” with the attack, Dureza said he hopes “the attack is just part of the birthpains of the agreement to stop offensive military actions even if it covers only Mindanao as of now.”

A unit of the NPA’s Napoleon Tumagtang Command in Panay Island launched a daring 20-minute daytime raid yesterday that netted them 11 M16 assault rifles, four pistols, assorted ammunition and communication equipment.

The surprised PNP officers on duty failed to put up a fight.

Julio Montana, spokesperson of the Coronacion “Waling-Waling” Regional Command of the NPA in Panay, said the raid was in response to complaints of extortion of small time market vendors by the Maasin PNP.

“(They also) allow narcotics and illegal gambling to proliferate,” Montana said in a statement issued after the raid.

AFP’s Task Force Panay immediately deployed to Maasin but the guerillas have already withdrawn from the Maasin town center on board a truck and PNP’s own patrol vehicle.

Both vehicles were later separately found abandoned in neighboring towns.

The NPA is an allied organization of the NDFP.

The NDFP and the Rodrigo Duterte government are reportedly holding back-channel talks after their cancelled fifth round of formal peace negotiations in The Netherlands last month in an effort to resume talks in August. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Panels may resume talks in August; GRP commits to no offensives vs NPA

Stalled formal peace negotiations between the Duterte government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) may resume in August, sources told Kodao Productions.

Following exchanges of “friendly” statements after Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) negotiators backed off from the scheduled fifth round of talks in The Netherlands last month, back-channel talks are reportedly ongoing in a bid to resume the talks in about two months.

“There is a possibility that the talks will be held in August,” a source involved in the negotiations said.

In his weekly Philippine Star column yesterday, NDFP independent observer and former chief negotiator Satur Ocampo wrote that both parties have agreed to resume the talks, adding the panels may issue their respective statements soon.

“A few days ago, it was learned that, through back channel talks, members of the two panels had resolved certain actual or perceived hindrances and agreed to continue the disrupted fifth round of negotiations within two months,” Ocampo reported.

He added that NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison already broke the “good news” in an interview with ANC Wednesday morning.

“He (Sison) said statements on the points of agreement arrived at during the back-channel talks can be expected to be officially issued separately by the panels,” Ocampo added.

No offensive operations

In a statement today, GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III declared that the Philippine government will not launch offensive operations against the New People’s Army (NPA) in response to the NDFP’s recommendation to the Communist Party of the Philippines to refrain from attacking the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police while the battle in Marawi City is ongoing.

“The Philippine government hereby correspondingly reciprocates with the same declaration of not undertaking offensive operations against the New People’s Army to pave way for the eventual signing of a mutually agreed bilateral ceasefire agreement and agreements on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces towards a just and lasting peace,” Bello said.

Yesterday, the NDFP said it has already instructed its allied organization, the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO), inside Marawi City to assume home defense tasks against the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and AKP groups.

It added the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has also directed units of the New People’s Army (NPA) close to Marawi City to redeploy for the purpose of mopping up, holding and blocking operations, if necessary.

“For all forces to be able to concentrate against Maute, Abu Sayyaf and AKP groups, the NDFP has recommended to the CPP to order all other NPA units in Mindanao to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP), provided that the GRP order the AFP and PNP likewise to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the NPA and people’s militia,” the NDFP said.

Bello said the GRP welcomes NDFP’s support to the fight against the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and Ansar al-Khalifah groups and other terrorist organizations wreaking havoc in Marawi City and other parts of the country.

“These voluntary gestures and expressions from the NDF in solidarity with government against acts of terrorism augur well for the desired continuation of the stalled 5th round of peace talks as they provide, if sustained, the needed enabling environment favorable to moving the peace negotiations forward,” Bello said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

 

 

NDFP offers help to fight terrorists anew

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) reiterated its previous declaration that it stands firmly with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) in opposing and fighting terrorism in the country.

In a statement, NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoil said it is willing to fight terrorist groups as well as acts of terrorism by the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and Ansar Al Khalifah Philippines (AKP) in parts of Mindanao, particularly in and around Marawi City where fighting has been raging for nearly four weeks already.

“As a matter of fundamental principle and constant policy, we condemn and combat terrorism. By terrorism, we mean actions that intimidate, terrorize, harm and murder civilians solely or mainly and in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the NDFP said.

The NDFP said the three bands are “terrorist groups linked to local reactionary forces, affiliated with ISIS and supported by US-CIA and other foreign entities.”

The NDFP also said it has already instructed its allied organization, the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO), inside Marawi City to assume home defense tasks against the Maute, Abu Sayyaf and AKP groups.

It added the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has also directed units of the New People’s Army (NPA) close to Marawi City to redeploy for the purpose of mopping up, holding and blocking operations, if necessary.

“The NDFP is ready to discuss and agree in detail with the GRP on how ceasefire, coordination and cooperation can be achieved in Marawi City by both forces unilaterally keeping safe distances between each other,” it said.

The NDFP said it has recommended to the CPP to order all other NPA units in Mindanao to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to enable all forces to concentrate against the three terror groups.

It added that the GRP must also order the AFP and PNP to refrain from carrying out offensive operations against the NPA and its adjunct people’s militia to give chance for the coordination and cooperation to work against the terror groups.

The NDFP panel first offered help in fighting the Maute and Abu Sayyaf in Marawi last June 1,  a week after fighting broke out in the besieged city.

President Rodrigo Duterte said the NDFP’s proposal was a sign of goodwill but turned down the offer.

In offering to help fight the terror groups, the NDFP said it wants to allow the affected communities to return to normalcy as soon as possible.

“The rights and interests of the masses and communities must be respected and promoted,” it said, urging the GRP to ensure that the level of counteraction against terrorism, as well as the nature, scope and duration must be appropriate and proportional to the degree of danger, threat and/or harm and mayhem being committed by the terrorist groups in Marawi City.

“Upon the success of the counter-terrorist measures, these must cease in order to allow normalcy and full respect for human rights as soon as possible,” the NDFP said.

Yesterday, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia, commander of the 4th Civil Relations Group told reporters the number of deaths has risen to 310, including government troops, terrorists and civilians.

GRP Department of Health secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial for her part said there are 218,551 people displaced by the fighting but only about 20,000 of them are staying in evacuation centers. # (Raymund B. Villanueva/Featured Image by Jaja Necosia-The Breakaway Media)

 

NPA blasts Lepanto mine facilities

BAGUIO CITY— The Chadli Molintas Command (CMC) and Jennifer Carino Command (JCC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) claimed responsibility over the attacks on Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company facilities in Mankayan, Benguet late evening of June 7 and early dawn of June 8.

In a joint statement sent to the media, the NPA commands said the attacks were part of their continuing campaign to punish destructive and large scale mines like Lepanto as well as government troops for acting as the company’s security guards.

The CMC operates in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions while the JCC operates in Benguet Province.

The Philippine National Police in Mankayan earlier said that the gates of the LCMC Tailings Dam were attacked by armed men at 10:36 p.m., followed by a 10:46 p.m. attack on a chemical and mineral laboratory in Colalo village.

At 4 a.m., the police discovered that the armed men detonated explosives to destroy a police outpost, a backhoe and a copper processing machine.

Lepanto security personnel and soldiers claimed they drove back the rebels after the attackers succeeded in blasting a lime mixing plant and a bulldozer.

Police said two explosive devices attached to two dump trucks failed to set off.

Workers who witnessed the attack there said 7 armed men and a woman raided the facility.

Residents heard gunfire ring out followed by blasts near the mine site after midnight, Mankayan Mayor Materno Luspian for his part said.

Luspian said he was also informed of the firefight in Colalo.

According to the NPA, Lepanto land grabbed tens of hectares of rice fields in 1990 between Cabiten and Colalo villages where it built its Tailings Dam 5A despite widespread protest.

Second attack

In April 25, 2013 the NPA also torched Lepanto’s drilling machine in Colalo village. At the time, Lepanto was planning to build its Tailings Dam 5B.

The NPA said they attacked soldiers under the 81st IB of the Philippine Army stationed near Tailings Dam 5A.

They claimed the government troops were being used to violently quell people’s opposition against the raising of the tailing dam’s embankment.

Aside from the attack at the tailings dam area, the NPA also destroyed the carbon-in-pulp (CIP) cyanide processing plant owned by Colalo Barangay Captain Ambino Padawi.

They also burned a backhoe and other equipment in the said plant.

The guerillas also blasted the Community Police Action Center (Compac) beside the CIP.

The NPA accused Padawi of taking away the ancestral land of a clan and built the CIP on it despite the protests by other residents. # (Kimberlie Quitasol of Northern Dispatch for Kodao Productions/Featured photo by Raymund B. Villanueva)

Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees

Ano ang ibig sabihin ng Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) at ano ang kaugnayan nito sa peace negotiations sa pagitan ng Government of the Republic of the Philippines at National Democratic Front of the Philippines?

Panayam kina Fidel Agcaoili at Prof. Jose Maria Sison ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Noordwijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands
May 31, 2017

NDFP offers unilateral ceasefire with GRP vs terrorism

NOORDWIJK AAN ZEE, The Netherlands–The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel has formally offered the Duterte government “cooperation and coordination” in the “fight against terrorism, terrorist groups and acts of terrorism.”

After last-minute backchannel talks with Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III, the NDFP said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) may be bound by a ceasefire agreement in specific areas to “counteract the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf.”

Bello and GRP peace panel member Angela Trinidad returned to this city from trips in Italy and Switzerland and met with the NDFP for four hours.

“He came with an offer if the NDFP can issue a statement he could welcome and respond to,” Agcaoili said.

Bello was able to read the NDFP statement before going to Schipol Airport for his flight back to Manila.

“I will just wait for a signed copy to be sent to me,” Bello told Kodao before leaving the hotel.

The NDFP said that should the GRP respond favorably to their statement, “ceasefire declarations that are unilateral but simultaneous and reciprocal” shall be issued.

Such ceasefire declarations should be negotiated and approved by the negotiating panels, Agcaoili said.

The NDFP said the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf are “terrorist groups linked to local reactionary forces, affiliated with the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and supported by the US-CIA (United States-Central Intelligence Agency) as well as other foreign entities.”

“By terrorism we mean actions that intimidate, terrorize and harm civilians solely and mainly in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the NDFP added.

Back to the negotiating table

The NDFP also urged the GRP negotiating panel to come back to the negotiating table and realize the fifth round of formal talks as soon as possible.

“The GRP and NDFP must act in consonance with the Filipino people’s clamor for peace negotiations and their demand for social, economic and political reforms to address the roots of the armed conflict and lay the basis for a just and lasting peace,” the NDFP said.

The fifth round of formal talks originally scheduled to end today was aborted last May 28 when the GRP announced it will not participate for “lack of an enabling environment.”

Preparations for the fifth round of formal talks must be undertake through bilateral teams of the GRP and the NDFP so that precious time is not lost, the NDFP said.

The group added that all its panellists, legal and political consultants and other personnel in the peace negotiations must be allowed to return to the Philippines and subsequently attend the fifth round of formal talks.

GRP President Rodrigo Duterte earlier threatened to arrest and jail the NDFP consultants who may return to the Philippines after the aborted talks. # (Report and photo by Raymund B. Villanueva)

The NDFP Statement of June 1, 2017.