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Concha’s family demands DNA testing; remains presented ‘unidentifiable’

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the family of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Maria Coronacion Araneta-Bocala has requested deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to determine if the remains presented by the military were really hers.

Following claims by the Philippine Army that Araneta-Bocala was among those killed in a series of armed encounters in Calinog, Iloilo since August 8, the CPP accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) of desecrating the remains of the victims.

“The family of Ka Concha (Araneta-Bocala)…have requested DNA testing to ascertain whether the remains are hers, as it was impossible to make an identification through visual inspection,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.

Valbuena also said they have been informed that the family of Rewilmar Torrato has confirmed the identity of her remains.

Valbuena added that the supposed remains of Vicente Hinojales have yet to be examined “because these have yet to be taken out of the ‘garbage bag.’”

“The manner with which the remains have been handled, and how families are being given a hard time, harassed and intimidated by the AFP, speak of their low regard for international humanitarian law (IHL), which specifies how remains of fallen combatants should be handled with dignity and respect,” Valbuena said.

The AFP said Bocala-Araneta, Torrato and Hinojales are among the top leaders of the revolutionary movement in Panay Island.

Araneta-Bocala and Teodosio were reportedly killed following a 10-minute fire fight with troops from the 82nd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Cabatangan, Lambunao last August 15 while Hinojales may have been killed as early as August 5 by units under the 3rd Infantry Division of the AFP.

Earlier, the AFP reported it killed five NPA fighters last August 8 in Calinog.

Rules of war violations

Human rights group Karapatan-Panay in a statement Sunday condemned the AFP for taking a long time in releasing some remains of NPA fighters to their respective families.

“It took days for the families to finally obtain the remains – which were also in various stages of decomposition – as they had to contend with harassment from the Philippine Army which tried to prevent the families from immediately securing the bodies,” the group said in a statement Sunday.

“At one point, heavily-armed soldiers followed the family members and the human rights workers helping them, and even entered the funeral home where the bodies were interred,” it added.

Karapatan-Panay also reported that the remains of some of the NPA fighters bore other injuries, such as bruises, lacerations, and stab wounds.

The group said the injuries do not appear consistent with the AFP’s account that the rebels all died during the course of an “armed encounter.”

The conditions of the bodies suggest the possibility of torture, cruel treatment, and summary execution, it added.

“Such inhumane and degrading treatment of the bodies of deceased persons – whether civilian or enemy combatant – is wholly unacceptable, immoral, and contravenes international law and, most importantly, the Philippine government’s own commitments under an agreement entered into with the NDFP,” Karapatan-Panay said.

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) with the NDFP in 1998.

“The duty to dispose of the dead in a respectful manner, to facilitate the return of the remains of the deceased to their families, and to prevent the dead from being despoiled, as well as the prohibition against the mutilation of the bodies all form part of (IHL),” the group explained.

Many NDFP negotiators killed

The group pointed out that NDFP personnel such as Araneta-Bocala who are not part of the NPA fighting force and do not directly take part in hostilities are themselves protected from attack.

“An investigation is therefore warranted into the exact circumstances that led to the killings in Lambunao, Iloilo especially considering how unlikely it was for Concha Araneta-Bocala, the 74-year old NDFP consultant, to take part in hostilities,” the group said.

Karapatan said if Araneta-Bocala was indeed among the casualties, she would not be the first NDFP peace negotiator to be brutally executed.

KARAPATAN added it has documented numerous killings ranging from assassinations to staged ‘encounters’ where the victims were members of or linked to the NDFP.

They include the abduction and killing of NDFP consultant Rogelio Posadas by the Philippine Army in Negros Occidental in April 2023, the abduction of NDFP consultant Ariel Badiang in Bukidnon in February 2023, the killing of NDFP consultant Ericson Acosta and his companion in Negros Occidental in November 2022, the murder of NDFP consultant Julius Giron and his companions inside their home in Baguio City in March 2020, and the particularly gruesome stabbing and murder of NDFP consultant Randall Echanis and his companion in their apartment in Quezon City in August 2020,” the group said.

The group also cited the killing of seven NDFP staff members by government troops in San Jose, Antique in August 2018, as well as the killing of Concha Araneta-Bocala’s own husband, NDFP consultant Reynaldo Bocala and his companion by police operatives inside their house in May 2021.

Karapatan-Panay called for an investigation into all reports of human rights and humanitarian law violations, including possible violations that attended the deaths of NPA fighters and members of the NDFP in recent days. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Koyang

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Ni Ibarra Banaag

Binhi na ano’t minimithi ng marami,

bukal marahil ng dunong sa nagdidildil,

tulad ng marahang agos ng tubig,

tumatawid at gumagabay sa mithi.

Ilang tsinelas na kaya ang napudpod,

Sa ‘yong pagtahak sa bawat gulod,

ilang bagpak na ba ang pinalitan,

na galak at lugod mong pinasan.

Alinmang pangalan ang alam ng masa,

may taglay na kulay, natatanging husay,

ang namuong luha na pilit pumatak,

humipo, umantig sa dusa at galak.

Singtalas ng lawin ang iyong panuri,

singtigas ng butil ang dalang hangarin,

na kapag sinaboy sa hawan at parang,

yayabong sa isip at puso ng bayan.

Naumit man nila ang iyong hininga,

napilas man ng bala ang parte ng laman,

may isang bahagi na hindi namatay,

ang mayamang laman ng dalang sisidlan.

Alipin

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Ni Ibarra Banaag

Magbalikwas, habang ang baga ay nagniningas!

Lumaban, habang kumikirot ang hapdi ng sugat

Kumilos, habang ang gabi ay gising sa huni ng kulisap

Bumangon, habang ang araw ay tirik sa maghapon.

Manindigan, habang ang liwanag ay naririyan

Pumanig, sa mapag-adyang uri ng sangkatauhan

Magpasya, habang tumitibok ang puso

Umibig, habang ang bayan ay di naglalaho.

Magalit, kung kamangmangan ay nangingibabaw

Bumatikos, sa piging ng mga nagbabalatkayo

Usigin, ang pasimuno ng atrasadong pananaw

Mapoot, sa nagtataguyod ng kamangmangan.

Umasa, na sa yungyong ng dilim ay may hangganan

Magsikhay, subukang pandayin ang kinabukasan

Manguna, sa tuwing may nag-aalinlangan

Tumindig, kung ang marami ay pinanghihinaan.

Mamuhi, kung sa dibdib nagmaliw na’ng paglaban

Pumalahaw, sa gitna ng libong nagbibingihan

Tumangis, kung lumuwag ang kapit sa pinaglalaban

Magbunyi, sa tuwing may humahawak ng sandata.

Manibugho, sa sanlakasang nagpapatuloy

Ikarangal, ang di mapag-imbot nilang prinsipyo

Katahimikan, sa bawat nagbubuwis ng buhay

Humayo, kung naghahangad ng pagbabago.

4 AFP troopers killed in Aurora clash, CPP reports

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Four government troopers were killed last May 28, Tuesday, in an encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Bazal, Maria Aurora town in Aurora Province, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) reported.

In an announcement on its website, the CPP said the clash was the third in a week that is part of the ongoing operations by the 84th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army (IBPA) against Communist guerrillas in the province.

The CPP said the NPA suffered no casualty and were able to maneuver to safety after the clash.

“Even after the gunfight was over and the people’s army has withdrawn, the soldiers continued to fire indiscriminately in random directions,” the CPP added.

The 84th IBPA has not issued a statement on the incident on its Facebook page.

The 703rd Agila Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division however said the May 22 clash in Barangay Toytoyan between the 91st Infantry Battalion and the NPA fighters resulted in the wounding of a government trooper.

The army unit told Inquirer.net that it saw “heavy bloodstains” on the NPA’s withdrawal route.

It also claimed it recovered a M14 rifle that belonged to an NPA fighter in the May 21 clash.

Scores of civilians evacuate from AFP’s bombing operations in Aurora Province. (Altermidya photo)

Massive evacuation after bombings

Reports from human rights organization Karapatan-Central Luzon (CL) said the ongoing military operations started last May 20 at Barangay Toytoyan, Dipaculao town when combined Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) launched operations against the NPA in the area.

At around six o’clock of May 21, two helicopters of the 91st IBPA of the 7th Infantry Division conducted search operations in barangays Diamanen, Toytoyan, Puangi, Dimabuno, Salay, and Sapang Kawayan in Dipaculao, the group said.

The helicopters then conducted bombing operations in barangays Bannawag, Bayanihan, and Cadayacan in the adjacent town of Maria Aurora, Karapatan-CL added.

The AFP said its heightened military operations launched at the start of 2024 is to go after so-called NPA remnants, claiming they are about to decisively “wipe-out” out the revolutionary army by year-end.

The same claim however has been repeated for decades, without the promised results.

Civilians pile themselves and their belongings on tricycles on their way to evacuation centers following AFP’s bombing operations near their communities in Aurora Province. (Altermidya photo)

Rules of war

The CPP said that the AFP operations have displaced and terrorized the civilian population, disrupting their livelihoods in the village and forests.

Since May 20, up to 3,633 families have been affected by the non-stop combat operations of the AFP in the area, the group said, quoting a May 25 Department of Social Welfare and Development report report.

Aurora Gov. Reynante Tolentino said they evacuated affected residents to the Dipaculao Sports Complex, Mega Evacuation Center, and Ipil Evacuation Center.

The Maria Aurora local government suspended classes at all after the second clash last May 22.

In its report, Karapatan-CL condemned the “indiscriminate firing and bombing operations” of the AFP and PNP in the area, calling on government forces to abide by International Humanitarian Law.

It added that as early as April, government troopers have prevented civilians from attending to their farms as part of “focused military operations” in the province.

The National Council of Churches of the Philippines also urged the government military to stop its bombing operations that affect civilians.

“The trembling effects of these bombs instilled fear among residents that resulted in mass evacuations, disrupted school classes, and prevented farmer residents from tending to their fields,” the fellowship of the biggest Protestant churches in the Philippines said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP celebrates 51st anniversary, foresees resurgence

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The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) foresees another resurgence in its revolutionary struggle following the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) third rectification movement launched last December.

In a message to members and supporters on the occasion of its 51st founding anniversary today, April 24, Luis Jalandoni, NDFP chief international representative, said they remain confident of complete victory in the struggle for national and social liberation.

“On the firm foundation of the 51 years of glorious revolutionary struggle and the resurgence that inevitably follows rectification we are confident of winning more battles in the years to come,” he said.

In his statement, Jalandoni also urged NDFP allied organizations as well as the “fighting Filipino masses” to continue “resist[ing] imperialist wars and confront chronic crises.”

Jalandoni said Filipinos are facing the real threat of “inter-imperialist armed confrontation” between the United States and China, made worse by the ongoing Balikatan war exercises “intent to transform the Philippine archipelago into a forward military base where the US can station is military personnel, warships, anti-aircraft weapons and other war materiel.”

A weakling amid bullies

For the ongoing exercises, the US Army for the first time has deployed new ground-based missile launchers, in Northern Luzon capable of supporting Tomahawk cruise missiles and other projectiles against China.

US Naval News said the mid-range capable launchers, known as the Typhon Weapon system were created to address “the wide range of threats” from both China and Russia.

China for its part condemned the Balikatan, saying it will only lead to greater insecurity in the South China Sea.

China warned that the Philippine government should be “sober enough to realize” that allowing external countries to hold war games is a provocation that will only aggravate tensions and undermine regional stability.

“Attempts to bring in external forces to safeguard its so-called security will only lead to greater insecurity for itself,” People’s Republic of China foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Jalandoni said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is serving the Filipino people on a silver platter to its US imperialist master is dragging the Philippines in a brewing hot war with China.

Reasons to resist

The former NDFP chief peace negotiator said that while Philippine sovereignty is being undermined by both the US and China, Filipinos are also subjected to worsening economic conditions under Marcos Jr.

He pointed that farmers are subjected to systematic and criminal neglect by not providing substantial air and support during El Nino.

Jalandoni added that the working classes suffer from varying schemes of labor exploitation as wages remain depressed amid sky-rocketing prices of basic goods and services.  

 “Despite the consecutive onslaughts of economic crises and the threat of war, the Filipino fighting masses remain persistent in the struggle for national liberation and democracy,” he said.

Jalandoni said the NDFP persists in uniting the peasants and the working class in their struggle for national and social liberation.

An underground organization composed of revolutionary groups such as the CPP and the New People’s Army, the NDFP is engaged in peace negotiations with the Manila government for more than three decades. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP rejects AFP’s call to surrender

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‘The need for armed struggle is greater than ever before.’

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rejected Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Romeo Brawner’s call for New People’s Army (NPA) fighters to surrender, saying the need for armed struggle is “greater than ever before.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement their party, the NPA, as well as all revolutionary forces know that armed revolution is needed in the face of worsening socioeconomic conditions, oppression and threats to the country’s sovereignty.

“For the broad masses of peasants, workers, and other toiling people suffering from land grabbing, economic dispossession, low wages, joblessness, and other forms of gross social injustice, waging armed struggle now is ever more just and necessary,” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson added their revolution is required to stop the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s subservience to the United States of America they said is dragging the Philippines into an armed confrontation with China.

A day after the NPA celebrated its 55th founding anniversary last Friday, March 29, Brawner urged Red fighters to lay down arms and work with the government, adding “ it is time to chart a new course towards reconciliation and healing.”

“I urge every remaining member of the (NPA) to take a moment of reflection and reconsideration,” Brawner said.

‘NPA regaining strength’

Brawner said only 11 “weakened” NPA guerilla fronts remain after government forces killed more than 400 Red fighters in 2023.

After admitting to setbacks in recent years on its own 55th founding anniversary statement last December 26, the CPP however said the NPA is on its way to recovery by implementing the Party’s third rectification movement.

The CPP also ordered NPA units to launch more tactical offensives to defend the people from AFP and Philippine National Police atrocities.

“Under Marcos, the fascist reactionary armed forces has become even more aggressive and brutal in driving the peasant masses and indigenous minorities from their land to allow mining companies, plantations, real estate, energy and other infrastructure projects to expand their environmentally-destructive business operations,” Valbuena said.

“Only by having the (NPA) can the peasant masses effectively fight back against the onslaught of foreign and big business economic aggressors. In the interest of the broad toiling masses, the armed struggle can never be abandoned,” Valbuena said.

“To fight with arms is the only way for the oppressed to defend their life and dignity and fight for a better future,” he added.

The CPP spokesperson said Brawner is also being “utterly hypocritical” when he urges Filipinos to defend Philippine sovereignty and unite against China when the Marcos government is allowing more US troops into the country.

NDFP forces celebrate NPA anniversary

Members of NDFP allied organizations celebrate the NPA’s 55th anniversary by issuing calls for the people to join the guerilla army. (NDFP photos)

Meanwhile, allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines celebrated the NPA’s anniversary by conducting slogan painting activities in Metro Manila cities this week.

Members of the Christians for National Liberation, Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan (Organization of Nationalist Teachers), Makabayang Samahan Pangkalusugan (Patriotic Health Association), Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan (Science League for the People), and Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan (Artists and Writers for the People) and others peppered some areas in Quezon City, Pasig and Manila with “Long live the NPA!” and “Join the NPA!” stenciled and spray-painted slogans.

Kabataang Makabayan (Nationalist Youth) members also held similar activities in Cebu City.

“There is no NPA if there is no hunger, poverty, oppression. The NPA exists to end these!” this poster at the University of the Philippines-Cebu reads. (PRWC photo)

Founded by the CPP in March 29, 1969 in Capas, Tarlac, the NPA is regarded as the longest-fighting guerilla army in Asia. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Red fighters welcome 3rd rectification movement, CPP reports on NPA’s 55th anniversary

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The New People’s Army (NPA) has “wholeheartedly welcomed” the third rectification movement recently launched by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the revolutionary Left reported.

In its traditional NPA founding anniversary statement published today, the CPP’s Central Committee said all of the guerrilla army’s regional commands have responded positively to the rectification movement launched last December 26 on the occasion of the Party’s own 55th founding anniversary. 

“They have responded positively and are presently carrying out summing-up conferences and study meetings to identify the errors and shortcomings in order to rectify these, and steadily and comprehensively carry forward all revolutionary tasks,” the CPP said.

In a nearly eight thousand word statement entitled “Set to blaze the revolutionary armed struggle for national democracy! Carry out the critical and urgent tasks to rectify errors and advance the revolution!” the CPP said the NPA and all other revolutionary forces are in the process of identifying and getting rid of the ideological roots of “past errors, weaknesses and shortcomings.”

The Party said the NPA had been stalled by military conservatism in recent years resulting in fewer tactical offensives against Manila government’s armed forces.

The CPP also acknowledged the loss of veteran NPA commanders in the ongoing total war that started after former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, a strategy that is continuing under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

NPA defeat ’wishful thinking’

The underground Party said their third rectification movement is frustrating government plans to annihilate the NPA however, similar to how its Second Great Rectification Movement has salvaged their revolution from total self-destruction in the 1990s.

This report is in stark contrast to Marcos Jr.’s announcement last January that the NPA has suffered “strategic defeat,” citing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claims that there are no more active Red guerrilla fronts left in the country.

The CPP dismissed the new (AFP) deadline of June 2024 as the date for the destruction of all Red guerrilla fronts and the end of this year as the annihilation of the entire NPA.

Last Tuesday, March 26, Chinese outfit XinhuaNet reported national security adviser Eduardo Ano’s reiteration of AFP’s claim of the NPA’s strategic defeat and total annihilation by year-end.

On the same day, however, the NPA in Quezon province announced it ambushed a 30-man unit of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Barangay Doña Aurora, Calauag  town.

Three government troopers were wounded in the attack, Apolonio Mendoza Command-NPA spokesperson Cleo del Mundo reported.

The Manila government has declared Quezon province as “insurgency-free” and was put under the so-called Stable Internal Peace and Security category only last June.

All NPA regional commands intact

In today’s statement, the CPP Central Committee said that all 14 NPA regional commands remain intact and is starting to arrest its reverses through intense ideological activities such as the study of Marxist, Leninist and Maoist writings as well as those of its founding chairperson Sison.

The CPP said the NPA is in the process of correcting its military conservatism and directed the guerrilla army to launch attacks to regain strengthen and defend the people from widespread human rights violations resulting from intense government military operations.

“In response, the enemy poured even greater amounts of funds and resources to its counterrevolutionary war and has further intensified its campaign of encirclement and suppression,” the CPP said.

“This has now taken the form of relentless and widespread campaigns of armed suppression against peasant communities, aerial bombing and artillery shelling and large-scale combat operations in scores of guerrilla fronts across the country.”

Acknowledged as the army engaged in the longest armed revolution in Asia, the NPA was founded on this day in 1969 in Barangay Sta. Rita in Capas, Tarlac, a few months after Sison and several others re-established the CPP in neighboring  Pangasinan province a few months earlier in December 26, 1968. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Valbuena: NPA wholeheartedly accepts CPP’s rectification call

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The New People’s Army (NPA) wholeheartedly accepts the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) call to carry out a rectification movement among all revolutionary forces in the country, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena announced.

Valbuena said NPA fighters and commanders had been enlightened by the CPP’s 55th founding anniversary statement that analyzed past internal weaknesses and errors that affected their advance in 2019 to 2022.

Last December 26, the CPP criticized “widespread complacency” in its forces’ study and application of revolutionary theory along with “timidity in drawing theory from practice.”

The underground party said such errors resulted in battlefield losses by the NPA as well as a slowdown in the recruitment of new members and retardation of the revolutionary mass movement nationwide.

Valbuena however added the NPA are starting to once again grow strong as their morale had been heightened by the launch of the CPP’s rectification movement.

“Majority of the units of the NPA have adjusted to the AFP’s (Armed Forces of the Philippines) tactics of large-scale military mobilization and are expanding their areas of operation and strengthening their mass base,” he said.

Valbuena added that the NPA have adapted guerrilla tactics of concentration, shifting and dispersal in its military and mass work.

“The peasant masses, even those who were subjected to military suppression and forced to ‘surrender,’ are elated by the return and presence of NPA units in their areas,” he announced.

“All in all, we anticipate steady growth during the rest of the year and succeeding period,” he added.

AFP demoralization and infighting

It is the turn of the AFP soldiers to suffer creeping demoralization as they realize the government’s failure to defeat the NPA, Valbuena said.

The CPP officer said AFP’s rank-and-file is well too aware of the deep and wide support the NPA receives from the peasant masses and people.

“They are further dispirited by the corruption of their higher officers who mulct and pocket millions of pesos of public funds, and by the infighting among the generals who are deeply loyal to rival politicians and bureaucrat capitalists,” he added.

Earlier this week, 22 retired generals and flag officers met with House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to vow support for the Marcos administration.

The military officers belonged to the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association; Association of Generals and Flag Officers; Philippine Military Academy Retirees Association; and National ROTC Alumni Association, Inc. (NARAAI) who also denied the existence of a plot against the president.

A week previous, Senator Imee Marcos reported hearing about destabilization plots against her brother’s government

“I think these destab plans are all coming from the inside,” she said, referring to parties allied to the Marcos camp of the government.

The senator is perceived to be allied with Vice President Sara Duterte and former president Rodrigo Duterte in their reported rift with her brother and cousin Romualdez.

Earlier, in November, former president Duterte denied he rallied retired generals to topple Marcos in a coup d’etat.

Duterte says he had met some retired generals but plotting a coup was not discussed.

Valbuena said the infighting and corruption in the military has brought demoralization among the AFP’s foot soldiers.

“They are utterly dejected by the fact that they are used as cannon fodder to defend a rotten system while their commander-in-chief enjoy a high-style living using public money to have helicopters ferry him from concerts and late-night parties,” he said.

Masbate NPA accepts rectification challenge

The Jose Rapsing Command of the NPA in Masbate Province meanwhile said it vows to implement the CPP’s rectification movement to further advance their armed struggle for justice.

“As part of the rectification movement, NPA Masbate humbly vows to do all it can to defend the people of Masbate and claim justice for all victims of oppression and exploitation by the rotten government,” its spokesperson Luz del Mar said.

Del Mar said that martial law is practically in effect in the province that extends to the provincial prosecutor recently filing frustrated murder charges against five innocent farmers.

Instead of charging the military for indiscriminately firing at the victims that led to the death of their companion Rey Belan last June 16, the government accuses farmers Jamara Tumangan, Rowel Hagnaya, Alden Tumangan, Rico Cuyos at Senen Dollete of being NPA fighters, the spokesperson said.

“For every farmer killed, deprived of land, deprived of rights and a bright future, the NPA in Masbate is determined to aid them in their fight for justice,” del Mar said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

New AFP spox contradicts Marcos, amuses CPP

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is only amused at inconsistencies in pronouncements made by government officials about the strength of the New People’s Army (NPA), its chief information officer said.

In a statement Wednesday, CPP officer Marco Valbuena said it was quite amusing to observe how new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla contradicted her commander in chief President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a few days into her new job.

In repeating the annual AFP announcement it will eliminate the NPA by the end of the year, the new spokesperson “already sounded like a broken record,” Valbuena said.

In a press briefing last Monday, Padilla said the AFP vows to defeat the NPA by the end of 2024, a promise made anew in the military’s first command conference of the New Year.

“We were given specific deadlines to do such.  So within a span of a year, we are looking at eliminating the threat of the internal insurgency situation,” Padilla said.

Valbuena however pointed out that Marcos himself declared only last January 13 that there are no more NPA fronts, which Brawner in turn rebuffed

“What was interesting, however, is the fact that she issued her statement just days after Marcos, their commander-in-chief, declared that ‘there are no more NPA fronts,’” Valbuena said.

AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner himself rebuffed Marcos two days later by saying the NPA has “eleven weakened fronts,” instead of zero.

“To say the least, these disconnected statements reveal inconsistencies in the Marcos government’s public assessment of the state of the revolutionary armed movement, arising from contradictions in its self-serving objectives,” Valbuena said.

Neither declaration of having strategically defeated the NPA after 55 years or eliminating it can cover up the AFP’s ongoing military offensives and large-scale military operations across the country, Valbuena said.

The CPP officer added that the AFP continues to squander hundreds of billions of public funds in a strategy bound to fail in ending the civil war, he added.

Valbuena explained that the AFP’s annual declaration of crushing the NPA always fails because its strategy results in worsening forms of human rights and international humanitarian law violations.

He added that civilians remain the main targets of AFP’s operation through brutal suppression extrajudicial killings, rounding up people and parading them as “surrenderees,” looting, encampment amid civilian communities, curfews and other arbitrary restrictions on people’s movements and economic activity, food blockades, checkpoints, aerial bombing, artillery shelling and other bloody and dirty tactics.

“The vain objective is to break the people’s spirit and make them cower to submission. The result is the opposite,” he said.

Valbuena cited the recent killings of peasant activists Boy Baloy and Ernesto Torres in Negros Occidental by the 62nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army who claimed the victims were NPA fighters killed in an armed encounter.

Such crimes help make the NPA numbers grow amid the CPP’s new rectification campaign launched last December, Valbuena said.

“All in all, we anticipate steady growth during the rest of the year and succeeding period…the Filipino people have no other recourse but to intensify their revolutionary mass movement and armed resistance,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP on AFP’s claim of strategic victory over the NPA: ‘Dream on’

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) dismissed claims by Manila government security officials the New People’s Army (NPA) has already been strategically defeated, describing the declarations are nothing more than dreamland statements.

In a reaction to an online press briefing by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) last Wednesday, the CPP branded as ludicrous government claims that all but 14 “weakened guerilla fronts” of the NPA have been dismantled.

“This is pure wishful thinking on the part of the US-Marcos regime. It is a desperate attempt to fool the people and dampen their spirit of resistance,” the CPP said in a statement.

‘Zero active guerilla fronts’

In the briefing, NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. said there are “zero active guerrilla fronts” and only 14 weakened units of the NPA remain. NTF-ELCAC said six guerilla fronts had recently been dismantled.

Torres did not identify the locations of the so-called remaining fronts but said it is Manila government’s priority to dismantle them to help in local peace talks engagements.

National Security Council (NSC) assistant director general Jonathan Malaya in the same briefing alleged the NPA is at its weakest in its 55-year history with less than 1,500 fighters remaining nationwide.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a New Year statement also boasted there are no longer active NPA fronts, reporting killing 67 leaders and 1,399 members as well as seizing 1,751 firearms throughout 2023.

The CPP however said the AFP, NSC and the NTF-ELCAC presented no proof in their self-congratulatory claims, saying in turn that majority of the guerilla fronts across 14 regional NPA commands are “far from dismantled.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said the NPA’s current strength remains deep and the wide mass support it enjoys is far from what the AFP wishes to imagine.

‘Why the increased AFP budget then?’

Valbuena admitted the NPA suffered grave losses from 2019 to 2022 due to internal weaknesses and errors as well as sustained military operations by close to 100,000 AFP troops since 2017.

“Squandering hundreds of billions of pesos, the reactionary armed forces have unleashed unimaginable state terrorist violence in the countryside,” Valbuena said.

But claims of strategic victory over the NPA are belied by the Marcos government’s increased military budget by almost 40% this year, Valbuena said, citing AFP’s ₱282.7 billion budget from last year’s ₱203.4 billion.

Valbuena said that a large part of the military’s funds go to the purchase and maintenance of US-supplied jet fighters and drones used in aerial bombing, artillery shelling and full-scale military operations in the countryside.

The CPP officer also said that a vast majority of AFP battalions remain deployed against the NPA despite announcements of wanting to shift to external defense against Chinese encroachment into Philippine territories.

Valbuena further said AFP’s claims of victories in the battlefield come at the expense of farmers and indigenous peoples’ communities who suffer de facto martial rule in the guise of “community support operations.”

“The AFP hinder the free movement of people, imposing curfew and prohibiting them from working in their fields, destroying their organizations, and other forms of suppression, in order to pave the way for the aggressive entry of mining operations, expansion of plantations, ecotourism and infrastructure projects,” he said.

“Fascist troops continue to carry out a campaign of state terrorism against the peasant masses, carrying out killings of civilians and covering up their crimes by claiming their victims to be NPA fighters,” Valbuena added.

Women NPA fighters at CPP’s 55th founding anniversary celebrations last December 26. (CPP photo)

‘Masses want their Red fighters back’

The CPP said in areas temporarily abandoned by NPA units due to intense military operations, the people wait for the return of the Red guerillas.

The Party said affected NPA units are determined to recover strength, rebuild their mass bases, and continue to wage armed revolution.

It added that the NPA has in fact started regaining its bearings since last year and have carried out maneuvers to frustrate AFP’s encirclement and focused military operations.

With the CPP’s third rectification movement launched on its 55th founding anniversary last December 26, it said the NPA shall soon regain lost territories and expand to new areas.

The CPP’s Central Committee also laid down several tasks the NPA should accomplish to recover strength, including the building of company-sized units for each guerrilla front and to launch basic or annihilative tactical military offensives that have a high percentage of succeeding.

Since December, CPP newsletter Ang Bayan has published reports of NPA operations that resulted in the killing of three Philippine Army troopers in Panay Island last December 9 and 10 and a paramilitary spy in Negros Island last December 27.

“The Red commanders and fighters of the NPA, and cadres of the Party are all determined to carry forward the people’s war as long as it takes until complete victory is attained,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)