CPP/NPA-FSM: Red salute to Ka Vergel and Ka Jan, young Lumad martyrs

NPA propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines Website (Jun 1): Red salute to Ka Vergel and Ka Jan, young Lumad martyrs

Dencio Madrigal, Spokesperson
NPA-Far South Mindanao (Valentin Palamine Command)

1 June 2017

After the Duterte regime declared martial law in Mindanao, the 73rd IB-PA launched intensified offensives against the people and their revolutionary forces along the border of Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and North Cotabato provinces.
On May 25, at 12:30 noon, an NPA sapper team attacked a group of 73rd IB patrolling troopers. In the afternoon of the same day, the AFP retaliated with artillery shelling.

On the next day, Army troops clashed with an NPA buffer squad. The fascists recovered explosives, eight backpacks and personal belongings of Red fighters but the comrades were able to prevent them from launching a bigger offensive.

On May 27, two fascist soldiers were killed when a team of Red fighters attacked a column of the 73rd IB operating troops at around 3:30 in the afternoon. An armed encounter followed between an NPA harassment team and the military at around 9 a.m. Another encounter between an NPA harassment team and soldiers followed at 9 a.m. on May 29 which resulted into the deaths of the two Red fighters and a 73rd IB trooper. The fascist troops recovered two high-powered rifles and personal belongings of the two slain comrades. Another encounter happened at 3:30 p.m. on the same day where a soldier was said to be killed.

The VPC-ROC and all revolutionary forces and masses in Far South Mindanao salute the young Lumad martyrs who fought to the end. Ka Vergel (Arginel Catan) hailed from the Bagobo clan in North Cotabato, while Ka Jan (Jovani Tewaro) is a B’laan from Davao del Sur. They joined the NPA to fight against abuses of multinational agribusinesses and large-scale mining in their ancestral land.

In imposing martial law in Mindanao, local and multinational agribusinesses’ and large-scale mining companies’ use of the militar and police forces has become more evident in suppressing the Lumad and peasant struggle for land, livelihood and environmental protection.

While human rights abuses intensify due to the imposition of martial law, more people from Mindanao will be pushed into taking up arms against the oppressive system which place them in the quagmire of misery, oppression and injustice.

https://www.philippinerevolution.info/statements/20170601-red-salute-to-ka-vergel-and-ka-jan-young-lumad-martyrs