Manobo woman leader Bae Joselyn Agdahan of Quezon, Bukidnon calls for the resumption of formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
She said there must be peace in their land as GRP troops continue to encroach into their communities, killing many of their tribes people.
THE National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) assured each other today of their mutual desire for peace in the country, even as scheduled formal negotiations have been cancelled. Read more
National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Alfredo Mapano was visited by his son Carlos in Rome, Italy during their third round of formal talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines last January.
Father and son last saw each other 16 years ago in an NPA camp in Northern Mindanao. Carlos was then a teenager finding out the truth about his father, the legendary Red commander “Ka Paris.” Read more
THE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said talks for a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) may proceed as scheduled on February 22 to 27 if President Rodrigo Durterte decides to send his negotiating panel and emissaries to The Netherlands.
In a statement, the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) said they reiterate their support to forge a bilateral ceasefire agreement.
“The revolutionary forces are encouraged by the previous statements of GRP President Duterte that all political prisoners will be released within 48 hours once the bilateral ceasefire agreement is signed,” it said.
“However difficult, the revolutionary forces are willing to work with the GRP negotiators to hammer out a bilateral ceasefire agreement that will be mutually acceptable and enforceable,” the CPP added.
The underground party however said it anticipates that negotiations concerning the terms of reference of a bilateral ceasefire agreement will be most difficult.
“The revolutionary forces are bound by principle to assert the withdrawal of the AFP’s operating troops from areas under the sway of the revolutionary government,” it said.
POW releases
As a positive gesture for the holding of the talks, the CPP said it will call on all concerned NPA units to expedite the release of the six prisoners of war (POWs) captured over the past days.
The CPP said various NPA custodial units are holding as prisoners of war the following AFP personnel:
WATCH: POW asks Duterte to expedite his release.
The underground party said the NPA commands in charge of the custodial units can work closely with third party facilitators, usually the Philippine National Red Cross, churches and human rights organizations.
While mayor of Davao City, Duterte was known for facilitating the release of NPA POWs in various parts of Mindanao.
“The AFP can cooperate by withdrawing all troops in and around the area where the POWs will be released to pave the way for their safe and orderly release,” the CPP said.
“Assuming the cooperation of local AFP commands, all POWs can return to their families before or during the scheduled negotiations in The Netherlands,” it added.
Thorny issue
Plans for bilateral ceasefire agreement negotiations were approved immediately after the GRP Negotiating Panel submitted a formal proposal last January 24 during the third round of formal peace talks between the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Rome, Italy.
GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III said he was encouraged by the NDFP’s reception to their proposal, one of the government’s major objectives in the last round of talks.
“I find their (NDFP) response reasonable,” Bello said.
The peace process hit a snag, however, after the AFP attacked an NPA encampment in Makilala, North Cotabato last January 21 while the formal peace talks were ongoing in Rome.
The CPP and the NPA then terminated their unilateral ceasefire declaration last February 1 due to various other military combat operation in CPP-controlled territories.
The Duterte government responded by terminating its own ceasefire declaration, suspending the formal negotiations with the NDFP and declaring an all-out war against the NPA, effectively shelving plans for bilateral ceasefire negotiations later this month.
Previously, Duterte repeatedly announced his desire for a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the underground Left, vowing to make good on his earlier promises to release all NDFP-listed political prisoners within 48 hours once signed and delivered to him.
Duterte subsequently revealed that top officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and some members of his Cabinet are against the mass release of political prisoners, prompting him to backtrack on earlier pronouncements.
The CPP however asked Duterte “to heed the people’s clamor and reverse his earlier pronouncements terminating the peace negotiations.”
“The CPP earnestly encourages him to do so. He would surely not want to set aside the achievements attained during the first three rounds of GRP-NDFP peace talks and waste the opportunity to leave a legacy of peace,” it said. (Raymund B. Villanueva)
THE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denied its New People’s Army (NPA) fired upon a relief convoy in Barangay Linunggaman, San Francisco, Surigao del Norte last February 15.
In a statement today, the CPP affirmed the NPA’s earlier denial that a Philippine Army-escorted convoy, which included relief personnel of ABS-CBN’s Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, was attacked by its guerrillas. Read more
THE New People’s Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao announced it has killed five Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) soldiers and captured two auxiliary troopers in three separate incidents last February 14.
Rigoberto Sanchez, NPA-Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command spokesperson, said a company of Red fighters of their Compostela Valley–Davao Gulf Sub-Regional Operations Command fended off an attack of a scout platoon of the 28th Infantry Battallion-Philippine Army (IBPA) in Brgy. New Visayas, Lupon, Davao Oriental province.
“Five AFP troopers were confirmed killed while several others were wounded,” Sanchez said. Read more
THE New People’s Army (NPA) in North Eastern Mindanao has accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) of killing two, including a minor, and injuring seven small scale miners in Sarog, Barangay San Isidro, Santiago, Agusan del Norte last Saturday.
NPA Front 16 spokesperson Ka Oto said at around 4:30 in the morning of February 11, masked armed men in the company of the 29th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) and the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police (SAF-PNP) fired upon the small miners in the mountains of Sarog.
Oto said the victims begged and shouted that they were civilians but were still fired upon by the armed men.
Killed were Jerson Beto , 17 years old, and Pepito Tiambong, 40 years old, residents of Brgy. Guinoyoran, Santiago, Agusan del Norte, the NPA said.
Seven more were wounded, including Samuel Jaum, 40 years old; Orly Cuyo, 38 years old; and Oca Sandag, 40 years old. Oto said the names of the other four victims are still being determined.
The NPA spokesperson also belied an earlier statement by the military regarding the incident.
“The NPA Front 16 strongly renounces the statements made by Lt. Col. Glenn Joy, commanding officer of the 29th IBPA and its spokesperson Capt. Angelo Gomez, that they encountered and were fired upon by Red fighters of Front 16 in the mountain area of Sarog, Barangay San Isidro, Santiago, Agusan del Norte last February 11, 2017,” Oto said.
“There was no encounter between the NPA and 29th IBPA troops of the AFP because no member of the NPA in North Eastern Mindanao Region (NEMR) was in Sarog during that time,” he added.
In the area were armed paramilitaries controlled by the 29th IB such as Alan Lagangga and those they can no longer control who are former CAFGU (Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit) and LUPACA members who have mining tunnels, Oto said.
The NPA said the armed paramilitaries are assets of, accompany 29th IBPA and PNP (in military operations), and plotted with them in ransacking mine tunnels of high grade gold.
“Friendly fire”
The NPA spokesperson also said the casualties government troops suffered were victims of a “friendly fire.”
“Killed and wounded in the crossfire were M/Sgt. Marlon Balais who was with one column of the 29th IBPA, and another who was in the other column manoeuvring at the upper portion of the mountain,” Oto said.
Also wounded were portal guards Oka Sandag, a CAFGU of Brgy. Pangaylan, Santiago and two member of the CVO (Civilian Volunteer Organization) in Purok 5, Brgy. San Isidro, of Santiago, Agusan del Norte, the NPA reported.
Oto said a day before the massacre, 29th IBPA intelligence assets Danny Muñoz, Mat Manlapas, Jun Perez and Tata Villegas, attempted to enter the tunnels. The miners reportedly refused and the four left after threatening the miners they will return.
Before the shooting happened, 29th IBPA troops also detained two small scale miners nearby, he said.
“To conceal their killing of civilians and because a soldier, CAFGU and CVO members were also killed, Lt. Col. Glenn Joy and Capt. Angelo Gomez of the 29th IBPA immediately proclaimed that their troops were fired upon by NPA members even though there were civilians nearby,” Oto said.
“Notorius 29th IBPA”
The NPA said the people know the truth about the Philippine Army unit and have listed a number of alleged victims in Santiago, Agusan del Norte:
“They are notorious for committing brutal crimes and lying to cover their deplorable actions,” Oto said.
The NPA called on the Rodrigo Duterte government, the provincial and local government units of Agusan Del Norte and the municipality of Santiago, to investigate the killings to prove what have been committed and to give justice to the victims.
Meanwhile, NPA Guerilla Front 16 also denied it was their fighters who fired at an earthquake relief convoy of the 30th IBPA, which included an ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation’s Operation Sagip team last February 14.
Oto said they investigated but none of their units have confirmed the allegation.
He said the attack may have been staged and blamed on the NPA to put them in a bad light.
The 30th IBPA countered they have no reason to sabotage their own relief operation.
No one was hurt in the incident. (Raymund B. Villanueva)
Human rights group Karapatan said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have gone berserk in arresting as many as 19 peace consultants, activists and other civilians after the suspension of formal peace negotiations between the Rodrigo Duterte government and the Left.
Karapatan said those nabbed from February 3 to 12 are civilians and activists arrested on “trumped-up criminal charges.” Read more
Various sectors converged at the Palma Hall of the University of the Philippines last February 10 to urge President Rodrigo Duterte to let formal peace negotiations between his government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines continue.
Bayan Muna Karlos Ysagani Zarate said it would be a waste to terminate the peace talks given the many gains achieved in the last three rounds of the negotiations.
Here’s another video of the event. Read more
