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News and Views from the People's Struggle

philippines

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 5 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

By the strength of 215 votes, the Marcos-dominated House of Representatives today impeached Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, setting the stage for a trial before the Philippine Senate.

The vote came after more than two months since the first of several impeachment complaints were filed. Marcos had publicly opposed these complaints for being useless and untimely, fearing that this would ignite a bigger political crisis while the ruling system is rocked by a deep-seated economic crisis.

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By staff

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

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines has directed its entire membership and the New People’s Army to frustrate the AFP’s all-out war in a statement issued today, December 26, to mark its 56th founding anniversary.

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By staff

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

The Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army cannot declare a holiday ceasefire in the face of the Marcos regime’s relentless war of suppression, offensive military operations and imposition of martial law in the countryside.

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By staff

Miembros de Anakbayan presentan Di Pangkaraniwan. | Danny Fabella/¡Lucha y Resiste!

Washington, DC — El viernes por la noche, 15 de noviembre, Anakbayan DC celebró su quinto aniversario con presentaciones culturales que incluyeron canciones, bailes, poesía, comida y más en la Universidad American.

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By staff

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

The Communist Party of the Philippines and the Filipino people express the strongest outrage at the inhuman treatment and acts of humiliation against political prisoner Tomas Dominado. Dominado, who is 74 years old, has long been known as a revolutionary activist and fighter in the Panay island. He has served as consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in peace negotiations.

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By Jon Abraham

A group of people perform music for an audience.

Washington, DC – On Friday evening, November 15, Anakbayan DC celebrated their five-year anniversary with cultural performances including songs, dances, poetry, food and more at American University.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Freedom Road Socialist Organization was one of the conference participants.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has successfully convened its third international theoretical conference from November 29-30 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on the topic of National Liberation from Imperialism.

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By staff

Julie de Lima.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Julie de Lima, Chairperson, Negotiating Panel, of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel strongly condemns the recent illegal arrests of NDFP consultants Simeon Naogsan, Porferio Tuna, and Wigberto Villarico. The arbitrary detention of these consultants is yet another in a string of blatant violations by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), signed to provide both parties to the negotiations the conducive conditions to engage without the threat of arrest, killing or harassment.

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By Talison Crosby

Lakewood, Washington protest outside military base demand justice for Jennifer Laude.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Lakewood, WA – On October 12, approximately 60 activists gathered outside the Lakewood Pierce County Library in remembrance of Jennifer Laude. Laude was a Filipino trans woman who was killed by U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton in Olongapo City, Philippines on October 11, 2014.

Chants of “Justice for Jennifer Laude!” and “J-B-L-M, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!” filled the air as the crowd prepared to march to the highway overpass at the entrance of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the Marcos regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the arrest of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Porferio Tuna last October 2 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. We demand that all his rights be respected, including his right to a lawyer of his own choosing, and that he be immediately released.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following September 21 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and all revolutionary forces condemn the U.S. government and military for reneging on its earlier declaration to withdraw its Typhon missile system from the Philippines by September. The CPP also condemns Marcos and his defense officials for making excuses for the U.S.’ failure to keep its promise.

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By staff

Julie de Lima.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Julie de Lima, chairperson of the Peace Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Negotiating Panel firmly reiterates its commitment to the resumption of peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). Our dedication to achieving a just and lasting peace remains steadfast, as we believe the negotiations present an effective means to address the underlying causes of the civil war.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) gives its highest tribute to Maria Concepcion Araneta-Bocala (Ka Concha), Vicente Hinojales (Ka Hadjie/Ka Emil) and the August Heroes and Martyrs of Panay. They are Party cadres and Red fighters of the New People’s Army who died resisting the Marcos fascist regime, defending the rights of the oppressed masses of workers and peasants, and fighting alongside the Filipino people to attain their centuries-long aspirations for genuine freedom and democracy.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Coni Ledesma, Head of the Special Office for the Protection of Children, National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children (NDFP-SOPC) vehemently condemns the Marcos Jr administration for its dirty war tactics of hostaging children and using them as pawns to force the surrender of revolutionary forces. Last June 2, fascist soldiers of the 74th IB arbitrarily arrested 11 farmers and 7 minors who were working in a coconut processing farm in Sityo Canonghan, Barangay Osmeña, Palapag, Northern Samar.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following July 26 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) calls on the Filipino people to expose and condemn the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), specifically the Philippine Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion, for unlawfully imposing a military lockdown on the peasant communities of Northern Samar, and subjecting thousands of people to onerous policies and measures. People of barangays Hitapian and San Vicente in Catubig town, as well as Barangay San Jose in Mapanas town have been placed under lockdown since July 19.

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By staff

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

The unjust guilty verdict handed down by the Tagum Regional Trial Court against Rep. France Castro, former Rep. Satur Ocampo and several other individuals, is a direct attack of the fascist US-Marcos regime against the democratic and patriotic forces of the Filipino people. We join the broad masses of the Filipino people in roundly condemning this grave act of political persecution.

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By Jon Abraham

Protestors carry a banner that says “Stop Police Crimes! Community control over police now!” Dozens of other protestors are visible marching behind and beside them.

Washington, DC – On July 7, hundreds of activists from over 60 organizations mobilized to protest the 75th anniversary NATO Summit occurring July 9 -11 in the city. The protest, organized the Resist NATO coalition started at McPherson Square and marched to the White House, demanding an end to U.S.- NATO aggression and to defend peoples’ struggles.  

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By staff

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

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the various patriotic and democratic sectors in denouncing the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that is scheduled to be signed today by representatives of Japan and the Marcos government, at the behest of the interventionist US imperialist government.

The RAA, similar to the notorious US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement, will pave the way for Japanese military forces to establish their presence in the country as part of the plan to deploy overseas troops, preposition their vessels, conduct war exercises and preparations, and bind the Philippines more tightly to the US-led military alliances. Through the RAA, Marcos is allowing Japan to heighten its intervention in the Philippines in exchange for the transfer of military equipment, as well as promises of investments and loans, which only means deepening the country’s dependence on foreign capital.

The RAA is being signed in the context of intensified overseas military operations of Japan within the framework of the US-led Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) and increasing role in war exercises and preparations. It aims to increase the part of Japanese military forces in the current US geopolitical strategy, as elaborated in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, which aims to contain and counter the growth of China’s economic and military power and influence. The RAA, in particular, will allow Japan to use the Philippines to expand its reach and influence, at the behest of the US military.

On US goading over the past years, Japan has been strengthening and expanding its so-called self-defense force (SDF) as a belligerent force, long prohibited under the Japanese constitution. The US has been putting pressure on Japan to increase its military spending to 2% (from 1%) of its GDP to “share the burden” of “deterring Chinese aggression.”

Since its defeat at the end of World War II, Japan has served as a junior imperialist power of the US. In pushing Japan to increase its military strength, the US is making the calculated risk of emboldening the expansionist aspirations of Japanese monopoly capitalists.

In signing the RAA with Japan, the Marcos regime will further tie the country to the US-led imperialist jingoist alliance, and shackle the Philippines more firmly to the military and economic interests of the US and Japan. It will further erode the country’s capacity to independently assert its own interests and aspirations.

By signing the RAA, Marcos will pave the way for the return to the Philippines of the military forces of imperialist Japan, which has never fully acknowledged and rectified the crimes perpetrated by its soldiers who occupied the country in 1942-1945, including the rape of thousands of Filipino comfort women.

#International #Philippines #CPP #Statement

By staff

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

Former US air force colonel, Raymond M. Powell, is an active psywar operative, interventionist, war-monger and American agent-provocateur. From an obscure career in the US military, he has been receiving much air time from big Philippine media organizations since last year, touted as a “security analyst” and “expert on maritime issues.”

Colonel Powell has been actively supporting Philippine security forces in carrying out provocative operations in the West Philippine Sea in the guise of “supply missions” to bring “construction materials” to the BRP Sierra Madre. He has recently stepped up his provocation, pushing the Philippines to consult with the US on options under the Mutual Defense Treaty. He insists China will not be open to deescalating conflicts, insinuating that there is no more room for diplomacy and dialogue.

Funded and endorsed by the US military, Colonel Powell has been playing an active role in the US “Indo-Pacific strategy,” that aims to contain China’s growth as an economic and military power. He presently heads the Myoushu and Sealight projects at Stanford University, which has been actively providing “information operations” support to the so-called “supply missions” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine Coast Guard. These naval and maritime operations challenge China’s “gray-zone tactics” and push it to its limits. This is part of the overall US military scheme to make China “own the starting pistol.”

By way of background, Colonel Powell took part in the US wars of invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), both of which were waged by the US on false pretexts. As an expert in information wars, he is now actively seeking ways to ignite a military conflict between the Philippines and China, and thus set the pretext for a large-scale US war of intervention.

Colonel Powell is part of US drumbeating operations to generate a clamor for war and for US military intervention. He is working alongside other US-funded, supported or endorsed “think tanks” such as the “International Development and Security Cooperation” which has been hyping up the scenario of a “Chinese invasion” and consistently calling on the US to step in. The fanning of Sinophobia is also part of this information war.

Colonel Powell and the slew of “security analysts” must be exposed and denounced as war-mongers, who have no qualms of sparking a war in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea, which will surely trample further on Philippine sovereignty and bring a great disaster to the Filipino people.

#International #Philippines #CPP #Statement

By Joe Iosbaker

Panel of jurors \[left to right\], Julen Arzuraga Gumuzio, Severine De Laveleye, Lennox Hinds and Suzanne Adely.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Brussels, Belgium – A packed house of several hundred people witnessed a dramatic legal proceeding this past weekend. May 18 and 19. An International People’s Tribunal was held, initiated by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle.

In its conclusion, the tribunal named Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former President Rodrigo Duterte, U.S. President Joe Biden and the U.S. government all guilty of charges of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

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