CPP/NDF/NPA: NPA harasses Brillantes goons, AFP troops

NDF/NPA propaganda statement posted to the CPP Website (Apr 26): NPA harasses Brillantes goons, AFP troops

NDFP National Democratic Front of the Philippines

 

By Ka ARIS FRANCISCO
Spokesperson
NPA Comval-North Davao-South Agusan Subregional Command

 

A unit of the New People’s Army Comval-North Davao South Agusan Subregional command harassed military forces on 23 and 24 April, in Km 21, Casoon, Monkayo town. One was killed and two were wounded from the troops who were part of the joint operations of the 25th Infantry Battalion, Scout Rangers, 66th Infantry Battalion, 28th Infantry Battalion, and the Task Force formed by Mayor Joselito Brillantes, Jr., and the 10th Infantry Division – Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In response to the successful NPA raid of Mayor Brillantes’ armory in Olaycon, Monkayo, on 14 April 14, the AFP mounted heavy military operations in the towns of Monkayo, Laak and Montevista in Compostela Valley. The size of operations belied Mayor Brillantes’ continued denial that he was a warlord who had an arms cache of 74 firearms and thousands of ammunition.

Brillantes and the military are bent in recovering the same firearms so that Brillantes can continue to maintain his private army and goons, protect his mining business and continue his rabid anti-people activities. His own goons and private army are part of the joint military operations in the countryside.

The NPA will continue to mount tactical offensives to stymie Brillantes’ efforts and the AFP’s counter-revolutionary Oplan Bayanihan to pursue revolutionary justice and raise the level of people’s war.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20150426_npa-harasses-brillantes-goons-afp-troops

CPP/NDF: NDFP: Prospects and Tasks

Sison propaganda piece posted to the CPP Website (Apr): NDFP: Prospects and Tasks

Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Founding Chairman
Communist Party of the Philippines

 

I am very pleased to join all of you in celebrating the 42nd founding anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. I thank the organizers of the event for inviting me to speak on the NDFP: Prospects and Tasks, as follow up to the presentation of Louie on the role of the NDFP in the people’s democratic revolution and that of Coni on the NDFP’s negotiating for a just and lasting peace.

The prospects of the NDFP in strengthening itself, advancing its revolutionary role and winning greater victories in the new democratic revolution of the Filipino people are brighter than ever before. The crisis of the world capitalist system and the crisis of the US-dominated ruling system of big compradors, landlords and corrupt bureaucrats continue to worsen.

The broad masses of the people are fed up with the ruling system and the current US-Aquino regime and are desirous of revolutionary change. They struggle to realize full national independence, genuine democracy, social justice, development through land reform and national industrialization, a patriotic and progressive culture, and international solidarity with all peoples fighting for peace and development against imperialism and reaction.

The revolutionary forces are fast gaining in strength. As the advanced detachment of the proletariat, the Communist Party of the Philippines is making big strides in its ideological, political and organizational work. The New People’s Army is winning brilliant victories in the battlefield and is on track in bringing the people’s war from the strategic defensive to the threshold of the strategic stalemate. The revolutionary organs of political power and the mass organizations are stronger than ever.

As a consequence, the NDFP can be more effective than ever in uniting and harmonizing the national and democratic rights of the Filipino people through its allied organizations. The NDFP is the most advanced embodiment of the national united front based on the basic alliance of the toiling masses of workers and peasants, and the middle social strata that are the urban petty bourgeoisie and the middle bourgeoisie.

The NDFP is ever ready to expand the united front by taking advantage of the contradictions among sections of the reactionary classes of big compradors and landlords, by being open to temporary alliance with the sections enlightened enough to oppose and help to isolate and destroy the power of the most benighted anti-national and anti-democratic section.

The NDFP has most successfully used the broad united front to overthrow the Marcos and Estrada regimes, and to discredit and cripple in a big way other regimes. The broad united front is working hard to mobilize the people to force the resignation of Aquino. Whatever is the outcome of the effort, the national democratic movement will become even stronger.

The NDFP has won great victories as a united front for armed revolution. This takes the concrete form of the anti-feudal united front, relying mainly on the poor peasants and farm workers, winning over the middle peasants, befriending the rich peasants, and taking advantage of the contradictions among the landlords in order to isolate and destroy the power of the despotic landlords.

The NDFP and the allied revolutionary forces within its fold are determined to become stronger and go all the way to overthrow the ruling system and establish the people’s democratic state. This is the best possible way to achieve national liberation and democracy and realize a just and lasting peace.

The NDFP continues to explore the possibility to advance the national democratic movement through peace negotiations and agreements with any regime that wishes to have an alliance with the revolutionary forces and the people. In the absence of any peace agreement, the NDFP is justified to persevere in the armed revolution.

The Philippine revolution has contributed significantly to the struggle of the world’s people against imperialism and reaction, and has gained considerable international support through the work of the NDFP abroad. We are confident that the NDFP will continue to be an effective instrument of the Filipino people and the revolutionary forces for building international solidarity with other peoples and all positive forces, and for establishing and developing proto-diplomatic relations with various governments and international agencies.

More than ever, there is a great need to strengthen the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and give full play to it as an indispensable weapon of the Filipino people in the new democratic revolution. The NDFP has the duty to carry out ten urgent tasks which are as follows:

1. It must propagate the general line of people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war.
2. It must educate and train cadres for united front work and engage in various types of campaigns and activities to arouse, organize and mobilize the broad masses of the people for the Philippine revolution.
3. It must promote the building of various types of alliances, such as the basic alliance of workers and peasants, the alliance of progressive forces, the alliance of patriotic forces and the broadest alliance possible, to oppose imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.
4. It must build the underground organizations of the NDFP in the urban areas and cooperate with the Communist Party and the New People’s Army in building the organs of political power and the revolutionary mass organizations in the countryside.
5. It must deploy its cadres to help in integrating the revolutionary mass base with the armed revolution and land reform.
6. It must engage in development activities, disaster relief, rehabilitation and environmental protection and assist in raising resources for the revolution and its social programs and facilitating the collection of contributions and tax payments.
7. It must build revolutionary strength among the national minorities for self-determination and ancestral domain.
8. It may engage in peace negotiations in accordance with the strategic line of realizing the national and social liberation of the people and must avoid misleading the people.
9. It must arouse, organize and mobilize the overseas migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos for the Philippine revolution.
10. It must work for international solidarity between the Filipino people and other peoples of the world for peace and development against imperialism and all reaction.

Long live the National Democratic Front of the Philippines!
Carry forward the people’s democratic revolution!
Long live the Filipino people!

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20150425_ndfp-prospects-and-tasks

GRP-NDFP talks may resume in May; NDFP sets conditions

From GMA News (Apr 27): GRP-NDFP talks may resume in May; NDFP sets conditions

Peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines may resume in early May, the chairman of its negotiating panel said Monday.

 

But for that to happen, the government must release 16 NDFP peace consultants — including Benito and Wilma Tiamzon whom the government says are top officials of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army — it is currently holding, NDFP negotiation panel chair Luis Jalandoni said at a forum in Quezon City.  

 

The government's refusal to release alleged rebels whom the NDFP said are consultants covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees has stalled peace negotiations since 2013.

 

The government has said the Tiamzons, who were arrested in Cebu in March 2014, are not covered by the JASIG.

 

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the JASIG was not operational at the time of the arrest anyway because the computer file containing the names of NDFP's peace consultants could not be decrypted.

Jalandoni said Monday that the government must also release at least 200 political prisoners. "The priority (for release) is on those who are sick, elderly, and those who have been imprisoned for four years or more," he said.

 

He added the government must also work towards socio-economic reforms, including the removal of what he called the government's labor export policy, or the deployment of overseas Filipino workers that puts Filipinos in danger abroad. 

 

Jalandoni said the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina who has been sentenced to death in Indonesia, is a result of that policy.

 

"Kung may political will, may posibilidad na within six months... before the end of Aquino's term, puwede pa [ang resumption of talks]," Jalandoni said.

 

He said, however, that the resumption of talks cannot lead to surrender. "Mahalaga dito sa peace [talks] na hindi mahulog sa katipulasyon," he said.

 

Government's call for sincerity

 

Earlier this month, the Armed Forces of the Philippines welcomed the possibility of the resumption of talks, but called on the CPP-NPA-NDF to show sincerity.

 

"The CPP-NPA-NDF must stop the abductions, killings, extortion activities, IED attacks, and other criminal acts which benefit no one, except those who actually profit from violence," AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said in a statement on Apr.18.

 

Jalandoni said that the NPA, which has been in an armed conflict with the government since 1969, has been releasing what it considers prisoners of war for humanitarian reasons and "in order to promote the resumption of peace talks."

 

The latest to be released, he said, were Cpl. Benjamin Samano and Pfc. Alvin Ricarte of the Philippine Army's 60th Infantry Battalion. 

 

The two soldiers were captured at a compound owned by a fruit company in a Davao del Norte town on Dec. 2 and turned over to Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 21.
 

That same month, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles criticized the New People's Army for attacks on soldiers and civilians during a government-declared unilateral ceasefire.

 

One of those attacks claimed the lives of 1LT Ronald Bautista, Pfc. Albert Amor and civilian auxiliary Renel Baluca who were killed in Compostela Valley on Dec. 29. They were unarmed and on their way to spend the holidays with their families.

 

"We strongly condemn the pointless violence exercised by the CPP-NPA-NDF. If they are truly serious in their call for the resumption of peace negotiations with Government, we challenge‎ them to walk their talk and stop harassing development projects, civilians and unarmed soldiers on holiday.  There is no way to peace but through peace," Deles said then.

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/477210/news/nation/grp-ndfp-talks-may-resume-in-may-ndfp-sets-conditions

AFP: No ISIS militants in the Philippines

From GMA News (Apr 27): AFP: No ISIS militants in the Philippines

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. on Monday maintained that no Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants operate from the Philippines.

 

“On the part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we don’t have any intelligence data about that. We maintain that there are no ISIS in this country. There are Abu Sayyaf, the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters), there are private armed groups, and that, to our knowledge, are the people who are making problems down south,” Catapang said. 

 

However, Catapang was quick to say that even if there were ISIS operatives in the country, they will not succeed because the AFP is ready to stop any force that will block the way to peace in the south and in the rest of the Philippines. 

 

“We don’t need to worry even if there are a few of them who wants to be radical, extremist, and terrorist. We will hunt them down, so with a united front, all Filipinos, whether Christian or Muslim or lumad is claiming peace,” Catapang said.  

 

“[Those who fight against peace] will be isolated, they will become useless, irrelevant and they will lose in this fight,” he added. 

 

In October 2014, a student in Zamboanga City said members of jihadist group ISIS was recruiting students from a university there.

 

The student from Western Mindanao State University said ISIS has been recruiting students for two months, adding that each recruit would be given P70,000.

 

Recruiters also promised more benefits for students who finish their training as ISIS members, the report added.

 

In August of the same year, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayyaf Group claimed to have pledged allegiance to ISIS.

A spokesman for the BIFF said, however, that is is not sending fighters to Syria nor is it recruiting members for the ISIS, which is also called the Islamic State.

The military dismissed the supposed alliances as propaganda.

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/477338/news/nation/afp-no-isis-militants-in-the-philippines

Rebel weapons, explosives seized in Mindanao

From the Manila Times (Apr 27): Rebel weapons, explosives seized in Mindanao

Security forces have seized a cache of rebel weapons and explosives and arrested a suspected communist insurgent in a raid on his hideout in Compostela Valley province in southern Philippines, officials said on Monday.

Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said soldiers swooped down on the hideout in Casoon village in Monkayo town and arrested Eugenio Piamonte.

He said a search in Piamonte’s hideout yielded five automatic rifles, 11 improvised explosives, 10 pairs of police uniforms, 10 pairs of army uniforms, 10 pairs of combat boots, eight 40mm grenades, one tripod for M79 grenade launcher, a flare and a link for machine gun.

http://www.manilatimes.net/rebel-weapons-explosives-seized-in-mindanao/178910/

Davide rules out MILF return to separatism

From the Manila Times (Apr 27): Davide rules out MILF return to separatism
 

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide has ruled out the possibility of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) turning away from the peace agreement to seek an independent state.

Davide made the stance in light of the lawmakers’ lingering concern that the MILF could just go back to their rebellious ways at any given time because the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)—the fruit of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF inked in March 2014—does not ban the MILF from seceding from Philippine territory at any given time.

By signing agreements with the government, the MILF has bound itself to the process, Davide said.

“The reason the peace process could proceed in the first place is because the MILF had already given up its claim for secession. From its original call for an independent Islamic state, the MILF has indeed made a lot of compromises in negotiating for greater autonomy.

After signing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the MILF also signed the annexes on the CAB which include: transitional mode, power-sharing, wealth-sharing and the decommissioning of MILF combatants, as well as the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

“By engaging in a peace process, it will become difficult for the MILF to gain international recognition—a necessary requirement to gain full sovereignty, if they attempt to secede. Rather than facilitating secession, the participation of nation-states and other international actors and entities in the peace process makes them witness to the fact that secession is outside the intent or scope of the BBL, and that the Constitution prevails in all matters,” Davide argued.

Davide said that even if the BBL would expressly provide the ban on secessionism, such would still be non-binding or effective since a group that wants to secede would not be under the peace process anymore and as such, would not enjoy its benefits.

“Those who would claim secession are those who inherently refuse to recognize the power of government over them and therefore outside of the reach of the BBL. Any illegal acts that may stem from the demand to secede can be dealt with by the Constitution, including a creation of a state, which is prohibited,” Davide pointed out.

“The best protection against secessionism is the passage of the BBL and its effective implementation to provide a national environment that allows Muslim Mindanao to develop as part of a diverse Philippines. There would be no reason to secede,” Davide added.

Likewise, Davide countered the repeated claims of Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat that there should be a national referendum on which provinces will comprise the Bangsamoro Region.

Lobregat insisted by quoting one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, that a plebiscite should be conducted nationwide to have a constituent effect.

“The Constitution has provided how the plebiscite should be conducted: that it is to be done in areas that will be affected [by the measure]. Unless the Constitution is amended, that is how it should be done,” Davide said.

Under the peace agreement, the plebiscite will be held after the BBL is passed into law. The plebiscite will include the areas in the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM (which will be replaced by the Bangsamoro Region), as well as the other areas that voted for their inclusion in the ARMM 2001 plebiscite, namely: the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte, as well as municipalities of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Midsayap and other contiguous areas wherein 10 percent of the total population would want to join the Bangsamoro.

The former Chief Justice, however, agreed with Cagayan de Oro Rep. and House Ad Hoc panel on the BBL head Rufus Rodriguez that the BBL should not be an expanding territory and that the Sharia High Court cannot be above the Supreme Court.

http://www.manilatimes.net/davide-rules-out-milf-return-to-separatism/179001/

Peace talks with NDF on soon

From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 28): Peace talks with NDF on soon

THE National Democratic Front on Monday said peace talks with the government may resume in May if the government releases 16 NDF “peace consultants,” including top communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon.

“If there is political will, there is a possibility that within six months, before the end of [President Benigno] Aquino’s term, the puwede pa [ang resumption of talks],” NDF peace panel chairman Luis Jalandoni said at a forum in Quezon City.

“What is important in the peace talks is that it does not result capitulation [of the communist rebels],” Jalandoni added.

Aside from the release of the NDF consultants, Jalandoni the government must also release at least 200 political prisoners in government custody.

“The priority (for release) is on those who are sick, elderly, and those who have been imprisoned for four years or more,” he said.

The NDF leadership had already expressed willingness last month to resume peace negotiations with the government that has remained stalled for four years now.

“The NDF continues to be ready to resume negotiations,” CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison said in a podcast. “But it seems it is the government that is not ready. This makes the resumption of formal talks difficult.”

“Malacañang has said that their attention now is on the Bangsamoro Basic Law to complete the peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” Sison said, but Aquino has yet to firm up the composition of the government negotiating panel.

“It appears that the Aquino regime has no interest in the peace talks and only want to use force to quell the revolutionary movement,” he said.

Jalandoni echoed Sison’s statement, urging the government to concentrate on the stalled peace talks with the communist group while addressing issues with the MILF.

“The Aquino regime is preoccupied to the deepest extent in the Mamasapano incident,” Jalandoni said in a separate statement.

He said the administration must show “political will” for the peace negotiations to move forward.

Both sides were hoping to jumpstart the peace talks this year with backchannel talks that began in the last quarter of 2014, but were overtaken by the January 25 Mamasapano debacle.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/04/28/peace-talks-with-ndf-on-soon/

EDCA: Palawan air base added to locations offered to US

From Rappler (Apr 27): EDCA: Palawan air base added to locations offered to US

The list has grown to 8 military bases from the initial 3 locations revealed last year



BALIKATAN 2015: US Marines conduct mock raid exercises at the Naval Education Training Center (NETC) in Zambales

The Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, has been added to the list of locations offered by the Philippines to the United States military under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

This means two bases in Palawan – the province nearest the disputed islands and reefs in the Spratlys (Kalayaan Group of Islands) – will see increased US presence when the Supreme Court upholds the military-to-military agreement. The High Court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of the agreement.

 

The other Palawan base offered to the US military is the Naval Station Carlito Cunanan (NSCC) in Ulugan Bay, also in Puerto Princesa. It is facing the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The new list that includes the Antonio Bautista Air Base was provided by Philippine military chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr to television network ABS-CBN.

Outside Palawan, the following 6 bases have been offered to the US military:

• Naval Education & Training Command (NETC) in San Antonio, Zambales
• Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija
• Crow Valley in Tarlac
• Basa Air Base in Pampanga
• Naval Base Rafael Ramos in Cebu
• Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu

ULUGAN BAY: A Philippine warship inside the Ulugan Bay in Palawan, the home port of the Philippine Navy's Hamilton-class cutters. Rappler file photo

No more Oyster Bay?

 

The NCSS is the headquarters of the Naval Forces West (Navforwest), which has command and control of a number of naval detachments including the Oyster Bay naval detachment, also inside the Ulugan Bay.

 

Catapang's predecessor, retired AFP Chief General Emmanuel Bautista, previously specified Oyster Bay as one of the EDCA locations. It is a small bay at the mouth of Ulugan Bay that serves as the usual jump-off point of Philippine vessels going to the Spratlys.

 

Asked if the Oyster Bay detachment is still offered to the US military, Catapang told Rappler: “Oyster Bay maybe considered in the future.”

 

The Palawan-based Western Command (Wescom) is responsible for the country's territorial defense.

 

The province is seeing a glimpse of increased US presence as the ongoing Balikatan 2015 focuses on the province. The commander of the Palawan-based Western Command (Wescom) himsef, Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez, is the exercise director. (WATCH: War games show how US defends PH island from 'invaders')

Command Post exercises are conducted in Wescom to synchronize the Philippine and US militaries so they know how to work together in case the Mutual Defense Treaty is invoked.

 

Panatag, too

 

While the US maintains it is not taking sides in the maritime conflict, it supports the Philippine move to bring the issue to international arbitration and condemns China’s unilateral actions in the South China Sea.

 

The US interest is mainly economic. It is afraid that China’s growing militarization of the South China Sea will affect freedom of navigation. The South China Sea is a major trade route.

 

China is reclaiming 7 areas in the Spratlys to build facilities, including what appears to be China’s first runway in the disputed area.

 

Official negotiations for increased US presence in the Philippines started in 2013, a year after the standoff in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. The Chinese Coast Guard occupied the shoal, depriving Filipino fishermen of their livelihood.

 

One of the EDCA locations, the NETC, faces Scarborough.

 

The Philippine request for US assistance in its row with Beijing coincides with the US strategy with the rebalance to the Pacific.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/91231-edca-locations-palawan

Army downplays BIFF capability to launch major offensives vs. Army

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 27): Army downplays BIFF capability to launch major offensives vs. Army

The Army's 6th Infantry Division on Monday downplayed the capability of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to launch major offensives against military installations but admitted it is capable of "hit and run" attacks on military and police detachments in Maguindanao.

Capt. Joann Petinglay, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said since April 15, the lawless BIFF has launched at least 10 harrasments that left two soldiers and a civilian wounded.

"This is obviously to send the message that it is still a force to reckon with when it truth it is not," she said of the BIFF.

The latest attack carried by the BIFF was in the detachment of 21st Mechanized Company of the 1st Infantry Brigade in Barangay Elian, Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Petinglay said at past 5 p.m. Saturday, two men walked past the detachment and tossed a hand grenade. A soldier standing in front noticed the grenade throwing and yelled at his companion to drop. Seconds later blast followed.

An hour later, another rifle grenade attack occurred at the 14th mechanized company based in Barangay Bagan, Guindulungan, Maguindanao.

Nobody was hurt in the twin attacks.

Following the incidents, Petinglay said soldiers had intensified their security in all of their positions in Magundanao.

Since BIFF founding chair Ameril Umra Kato died on April 13, the BIFF launched harassment.

Petinglay said Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th ID chief, has called on the villagers and the local officials to help monitoring the activities of the lawless elements to prevent similar attacks in the future.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=756626

Chinese Coast Guard bombards Filipino fishing boat with water cannon, points gun on skipper at Scarborough Shoal

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 27): Chinese Coast Guard bombards Filipino fishing boat with water cannon, points gun on skipper at Scarborough Shoal

A fishing boat skipper from this town told Sunday their ordeal allegedly in the hands of the Chinese at the Scarborough Shoal when their fish catch were confiscated, their boat destroyed by water cannon on April 18 and a Chinese Coast Guard pointed a gun on him.

Valeriano Quimson, 40, boat captain of FB/John Alex, said that on April 12 or a day after they arrived at the Scarborough Shoal from barangay Sisiman here said Chinese Coast Guard carrying long firearms on board a rubber boat confiscated their fish catch from their service banca.

”They confiscated our catch and forcibly pulled our fishing hooks. They threw the fish and fishing hooks to the sea. In the second time, they also got again our catch and fishing hooks but they did threw the fish to the sea and instead put the fish into their rubber boats,” he said.

Quimson said members of the Chinese Coast Guard then boarded the fishing boat.

“One of them pointed a long gun at me,” he said.

He said that after the incidents, they went to the other parts of Scarborough Shoal and noticed that the Chinese Coast Guard seemed to be resting and were not visible in the area for three days.

“In the morning of April 18, I went down from our mother boat and boarded to the service banca to go fishing. However, I saw that the boat of the Chinese Coast Guard was coming. That is why I decided to return, but the service banca got troubled,” the fishing boat captain said.

Other fishing boats were bombarded by water cannon in the afternoon of April 11.

He said that of the 11 fishing crews, only three were left at their mother boat.

”The spray of the water cannon was too strong that thrown away two of my crew and the operator of the steering wheel was also affected. He was also hit by water cannon,” Quimson said.

”All our things, including the generators and appliances were destroyed. Our cellphones and clothes floated into the water,” he said.

Quimson appealed to government to solve the Scarborough case.

“What had happened to our fishermen is so pity as if they were pigs being driven away by the Chinese,” he said.

Quimson arrived in Sisiman at 3 p.m. of Sunday after fishing at Scarborough for more than two weeks.

It took us a long time to go fishing. We went fishing during the night but during daytime we are monitoring because it would be difficult then when the Chinese Coast Guard arrived again,” he said.

However, Quimson said they will keep on coming back to Scarborough because of the poor catch in other fishing grounds and its being a safe place during typhoons.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=756644

MILF: North Cotabato residents join Peace Caravan

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 27): North Cotabato residents join Peace Caravan



(In photo)- Some participants on board their motorcycles during the Bangsamoro Caravan for Just and Dignified Peace on April 25 in North Cotabato

A large number of North Cotabato residents representing various sectors participated in a Mindanao-wide Bangsamoro Caravan for Just and Dignified Peace on April 25 and urged both Houses of Congress to pass an undiluted Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that President Benigno Aquino submitted to congress on September 10, 2014.

From different assembly areas, they proceeded to the provincial capitol of Cotabato where they held a short program. They handed over their Manifesto of Support for BBL to the provincial government through Deputy Governor Edris Gandalibo along with Police Senior Superintendent Danilo Palenzuela Peralta, Provincial Director of North Cotabato; Provincial Board Member Mohammad Kelly Antao, Al Haj and Datu Rex. 

Director Peralta said that the Philippine National Police of Cotabato is supportive of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, a statement that made the participants chanted “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Great).

The participants used motorcycles, public utility vehicles, Elf and Forward cargo trucks, and personal cars. According to the Bangsamoro Communication Network (BCN) about 1,791 motorcycles were part of the convoy that joined the peace caravan.

From Kabacan National Highway to Matalam town, they proceeded to Amas, Kidapawan City where the Provincial Capitol is located. Their streamers and placards contained various calls and statements like Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) Sigay na Bangsamoro (BBL, Light of the Bangsamoro People); Congressmen and Senators, please pass an undiluted BBL; and BBL is the only ultimate solution to Mindanao Problem.

They brought food and non-food items such as used clothes, utensils, rice, fruits, dry and canned goods and cash as relief assistance for distribution to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) who were victims of the Mamasapano tragic incident last January 25. 

The organizers extended their gratitude to individuals and groups that participated in the peaceful caravan; the AFP and the PNP members who provided security that made the activity orderly and peaceful.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/909-north-cotabato-residents-join-peace-caravan

17 rebels killed in Eastern Mindanao Command areas of operations

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 27): 17 rebels killed in Eastern Mindanao Command areas of operations

The Eastern Mindanao Command has neutralized 17 New People's Army (NPA) fighters in encounters starting from January to April 26 this year.

This was disclosed by Col. Romeo Brawner, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson, in a statement Monday.

"Moreover, there are already 17 NPAs killed as a result of encounters with our security forces in the Davao region and in parts of North Cotabato and Sarangani Province," he added.

It can be recalled that on Feb. 16 alone, seven rebels were killed in a clash with the soldiers of 73rd Infantry Battalion who were on security patrol in a village in Alabel, Saragani Province.

Nine high powered firearms were also recovered by the troops from the NPAs during that encounter.

Additionally, a total of 48 NPAs have surrendered from January to April 2015 in said areas.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=756362

MILF: Chief Minister’s control over Bangsamoro Police” is constitutional”: Rep. Barzaga

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 27): Chief Minister’s control over Bangsamoro Police” is constitutional”: Rep. Barzaga



Photo from POLITIKO website

Dasmariñas City (Cavite) Rep Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. said on April 25, “That proposed grant to the chief minister of the envisioned Bangsamoro region of operational control over police forces in the area is consistent with the Constitution”.

He made the statement in defense of the provision in the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL that authorizes the head of the proposed Bangsamoro Government operational control over the Bangsamoro Police.

“In this issue, I don’t see any inconsistencies between the BBL and the Constitution. It is clear in the proposed BBL that the Bangsamoro police will be part of the Philippine National Police (PNP), while the Bangsamoro Regional Police Board (BRPB) will be part of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) and will carry out NAPOLCOM‘s mandate in the region,” he said.

He added that under the Constitution, control over the regional police should be in consonance with Republic Act 6975, the law creating the PNP, which authorizes NAPOLCOM to deputize mayors to exercise such control.

Barzaga noted that NAPOLCOM has deputized local officials to have such power in the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

He emphasized that “There will not be any major difference under the proposed BBL, since such power will only be transferred to the planned Bangsamoro Autonomous Region whose leaders will also be elected by the people. The Bangsamoro region will replace ARMM and control by local officials over police forces under the present set-up will be given to the Bangsamoro chief minister”.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on BBL has repeatedly stated that the provision on the grant to the chief minister of operational control over police forces is unconstitutional and should be deleted among 7 other BBL provisions.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/908-chief-minister-s-control-over-bangsamoro-police-is-constitutional-rep-barzaga

MILF: Peace process has gone far, no turning back: GPH peace panel chair

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 27): Peace process has gone far, no turning back: GPH peace panel chair



Photo courtesy of Jake Narte, Sarangani PIO

“We have gone this far in our peace process. There should be no turning back.”

Government peace panel chief negotiator Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer highlighted this statement in a gratitude speech accepting this year’s Hillary Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace.

In a luncheon ceremony at Georgetown University in USA on Thursday, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally handed the award to Ferrer .The recognition cited Ferrer’s indefatigable work to bring about peace in the Philippines and for her historic role as the first female chief negotiator to sign a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The Philippine Government has been engaged in peace negotiation with the MILF for 17 years. On March 27, 2014, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) was signed by the two parties and was witnessed by international communities.

Coronel-Ferrer has signed on behalf of the Philippine Government the agreement which is aimed to establish an autonomous region that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“This Agreement will enable MILF combatants and other disenfranchised segments of the Moro population to participate in meaningful autonomous governance,” she said.

Coronel-Ferrer underscored, “It provides a road map for a new set of more democratic, representative and accountable political institutions.  It taps diverse modes for delivering socioeconomic programs to decommissioned combatants, the internally displaced and communities long affected by the conflict.”

The government’s chief negotiator said the CAB bridges the majority-minority divide toward a shared future “where fellow-Filipinos live in peace under one flag in an undivided territory.”

As a grandmother, Coronel-Ferrer said she doesn’t want her granddaughter to “inherit a country divided by prejudice, dishonored by sexism, and stunted by the narrow vision of members of its political class.”

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/907-peace-process-has-gone-far-no-turning-back-gph-peace-panel-chair

MILF: GPH panel chair calls for end to discrimination against Muslims, women

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 27): GPH panel chair calls for end to discrimination against Muslims, women

Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Panel chief negotiator Prof.  Miriam Coronel-Ferrer called for an end to discrimination against Muslims and women in the country in a gratitude speech accepting Hillary Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security on Thursday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., USA.

“Our peace process, indeed, was informed by the very goals of this award: to protect women against all forms of violence and advance the role of women in attaining peace and security in and outside of their homes,” Ferrer said.

“I speak especially of the women in the Bangsamoro, who have endured the burden of strife, and who must now secure their places in the public sphere as equal partners in peace and development,” she added.

Coronel-Ferrer related the hindrances faced by the Government of the Philippines (GPH)-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace process after the tragic Mamasapano incident last January 25 where 44 members of the Police - Special Action Force died. 

“The public discourse slid into bigotry against the Moros, the MILF as well as Muslims in general. Centuries of distrust and hatred resurfaced,” Coronel-Ferrer said.

“Most of those killed were policemen, and their deaths rightfully generated public sympathy for the police but also stoked the flames or resentment against the MILF, the peace agreement and the draft law that would establish a new autonomous government in Muslim Mindanao,” said Coronel-Ferrer.

The tag “animals”, “terrorists”, “criminals” and “barbarians” bombarded the Moro people and the Moro rebels in the opinion sections of Mamasapano related articles in the web. Journalists and columnists of broadsheets used the term “slaughter” and “massacre” to describe the incident.

Senators, in their report, called the Mamasapano encounter “massacre.” However, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commission on Human Rights objected and said it was not a massacre.

The MILF said it was an encounter that resulted from the absence of coordination by the law enforcers and the MILF forces just defended themselves.” The DoJ report also said the police commandoes fired the first shot.   

A major undertaking in the peace process is the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) aimed to establish a more meaningful autonomous Bangsamoro region. The draft law is now undergoing scrutiny by the lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives. 

The MILF, members of Muslim communities and peace advocates urged the passage of “unchanged” BBL to create “more autonomous” governance for the Moro people. Some lawmakers have viewed some provisions of the proposed measure as unconstitutional, thus those should be deleted or amended.

Coronel-Ferrer added “As I speak right now, the ceasefire remains in place. But the vision of lasting peace is being shut out by the narrow horizons of certain political elites, and by a public fed with misinformation and driven by prejudices bordering on Islamophobia.”

The chief negotiator has signed on behalf of the government the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) aimed to establish the Bangsamoro region that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“This Agreement will enable MILF combatants and other disenfranchised segments of the Moro population to participate in meaningful autonomous governance,” she said.

She pointed out, “It provides a road map for a new set of more democratic, representative and accountable political institutions.  It taps diverse modes for delivering socioeconomic programs to decommissioned combatants, the internally displaced and communities long affected by the conflict.”

The CAB bridges the majority-minority divide toward a shared future “where fellow-Filipinos live in peace under one flag in an undivided territory,” Coronel-Ferrer said.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/906-gph-panel-chair-calls-for-end-to-discrimination-against-muslims-women

MILF: An ethnic Tao Sug assumes as new Maguindanao Police Director, vows support to peace process

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 26): An ethnic Tao Sug assumes as new Maguindanao Police Director, vows support to peace process



Maguindanao’s outgoing police director, Senior Superintendent Rudelio Jocson (left) shakes hand with his successor, Senior Superintendent Nickson Muksan, in the presence of Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu during a simple command turnover Saturday in Buluan town. John Unson/Philstar

 

Yesterday, April 25, an ethnic Tausog police officer assumed as new Provincial Police Director of Maguindanao and vowed to support the GPH-MILF Peace process.

Senior Superintendent Nickson Muksan, from Sulu replaced outgoing Senior Superintendent Rudelio Jocson in the presence of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, other local and police officials.

Jocson, a graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy, completed early this year his two-year tenure as Maguindanao’s provincial police chief.

The command turnover held at Buluan was witnessed by senior police officials in the province and Mangudadatu's subordinate-provincial administrator, engineer Wahab Tunga. 

Prior to his appointment as new Maguindanao Police Director, Muksan was Lanao Del Sur’s Provincial Police Director.

Like Sulu, Maguindanao and Lanao Del Sur are also both under the administrative and political jurisdiction of ARMM.

Jocson will be assigned at the ARMM’s regional police headquarters in Camp S.K. Pendatun in Parang town. 

“I am confident Senior Superintendent Muksan can continue efficiently the good works started by Senior Superintendent Jocson while provincial police director,” Mangudadatu told reporters who attended the turn-over ceremony.

In his acceptance speech, Muksan said he will support the domestic peace and security programs of Mangudadatu, particularly the peaceful resolution of clan wars involving big ethnic Maguindanaon families.

Muksan urged the rank-and-file personnel of the provincial police office to continue supporting the governments’ peace programs for Moro communities in Maguindanao.

Jocson thanked Mangudadatu for extending ministerial and administrative support to the provincial police while he was its director for 28 months.

“I succeeded in managing the provincial police with the help of the office of the governor and the provincial peace and order council,” Jocson said.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/905-an-ethnic-tao-sug-assumes-as-new-maguindanao-police-director-vows-support-to-peace-process

AFP ready to deploy relief contingents to Nepal

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 27): AFP ready to deploy relief contingents to Nepal

If ordered to, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is more than willing to deploy a contingent to help quake-stricken Nepal.

"In case we are ordered by our Commander-in-Chief (President Benigno S. Aquino III), we are ready to send delegation to Nepal to help in humanitarian relief operations," AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said Monday.

Catapang said that the number of the Filipino contingent is dependent on the request of the Nepalese government.

As of this posting, the number of dead in the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal last April 25 has now hit the 3,500 mark with another 5,000 reported wounded.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=756518

CPP/NDF: Message on the launching of Ka Louie Jalandoni’s illustrated biography

NDF propaganda statement posted to the CPP Website (Apr 25): Message on the launching of Ka Louie Jalandoni’s illustrated biography

NDFP National Democratic Front of the Philippines

 

By FRANK FERNANDEZ
Spokesperson
NDFP Negros Island Chapter

 

The revolutionary forces and allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in the island of Negros convey their warmest solidarity greetings to fellow revolutionaries, friends and guests attending today’s book launch of Louie Jalandoni: Revolutionary, An Illustrated Biography by the contemporary progressive writer Ina Alleco R. Silverio, and also the celebration of the 42nd founding anniversary of NDFP.

Let us take this occasion as an opportunity to further strengthen our unity and resolve towards the realization of the national and democratic aspirations of the Filipino people.

In truth, giving a message about the life of Ka Louie poses a great difficulty. For it might be wanting in portraying the greatness of a man so well-loved by the masses, especially the peasants, farm workers and mill workers of Negros sugarlandia,
respected and emulated by the Church people, and much reviled by the class enemy.
Knowing the life of Ka Louie would give us valuable lessons what it means to serve the people wholly and entirely.

I was a young seminarian in the late 60s when I first came to know Ka Louie as Father Louie Jalandoni. He was then a newly ordained priest and just designated by the charismatic Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich as head of the Social Action Center that served as the leading arm of the diocese in its pastoral program in response to the prevailing social condition.

The chronic crisis of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal ruling system in the country was profoundly reflected in the local situation of Negros, aptly described by Bishop Fortich as a social volcano about to explode.

The comprador and landlord classes subjected the peasants, hacienda farm workers and sugar milling central workers to intolerable exploitation and oppression. Their crying need for justice was deafening but no hope was found within the system, leading them to the path of struggle for genuine social transformation.

The unfolding of the national democratic movement in the national capital and later on nationwide, and the Catholic Church’s teachings through the Vatican Council II and various social encyclicals had facilitated the diocese pastoral option of taking side with the exploited and the oppressed.

With the blessing of the good bishop, Father Louie and his Social Action Office immediately embarked on a pastoral program that brought the diocesan clergy, other religious people, seminarians and lay leaders in close link with the struggle of the people for justice.

Among those who whole-heartedly responded to the groundbreaking efforts of Father Louie in bringing the Church people to the struggle of the masses in building a truly just and humane society was a nun from Silay, Negros Occidental, named Sister Coni Ledesma.

As their commitment and involvement with the people’s struggle intensified and soared to greater heights, they grew closer and eventually fell for each other. Later, they got married, at a time when the fangs of open fascist rule by the US-Marcos regime began to show with the growth of the people’s mass movements
Father Louie’s ministry for the poor afforded him with a living education about realities of social inequality in an unjust social system. His world outlook drawn from his landlord class origin and bourgeois influence was constantly challenged and diminished by his constant contact with the struggling peasant masses victimized by landgrabbing, sacadas cruelly treated and deprived of their meager wages, mill workers suffering from union busting and unpaid labor, and other victims of social injustice.

His closeness with the suffering masses and his encounters with despotism and state repression would further sharpen his political education about the realities of social classes and class struggle, and the necessity of the national democratic revolution especially when its second propaganda movement had spread throughout the country and had exerted influence in the Church.

Father Louie Jalandoni’s fight for justice was highlighted in the much talked about incidents where the antagonistic confrontation between comprador-landlord despotism and the struggling masses was sharply focused.

Until now, the stories are retold by the masses about Father Louie Jalandoni who fought closely with the ranks of striking mill workers in Victorias Milling Company, Negros Occidental; the awakening and struggle of the farm workers of sugar plantations that gave birth to the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW); the rising peasants in Barangay (village) Hiyang-hiyang of Cadiz, who dared to challenge Congressman Armin Gustilo, then the most notorious warlord of Negros. While the masses of the exploited and oppressed accepted Fr. Louie as their own, the landlord class maligned him and wished him crucified.

As a priest, he helped pave the way for the Church people to connect the Gospel to the current realities of our country and became active participants in societal concerns. As an activist, he was at the forefront with the masses in various struggles, concerted actions and campaigns, not lording over them but befriending and learning from them and sharing their woes, hopes, dreams and aspirations.

He has contributed in many ways in the advances and development of the revolutionary movement. As a peace advocate, for years he toiled for the peace process to advance. As a people’s diplomat, he represented par excellence the revolutionary movement and the Filipino people in proto-diplomatic affairs and people-to-people relations around the world.

To celebrate Ka Louie’s profound, meaningful, colorful and enthralling life in one book may not be enough. But it’s a good start. To know the man whom the masses of Negros fondly remember as Kaupod Louie.

I wish Ka Louie good health and more years of service to the people and the revolution. And also, I would like to congratulate Ina Alleco R.Silverio for her commendable work. Thank you. Mabuhay tayong lahat. Sulong kag padayon tubtob sa kadalag-an!

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20150425_message-on-the-launching-of-ka-louie-jalandoni-s-illustrated-biography

AFP to follow rule of law, remain on defensive to avoid escalating tensions

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 27): AFP to follow rule of law, remain on defensive to avoid escalating tensions

Despite incidents of Chinese harassment involving patrolling Filipino forces, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that it will continue to follow the rule of law and will remain on the defensive to avoid escalating the tensions on the West Philippine Sea.

This was stressed by AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Monday.

"(Military pilots patrolling the West Philippine Sea) will have to follow the rule of law (despite being harassed) and the rules of engagements to ensure that they do not commit the mistake of doing any unnecessary action that might be mistaken by the opposite side as an offensive action," he said in Filipino.

And despite this, the AFP chief said that patrols will continue at the West Philippine Sea.

He also said that Filipino aircraft flying these missions are only equipped with cameras for their surveillance and patrol operations.

Last April 19, a Chinese frigate flashed powerful lights and radioed a patrolling Islander aircraft then overflying Subi Reef.

The aircraft crew ignored the Chinese warning and continued with its maritime patrol mission.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=756522

NPA rebels execute fisherman in front of village chapel

From the Daily Tribune (Apr 27): NPA rebels execute fisherman in front of village chapel

New People’s Army (NPA) members peppered a fishermen with bullets before other village residents in front of their chapel in Barangay San Agustin, Aroroy, Masbate, Friday, a police report yesterday said.

The report said victim Dante Bulanon, 45 and married, was eating lunch with his family at about 11:30 a.m. when 10 armed young rebels suddenly barged in, tied him, brought him in front of the chapel where there were many other villagers and shot him dead.

The rebels then casually walked away and left Bulanon’s dead body sprawled on the street.

Police said the rebels suspected the victim of giving information to the military and the police about their activities in the area.

Meanwhile in Davao City, troopers from the 84th Infantry Battalion shot and killed a New People’s Army (NPA) fighter during an encounter at Sitio Pamara, Barangay Sibulan, Toril District yesterday morning.

In the same clash, three rebel weapons were captured.

1st Lt. Vergel Lacambra, 10th Infantry Division spokesman, said their soldiers were conducting routine security patrols when they chanced upon 30 NPA fighters on an extortion mission at 8: 20 a.m.

In the issuing 20-minute firefight, a rebel was killed while two M-16 automatic rifles and one M-16 with an M-203 grenade launcher was captured.

The NPAs quickly retreated after seeing one of their men fell.

In the encounter, four government troopers were wounded and evacuated to Panacan Station Hospital for treatment.         

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/npa-rebels-execute-fisherman-in-front-of-village-chapel