Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) countered the lies peddled by the military and police that Ka Parts was killed in a gunfight when he was supposed to be served an arrest warrant.

“Ka Parts was unarmed and was in no position to fight,” Valbuena said. At that time, he was with his wife, Pamela Peñaranda who was subsequently arrested and is currently detained in Polomolok.

Valbuena expressed outrage “at the barbarity of the criminal agents of the US-Duterte regime.” He strongly condemned and held accountable the 5th Special Forces Battalion and Philippine National Police for their crime of extrajudicially killing Ka Parts.

The CPP paid its highest tribute to Ka Parts Bagani as a Red Artist of the People and valiant warrior of the New People's Army. “Ka Parts devoted his entire life and artistic talent to the Filipino people and their struggle against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.”

“His artworks reflected the people's yearning for freedom from oppression, exploitation, hunger and for national and social liberation,” Valbuena said. His art pieces gave life and color to many revolutionary publications, books, and other literature that motivated and endeared the masses.

Despite coming from petty bourgeoisie origin, Ka Parts' heart belonged to the masses. According to him, “Parts” was derived from the contraction of “Pulang Artista ng Sambayanan.” And because he had a special love for the Lumad masses he took the name “Bagani” (a Lumad warrior) as a pledge to fight for their rights.

In 2007, his masterpieces were exhibited in UP Diliman which drew praises from people, artists and critics because of its distinct style and subject, where the masses and their warriors were always the centerpiece.

“Ka Parts was humble and was never conceited nor arrogant,” added the CPP. Even to those whom he just met, Parts was easy to get along and was good company. He shared his talent with anyone who wanted to learn to paint, illustrate and sculpt.

Although he was known as a revolutionary artist, Ka Parts was primarily a Red fighter and military cadre of the NPA. The Party noted his immeasurable contributions to advancing the armed revolution in the Southern Mindanao Region and other parts of Mindanao.

“Ka Parts' life will forever serve as an inspiration to the Filipino people, to Red fighters and to revolutionary artists in all fields of art who are one with the workers and peasants in their aspiration and struggle to reshape society and the entire world, to erase oppression and exploitation and sculpt a new system of progress and freedom.” the Party declared.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Asia

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounces and rejects the “designation” by the “Anti-Terrorist Council” (ATC) of 19 supposed “leaders” of the CPP as “terrorists.” This is clearly an act in accordance with the diktat of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and Duterte himself.

The ATC claimed that those in the list are leaders of the CPP but cites no evidence to back their claims. The ATC merely recycled a very old list being maintained by military “intelligence.” The arbitrary naming of known peace consultants and revolutionaries underscore why the Anti-Terror Law and the ATC itself are illegitimate and should be repudiated. It was done in complete contempt of judicially recognized due process. It is a veritable slap on face of the justices of the Supreme Court who have yet to complete hearings over questions of the constitutionality of the Anti-Terror Law.

The “designation” is a desperate act to vilify revolutionaries and cover-up the crimes of state terrorism committed by the Duterte regime. It shows why “anti-terrorism” itself is an undemocratic concept and how it is being used as a tool against the people’s cause for national liberation and social justice.

The ATC “designation,” in particular, is an act of treachery against the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the peace process. It lists personalities of the NDFP involved in the peace process, including the interim Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel Julie de Lima Sison and NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Ma. Sison, as well as other known consultants in peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP. This act of the ATC is Duterte getting back at the NDFP for not bowing to his wishes for the revolutionary forces to surrender their principles to his fascist tyranny.

Those included in the ATC’s “designation” are not terrorists but are all honorable revolutionaries who have served the cause of the Filipino people for national and social liberation all their lives. Most of them are now in their sixties and seventies. Three of them are unjustly incarcerated. Throughout the past decades, they have courageously stood side by side with the people and struggled against dictators and tyrants. They all have sacrificed personal ambition and selfish interests.

Unlike Duterte, these revolutionaries have only the clothes on their back to count as their wealth. They do not accumulate money from the government nor fleece the people with taxes. They do not hide money in China or elsewhere. These revolutionaries have repeatedly proved themselves to be true to the people’s cause.

“Anti-terrorism” is clearly an oppressive weapon used by tyrants to perpetuate their rule. It is no different from how foreign colonizers disparaged Filipino freedom fighters as “brigands,” “bandits” and “insurrectos” to justify their all-out war to “pacify” the Filipino people and suppress their struggle for national liberation. The Duterte regime's “anti-terrorism” is, in fact, state terrorism, where the entire armed machinery of the state is used to suppress and silence the people and eliminate all dissent and resistance.

Only Duterte, his military generals and fascist minions denounce the democratic armed resistance to his tyrannical regime as “terrorism.” To the oppressed and exploited, taking up arms is the only option to defend themselves in the face of relentless killings perpetrated by the police, military and other armed agents of the reactionary state. Amid Duterte’s brutal attacks and crimes against the people, to wage revolution is the most honorable thing to do.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Asia

Ka Joaquin Jacinto (Alvin Luque), spokesperson of the National Democratic Front in Mindanao, was murdered this morning by armed agents of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a resort in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. A companion of Ka Joaquin was also killed in the military operation carried out by forces under the 4th Infantry Division.

The CPP and all revolutionary forces are outraged over the extrajudicial killing of Ka Joaquin. We demand: Justice for Ka Joaquin!

His assassination was carried out by the military troops at 1 a.m. We dispute the claims of the military that Ka Joaquin and his companion fought against the military troops while he was being served a warrant of arrest.

Ka Joaquin was unarmed and was convalescing. He was detached a few months ago from the main office of the NDF-Mindanao to undergo medical checkups and to recuperate from partial paralysis. A few months ago, he was physically debilitated and could not walk after he underwent intense physical struggles amid heavy enemy operations and counter-guerrilla maneuvers.

This dastardly crime must not go unpunished. We seek the entire truth behind Ka Joaquin's murder and seek an impartial investigation by an independent body. We urge the military troops involved in the operation to come out and reveal what they know.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the entire family, colleagues, friends and comrades-in-arms of Ka Joaquin. He was 51.

Alvin Luque hails from Davao City. He once headed the student government of the Ateneo de Davao University. In the late 1990s and 2000s, he became a prominent leader of the democratic forces in the city, serving as an officer of the local chapter of Bayan. He endeared himself to the public and the local media and gained a reputation for his fluency in the English language which he spoke vivaciously with a British-Bisaya flair.

He earned the ire of the reactionaries for leading mass demonstrations against the Arroyo regime. He was persistently red-tagged, harassed and charged with trumped up criminal cases. From Davao City, he moved to Cagayan de Oro, but was hounded no end by the fascists. To escape political persecution of the Arroyo regime, Alvin sought refuge in the guerrilla zones of the NPA in 2007-2008.

For a period, he was assigned to a local unit of the NPA where he deepened his understanding of the situation of the peasant masses and the necessity of waging armed revolution. He would be remembered by the masses and the Red fighters for his almost constant jolly mood. He would serve as host of small meetings and big gatherings and lead in educational sessions.

Coming from an upper-middle class family, Ka Joaquin had difficulties adjusting physically to the guerrilla movements of the NPA—night trekking, carrying one's own load and scaling steep mountains. He would shed weight and eventually find his “fighting form.” For several years, he would join Ka Oris and help in strengthening the work of NDF-Mindanao. He worked closely with the CPP Information Bureau and served as one of the faces of the Philippine revolution.

Recognizing Ka Joaquin's keen political sense, he was assigned as NDF-Mindanao spokesperson in 2016. He granted interviews with the media to clarify the position of the revolutionary movement on pressing issues in Mindanao and the whole country. For his steadfast defense of the revolutionary cause, Ka Joaquin became the subject of intensified liquidation operations of the AFP.

The CPP and all revolutionary forces pay the highest tribute to Ka Joaquin. Together, let us raise our fists and celebrate his innumerable contributions in serving the oppressed and exploited Filipino masses and their revolutionary cause.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Asia

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) vigorously condemns President Rodrigo Duterte for threatening the imposition of martial law against the Filipino people to force them to comply with his disastrous anti-people policies in his alleged combating of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On television on April 16, 2020, he made this threat declaring that the people had better comply because he is ordering the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to take charge of enforcing his lock down in the whole of Luzon and forcing the people to follow his orders on the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). He has assigned the Philippine National Police (PNP) to assist the AFP.

President Duterte in his lock down order on Metro Manila and the whole Luzon, has caused more than 700 companies to close. Millions of workers are rendered jobless. He has also ordered a transportation shut down. Hundreds of thousands have to walk to their work. A man had to walk several kilometers from the hospital to his home, carrying the dead body of his son.

Hungry residents of San Roque who came out to protest because they were hungry were arrested and put in jail. Yesterday, former House Representative Ariel Casilao and five others who were bringing relief goods to residents in Norzagaray, Bulacan were stopped at a police checkpoint. They and seven residents who met them to receive the goods were also arrested. Up to now they are in police custody.

President Duterte should be reminded that his idol, President Ferdinand Marcos who declared martial law in 1972 was finally overthrown by a mass uprising of millions, and escaped only with the help of the United States. He was brought to safety in Hawaii. We also remind President Duterte when Marcos started on the ill-fated track of fascist dictatorship, he was far younger than the current president in his mid-70s. And the social and economic conditions are now far worse.

The NDFP believes that President Duterte has another option. Instead of intensifying his oppression of the Filipino people to the extent that his overthrow becomes a possibility, he could issue an extension of the unilateral ceasefire that expired on April 15. This would heed the call of the United Nations Secretary General for a global ceasefire to combat the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the call of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP). The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has extended its unilateral ceasefire until April 30 “to prioritize the fight against the pandemic and ensure the safety, health and well-being of everyone.”

President Duterte could also heed the call of Michelle Bachelet, the Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Commission, to release all political prisoners. This will significantly improve the atmosphere for the resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP.

Luis Jalandoni

Member, Executive Committee and National Council

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

#Philippines #InJusticeSystem #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #RodrigoDuterte #martialLaw

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Revolutionary forces in the Philippines and abroad vehemently denounced the cold-blooded murder of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) official Julius Giron and his companions Dr. Ma. Lourdes Denero Tango and Arvie Alarcon Reyes, by Duterte security agents in the early morning hours of 13 March in Baguio City north of Manila. The three were sleeping and unarmed when they were gunned down by combined elements of the Northern Luzon Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). Giron and Dr. Tangco suffered up to seven gunshot wounds each, including several to the head. Reyes got four bullets to his chest.

In condemning the murders, the Communist Party of the Philippines said, “Giron’s blood is on Duterte’s hands. His assassination was carried out under Duterte’s war of suppression... his key security and military officials have long wanted to eliminate Giron who served as one of the Party’s leading cadres and principal peace consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).”

NDFP allied organizations described the killing as a war crime. The Christians for National Liberation said, “these (killings) concretely prove the insincerity of autocrat Duterte in the peaceful resolution to the armed conflict.” Condemnations of the cold-blooded murders, as well as Red salutes for Giron, were also expressed abroad, including from the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany, Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Giron was 70 years old, suffering from infirmities of old age and already had difficulty keeping his balance. “Despite his advanced age,” the CPP said, “he remained ever the active revolutionary communist and one of the key leading cadres of the CPP. He was forever a student and teacher of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.” Giron was a member of the Party’s Central Committee, its Political Bureau and Executive Committee. He was also a senior consultant of the NDFP in peace talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), entitling him to protection under the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.CPP

Founding Chairman Prof. Jose Maria Sison, in paying tribute to Giron said, “The greatness of Comrade Julius as a revolutionary patriot and communist fighter will be amplified and will shine even brighter to inspire the current generation of the revolutionary cadres and masses and future generations to achieve the total victory of the people’s democratic revolution and proceed to the socialist revolution.”

#Philippines #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #JuliusGiron

The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) notice of termination takes effect after 180 days. The people cannot be sure that Duterte will not change his mind within that lengthy period. Previously, Duterte postured about terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement but after a few months allowed Balikatan exercises under VFA.

In the meantime, there are other military treaties with the US: Mutual Defense Treaty, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The EDCA allows the US military to rotate more of its troops in the Philippines and build facilities in Philippine military camps, using the Filipino puppet troops as security guards.

Duterte is beggarly dependent on US military supplies and advice. One telephone call from Trump can fix Duterte. His own pro-US military officers trained in US military forts and organized as assets of the US DIA and CIA will tell him to comply with US orders or else.

#Philippines #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #US #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #JoseMariaSison #Antifascism #RodrigoDuterte #DonaldTrump

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) strongly condemns the Duterte regime’s having the notorious Israel Defense Forces (IDF) give a specialized training by the Nahal Brigade of the IDF to 175 elite troops of the Philippine Army. This is despicable collaboration with Israeli Zionism, longtime partner of US imperialism, in horrendous acts of aggression against the Palestinian and Arab peoples.

Col. Dan Goldfus, commander of the Nahal Brigade, led a 10-man training team for two weeks at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City. The IDF team gave a two-week training on so-called “anti-terrorism”. The special units included the Special Forces, First Scout Rangers and Light Reaction regiments and troops from the 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Army.

Philippine Army Chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Macairog honored Nahal Commander Col. Dan Goldfus with a plaque of appreciation.

The IDF’s Nahal Brigade, composed of 4 infantry battalions, has been involved in major wars launched by Israel against the Palestinian people, Lebanon, Syria. and others opposed to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, the Golan Heights, and other areas.

The Nahal Brigade has been part of Israel’s wars over the last 60 years: the Suez War of 1956, The Six-Day War of 1967; the First Lebanon War, 1982-1985; the First Intifada, 8 December 1987 – 13 September 1993; the Second Lebanon War, 34 days in 2006; the Gaza War, 27 December 2008 for 3 weeks; the Gaza War, “Operation Cast Lead”, 27 December 2008 for three weeks; and Operation Protective Edge, July 2014. Numerous casualties among civilians and tremendous damage to homes, health centers, etc. resulted from the Israeli wars.

With such a horrible record of crimes against humanity, the IDF and its Nahal Brigade must be condemned. Especially, the Duterte regime, which is both nationally and internationally denounced for its widespread human rights violations, must also be condemned for taking in the IDF and its Nahal Brigade to play a role in its anti-people, anti-national policies and programs.

Luis G. Jalandoni Chief International Representative

#Philippines #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #RodrigoDuterte #IDF

As a result of his rigging the May 13 elections, Duterte has more than two-thirds majority in the Senate and is in a position to dictate the realization of his fascist dictatorship through charter change to bogus federalism and declare martial law nationwide at his whim.

Foreign monopoly capitalism, domestic feudalism and bureaucratic corruption will further oppress and exploit the Filipino people. The dire conditions of underdevelopment of the country, unemployment, mass poverty, mounting debt and tax burden, soaring prices, plunder of natural resources and social wealth, mass murder with impunity and the worst forms of deception will continue.

With overweening arrogance, the Duterte regime will continue to thrive on serving the evil forces of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism; and blame the people, the legal democratic forces and the revolutionary resistance for the worsening socioeconomic and political crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system.

We can expect the broad masses of the people to engage in protest actions as in the time of fighting and defeating the Marcos fascist dictatorship. We can also expect that a big new wave of mass activists will join the revolutionary underground and the armed revolutionary movement of the people.

More than ever before, Duterte and his armed minions will seek to destroy the revolutionary movement in order to tighten his monopoly of power and plunder. In this context, there is no chance for the resumption of peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration for so long as the tyrant Duterte is in power.

The people’s struggle for national liberation and democracy will certainly grow in strength faster than ever before precisely in contention with the escalating conditions of oppression and exploitation. It will surge in concert with the revolutionary struggles of peoples abroad against imperialism and all reaction.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Asia

In view of certain recent acts of the tyrant Duterte, he is accelerating the realization of his scheme to declare martial law nationwide and impose a full-blown fascist dictatorship on the people.

Duterte is closing all doors to peace negotiations. He has caused OPAPP Secretary Dureza to resign in order to put OPAPP under total military control in line with Duterte’s policy of militarizing his cabinet. He is giving way to the demands of the military.

The military want to control OPAPP to prevent serious GRP peace negotiations with the NDFP by imposing the precondition of surrender on the New People’s Army (NPA). They also want to place the billions of pesos of OPAPP and Pamana funds under the control of the military. The issue of corruption against Dureza’s undersecretaries is a mere pretext because the Office of the President itself is the stinking center of corruption.

The military officers and some mayors have become notorious for pocketing privately E-CLIP funds for fake surrenders. Now, they want to take over the PAMANA under OPAPP. The racket in PAMANA is also in the invention of fake beneficiaries and in favoring political favorites among local officials.

In a flagrant expression of lawlessness and barbarism or even madness, Duterte has announced the formation of death squads with the license to kill just anyone who is suspected of being or still becoming NPA. He has specified as targets of the death squads any istambay (idler), any critic, any activist or just anyone whom the death squads suspect or think of becoming or being NPA.

He wants Oplan Kapayapaan to compete with Oplan Tokhang in murdering thousands of people. He is obviously becoming desperate because Oplan Kapayapaan has failed to defeat the NPA in the guerrilla fronts. Not a single guerrilla front has been destroyed even in Mindanao where he has concentrated 75 of his total of 98 maneuver battalions under conditions of martial law.

Now, the NPA is increasingly carrying out tactical counteroffensives in the countryside of Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon. But the NPA is not yet fielding commando teams to urban areas in consideration of the CPP policy that the character the urban mass struggle is legal and defensive.

It is only Duterte who has conjured the illusion that the urban areas are already swarming with “sparrow units” in urban areas in order to have the pretext for forming his death squads to threaten and use against his urban-based legal opponents.

Duterte has gone out of his mind. As Catholic Bishop David has observed, he is mentally sick. He needs psychiatric help and should be removed from his position.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #JoseMariaSison #Asia

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following presentation by Luis G. Jalandoni, Senior Adviser, Negotiating Panel, of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), to the International People’s Tribunal on the Philippines, which was held in Brussels, September 18-19, 2018.

PRESENTATION TO THE INTERNATIONAL PEOPLES’ TRIBUNAL ON THE PHILIPPINES

Distinguished Jurors of the International Peoples’ Tribunal on the Philippines, Claimant People’s Organizations, Lawyers, Solidarity Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

One of the biggest opportunities, if not the biggest, for President Rodrigo Duterte to serve the Filipino people is to foster the peace negotiations. This could not only solve the almost 50 year-old armed conflict but also lay the basis for responding to the deepest aspirations of the 75 million peasants for land and the entire nation for justice, democracy, progress and lasting peace.

Duterte’s termination of the peace talks on November 23, 2017 was a crushing blow to the people’s aspirations. The Lumad in Mindanao were shouting: “Bigas, Hindi Bala!” (“Rice not bullets!”), the children, “Lapis at papel, Hindi bomba at bala!” (Pencil and paper, not bombs and bullets!). Duterte ordered: “Bomb the schools!”

On November 22, negotiators of the government were with us in Utrecht. Bilateral teams of both Parties had met several times earlier in the month and completed and initialed the bilateral agreements on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ARRD) and National Industrialization and Economic Development (NIED), the first two major parts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER). Both Parties were preparing for the resumption of the GRP-NDFP formal talks on November 25-27, 2017.

“We are being ordered to go home!”, so sounded the heartbreaking news from Secretary Silvestre Bello and Hernani Braganza of the GRP Negotiating Panel.

The proclamation on November 23 (Proclamation 360) was followed by President Duterte’s declaration of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations on December 5, 2017 (Proclamation 374).

This was followed in February 2018 by the proscription by a Regional Trial Court of more than 600 individuals as officers, members, and supporters of the CPP and NPA.

Back Channel Talks, March to June and Stand-Down Agreement on June 9, 2018

Despite these crushing blows, the NDFP agreed to hold back channel talks with the GRP from March to June 2018. On June 9, 2018, the GRP Panel Chairperson, Silvestre Bello signed together with NDFP Panel Chairperson Fidel Agcaoili the Stand Down Agreement. This would be announced by both in Manila on June 15.

This is the initial Ceasefire that would develop into a Coordinated Unilateral Ceasefire (CUC) that would in turn lead to a Bilateral CF. The back channel talks also agreed to have the Amnesty for all (503) political prisoners to be done at the scheduled resumption of formal talks in Oslo on June 28!

Duterte Cancels Talks on June 15, 20

Alas, on June 15, after attending a meeting of the top military and police officers, President Duterte cancelled the talks, stating that he needed to review all the past agreements, and consult the public. Defense Secretary Lorenzana rejected the Stand Down Agreement, claiming that the NPA would take advantage of it. Duterte declared that talks must be held in the Philippines, the CPP-NPA must stop revolutionary taxation, and the NPA be put in encampments.

These demands of Duterte are of course rejected by the NDFP. These in effect call for the surrender of the revolutionary movement. Already in The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, surrender or capitulation is excluded. This agreement declares that no precondition shall be made to negate the inherent character and purpose of the peace negotiations.

Major Peace Achievements

Other major achievements followed The Hague Joint Declaration. The Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (1995) provides safety and immunity to all participants in the peace talks.

Then, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL,1998) was signed.

and the Joint Secretariat (JS) of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) under CARHRIHL was formed in 2004. The JS holds office in Metro Manila, with staff members nominated by both Parties. The JS assists the JMC which monitors the implementation of CARHRIHL.

In accord with The Hague Joint Declaration, work on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, proceeded. Both Parties would aim to attain the End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces which would work for a General Amnesty for all combatants of both Parties.

High Hopes for Success of Peace Talks Under Duterte

After Duterte won the elections in May 2016, the hopes for the success of peace talks were very high, perhaps higher than ever before. He promised to amnesty all political prisoners on May 16, 2016. In August 2016, he released 21 NDFP Consultants to join the peace talks. Also in August 2016, the GRP and the NDFP reaffirmed all past peace agreements.

At the end of the August talks, the longest simultaneous unilateral ceasefires were held for five months from August 2016 until January 2017.

In January 2017, the third round of formal talks resulted in an agreement to distribute land free to the farmers, a landmark advance in land reform.

Ceasefire Violations by the AFP and EJKs in Duterte’s Drug War

During this period, however, extrajudicial killings started to multiply in Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.

The CPP issued a strong statement in August 2016 condemning the anti-people and anti-national policies of the Duterte government.

The CPP denounced the ceaasefire violations of the AFP and PNP in more than 500 barangays in 43 provinces, declaring that these were rendering the ceasefire untenable.

Hence, on February 1, 2017, the CPP announced that it would terminate its unilateral ceasefire in ten days.

Duterte went wild in cancelling the talks. He ordered his troops “to flatten the hills”and Defense Secretary Lorenzana declared “All Out War” against the CPP-NPA.

Back Channel Talks and Pattern of Cancellations by Duterte

NDFP Chief Political Consultant, Prof. Jose Maria Sison enjoined President Duterte to engage in back-channel talks. These took place in Utrecht on March 11-12 and both Parties agreed to a ceasefire on March 31 and hold formal talks on April 2-5 in Oslo.

The CPP was ready with its ceasefire declaration, but Duterte refused to issue the GRP ceasefire, claiming that the NPA had launched a military operation.

The scheduled formal talks got postponed and then proceeded but could not make any advance.

Volatility of Duterte in Peace Talks and Horrendous Human Rights Violations

This pattern of on again, off-again has continued until Duterte’s cancellation of the talks last June 15. His volatility in the peace talks was accompanied by horrendous human rights violations amounting to mass murder of tens of thousands of victims of his drug war.

Numerous killings of Lumad and other indigenous and mass organizations suspected as supporters of the NPA were perpetrated by the regime.

Hundreds of attacks against Lumad schools and forced evacuation of Lumad communities ensued as the military encamped in their barrio halls, health centers, schools and even residences.

The economy deteriorated with laws favoring the rich and causing big losses to the poor who are subjected to skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.

Workers are still plagued with contractualization despite his promise of eradicating it. Striking workers and their supporters are subject to military attacks as in Nutriasia.

Massacres of civilians and non-combatants continue to be perpetrated by the military and police as in the case of the Anique Seven on August 15, 2018 and the Patikul Seven a few days ago. The killings of priests has aroused condemnation from Church leaders and the public.

Solidarity persons like Sr. Patricia Fox and Lawyer Gil Boehringer of Australia are subjected to deportation and other violations of their rights.

People’s Response to Grievous Crimes of President Duterte and His Government

The grievous crimes of President Duterte and his government against the people, including his sabotage and destruction of the peace negotiations, are compelling proof that he must be held accountable.

The people have every reason to reject him and his regime and struggle to build the strongest and broadest united front to overthrow him, in order to build a Philippines that is free, democratic, independent and sovereign

#Philippines #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Duterte #Asia

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following June 20 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

By insisting to hold NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) -GRP (Government of the Republic of Philippines) peace negotiations in Manila, Duterte is putting forward a demand it knows is totally unacceptable to the revolutionary forces. It is like the NDFP insisting that peace talks be held in the territories under the political authority of the revolutionary forces—something that Duterte will definitely not accept.

In the demand to hold the talks in the Philippines, Duterte is practically scrapping The Hague Declaration of 1992 and, by consequence, the entire peace NDFP-GRP peace negotiations itself. He also wants to trash all the past efforts of the Royal Norweigian Government as Third Party Facilitator.

Duterte is showing complete antipathy towards holding serious peace negotiations with the NDFP, and merely wants to hold hostage and completely paralyze the talks. He wants to use the cancellation of the agreements to resume talks with the NDFP to justify his total war under Oplan Kapayapaan, and advance his scheme to establish a fascist dictatorship and impose nationwide martial law.

By practically scrapping peace talks, Duterte is removing all impediments to the campaign of all-out offensives, aerial bombardments, forcing thousands of civilians to “surrender” as armed rebels, extrajudicial killings ala Tokhang, and other grave abuses by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the peasants, national minorities and other oppressed peoples. Duterte vainly hopes to crush the NPA militarily before the end of 2018.

The NPA will surely frustrate the aims of the Duterte regime by waging extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare. Duterte is rousing the Filipino people to unite, fight back and oust his despicable fascist regime.

#ManilaPhilippines #Manila #Philippines #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #CPP #Socialism #Duterte

By cancelling the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), President Duterte is sabotaging once again not only the peace talks but also an opportunity to achieve a just and lasting peace for the people. The longing of many millions of farmers and fisherfolk for genuine land reform and the entire Filipino people for a just and lasting peace is trampled upon by Duterte.

Negotiators from both sides, bilateral teams on social and economic reforms, worked many hours of intense meetings, to produce the initialled drafts of Agrarian Reform and Rurual Development (ARRD) and National Industrialization and Economic Development (NIED), demonstrating significant and unprecedented advances in the peace talks. Release of Political Prisoners and General Amnesty and Coordinated Unilateral Ceasefires were scheduled to be taken up in the Fifth Round of Peace Negotiations scheduled for November 25-27, 2017 in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian facilitators prepared in detail the visas, return air tickets, hotel accommodations for the next round.

In one stroke, President Duterte has abruptly cancelled the peace talks. He must answer to the Filipino people who long for a just and lasting peace by addressing the roots of the armed conflict. He must answer to the millions of farmers and fisherfolk who saw the possibility of free distribution of land with free irrigation, credit and other benefits from genuine land reform. He must answer to workers and the rest of the Filipino people who yearn for national industrialization, national sovereignty, and independent prosperous Philippines.

Acting like a crazed tyrant, he declared the revolutionary national democratic movement cherished by the people all over the country as “terrorist”, in the same manner US imperialists have done. By so doing, he severely underestimates the New People’s Army (NPA), the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NDFP, which the Marcos dictatorship and other reactionary regimes backed by the US, have failed to defeat in 48 years. Now, he also threatens members of BAYAN and alleged “legal fronts” of the revolutionary movement with illegal arrest and detention.

His wild tyrannical dreams will suffer the same fate of the Marcos dictatorship. The Filipino people and the revolutionary movement will continue to fight for national and social liberation, for a just and lasting peace with genuine land reform, national industrialization, independence, national sovereignty, and economic prosperity.

#Philippines #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Antifascism #Duterte

Forty people attended a forum Oct. 29, “Revolution in the Philippines: Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win.” The forum at Mayday Books featured a presentation by Joe Iosbaker, a Chicago-based anti-war movement leader and member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) who participated in a recent international solidarity delegation to Western Mindanao in the Philippines.

The delegation to the Philippines consisted of 160 activists from several countries. Iosbaker said they went to witness the human rights abuses taking place on a daily basis in the countryside of the Philippines. These human rights abuses are committed by foreign mining companies, agricultural companies that own entire islands of the Philippines, the landlord class, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police. The struggle of the Filipino people in the countryside is sharp, and the struggle of indigenous peoples of the Philippines is particularly sharp now with the discovery of one of the five largest deposits of gold in the world on their land.

But in the Philippines there is not only oppression and exploitation. There is also a powerful and dynamic revolutionary movement fighting for fundamental change. That movement is led by the National Democratic Front (NDF), the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Launched in 1968, the armed struggle waged by the New People’s Army follows the strategy pioneered by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party – a protracted people’s war that builds a base in the countryside and gradually accumulates forces to surround the cities from the countryside. The movement is active in 70 of the country’s 81 provinces. The New People’s Army, under the political leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines, operates in more than 100 guerrilla fronts throughout the country. But NPA members don’t just engage in armed struggle, they also carry out work to serve the people and do educational work in the communities where they are based. The National Democratic Front’s allied mass organizations build movements fighting for justice among many sectors of society including workers, farmers, women, students and more.

The national democratic movement has played an important role in major struggles in the Philippines, like the People Power movement that ousted U.S.-backed dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s, and other mass movements since then. But the revolutionaries have not made their peace with the system after cosmetic changes while exploitation and oppression continue. The mass movement and the armed struggle have continued for more than 47 years, and are strengthening in the current period. Their struggle builds on the 400-plus-year history of the Filipino people’s struggle against brutal Spanish and then U.S. colonial domination of their land.

During the question and answer part of the forum, much of the discussion turned to questions about newly-elected Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, a controversial figure who has already declared that he will pursue a foreign policy independent of Washington D.C., and has announced a warming of economic and political relationships with China. He also quickly restarted peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front and freed some of the movement’s political prisoners. The NDF has issued statements welcoming the advances in peace negotiations and the freeing of political prisoners, which they had been demanding for years. They have also united with some aspects of Duterte’s policies, most particularly his declaration to be independent of Washington’s influence. They have also strongly criticized Duterte where they disagree with him or have seen inconsistency between his rhetoric and the reality on the ground, and they are continuing their struggle for fundamental change in the Philippines.

The current geopolitical importance of the Philippines is underscored by the U.S. government’s declared ‘pivot to Asia.’ This pivot, announced in 2012, is in part a military response to the rise of the People’s Republic of China. It’s also designed to help enforce U.S. corporate interests in the Philippines and elsewhere in the Pacific. U.S. imperialism as a factor in national economic and political affairs is constantly present in the Philippines.

The Philippines has long been a key launching pad for the U.S. to project its power in the Pacific and toward Asia, so Duterte’s declarations of an independent Filipino foreign policy and his warming to China have raised major alarm bells among the powerful in Washington D.C. Predictably, the Western capitalist media is treating Duterte like a crazy person.

In this context of U.S. imperialism’s ‘pivot to Asia’ and the resulting increase in oppression of the Filipino people, it is vitally important for progressive people in the U.S. to learn about and show solidarity with the dynamic movement fighting against oppression and exploitation, and fighting for a new society in the Philippines.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #USImperialism #antiimperialism

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns in the strongest terms the reported arrest yesterday of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria. Tiamzon and Austria are both senior cadres of the CPP Central Committee and consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in peace negotiations with the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH).

At the time of their arrest, both Tiamzon and Austria were performing tasks and duties assigned to them by the CPP and the NDFP. Up to recently, both were busy conducting first hand investigation into the conditions of the working class people in the Visayas region whose lives were devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and who continue to suffer from the Aquino regime’s antipeople, crony-controlled, corrupt, and grossly inept response to the calamity.

Both were closely monitoring the efforts of the New People’s Army (NPA) in carrying out rehabilitation work in devastated regions. They were receiving reports from NPA commands about efforts to mobilize Red fighters to help build communal farms, till the land and mobilize and distribute seeds and other agricultural resources from the NDFP.

Austria, who has been among the country’s stalwarts in upholding and bannering the rights of women, is gravely concerned with the situation of women and children after the calamity, and has been vigorously calling on all revolutionary forces to work hard to expose their sufferings and extend all possible effort to alleviate their conditions. She was utterly indignant at having learned that substantial amounts of relief goods had rotted at the Aquino government’s warehouses while the people of Tacloban continue to suffer from lack of food, shelter and income.

Tiamzon, himself, has been actively looking into the widespread devastation wrought by the storm on the agricultural economy and fishing communities of Eastern Visayas, Cebu, Panay and Negros. He was personally looking into studies estimating the actual damage on agriculture and fisheries to be at P75-80 billion, contrary to the Aquino regime’s grossly understated estimate of P15 billion which help justify the allocation of bigger funds to his crony’s big business infrastructure projects.

As peace consultants of the NDFP, the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria further imperil peace negotiations between the GPH and the NDFP. The CPP condemns the Aquino regime for outrightly violating the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) in carrying out the arrest and detention of Tiamzon and Austria. They are both publicly known figures in peace negotiations. The NDFP has further identified both Tiamzon and Austria as holders of documents of identification counter-verified by then officials of the GPH.

The CPP condemns the Aquino regime and its armed forces for filing a slew of trumped-up criminal charges against Tiamzon and Austria. The CPP condemns the media campaign being conducted by Malacañang and the AFP to demonize Tiamzon and Austria by depicting them as common criminals.

Such effort by the Aquino regime seeks to draw away attention from the public flak it is getting for its lies, corruption and ineptness, especially at the heels of its monumental failures in addressing the urgent demands of the people of the Visayas devastated by the supertyphoon. The Aquino regime is increasingly isolated from the people because of its contempt and disregard for the socio-economic conditions of millions of workers and peasants who suffer from its wrong economic policies that prioritize the interests of its cronies and its foreign big business bosses.

As leaders of the CPP, Tiamzon and Austria are the opposite of the landlord Aquino and his coterie of corrupt officials. Tiamzon and Austria are the epitome of simple living. Neither of them own a private home nor drive their own sportscar. Neither do they play with guns for fun or personal satisfaction. They are not like Aquino and his officials who plunder public funds to aggrandize themselves or perpetuate their political rule.

Despite their age and health conditions, both Tiamzon and Austria continue to travel great distances in the rural areas in order to reach the farthest peasant homes and be among the most downtrodden masses. Unlike Aquino who was totally clueless of the conditions of the people in the path of supertyphoon Yolanda, Tiamzon and Austria were among the peasant masses when the winds ravaged through the Visayas. Unlike Aquino who took four days to act, Tiamzon and Austria immediately mobilized the CPP’s forces to carry out relief work and help in the rehabilitation of the peasant masses who suffered grave devastation of their crops and livelihood.

The CPP demands the immediate release of Tiamzon and Austria, as well as all their companions, and the dropping of all criminal charges against them. The CPP demands that the Aquino regime accord them the right to counsel and medical attention. Austria has severe asthma, and suffers both from a serious kidney ailment and spinal bone degeneration secondary to osteoporosis, and is in need of constant medical care.

The CPP, together with the workers, peasants and downtrodden masses and all their revolutionary forces, deplore the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria. Their arrest forms part of the general trend of repression under the Aquino regime. Daily, the landlord Aquino seeks to perpetuate the oppressive and exploitative system by unleashing his attack dogs, armed and supported with US military financing, against the peasant masses and workers, who stand up for their rights and voice their demands.

While the wisdom and guidance of individual leaders is important, the advance of the revolutionary struggle depends more on the collective wisdom, determination and organization of the revolutionary masses. The arrest of Tiamzon and Austria will not stop the main trend of advance of the people’s war.

It is the Aquino regime’s puppetry, corruption, brutality and mendacity that teach the Filipino people about the need to wage revolutionary resistance. They are thus ever determined to advance along the path of widespread mass struggles and revolutionary armed resistance in order to achieve national and social liberation.

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #TyphoonYolanda #Asia

Since 1969, for 42 years, there has been an armed conflict in the Philippines, between the armed forces of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the revolutionary forces represented by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

After the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in 1986, ceasefire talks were held in 1986 in Manila, resulting in a 60-day ceasefire agreement. Panels of the GRP and NDFP began talks to set an agenda for substantive peace negotiations. After the massacre of peasants marching for land reform in January 1987, these talks collapsed.

In 1992, preliminary talks were resumed to lay the ground for peace negotiations and gave birth to The Hague Joint Declaration. The formal peace negotiations began in Brussels in 1995. Since 1992, twelve bilateral agreements have been forged between the GRP and the NDFP.

The NDFP engages in peace negotiations in order to address the roots of the armed conflict. Land reform to benefit the peasantry, who comprise 75% of the population of 94 million; national industrialization to develop the backward agrarian economy and harness the rich natural resources; these and other basic reforms are aimed for by the NDFP in the peace talks.

The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 stipulates the substantive agenda of human rights and international humanitarian law, socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces. It is the framework agreement, declaring that principles of national sovereignty, democracy and social justice shall guide the two Parties. Neither Party may impose its constitution. Capitulation may not be demanded.

In 1995, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) was signed. This is vitally important because it guarantees safety and immunity to all participants in the peace process from both Parties. The guarantees include safe and unhindered passage in all areas in the Philippines and immunity from surveillance, arrest, detention and other punitive actions.

In 1998, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was completed. This is the first of the four substantive agenda. This requires both Parties to observe the highest standards of HR and IHL, such as those contained in the Geneva Conventions. A Joint Monitoring Committee is mandated by the CARHRIHL to monitor the implementation of CARHRIHL.

All three agreements, as with other agreements, were approved by the respective Principals of both Parties.

In 2001 the Royal Norwegian Government came in as Third Party Facilitator.

Last February 2011, formal peace talks resumed in Norway after almost seven years of impasse under the Arroyo regime. Both Parties agreed that all or most of the 17 NDFP Consultants detained by the GRP/GPH in violation of the JASIG must be released.

GPH refusal to release them has been a major obstacle to resumption of peace talks because without compliance with JASIG, the panelists and consultants cannot function. Respect for JASIG is needed to build confidence.

The next talks aim to take up socio-economic, political and constitutional reforms.

An offer of the NDFP for alliance and truce, presented last January, has so far no adequate and concrete response from GPH President Aquino. The offer is based on a 10-point program expressing the fundamental aspirations of the Filipino people for land reform, national industrialization, genuine national independence and democracy.

A very serious obstacle is the GPH’s undermining of basic bilateral agreements. In February, the GPH Panel, for the first time ever, attacked The Hague Joint Declaration as a document of perpetual division. It has also declared that the JASIG does not require compliance. It is only at their whim that they shall release detained NDFP consultants covered by the JASIG. It refuses to release the 350 political prisoners in accordance with the clear directive of the CARHRIHL.

Instead of complying with basic agreements, the GPH engages in continuous, vicious, deceptive and even simplistic propaganda attacks against the NDFP and avoids or refuses to seriously sit down and tackle the questions and issues on social, economic and political reforms. It perpetrates widespread human rights violations and has not effectively staved off the climate of impunity.

A huge obstacle is the US government. Its Counter Insurgency Guide of 2009 is followed by the Aquino regime in its Internal Security Plan, Oplan Bayanihan. This aims to militarily defeat the New People’s Army through the triad concept of combat, intelligence and civil-military operations. Furthermore, the US stations interventionist troops in the Philippines.

The NDFP is firmly committed to pursue peace negotiations that address the roots of the armed conflict. It is determined to overcome the problems and difficulties with effective remedies. It is resolute in its decision to carry forward the people’s struggle for national and social liberation.

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #ndfp #Asia

The statement, entitled “ Why no ‘no fly zone’ over Gaza? National Democratic Front of the Philippines condemns imperialist war of aggression against Libya and the Libyan people” rejects the military moves made by the U.S., UK, France and their cohorts.

The statement notes, “Under the pretense of protecting the lives of Libyan civilians, these imperialist powers are violating the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya and are in the process of destroying the lives and property of the Libyan people. Deceptively declaring that they are undertaking a so-called humanitarian intervention, they repeat the imperialist wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“They aim to set up a puppet government and take over control of Libya's rich oil, gas and other natural resources. For this purpose, they are coddling and supporting a traitorous and retrogressive opposition group that brandishes the flag of the former King Idris.”

The statement contrasts the western powers treatment of Israel with that of Libya, noting “The imperialist powers collaborate with the Zionists in flouting UN resolutions. They refuse to lift a finger to save the lives of Palestinian civilians: the mothers, children, elderly who have been subjected to brutal and massive invasion and massacre by the Israeli armed forces in December 2008, January 2009 and to the present day. ..Why is there no ‘no-fly-zone’ over Gaza to protect the Palestinian victims of Israeli aggression?”

The statement also points out that the western powers have rejected a number of peace initiatives stating, “Instead of the ‘no-fly-zone’ which has opened the way for the current imperialist military intervention, the peace plan offered by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and supported by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and four other Presidents of Latin America, which Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi has accepted, ought to be carried out. This peace plan has suggested former US President Jimmy Carter to lead the peace delegation. There is also the appeal of Qaddafi to the UN Security Council for an emergency session and for the UN to send a fact-finding mission to Libya.”

#Philippines #HugoChavez #MiddleEast #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Libya #LibyaWar #noflyZone #ndfp #Africa

NDFP-Mindanao challenges Aquino government to heed mounting calls for junking of the VFA

Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, Spokesperson

National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao

13 September 2010

Following the visit of the US nuclear warships which posed greater danger for the country, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Mindanao reiterates the mounting call from various sectors to junk the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement and challenges the Aquino government to heed it.

The NDFP-Mindanao urges individual legislators in the Philippine Congress who still maintain a deep sense of nationalism to make that bold step and push for the immediate abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, heeding strong calls for its rejection in the light of the Joint Resolution 3 filed by Senator Miriam Santiago that Congress can abolish this lopsided and anti-people US-RP relation.

We likewise challenge members of the “civil society” who have professed nationalism to take action, now more than ever, in defense of the Filipino people's sovereign right against intensifying US imperialist interventionism. Nationalist political, religious, and progressive leaders must place themselves at variance with the Aquino government's open policy of allowing the operation in the country of US troops as well as the entry of nuclear vessels, which, even under the scrutiny of the GRP's own laws, is treasonous.

In no time, the unequal treaty will further afflict Philippine soil with its much lopsided provisions, especially now that Mr. Noynoy Aquino is rapidly being unmasked as another puppet of US imperialism, appearing to be no different from his predecessor. After spinning victory and strategically placing him to be their stalwart, Aquino's US imperialist master is now dead set to waylay Philippine sovereignty, and do so with impunity, to protect and preserve their political and economic interests in the Asia-Pacific.

Because of the VFA, presence of US troops in Philippine soil come and go at will, like the 6,000-strong US soldiers recently ferried to the country. The VFA gives consent to stationing more troops in the country, thus advancing further US intervention here and in other neighboring countries. It is public knowledge how these US troops have inflicted damage to hundreds of thousand lives of the Filipino people during the Philippine-American War, and recently creating controversial cases including the rape of a 22-year old Filipina girl, the mysterious death of Filipino interpreter Gregan Cardeno inside a U.S barracks in Marawi City, the murder of Boyongboyong Isnijal in Basilan, and inflicting damage to many civilians as a result of their direct participation in local combat operations, which was recently witnessed in Bukidnon, Compostela Valley and the Bicol Region, and wanton military exercises of U.S soldiers in different parts of Mindanao.

The VFA is an outright affront to our national sovereignty and a violation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines' own Constitution. The VFA is no less than combat intelligence and surveillance in the local populace vital to the military and economic objectives of US. The humanitarian missions conducted, including the ones which are facilitated by USAID, are merely facades which are actually part of the military and 'communications strategy' of the US to infiltrate deeper.

Despite mounting calls and strong ground for the abrogation of this one-sided and anti-people policy since it came into effect more than a decade ago, the VFA has remained, mocking our national sovereignty and patrimony. Rather than heeding these calls, Aquino has further said that the US troops are here to stay. That Aquino is heading towards the United States for his first diplomatic trip there, Aquino is well-advised to take VFA with him and serve it back to his US imperialist masters.

The VFA has undermined the previous victories of the Filipino people in removing foreign bases in the country. The NDFP-Mindanao calls on all freedom-loving Filipinos, especially those who were once staunch anti-US military bases like Sen. Joker Arroyo, Sen. Miriam Santiago, former Sen. Jovito Salonga, and other political and religious leaders and groups, to oppose policies that promote further US intervention such as the VFA. The Filipino people should fight and defend national sovereignty and patrimony.

The NDFP-Mindanao also calls on the New People's Army to ready themselves to give combat against US soldiers and spies who directly participate in combat operations and espionage in NPA areas in defense of revolutionary forces and of the masses. We likewise call on all the Moro freedom fighters to persevere in their armed struggle for their right to self-determination, and to unite more fervently in the fight against continuing and intensifying US military intervention.

Finally, we call on all American citizens residing in the Philippines and in the United States to manifest their adherence to the respect for the sovereignty of the Filipino nation by helping create a strong lobby for the immediate abrogation of the VFA and for the United States government to pull out its troops from the country. We fear that if the US imperialist power continues to impinge on the Filipino people, this will create the way for open war that will force the revolutionary movement and the Filipino masses to fight back, and its escalation may result in the needless death of more American soldiers, similar to what happened in the Vietnam War and to the current strife in Iraq and Afghanistan.

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #NationalDemocraticFrontMindanao #VisitingForcesAgreement #NoynoyAquino #Asia

Mrs. Gloria Arroyo treads the path of Dictator Marcos

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) vigorously condemns Mrs. Gloria Arroyo's declaration of martial law in Maguindanao. It is reminiscent of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus a year before declaring Martial Law in 1972.

Prominent law professors have denounced her declaration as a contemptuous violation of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines which requires an invasion or rebellion for such declaration. Moreover, the Supreme Court has exposed as false her claim that the judicial system in Maguindanao is not functioning.

She relies on her loyal followers in the House of Representatives to outvote the opposition in the Senate. Both houses of Congress have to approve by simple majority her declaration.

This testing of the waters by Ms. Gloria Arroyo in preparation for possible declaration of martial law in other areas or all over the country is one scheme she has for clinging to power. It is ominous that Major Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, AFP vice-chief of staff for operations, has just recommended that the martial law proclamation be extended to the May 2010 elections.

Mrs. Arroyo has also filed her candidacy for a congressional seat in her home province of Pampanga. This would pave the way for her to be elected Prime Minister once a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) would be convened to amend the Constitution.

The US and other foreign powers are pushing for amending the Constitution to allow 100% ownership of land by foreigners and other amendments advantageous to their interests. Mrs. Arroyo can therefore bank on their support for her Con-Ass move. As Prime Minister she would enjoy immunity from prosecution for her many crimes against the people.

Another scheme of Mrs. Arroyo is No-El or failure of elections together with the declaration of a “Transition Government” under her leadership. Widespread violence, instigated by her warlord cronies, like the Ampatuans of Maguindanao, may be used as the excuse for “Failure of Elections”. The scheme of “Transition Government” under Mrs. Arroyo has been pushed and publicized by her National Security Adviser, Norberto Gonzales, who is concurrently Secretary of Defense.

Mrs. Arroyo has also prepared for the coming elections by making sure that her favorite general, Delfin Bangit, formerly Presidential Security Guard (PSG) chief and head of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will be the Chief of Staff of the AFP at the time of the elections in May 2010. Other favored generals are placed in strategically important positions.

Even the Maguindanao massacre may be considered suspect as a plot by Mrs. Arroyo and her crony warlord, Andal Ampatuan Sr., to lay the ground for the declaration of martial law. Up to now, Malacanang has not given any explanation why Andal Ampatuan, Sr., the governor of Maguindanao and his son, Zaldy, governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were in Malacanang just prior to and during the Massacre in Maguindanao, for allegedy “an emergency meeting”. It is widely known that Andal Ampatuan Sr. used.force and fraud in Maguindanao to provide Mrs. Arroyo a wide margin of more than 130,000 votes in the 2004 elections. In the entire ARMM, Arroyo won by a margin close to 300,000.

In the 2007 elections, Andal Ampatuan, Sr. ensured a 12-0 sweep for the Administration senatorial candidates. On the contrary, 19 opposition candidates, including the 12 in the “Genuine Opposition” did not get a single vote in 20 out of 22 municipalities in Maguindanao. Soon after her “victory” in the 2004 elections, Mrs. Arroyo threw a big party in Malacanang for Andal Ampatuan, Sr.

It is no wonder that officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have been identified as among the leaders of the massacre. Units of the PNP and AFP have been part of the private army of the Ampatuan clan, and many of its weapons were provided by the AFP and PNP.

Mrs. Arroyo and her regime must be condemned and held accountable for the impunity she gives to Ampatuan and her other favored warlords to whom she is deeply indebted for giving her hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes. She must also be held accountable for the massacre in Maguindanao and many other gross violations of human rights because of her schemes to prolong herself in power.

Luis G. Jalandoni

Member, NDFP National Executive Committee

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #GloriaArroyo #Asia

Arroyo Regime must be condemned for Maguindanao massacre and impunity of the Regime's favored warlords

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) condemns in the strongest possible terms the barbaric massacre of two outstanding people's lawyers, Atty. Concepcion “Connie” Brizuela and Atty. Cynthia Oquendo, dozens of journalists, and other civilians in Maguindanao on 23 November.

Identified as the direct perpetrators of this heinous crime are the Ampatuan warlord clan, Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, paramilitary CAFGU personnel, and other armed men of Ampatuan's private army.

The Ampatuan warlords' armed contingent of more than 100 abducted the convoy accompanying the wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ishmael Mangudadatu and her family who were on their way to the Commission on Elections office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, to file the certificate of candidacy of Ishmael Mangudadatu for governor of Maguindanao.

The ruling Ampatuan warlord clan in Maguindanao has long enjoyed the favor and protection of Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the police, military and paramilitary forces of the regime for delivering huge majorities in the 2004 and 2007 elections through massive fraud and brutal force. The impunity accorded by the corrupt and brutally oppressive Arroyo regime to the Ampatuan clan and other favored political fiefdoms has given them license to commit atrocious acts against the people in order to perpetuate themselves in power. It is highly irregular and scandalous that while the massacre was going on, Andal Ampatuan, governor of Maguindanao, and Zaldy Ampatuan, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), were in Malacañang “for an emergency meeting”!

The NDFP vigorously condemns not only the direct perpetrators of the monstrous massacre but even more so the Arroyo regime for criminally cultivating the culture of impunity for its cohorts, in order to cling to power.

The NDFP holds Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her regime accountable for this massacre that deserves the outrage of the Filipino people. This massacre is the latest atrocious act, further aggravating the regime's accountability for extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, frustrated killings, torture, and the uprooting of millions of people since 2001.

The NDFP demands an immediate end to the reign of impunity. It demands that all those responsible for this monstrous crime and other gross and systematic violations of the human rights of the Filipino people be brought to justice. The people must rise in outrage against this regime, the Ampatuan warlord clan and other cohorts of the Arroyo regime.

LUIS G. JALANDONI Member, NDFP National Executive Committee

#Philippines #LuisJalandoni #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #Asia

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings of solidarity!

The Philippines has been struck by the devastating tropical storm Ondoy/Ketsana last 26 September 2009. The storm, the worst in 40 years, brought catastrophic damage to the Filipino people. As of 29 September the death toll was 240 with a big number of people reported still missing and 329,000 families or 1,872,036 people affected.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) expressed its deepest sympathy with the millions of people displaced by widespread flooding and landslides in many places in Metro Manila and 23 provinces.

In the face of the Arroyo government's utter negligence and inability to mobilize enough resources with dispatch for the necessary rescue and rehabilitation efforts, millions of Filipinos are now voluntarily contributing various amounts and other forms of assistance to help alleviate the sufferings of the calamity victims.

In unity with these efforts, the revolutionary movement has called on its forces to exert all possible effort in helping the victims of the devastation. Thus, revolutionary mass organizations and other progressive forces are mobilizing all available forces to set up relief and rehabilitation efforts in aid of the victims.

Red fighters of the New People's Army (NPA), particularly in the Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon provinces, are being tasked to carry out efforts to assist the peasant masses in coping with the destruction of their homes and livelihood and rebuilding from their losses. Tactical offensives in the affected areas are to be held off for the next few days as local NPA units concentrate on relief and rehabilitation and in supporting the resumption of people' production and livelihood.

In line with this call, the NDFP International Office is asking your support to help the victims of the calamity especially in the affected NDFP areas. Food, clothing, medical, and construction materials and other supplies are very much needed. But due to the difficulty of sending materials to the Philippines, we are requesting you instead to give donations in cash. You can send your donations to:

Account Holder: NDF

Account No. 3945.70.642

t.a.v. Ondoy Victims Fund

IBAN:    NL70 RABO 0394 5706 42

Rabobank

Utrecht, The Netherlands

We thank you for your continuing support to the Filipino people.

Luis G. Jalandoni

Chief International Representative

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #NewPeoplesArmy #hurricane #TropicalStormOndoyKetsana #Asia