CPP/Ang Bayan: Ma­du­gong si­ga­lot du­lot ng ekspan­syon ng plan­ta­syon

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Ma­du­gong si­ga­lot du­lot ng ekspan­syon ng plan­ta­syon

Pang-aa­gaw ng isang dam­bu­ha­lang ag­ri­bis­nes sa lu­pa­in ng mga mag­sa­sa­kang Ti­ru­ray at Mo­ro ang san­hi ng ma­du­gong sig­a­lot sa ba­ra­ngay Ka­la­mo­ngog sa ba­yan ng Le­bak, Sul­tan Ku­da­rat.

Uma­bot sa isang li­bong re­si­den­te ng ba­ra­ngay ang lu­mi­kas da­hil sa pag­sik­lab ng la­ba­nan noong Mar­so. Sa ha­lip na ayu­da, mga pwer­sa ng 6th IB at PNP ang ipi­na­da­la sa lu­gar pa­ra ti­ya­kin uma­no ang se­gu­ri­dad di­to. Nang­ya­ri ito sa git­na ng kri­sis na ki­na­ka­ha­rap sa pa­na­hon ng lockdown.

Tu­min­di ang si­ga­lot sa lu­gar da­hil sa pang­hi­hi­ma­sok ng La­pan­day Foods Cor­po­ra­ti­on, isang hi­gan­teng kum­pan­yang pag-aa­ri ng pa­mil­yang Lo­renzo. Ma­la­king bur­ge­sya kum­pra­dor ang pa­mil­yang Lo­renzo at ki­la­la sa ka­ni­lang pa­ki­ki­pag­ma­bu­ti­han sa si­nu­mang na­sa po­der. Ma­hi­git isang taon na bu­hat nang um­pi­sa­han ng kum­pan­ya ang ope­ra­syon ng plan­ta­syon ng sa­ging ni­to sa na­sa­bing lu­gar. Ni­lin­lang ng kum­pan­ya ang ilang mga re­si­den­te na iben­ta o ka­ya’y pau­pa­han ang ka­ni­lang mga lu­pa ka­pa­lit ng ha­la­gang ma­ta­tang­gap at pa­nga­kong tra­ba­ho. Pe­ro hin­di la­hat ay na­kum­bin­se at may ilang ma­la­la­king pa­mil­ya ang tu­mu­tol sa pag­pa­sok ng plan­ta­syo­n.

Nag­ta­la­ga ang plan­ta­syon ng mga ar­ma­dong gwardya na su­por­ta­do ng AFP. Bi­nig­yan din ng tra­ba­ho ang ilang pu­ma­pa­bor sa ka­ni­lang ope­ra­syo­n. Inud­yu­kan ang mga ito ng kum­pan­ya pa­ra ba­wi­in ang mga lu­pa­ing ma­ta­gal nang si­na­sa­ka ng ilang tu­mu­tu­tol bi­lang ba­ha­gi uma­no ng ka­ni­lang ina­ang­king lu­pang ni­nu­no.

Nag­ta­gum­pay ang kum­pan­ya na pag-a­way-a­wa­yin ang mga re­si­den­te. Mas tu­min­di pa ang gu­lo ma­ta­pos pas­la­ngin noong na­ka­ra­ang taon ang noo’y kapitan ng ba­ra­ngay na si Dios­da­do M. Eleazar na ki­la­lang tu­mu­tu­tol sa pag­pa­pa­la­wak ng plan­ta­syo­n. Inilahad ng mga re­si­den­te na mga ar­ma­dong maton ng kum­pan­ya ang may kagagawan ng krimen subalit wa­lang gi­na­wa ang lo­kal na pa­ma­ha­la­an at PNP pa­ra hu­li­hin at pa­na­gu­tin ang mga sa­la­rin.

Hu­ma­li­li sa pwes­to ang unang ka­ga­wad na si Hai­ru­din Ta­to Gu­bel na isa ring kri­ti­ko ng plan­ta­syo­n. Siya rin ay pi­nas­lang ng mga maton ng kum­pan­ya noong Mar­so 17. Hu­ma­li­li bi­lang pansamantalang pinu­no ng ba­ra­ngay si No­lasco Za­mo­ra Ado, isang tau­han ng kum­pan­ya.

Pi­na­la­la­bas na la­ba­nan uma­no ng mga angkang Ti­ru­ray at Mo­ro ang na­ga­ga­nap sa Ka­la­mo­ngog. Sa isang in­terbyu sa rad­yo, ma­ri­ing ibi­nin­tang ni No­lasco Ado, OIC ng ba­ra­ngay, sa mga ka­mag-a­nak ni Hai­ru­din Ta­to Gu­bel ang in­si­den­teng pa­ma­ma­ril noong Mar­so 25 sa Sit­yo Kia­tong. Igi­ni­it din ni­yang pu­li­ti­kal ang mo­ti­bo ng nang­ya­ya­ring ka­gu­lu­han.

Nababahala ang mga mag­sa­sa­ka ri­to na kung ti­tin­di pa ang si­ga­lot ay ma­pi­pi­li­tan si­lang lu­mi­kas at ti­yak na tu­lu­yan nang ma­ku­ku­ha ng kum­pan­ya ang ka­ni­lang lu­pa.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/madugong-sigalot-dulot-ng-ekspansyon-ng-plantasyon/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Da­ting kong­re­sis­ta at mga bo­lun­tir, ina­res­to sa Bu­lacan

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Da­ting kong­re­sis­ta at mga bo­lun­tir, ina­res­to sa Bu­lacan



INARESTO NG MGA pu­lis si­na Ari­el Ca­si­lao, da­ting ki­na­ta­wan ng Anak­pa­wis Partylist, at 12 iba pang bo­lun­tir at re­si­den­te sa Norza­ga­ray, Bu­lacan noong Abril 19. Na­ka­tak­dang ma­ma­ha­gi si­na Ca­si­lao at kasama niyang limang bo­lun­tir ng ayu­da pa­ra sa mga mag­sa­sa­ka nang ha­ra­ngin si­la sa isang tsek­poynt da­kong alas-10:15 ng uma­ga.

Di­na­la si­la sa is­ta­syon ng pu­lis sa Norza­ga­ray ka­sa­ma ng pi­tong re­si­den­te na ta­tang­gap sa­na ng ayu­da. Ma­ta­pos ibim­bin nang da­la­wang oras, inihatid at idinetine si­la sa Bu­lacan Po­lice Provincial Office sa Ma­lo­los. Inakusahan silang nagbabalak magsagawa ng rali at sinampahan ng kasong sedisyon.

Ipi­na­pa­ki­ta ng pag-a­res­to ang ba­luk­tot na pra­yo­ridad ng re­hi­men sa pa­na­hon ng pan­dem­ya, at ka­wa­lan ni­to ng pa­kia­lam sa pag­da­ra­hop ng ma­ma­ma­yan. Ito ay ka­ga­ga­wan ng Na­tio­nal Task Force to End Local Com­mu­nist Armed Conflict na pi­na­mu­mu­nu­an ng mga he­ne­ral ni Du­ter­te.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/dating-kongresista-at-mga-boluntir-inaresto-sa-bulacan/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Pang-aaresto, pambobomba sa panahon ng krisis ng Covid-19

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Pang-aaresto, pambobomba sa panahon ng krisis ng Covid-19



Kahit sa panahon ng krisis pangkalusugan dulot ng pagkalat ng Covid-19, walang tigil ang mga pwersa ng estado sa mga paglabag sa karapatang-tao. Nitong Abril 6-19, hindi bababa sa 19 magsasaka ang inaresto sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa. May isang magsasaka ang pinatay, samantalang isang ko­munidad sa Mindanao ang binomba sa mga araw na ito.

Na­gu­lan­tang ang mga re­si­den­te ng Sit­yo Ka­pa­nal, Ba­ra­ngay Ga­si sa Kiam­ba, Sa­rang­ga­ni noong alas-5 ng uma­ga, Abril 19, nang big­lang mag­hu­log ng hin­di ba­ba­ba sa apat na bom­ba ang isang erop­la­nong pan­dig­ma ng AFP ma­la­pit sa ka­ni­lang ko­mu­ni­dad. Nag­du­lot ito ng dag­dag na ta­kot sa mga re­si­den­te la­lu­pa’t oku­pa­do ng 27th IB ang ka­ni­lang sit­yo. Ma­ta­gal nang hi­na­ha­li­haw ng mga tro­pa ng AFP ang Ga­si at ka­la­pit na mga ba­ra­ngay. Sa ka­sa­lu­ku­yan may 300 tro­pa ng AFP sa lu­gar. Sak­law ng plan­ta­syon ng La­pan­day Cor­po­ra­ti­on ang Kiam­ba at mga ka­ra­tig nitong ba­yan.

Sa Miag-ao, Iloi­lo, pi­na­tay ng 61st IB noong Abril 18 si John Fa­rocil­lin, ta­ga­pa­ngu­lo ng Alyan­sa sang Ma­ngu­ngu­ma sa Miag-ao at myembro ng kon­se­ho ng Pa­mang­gas. Su­sing li­der si Fa­rocil­lin sa mga pa­ki­ki­ba­ka ng mga mag­sa­sa­ka sa is­la.

Bago ni­to, 12 si­bil­yan, kabilang ang limang menor de edad, ang ina­res­to ng mga ele­men­to ng 61st IB noong Abril 14. Sila ay mga re­si­den­te ng Barangay Igpa­nu­long, Si­ba­lom, Antique, na noo’y nag­haha­nap ng pulot para maibenta. Pina­bulaanan ng kumand ng BHB sa Southern Panay (Mt. Napulak Com­mand) ang kasinungalingan sa isang engkwentro nadakip ang naturang mga sibilyan. Anito, walang naganap na sagupaan sa lugar.

Sa Bu­tu­an City, ina­res­to ng mga sundalo at pulis si Proce­so Tor­ral­ba sa Pu­rok 3, Ba­ra­ngay Bon­bon noong Abril 11. Si Tor­ral­ba o Ta­tay Si­soy ay pre­si­den­te ng Unyon sa Mag-uu­ma sa Agu­san del Nor­te at tat­long de­ka­da nang na­ki­ki­ba­ka pa­ra sa ka­pa­ka­nan ng mga mag­sa­sa­ka. Ka­bi­lang si To­ral­ba sa lis­ta­han ng mga in­di­bid­wal na inimbwel­to ng AFP sa reyd ng mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma sa isang de­tatsment sa Agu­san del Sur noong 2018. Si­nam­pa­han si­ya ng ga­wa-ga­wang ka­song kid­nap­ping at se­rious il­le­gal de­ten­ti­on.

Da­la­wang mag­sa­sa­ka rin ang di­na­kip ng mga pwer­sa ng es­ta­do sa Sout­hern Ta­ga­log at pinalabas na mga su­mu­kong upi­syal ng BHB. Ina­res­to si­na Lam­ber­to Asi­nas sa Ba­ra­ngay Bun­du­kan, Na­sug­bu, Ba­ta­ngas noong Abril 16; at si No­me­ria­no Fuer­te sa Ba­rok Per­las sa Sit­yo Tag­ba­kin, Mag­say­say, Ge­ne­ral Lu­na, Quezon Province noong Abril 13.

Sa Nueva Vizca­ya, ina­res­to ng mga pu­lis si Ro­nal­do Pu­li­do, ta­ga­pa­ngu­lo ng Alyan­sa ng Novo Vizca­ya­no pa­ra sa Ka­li­ka­san noong Abril 6. Isi­na­bay ang pang-aa­res­to sa pag­bu­wag sa ba­ri­ka­da ng mga re­si­den­te la­ban sa ope­ra­syong ng Ocea­na­gold. Agad din si­yang na­pa­la­ya sa su­mu­nod na araw dala ng pa­gig­gi­it ng kan­yang mga ka­ba­bar­yo.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pang-aaresto-pambobomba-sa-panahon-ng-krisis-ng-covid-19/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Ma­la­wa­kang pag-emple­yo ng mga nars, igi­ni­it

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Ma­la­wa­kang pag-emple­yo ng mga nars, igi­ni­it

IGINIIT NG FILIPINO Nur­ses Uni­ted na da­pat kag­yat at ma­la­wa­kang pag-eemple­yo at pag­sa­sa­nay ng mga nars at hin­di la­mang pag­ku­ha sa ka­ni­la bi­lang mga bo­lun­tir ang ipa­tu­pad ng re­hi­meng Du­ter­te pa­ra aga­pan ang kri­sis na du­lot ng pan­dem­yang Covid-19. May­ro­on la­mang 90,308 nars sa buong ban­sa, ka­ra­mi­han na­ka­kon­sentra sa Met­ro Ma­ni­la. Na­sa 31,000 la­mang sa mga ito ang na­sa mga pam­pub­li­kong os­pi­tal. Lub­hang ku­lang ang bi­lang na ito ka­hit bago pa kumalat ang sa­kit na Covid-19.

Da­pat big­yan ng ma­ka­ta­ru­ngang sa­hod, mga be­ne­pi­syo at ka­ti­ya­kan sa tra­ba­ho ang mga nars. Da­pat ga­win nang re­gu­lar ang li­bu-li­bong mga nars na na­na­na­ti­ling kontraktwal sa mga pri­ba­do at pam­pub­li­kong os­pi­tal.

Ayon sa ulat ng World Health Orga­niza­tiion, may­ro­ong 536,331 na rehistradong nars sa Pi­li­pi­nas ni­tong 2020. Na­sa 200,000 sa ka­ni­la ang wa­lang tra­ba­ho. Ma­la­lim itong ba­lon na ma­pag­ku­ku­nan ng mga pro­pe­syu­nal na mang­ga­ga­wang pang­ka­lu­su­gan. Kaug­nay ni­to, igi­ni­it ng gru­po na hin­di kai­la­ngan, at hin­di na­ra­ra­pat, na pag­ba­wa­lan ng re­hi­men ang mga nars at duk­tor na ma­ngi­bang-ba­yan sa pa­na­hon ng pan­dem­ya. La­bag ito sa ka­ni­lang ka­ra­pa­tang bum­ya­he at magtra­ba­ho. Da­pat si­lang su­por­ta­han sa pa­na­hon ng pan­dem­ya da­hil hin­di la­mang sila nawalan ng kita, wala ring ka­ti­ya­kan kung ma­ka­ba­ba­lik pa sila sa ka­ni-ka­ni­lang mga os­pi­tal.

Dag­dag di­to, da­pat big­yan pan­sin ang pag­ta­as ng sa­hod, ka­ti­ya­kan sa tra­ba­ho at mga be­ne­pi­syo ng ma­ra­ming bo­lun­tir sa mga ba­ra­ngay health cen­ter, ang mga frontli­ner sa ka­na­yu­nan. Sa nga­yon, pi­na­ka­ma­ta­as nang na­ta­tang­gap ng isang bo­lun­tir di­to ang P4,000/bu­wan. Ang iba pang mga bo­lun­tir, la­lu­na sa ma­la­la­yong bar­yo, ay tu­ma­tang­gap la­mang ng P50 hang­gang P150 ka­da bu­wan.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/malawakang-pag-empleyo-ng-mga-nars-iginiit/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Pag-ii­ngat, mai­nam na pag­ha­han­da la­ban sa Covid-19 sa ka­na­yu­nan

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Pag-ii­ngat, mai­nam na pag­ha­han­da la­ban sa Covid-19 sa ka­na­yu­nan

Madaling kumakalat ang Covid-19 sa mga syudad kung saan siksikan at ma­higpit ang ugnayan ng mga tao. Subalit hindi malayong kumalat din ito ka­launan sa mga komunidad sa kanayunan. Ito ay dahil sa paglabas-masok ng mga magsasaka para magbenta ng kanilang produkto o bumili ng kanilang pang­angailangan. Pumapasok rin ang mga namumuhunan at mga nagtatrabaho sa mga minahan, plantasyon at iba pang empresa.

Sa isang ban­da, ti­na­ta­ya ng mga eksper­to na hin­di ma­gi­ging ka­sim­bi­lis ang pag­ka­lat ng Covid-19 sa ka­na­yu­nan kum­pa­ra sa mga syu­dad da­hil mababa ang antas ng kon­sentrasyon o pagsisiksikan ng mga tao sa ka­ni­lang mga lu­gar. Sa ka­bi­lang ban­da, ma­gi­ging mas ma­hi­rap at po­sib­leng mas na­ka­ka­ma­tay ito da­hil malayong mas at­ra­sa­do at li­mi­ta­do ang mga pasilidad pang­ka­lu­su­gan di­to. Pa­yo ni­la, ang pi­na­ka­mai­nam na pag­ha­han­da pa­ra sa pan­dem­ya ay ang pag­su­nod sa ini­la­tag nang mga hak­bang ng mga insti­tu­syong me­di­kal. Ka­bi­lang di­to ang pa­na­na­ti­li ng per­so­nal na ka­li­ni­san, pag­man­ti­ne ng ta­mang ag­wat sa isa’t isa, pag-i­was sa ma­ta­ta­ong lu­gar at sa mga taong na­ha­wa na, pag­kon­sul­ta sa duk­tor o mang­ga­ga­wang pang­ka­lu­su­gan kung na­ka­ra­ra­nas ng mga sin­to­mas, at pa­la­gi­ang pag­su­bay­bay sa mga pang­ya­ya­ri sa lo­kal at ban­sa.

Pe­ro li­ban di­to, kai­la­ngan ding ihan­da ang imprastruk­tu­rang pang­­­ka­lu­su­gan sa mga bar­yo. Ka­bi­lang di­to ang pag­ti­ti­yak ng sa­pat na sup­lay ng ga­mit at ga­mot, pag­sa­saa­yos ng angkop na pa­si­li­dad, pag­sa­sa­nay ng mga ma­nga­ga­wang pang­ka­lu­su­gan at pag­la­la­tag ng maa­yos na sis­te­ma ng ko­mu­ni­ka­syo­n.

Sa nga­yon, li­mi­ta­do, kung me­ron man, ang sup­lay at mga ga­mit pa­ra sa anu­mang epi­dem­ya o sa­ku­na sa ka­na­yu­nan. La­hat ng ki­na­kai­la­ngang kagamitang medikal tu­lad ng mga face mask at iba pang per­so­nal pro­tective equip­ment, di­sinfectant at iba pa ay mang­ga­ga­ling sa mga syu­dad na una nang du­ma­nas ng ka­sa­la­tan. La­long wa­lang sup­lay sa mga bar­yo ng mga ga­mot na maaa­ring ga­mi­tin sa mga pa­sye­nteng nag­po­si­ti­bo.

Li­mi­ta­do rin ang ka­sa­na­yan ng mga mang­ga­ga­wang pang­ka­lu­su­gan. Ayon sa es­ta­dis­ti­ka ng es­ta­do, sa abereyds ay isang duk­tor la­mang ang na­ka­to­ka sa isang health cen­ter, ka­tu­wang ang abe­reyds na da­la­wang nars at li­mang ku­mad­ro­na pa­ra sa la­hat ng ba­ra­ngay sa isang ba­yan. Ma­da­las na mga nars o ku­mad­ro­na ang tu­ma­tao sa mga health cen­ter sa ba­ra­ngay pa­ra mag­bi­gay ng pi­na­ka­ba­ta­yang ser­bi­syo sa mga bun­tis, ma­li­li­it na ba­ta at ma­ta­tan­da. Wa­lang prog­ra­ma pa­ra sa­na­yin si­la pa­ra ma­ka­tu­wang sa ma­la­wa­kang tes­ting o scree­ning, mo­ni­to­ring at con­tact tracing, at ser­bi­syo sa mga iso­la­ti­on unit.

Wala sa kalahati ng lahat ng barangay sa bansa ang may health cen­ter. Noong 2017, na­sa 20,216 la­mang ang mga health cen­ter sa buong Pil­pi­nas. Sa mga may­ro­on, ku­lang na ku­lang ang mga pa­si­li­dad. Wa­la itong mga ka­ma pa­ra sa mga nag­ka­ka­sa­kit. Wa­la ring nai­ta­ta­yong mga iso­la­ti­on unit pa­ra sa kakailanganing pagbubukod sa mga pasyenteng may nakahahawang sakit. Ma­la­yo, at ma­da­las wa­lang angkop na sis­te­ma ng transpor­ta­syo­n, pa­tu­ngo sa mga os­pi­tal, kli­ni­ka at la­bo­ra­tor­yo.

Prob­le­ma rin ang sis­te­ma ng ko­mu­ni­ka­syon at ang kag­yat na pag­pa­paa­bot at pag­pa­pa­la­ga­nap ng angkop na im­por­ma­syo­n. Ku­ma­ka­lat ang ma­ling im­por­ma­syon na ma­da­las na­ba­ba­hi­ran ng pu­li­ti­ka, ha­ka-ha­ka o di-syen­ti­pi­kong mga lu­nas.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pag-iingat-mainam-na-paghahanda-laban-sa-covid-19-sa-kanayunan/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Ka­ka­ram­pot na pon­do, pag­hi­hig­pit sa sek­tor ng mag­sa­sa­ka

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Ka­ka­ram­pot na pon­do, pag­hi­hig­pit sa sek­tor ng mag­sa­sa­ka

Hin­di ba­ba­ba sa 26 na pru­bin­sya sa Visayas at Mindanao ang nag­dek­la­ra ng ka­ni-ka­ni­lang lockdown kasabay ng ipinataw sa Luzon ng re­hi­meng Du­ter­te. Ipi­nag­ba­wal sa mga lugar na ito ang pagbya­he ng mga tao at pro­duk­to na nagresulta sa pagkaparalisa sa ko­mer­syo at ka­la­ka­lan. Iti­ni­gil din ni­to ang pag­sa­sa­ka at pro­duk­syon sa ka­na­yu­nan. Da­hil ma­ra­mi sa mga nag­-lockdown ay mga sentro ng ko­mer­syo at ka­la­ka­lan ng mga re­hi­yon at pru­bin­sya, apektado maging ang mga lugar na hin­di nag­dek­la­ra ng lockdown.

Mil­yun-mil­yong mag­sa­sa­ka at mang­ga­ga­wang-bu­kid ang nawalan ng kita da­hil sa mga lockdown.
Umaabot na sa 700,000 mang­ga­ga­wa sa mga asu­ka­re­ra at 75,241 mang­ga­ga­wang bu­kid sa tu­bu­han ang wa­lang ki­ta da­hil sa pag­sa­sa­ra ng mga pab­ri­ka at as­yen­da. Ka­bi­lang di­to ang Su­gar Mil­ling Cor­po­ra­ti­on at Crystal Su­gar Com­pany, Inc. sa Bu­kid­non na ipi­na­sa­ra ng lo­kal na pa­ma­ha­la­an mu­la Mar­so 27 hang­gang Abril 26. Apek­ta­do ni­to ang 10,000 mang­ga­ga­wa at 10,000 nag­tat­ra­ba­ho sa maliliit na tu­bu­han. Li­bu-li­bo ring mang­ga­ga­wang bu­kid sa Neg­ros ang du­ma­ra­nas ng maa­gang Tiem­po Muer­to nang tu­mi­gil ang mga ope­ra­syon ng mga tu­bu­han at asu­ka­re­ra ri­to. Sa kabila nito, nasa 6% lamang sa mga mangagawang-bukid sa tubuhan ang mabibigyan ng ayuda ng re­himen.

Ka­ka­ram­pot la­mang sa iniaa­lok ng De­partment of Agricul­tu­re (DA) na ayu­da ang na­ka­ra­ra­ting sa ka­ni­la. Ka­hit ang pau­tang ni­to ay li­mi­ta­do sa 300,000 o 3.7% la­mang ng ka­buuang bi­lang ng mag­sa­sa­ka at ma­ngi­ngis­da.

Binarat na ayu­da

Ayon sa Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), umabot sa P62.69 bil­yon ang bad­yet ng ahen­sya pa­ra sa taong 2020. Sa ka­buuan may­ro­on itong P93 bil­yon kung isasama ang P31-bilyong pondo na hinihingi ng DA noong Marso 25. Bar­ya la­mang ang di­rek­tang ma­ta­tang­gap ng mga mag­sa­sa­ka mula rito. Ha­los 90% ng bad­yet ay lumpsum at na­ka­la­an sa mga pro­yek­tong wa­lang aga­rang epek­to sa gu­tom at lu­ging mag­sa­sa­ka. Sa ulat ni Duterte noong April 20, 52,000 pa lamang sa target nitong 591,246 mil­yong magsasaka sa palayan ang naka­tatanggap ng subsidyo sa P3 bil­yong pondo ng Social Amelio­ration Program. Wa­lang ini­la­tag na pro­­se­so ang ahen­sya kung paa­no ma­­ku­ku­ha ng mga be­ne­pi­sya­ryo ang na­ra­ra­pat sa ka­ni­la na ayu­da.

Ayon pa sa DA, may 300,000 ding mahihirap na magsasakang nakatanggap ng tig-P5,000 sa ilalim ng Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program na pina­nga­nga­siwaan ng Landbank. Pero kahit pa pagsama-samahin ang mga bene­pi­syaryo, malayo pa rin ito sa pang­ka­buuang 9.7 mil­yong mag­sa­sa­ka, mang­­ga­ga­wang bu­kid at ma­ngi­ngi­s­dang na­nga­ngai­la­ngan ng kag­yat na tu­long.
Bat­bat ng ko­rap­syon ang pa­ma­ma­ha­gi ng ayu­da. Nag­li­pa­na ang mga rek­la­mo sa ani­mo’y ar­bit­rar­yong pa­mi­mi­gay at ma­sa­li­mu­ot at na­ka­ba­ba­got na pro­se­so. Sa isang ba­yan sa Ca­ma­ri­nes Sur, bi­na­wa­san nang P1,400 ang P5,000 ayu­da ng mga se­ni­or ci­tizen da­hil nai­pam­bi­li na diu­ma­no ito ng mga ga­mot, bi­gas at sar­di­nas na hindi na­man nila na­tang­gap.

Hin­di na rin bi­big­yan ng ayu­da ang mga na­ka­ta­tan­da na may mga anak na nag­tat­ra­ba­ho o kung ka­sa­ma ni­la ang ka­ni­lang mga anak na nag­tat­ra­ba­ho, ka­hit pa ang mga anak ni­la ay wa­la ring ha­nap­bu­hay. Pa­ti ang mga nag­tat­ra­ba­ho sa mga grocery, bang­ko at ibang es­tab­li­si­men­to sa syu­dad na hin­di re­histra­dong re­si­den­te ay hin­di rin ma­bi­big­yan.

Pasistang pahirap

Pa­hi­rap din sa ka­bu­ha­yan ng mga mag­sa­sa­ka at mang­ga­ga­wang bu­kid ang pag­pa­pa­tu­pad ng curfew at mga tsek­poynt sa ka­na­yu­nan na nag­li­li­mi­ta sa ka­ni­lang mga ga­law sa pag­ha­ha­tid ng mga pro­duk­to, pag­sa­sa­ka at pa­ngi­ngis­da.

Sa ilang ba­yan sa Ilocos, pi­nag­ba­ba­yad ng P50-P80 ang mga re­si­den­te pa­ra sa isang araw na ma­ka­ga­la. Da­hil sa curfew, li­mi­ta­do ang oras sa pagtatrabaho ng mga mag­bu­bu­kid sa Ca­ga­yan Val­ley at Lo­wer Ka­li­nga.

Hindi pinararaan sa mga tsek­poynt ang aning gu­lay ng mga mag­sa­sa­ka ng Upper Ka­li­nga, Be­ngu­et, Ifu­gao at Moun­ta­in Province. Sa Ti­noc, Ifu­gao, na­pi­li­tan ang mga mag­sa­sa­ka na dali-daling ani­hin ang ka­ni­lang mga gu­lay ma­ta­pos ipa­tu­pad ang lockdown ng lo­kal na gub­yer­no. Ha­los 100,000 to­ne­la­dang gu­lay ang ki­nai­la­ngan ni­lang iben­ta sa sob­rang ba­bang ha­la­ga ba­go ma­bu­lok ang mga ito.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/kakarampot-na-pondo-paghihigpit-sa-sektor-ng-magsasaka/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Ka­si­nu­nga­li­ngan ng 8th ID

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Ka­si­nu­nga­li­ngan ng 8th ID

Wa­lang ti­gil ang pag­ha­ha­bi ng AFP ng ga­wa-ga­wang mga kwen­to pa­ra big­yang kat­wi­ran ang kam­pan­yang kontra-in­sur­hen­sya ni­to sa pa­na­hon ng pan­dem­yang Covid. Isa sa pi­na­ka­ma­la­king ka­si­nu­ngal­li­ngan ni­to ang pa­ha­yag ng 8th ID na “nang-a­gaw” ang mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma ng ayu­da sa Sit­yo Ba­ngon, Guin­maa­yo­han sa Ba­la­ngi­ga, Sa­mar noong Abril 7.

Pi­na­bu­laa­nan mis­mo ng mga upi­syal ng ba­yan ang ka­si­nu­nga­li­ngang ito. Ayon sa ulat ng Eas­tern Sa­mar News Service noong Abril 11, mismong mga upi­syal ka­bi­lang ang me­yor, upi­syal na na­ma­ha­gi ng ayu­da at ma­ging ang he­pe ng pu­lis ang nagsabing wa­lang na­ga­nap na ga­yong in­si­den­te.

Sa ka­bi­la ni­to, ipi­ni­lit pa rin ng 8th ID ang kwen­to. Noong Abril 13, binraso ni­to ang lo­kal na gub­yer­no ng Ba­la­ngi­ga ng re­so­lu­syon na nag­kun­de­na sa ak­syon ng BHB. Ga­yun­pa­man, tu­mang­gi ang mga upi­syal di­to sa ipi­ni­pi­lit ng mi­li­tar na “nam­wer­sa” o “nag­na­kaw” ang mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma at si­na­bing “ku­mu­ha” la­mang ang mga ito ng re­lief goods.

Sa­man­ta­la, gi­na­ga­mit ng AFP bi­lang sang­ka­lan sa kontra-in­sur­hen­sya ang pa­mi­mi­gay ng ayu­da. Sa Sor­so­gon, igi­ni­it ng 31st IB na umoo­ku­pa sa isang ba­ra­ngay sa Bu­lu­san na si­la ang ma­ma­ha­gi ng mga re­lief goods na na­ka­lap ng mga upi­syal ng ba­ra­ngay. Bi­na­lak ng mga sun­da­lo na ku­nan ng lit­ra­to ang mga be­ne­pi­sya­ryo at pa­la­ba­sing mga sun­da­lo ang tu­mu­tu­long. Tu­mang­gi ang mga upi­syal ng ba­ra­ngay na ibi­gay ang nai­pong ayu­da at sa ha­lip ay ki­numpron­ta ang mga sun­da­lo.

Ka­ba­lig­ta­ran ang na­ga­nap sa Bu­kid­non. Sad­yang hin­di bi­nig­yan ng ayu­da ang 25 ba­ra­ngay at ko­mu­ni­dad ng Lu­mad sa Ca­bang­la­san at San Fer­nan­do da­hil iti­nu­tu­ring ang mga ito ng AFP na mga ba­se ng BHB. Ba­go ang pan­dem­ya, gi­na­mit ng NTF-ELCAC ang mga lu­gar na ito bi­lang “showca­se” ng prog­ra­mang E-CLIP. Sa ha­lip na ayu­da, dag­dag na pag­hi­hig­pit ang ipi­na­tu­pad ng mga sun­da­lo sa lu­gar.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/kasinungalingan-ng-8th-id/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Pagdurusa ng ma­la-pro­le­tar­yo sa lockdown

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Pagdurusa ng ma­la-pro­le­tar­yo sa lockdown

“Da­la­wa lang pa­pa­tay sa amin: gu­tom o ‘yung vi­rus. Mauu­na pa ‘a­ta ka­ming ma­ma­tay sa gu­tom.”

Lag­pas isang bu­wan na mu­la unang ipa­tu­pad ni Rod­ri­go Du­ter­te ang mi­li­ta­ris­tang lockdown sa Luzon. Sa pa­na­hong ito, tu­luy-tu­loy na lu­ma­ki ang bi­lang ng mga ka­so ng mga nag­po­si­ti­bo sa COVID-19. Noong Abril 20, uma­bot na sa 6,459 ang na­ha­wa ng sa­kit, ha­bang 428 na ang na­ma­tay da­hil di­to.

Bu­kod sa kri­sis pang­ka­lu­su­gan, pag­ka­lam ng sik­mu­ra ang pa­ngu­na­hing idi­na­da­ing ng ma­ma­ma­yan sa ila­lim ng lockdown. Na­nga­ko si Du­ter­te na ma­mi­gay nang hang­gang P8,000 sa 18 milyong pa­mil­ya sa ila­lim ng Social Ame­lio­ra­ti­on Prog­ram.

Isa sa mga sek­tor na pi­na­ka­hi­rap sa lockdown ang ma­la-pro­le­tar­yo sa ka­lun­su­ran. Si­la ang na­ka­ti­ra sa sik­si­kang mga lu­gar at nag­du­ru­sa sa ku­lang na mga ser­bi­syong pan­li­pu­nan.
Si­la rin ang mang­ga­ga­wang wa­lang per­ma­nen­teng ka­bu­ha­yan at wa­lang ti­yak na ki­ta tu­lad ng mga ma­ni­nin­da, dray­ber, bar­ker sa dyip, la­ban­de­ra at iba pa. Tu­lad ng mga mang­ga­ga­wang “no work no pay,” hin­di ni­la ti­yak kung paa­no ni­la mai­ta­ta­wid sa ba­wat araw ang ka­ni­lang pa­mil­ya ga­yong gi­pit ang ka­ni­lang ka­bu­ha­yan. Sa nga­yon, na­ka­ra­ra­os la­mang si­la da­hil sa ma­la­sa­kit at tu­long ng mga in­di­bid­wal, gru­po at insti­tu­syo­n.

Emar, pin­tor

Isang pintor ng bahay si Emar, 39 taong gu­lang, ng isang kum­pan­ya sa ­konstruk­syon sa Met­ro Ma­ni­la. Na­bu­bu­hay si Emar sa sa­hod na P555 ka­da araw. Ani­ya, re­la­ti­bong maa­yos at ma­ka­tao ang ka­sa­lu­ku­yan ni­yang kum­pan­ya da­hil nag­bi­bi­gay ito ng sub­sid­yo. Ga­yun­pa­man, hi­rap si­yang pag­ka­sya­hin ito.

“Ma­hi­rap, ma­hi­rap pa rin ka­hit sa pa­na­hon nga­yon. Iba yung ki­ki­ta­in mo sa alawans mo na na­ta­tang­gap…[hin­di na­pu­pu­nan] yung pa­nga­ngai­la­ngan ko. Iba pa rin yung ma­la­ya akong ma­ka­ka­pun­ta at ma­ka­ka­pagtra­ba­ho nang wa­la yung ga­ni­tong sa­ku­na.”

Mu­la sa mi­ni­mum na P555 ka­da araw ay P1000 na ala­wans na bi­gay ng kum­pan­ya ang pi­nag­ka­ka­sya ni Emar ka­da ling­go. Hin­di si­ya ka­sa­li sa ma­bi­big­yan ng ayu­da mu­la sa es­ta­do, da­hil wa­la si­ya sa lis­ta­han ng “pi­na­ka­ma­hi­rap sa ma­hi­rap” ng De­partment of Social Work and Deve­lop­ment.

Alin­su­nod sa unang mga ali­tun­tu­nin ng ahen­sya, hindi kasali sa bi­bigyan ng ayuda ang mga pamilyang may isang myembrong nag­ta­tra­baho. Ii­sang pa­mil­ya rin la­mang ang bi­big­yan ba­wat isang bu­bong, ka­hit pa 2-3 pa­mil­ya ang na­ka­ti­ra ri­to.

Ayon pa kay Emar: “Da­pat sa­na mai­bi­gay [yung Social Ame­lio­ra­ti­on Prog­ram] sa mga na­nga­ngai­la­ngan. Ka­si ako, ka­hit may tra­ba­ho ako, kai­la­ngan ko rin ‘yun. Sa­na hin­di ni­la pi­li­in. Kai­la­ngan kung anong si­na­bi, ‘yun din ibi­gay ni­la sa tao. Ka­si kung hin­di ga­ni­to ang nang­ya­ya­ri, ba’t na­man na­min ku­ku­nin ‘yun, si­la na­man ang nag-decla­re ‘nun. Ka­si kung maa­yos ang pa­na­hon, di mo kai­la­ngan ma­ki­pag­ta­lo dyan sa P8,000, P5,000 na ‘yan.”

Joel, 35, dray­ber ng dyip

Labis ding apektado ang ka­bu­hayan ng dray­ber ng dyip na si Joel, 35 taong gu­lang. May asa­wa at tat­long anak si Joel. Ang bun­so ni­ya ay anim na bu­wan pa la­mang. Sa kan­yang 19 oras na pa­ma­ma­sa­da, ka­da­la­sang ku­mi­ki­ta siya ng P2,000, ba­go iba­was ang P1,000 na bawnderi o upa ni­ya sa ope­rey­tor o may-a­ri ng dyip.

Sa ila­lim ng lockdown, wa­lang ki­ta si Joel da­hil ba­wal bum­ya­he ang mga pam­pub­li­kong sa­sak­yan. Hin­di rin si­ya ma­kau­wi sa pa­mil­ya ni­ya sa Pam­pa­nga da­hil sa­ra­do ang mga hang­ga­nan, wa­la si­yang ma­sak­yan at wa­la rin si­yang pa­ma­sa­he. Na­tu­tu­log na la­mang si­ya sa na­ka­ga­ra­heng dyip ng kan­yang ope­rey­tor. Di­na­dal­han si­ya ng kan­yang ope­reytor ng pag­ka­in araw-a­raw at na­ka­ka­tang­gap din si­ya ng tu­long mu­la sa mga nag­ma­ma­la­sa­kit. Pe­ro hin­di na­ka­sa­sa­pat ang mga ito da­hil may­ro­on si­yang pa­mil­yang kai­la­ngang bu­ha­yin. Wala pa siyang natatanggap na ayu­da mu­la sa lo­kal na gub­yer­no da­hil hin­di si­ya bo­tan­te sa lu­gar. Ani­ya, “na­ka­re­histro ka­mi sa LTFRB pe­ro wa­la pang bi­ni­bi­gay na ID pa­ra ma­la­gay (a­ko) sa lis­ta­han ng mga be­ne­pi­sya­ryo.”

Pa­ra ma­kai­was sa sa­kit, hin­di lu­ma­la­bas si Joel sa ga­ra­he at na­na­na­ti­li si­ya sa loob ng kan­yang mi­na­ma­ne­hong dyip. Ta­nging face mask ang kan­yang inaa­sa­hang pro­tek­syon. Giit ni Joel kay Du­ter­te: “Big­yan ng su­por­ta ang ma­hi­hi­rap ‘tsa­ka ti­ya­kin ang ka­bu­ha­yan sa pa­na­hon na may ku­ma­ka­lat na sa­kit.”

Na­sa­an ang ayu­da?

Alin­su­nod sa ulat na ila­bas ni Du­ter­te noong Abril 20, na­sa 4 na mil­yon pa la­mang sa 18 mil­yong ma­ra­li­tang pa­mil­ya ang na­big­yan ng sub­sid­yo sa ila­lim ng Social Ame­lio­ra­ti­on Prog­ram. Ma­yor­ya (3.7 mil­yon) sa ka­ni­la ay da­ti nang na­ka­ta­tang­gap ng sub­sid­yo sa ila­lim ng prog­ra­mang 4Ps. Da­hil sa ma­gu­lo, pa­hi­rap at ma­ba­gal na pro­se­so ng distri­bu­syo­n, ma­hi­git 600,000 (4.5%) pa­mil­ya pa la­mang sa tar­get na 13.5 mil­yong pa­mil­yang hin­di be­ne­pi­sya­ryo ng 4Ps ang na­ka­ta­tang­gap ng ayu­da. Ha­los hin­di nag­ba­go ang bi­lang na ito kum­pa­ra noong na­ka­ra­ang ling­go. Noong Abril 17, na­sa 2.3% pa la­mang sa ti­na­ta­yang 5 mil­yong ma­la-mang­ga­ga­wa sa ka­lun­su­ran ang na­big­yan ng ayu­da. Ito ay ha­bang na­sa 9% (40,400) sa 435,000 dray­ber ang na­big­yan ng sub­sid­yo.

Sa­man­ta­la, si­nus­pin­de ng DOLE ang ayu­dang pi­nan­syal ni­to sa mga mang­ga­ga­wa noong Abril 17 da­hil nau­bos na diu­ma­no ang pon­do. Sa 10.7 milyong manggagawa, 321,975 lang ang planong ayudahan ng DOLE, at 237,653 pa lang ang ini­ulat na nabigyan.

Lan­tad ang pa­gi­ging tu­so at si­nu­nga­ling ng re­hi­meng Du­ter­te sa distri­bu­syon ng pon­do mu­la sa Social Ame­lio­ra­ti­on Prog­ram. Sad­yang pi­na­hi­ra­pan ni­to ang mga ma­ra­li­ta sa pa­ma­ma­gi­tan ng pag­hi­ngi ng na­pa­ka­ra­ming re­ki­si­to. Imbis na pa­simple­hin ang pro­se­so pa­ra sa ma­bi­lis at ma­ga­an na pa­mi­mi­gay ng pon­do, gi­ni­gi­pit at si­ni­si­si pa si­la ng re­hi­men. Pang-aa­res­to at ban­tang pa­ma­mas­lang ang sa­got ni­to sa mga nag­re­rek­la­mo.

Lam­pas 136,000 na ang si­ni­ta, pinarusahan o inaresto ng mga pu­lis da­hil diu­ma­no sa pag­la­bag sa mga alin­tun­tu­nin ng kwa­ran­ti­na tu­lad ng curfew, ili­gal na “pag­t­iti­pon” at social dis­tancing. Isang 68-an­yos na la­la­ki ang bi­na­ril ng mga pu­lis sa isang tsek­poynt sa Agu­san del Nor­te noong Abril 6 da­hil sa pag­su­way diu­ma­no ni­to sa lockdown.

Kontra-ma­ma­ma­yan ang mi­li­ta­ris­tang lockdown. Ito ay da­hil wa­lang na­ka­la­tag na pro­se­so pa­ra sa ma­bi­lis at ma­sak­law na pa­mi­mi­gay ng ayu­da, wa­lang ser­bi­syong me­di­kal pa­ra sa la­hat, at wa­lang mass tes­ting. Da­hil din sa mga kun­di­syong si Du­ter­te mis­mo ang lu­mi­lik­ha ng dag­dag na ka­gi­pi­tan, hin­di ma­la­yong ba­ba­ngon mga ma­la-mang­ga­ga­wa tu­lad ni­na Emar at Joel pa­ra pa­tal­si­kin siya sa pwesto.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pagdurusa-ng-mala-proletaryo-sa-lockdown/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Tat­long magsasaka, ina­res­to sa Mas­ba­te

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Tat­long magsasaka, ina­res­to sa Mas­ba­te

TATLONG MAGSASAKA ANG ina­res­to ng mga ele­men­to ng 2nd IB at mga pulis sa Ba­ra­ngay Ca­bas-an, Aro­roy, Mas­ba­te noong Abril 10. Di­na­kip si­na Rom­nick Var­gas, Juan Di­ki­no at Alden Javier ma­ta­pos na ma­ka­sa­gu­pa ang isang tim ng mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma. Pi­na­la­bas ng mga pa­sis­tang tro­pa na mga ka­sa­pi sila ng Ba­gong Huk­bong Ba­yan (BHB).

Sa pa­re­hong araw, si­nu­nog ng mga sundalo at pulis ang ba­hay ni Ba­syon Me­ral­les. Sa­pi­li­tan din ni­lang pi­na­la­yas sa ba­ra­ngay ang mga re­si­den­teng si­na Jun Di­ki­no at Marven “ Bi­noy” Grazil.

Pi­na­mu­mu­nu­an ni 2Lt. Jay Zachary Tu­nguia ang mga pang-aatake.

Sa ta­bing ng Re­too­led Com­mu­nity Sup­port Prog­ram, pa­tu­loy na nag­lu­lun­sad ng mga ope­ra­syong kontra-in­su­r­hen­sya ang mi­li­tar at pu­li­s sa mga ba­yan ng Aro­roy, Man­da­on, Clave­ria, San Pascual, Ba­tu­an, Mon­re­al, San Fer­nan­do, San Jacin­to at Ca­wa­yan sa Mas­ba­te. Sak­law ng mga ope­ra­syon ang hin­di ba­ba­ba sa 24 na ba­ra­ngay.

Sa is­la ng Ticao, ti­nad­tad ng ba­la ng mga sundalo ang ka­ta­wan ni Ki­ko Ga­ra­may, 30, noong Mar­so 10. Ang bik­ti­ma ay re­si­den­te ng Ba­ra­ngay Rizal, Mon­re­al. Ki­na­bu­ka­san, pi­nas­lang ng mga pa­sis­ta si Nong­nong Her­mo­sa, 50, re­si­den­te ng Si­tyo Ela­wod, Ba­ra­ngay Macarthur sa pa­re­hong ba­yan.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/tatlong-magsasaka-inaresto-sa-masbate/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Pag­ba­ba­yad-u­tang, inuu­na kay­sa ka­pa­ka­nan ng ma­ma­ma­yan

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Pag­ba­ba­yad-u­tang, inuu­na kay­sa ka­pa­ka­nan ng ma­ma­ma­yan

BINATIKOS NG PARTIDO Ko­mu­nis­ta ng Pi­li­pi­nas (PKP) ang re­hi­meng Du­ter­te sa pag­tang­gi ni­tong kan­se­la­hin ang pag­ba­ba­yad-u­tang ng ban­sa sa mga im­per­ya­lis­tang insti­tu­syong pam­pi­nan­sya sa ha­rap ng pan­dem­yang Covid-19.

Pag­ma­ma­ti­gas ni De­part­ment of Fi­nance Sec. Sonny Do­mi­nguez, hindi man lang sumagi sa isip nila na gawin ito. Ito ay ka­hit pa pal­pak ang ka­ni­lang mga prog­ra­ma at wa­lang ini­la­la­an na sa­pat na ayu­da pa­ra sa ma­ma­ma­yan. Ipi­na­ha­yag ni­ya ito ma­ta­pos sus­pen­di­hin ng Inter­na­tio­nal Mo­ne­tary Fund ang pag­ba­ba­yad-u­tang ng 25 ban­sang apek­ta­do ng pan­dem­ya.

Anang PKP, ang pu­si­syon ni Do­mi­nguez ay nag­papa­tu­nay sa kontra-ma­ma­ma­yang mga pa­ta­ka­ran at pra­yo­ri­dad ng re­hi­men. Im­bes na una­hin ang pa­nga­nga­i­lang­an at ka­pa­ka­nan ng ma­­ma­ma­yan na nga­yo’y sad­­lak sa kri­sis, mas inuu­na ng re­hi­men na pa­na­ti­li­hin ang ma­ta­as na tiwala ng mga insti­tu­syong nag­pa­pa­u­tang nang sa ga­yo’y pa­tu­loy pa itong ma­ka-utang sa hi­na­ha­rap. Nga­yong taon, nag­la­an ang re­hi­men ng P285.8 bil­yon bi­lang pamba­yad sa mga dayong utang ni­to. Pi­na­ka­ma­la­ki ri­to ang ma­pu­pun­ta sa Asi­an Deve­lop­ment Bank (P37.7 bil­yon) at World Bank (P23.8 bil­yon), at sa mga gubyerno ng Ja­pan (P22.4 bil­yon), Chi­na (P1.2 bil­yon), at US (P950 mil­yon).

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pagbabayad-utang-inuuna-kaysa-kapakanan-ng-mamamayan/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Akti­bong de­pen­sa ng BHB sa Neg­ros at Mas­ba­te

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Akti­bong de­pen­sa ng BHB sa Neg­ros at Mas­ba­te

Ma­ta­gum­pay na nai­pag­tang­gol ng isang yu­nit Ba­gong Huk­bong Ba­yan (BHB) ang sa­ri­li nang sa­la­ka­yin ito ng mga tro­pa ng 94th IB sa Ka­mu­ag, Ba­ra­ngay Ca­ra­ba­lan, Hi­ma­may­lan City noong Abril 19. Na­ga­nap ang engkwentro sa panahong nag­sa­sa­ga­wa ang na­tu­rang yu­nit ng BHB ng kam­pan­yang pang­ka­lu­su­gan la­ban sa Covid-19. Aler­to ang mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma sa mga ata­ke ng AFP sa git­na ng idi­nek­la­rang pag­pa­la­wig ng Par­ti­do Ko­mu­nis­ta ng Pi­li­pi­nas sa uni­la­te­ral na ti­gil-pu­tu­kan hang­gang Abril 31. Tat­lo sa umaa­ta­keng mga sun­da­lo ang na­pa­tay kabilang ang isang tinyente. Apat naman ang na­su­ga­tan sa 30-mi­nu­tong engkwentro.

Pi­na­bu­laa­nan ng BHB-South Central Neg­ros (Mt. Can­ser­mon Com­mand) ang pa­ha­yag ng 303rd IBde na “ku­mu­ha” ng re­lief goods ang mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma na na­ka­la­an pa­ra sa ma­ma­ma­yan. Bi­na­ti­kos din ni­to ang pag­ga­mit ng 94th IB sa pa­ma­ma­ha­gi ng pon­do ng Social Ame­lio­ra­ti­on Prog­ram pa­ra big­yang kat­wi­ran ang mga ope­ra­syong kom­bat sa lu­gar.

Sa Mas­ba­te, ti­nang­ka ng mga pwer­sa ng 2nd IB at pu­lis na kub­ku­bin ang isang yu­nit ng BHB sa Ba­ra­ngay Ca­bas-an, Aro­roy noong Abril 10. Pa­ba­lik na sa ka­ni­lang pan­sa­man­ta­lang him­pi­lan ang mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma ma­ta­pos mag­sa­ga­wa ng kam­pan­yang im­por­ma­syon sa ba­ra­ngay nang sa­la­ka­yin si­la ng mga sun­da­lo. Isang sundalo ang na­ma­tay at si­yam ang na­su­ga­tan sa kontra-pa­nam­bang ng BHB. Bi­lang gan­ti, nang-a­res­to ng mga si­bil­yan ang mga sun­da­lo at pi­na­la­bas si­lang mga myembro ng BHB.

Sa iba’t ibang ba­ha­gi ng ban­sa, la­long uma­rang­ka­da ang mga ope­ra­syong kom­bat ng mi­li­tar at pu­lis sa pag­ta­ta­pos ng uni­la­te­ral na ti­gil-pu­tu­kan ng rehimeng Duterte noong Abril 15. Su­nud-su­nod na pa­na­na­la­kay sa mga yu­nit ng BHB na nag­sa­sa­ga­wa ng mga kam­pan­yang pang­ka­lu­su­gan at iba pang kam­pan­yang ma­sa ang naiu­lat sa iba’t ibang ba­ha­gi ng ban­sa.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/aktibong-depensa-ng-bhb-sa-negros-at-masbate/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Pananalasang militar sa Kabundukang Pantaron

Propaganda article from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): Pananalasang militar sa Kabundukang Pantaron

Wa­lang ki­ni­la­lang pan­dem­ya at ti­gil-pu­tu­kan ang 10th ID ng Armed Forces of the Phi­lip­pi­nes sa pa­sis­tang kam­pan­ya ni­to sa ka­bun­du­kan ng Pan­ta­ron sa Min­da­nao. Mu­la Mar­so 24 hang­gang Abril 1, nag­lun­sad ng ma­la­wa­kang ope­ra­syong kom­bat ang da­la­wang ba­tal­yon ni­to (60th at 56th IB) sa mag­ka­nug­nog na mga sit­yo at ba­ra­ngay ng Lu­mad sa hang­ga­nan ng Agu­san del Sur, Bu­kid­non at Davao del Nor­te.

Noong Mar­so 24, ban­dang alas-6 ng uma­ga, inu­na­han ng Bagong Hukbong Bayan (BHB)-Bu­kid­non ang mga tro­pa ng 56th IB na pu­ma­sok sa ka­gu­ba­tan ma­la­pit sa Ba­ra­ngay Man­da­hi­kan sa Ca­bang­la­san, Bu­kid­non pa­ra sa­la­ka­yin ang pan­sa­man­ta­lang him­pi­lan ng mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma. Ma­ra­mi ang na­ma­tay na mga sun­da­lo du­lot ng pi­na­pu­tok na com­mand-de­to­na­ted explo­sive ng BHB. Sa ga­lit ng militar, bi­nom­ba ng 10th ID ang pa­li­gid ng ba­ra­ngay ga­mit ang FA-50 ban­dang alas-7 ng uma­ga. Apat na rocket at isang bom­ba ang pi­na­ka­wa­lan ng fighter jet. Si­na­ba­yan ito ng ng apat na be­ses na pam­bo­bom­ba ng mga kan­yon na na­kap­wes­to sa Lo­re­to, Agu­san del Sur. Pag­sa­pit ng alas-10:30 ng uma­ga, mu­ling nau­na­han ng BHB ang yu­nit ng mi­li­tar na su­mak­lo­lo sa unang gru­po. Mu­la ala-una ki­na­ha­pu­nan, nag­si­mu­lang umu­lan ang ba­la ng kan­yon sa pa­li­gid ng mga ko­mu­ni­dad. Bu­mag­sak ang mga bom­ba nang 330-400 met­ro ka­la­yo sa mga ko­mu­ni­dad at nag­du­lot ng ma­tin­ding ta­kot sa mga ba­ta.

Mu­ling bi­nom­ba ng AFP ang lu­gar noong Mar­so 27. Sa loob ng isang oras, nag­pa­ka­wa­la ito ng apat na rocket at 10 ba­la ng kan­yon. Nag­dag­dag ito ng anim pang ko­lum ng tro­pa na ihi­na­tid ng mga he­li­kop­ter. Tat­lo pang rocket at tat­long ba­la ng kan­yon ang pi­na­ka­wa­lan.

Si­nak­law ng ope­ra­syong kom­bat ang Sit­yo Min­dao, Ba­ra­ngay Mang­ga­od at mga sit­yo ng Uma­yan at Ma­ge­mon sa Ba­ra­ngay Man­da­hi­kan, Ca­bang­la­san, Bu­kid­non; Sit­yo Ta­pa­ya­non, Ba­ra­ngay Gu­pi­tan, Davao del Nor­te; at isa pang komunidad sa Lo­re­to, Agu­san del Sur.

Hi­git isang-ta­ong pag­du­ru­sa sa ila­lim ng 10th ID

Ma­ta­gal nang mi­li­ta­ri­sa­do ang ba­ha­ging ito ng Pan­ta­ron. Noong Mar­so 2019, pi­na­la­bas ng 60th IB ang ko­mu­ni­dad ng Ta­pa­ya­non bi­lang “ba­gong dis­kub­reng tri­bu” na “hin­di pa kai­lan­man naa­bot ng gub­yer­no.” Hin­di ba­le nang ilang taon nang nag­la­la­bas-ma­sok di­to ang mga tro­pa ng 67th IB, at re­gu­lar itong hi­na­ha­li­haw ng gru­pong pa­ra­mi­li­tar na Ala­ma­ra. Ka­tu­na­yan, pi­na­tay ng Ala­ma­ra ang da­tu ng sit­yo na si Lo­ren­do Pocoan noong Peb­re­ro 4, 2017.

Pi­na­la­bas ng 10th ID ang Ta­pa­ya­non bi­lang “ba­gong dis­kub­re” pa­ra ga­mi­tin itong “showca­se” ng Re­gio­nal Task Force-End Local Com­mu­nist Armed Conflict. Su­nud-su­nod na pi­nun­ta­han ng ma­taaas na upi­syal mi­li­tar at myembro ng ga­bi­ne­te ni Du­ter­te ang sit­yo pa­ra mag­pa­ku­ha ng lit­ra­to. Na­mud­mod di­to ng pag­ka­in, pe­ra at pro­yek­to ang iba’t ibang ahen­sya ng gub­yer­no, ka­pa­lit ng “pag­su­ren­der” ng mga re­si­den­te at pag­sa­long ng ka­ni­lang mga ga­wang-ba­hay na ar­mas.

Ba­go pa­su­kin ang er­ya, bi­nom­ba at ki­nan­yon ng mga pwer­sa ng 10th ID ang mag­ka­ka­nug­nog na sit­yo pa­ra ti­ya­king ma­ma­ya­ni ang ta­kot sa mga na­ni­ni­ra­han di­to. Sa ulat ng mga re­si­den­te, uma­bot sa 10 bom­ba at di ma­bi­lang na ba­la ng kan­yon ang ipi­nau­lan di­to sa pa­na­hong iyon. Pi­na­sok ng 200 sun­da­lo ang sit­yo at hi­nim­pi­lan ang git­na ng ka­ba­ha­yan. Ilang pamilya ang nag­bak­wit dahil dito. Hanggang noong Ene­ro, 35 pang pamilya (169 indi­bidwal) ang hindi pa nakababalik sa sityo at nananatili sa harap ng kapitolyo sa Malaybalay City. Da­ting ba­ha­gi ng Ca­bang­la­san ang Ta­pa­ya­non.

Mu­la noon, ipi­nai­la­lim na ng 10th ID sa per­ma­nen­teng lockdown ang sit­yo. Pi­ni­gi­lan ng mga sun­da­lo ang 105 pa­mil­yang na­ka­ti­ra ri­to (525 in­di­bid­wal) na lu­ma­bas sa lu­gar ka­hit pa­ra bu­mi­li ng ka­ni­lang mga pa­nga­ngai­la­ngan. Pwer­sa­hang “pi­na­su­ren­der” ang buong ko­mu­ni­dad, ka­hit ang mga ba­ta na pi­na­la­bas ni­lang mga “ba­tang man­di­rig­ma.” Hin­di pi­na­ya­gang pu­mun­ta sa ka­ni­lang mga aba­ka­han ang mga mag­sa­sa­ka, da­hil “mag­su­sum­bong” la­mang daw sila sa BHB. Pwer­sa­han ni­lang pi­na­pi­pi­la sa ha­rap ng de­tatsment ka­da Sa­ba­do ang mga ba­ba­eng Lu­mad, may-a­sa­wa man o da­la­ga, pa­ra pag­pi­li­an at ga­ha­sa­in. Sa ma­ta­gal ni­lang oku­pa­syon ng sit­yo, ma­ra­ming bi­nun­tis ang mga sun­da­lo at ma­ra­ming pa­mil­ya ang ka­ni­lang wi­na­sak. Pi­na­ro­ron­da ni­la ang mga la­la­king Lu­mad at gi­na­wang mga ali­pin sa kam­po mi­li­tar bi­lang ta­ga­ku­ha ng pang­ga­tong, ta­ga-i­gib at gwardya sa ga­bi. Pi­nag­su­su­ot ni­la ang mga ito ng uni­por­meng sun­da­lo at pwer­sa­hang ni­rek­rut sa CAFGU.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pananalasang-militar-sa-kabundukang-pantaron/

CPP/Ang Bayan: PKP, pi­na­la­wig ang ti­gil-pu­tu­kan

Propaganda article/video from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 21, 2020): PKP, pi­na­la­wig ang ti­gil-pu­tu­kan

[ Vdieo: https://cpp.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/HukbongMapagkalinga-Final.mp4?_=1]

Iniu­tos ng Ko­mi­te Sentral ng Par­ti­do Ko­mu­nis­ta ng Pi­li­pi­nas (PKP) noong Abril 15 sa la­hat ng ku­mand at yu­nit ng Ba­gong Huk­bong Ba­yan (BHB) at ng mi­li­syang ba­yan ang pag­pa­pa­la­wig ng uni­la­te­ral na dek­la­ra­syon ni­to ng ti­gil-pu­tu­kan hang­gang Abril 30. Ito ay para matiyak ang “mabilis at wa­lang sagabal na pag-abot sa lahat ng mamamayang nangangailangan ng kag­yat na tulong, suporta at hakbang medikal, pangkalusugan at pang­ka­bu­ha­yan sa harap ng malubhang kagipitang pampubliko bunga ng kasalukuyang pan­da­ig­digang pandemyang Covid-19.”

Inianunsyo ang pagpapalawig sa ka­bi­la ng mga ka­hi­ra­pan at pe­lig­rong du­lot ng pa­tu­loy na oku­pa­syon at ope­ra­syon ng mga tro­pa ng Armed Forces of the Philippines at Philippine National Police sa ka­na­yunan.

Kaug­nay ni­to, su­mu­lat ang Na­tio­nal De­mocra­tic Front of the Phi­lip­pi­nes sa Uni­ted Na­ti­ons noong Abril 14 pa­ra ipaabot ang mga pag­la­bag ng re­hi­meng Du­ter­te sa ti­gil-pu­tu­kan na idi­nek­la­ra ni­to noong Mar­so 16, at nag­ka­bi­sa mu­la Mar­so 19 hang­gang Abril 15.

Ba­tay sa ini­syal na mga ulat na na­ti­pon ng Ang Ba­yan mula Marso 16 hang­gang Abril 14, nag­sa­ga­wa ang mi­li­tar at pu­li­sya ng mga ope­ra­syong kontra-in­sur­hen­sya sa 104 ba­yan at syu­dad, sak­law ang 219 ba­ra­ngay.

Nag­re­sul­ta ang mga ope­ra­syong ito sa 14 na ar­ma­dong engkwentro sa iba’t ibang pa­nig ng ban­sa. La­bin­tat­lo ri­to ay mga reyd la­ban sa pansamantalang kam­puhan ng mga yunit ng BHB. Tig­tat­lo ang nai­ta­la sa Quezon Province, Bu­kid­non at Zam­boa­nga at da­la­wa na­man sa Davao.

Pi­na­ka­hu­ling ka­so ang reyd ng mga ele­men­to ng 67th IB sa mga Pu­lang man­di­rig­ma sa Ma­han-ub, Ba­ga­nga, Davao Ori­en­tal noong Abril 11. Isang araw ba­go ni­to, nag­­ka­ro­on din ng engkwentro sa Ba­­ra­ngay Ca­bas-an, Aro­roy, Mas­ba­te sa Bicol ma­ta­pos tang­ka­in ng isang pla­tun ng 2nd IB at PNP na tu­gi­sin ang tim ng BHB na noo’y ka­ta­ta­pos la­mang mag­lun­sad ng kam­pan­yang edu­ka­syon hing­gil sa Covid-19.

Pi­na­ka­ma­ra­mi ang nai­ta­la sa mga ba­ra­ngay sa Quezon Province (29) sa Southern Tagalog, kasunod sa Bu­kid­non (27), at Neg­ros Occi­den­tal (25). Sa Mas­ba­te, 24 na ba­ra­ngay ang sinaklaw ng mga ope­ra­syong kontra-in­sur­hen­sya ng mi­li­tar at pulis.

Ka­lak­han sa mga sun­da­long pu­ma­pa­sok sa mga ko­mu­ni­dad sa ka­na­yu­nan ay mga ta­ga-la­bas at hin­di nag­su­su­ot ng face mask. Sa Abra, ini­rek­la­mo ng mga re­si­den­te na la­ging naiis­tor­bo ang ka­ni­lang pag­tu­log du­lot ng ga­bi-ga­bing pag-ii­kot ng mga tro­pang mi­li­tar sa loob at pa­li­bot ng pi­tong ba­ra­ngay sa ba­yan ng Ma­licbong.

Noong huling linggo ng Marso, niransak ng mga elemento ng 24th at 69th IB ang tinutuluyan ng mga maliitang minero sa Barangay Guin­guinabang, Lacub, Abra. Sinu­nog ang kanilang mga kagamitan sa pag­mimina. Sinunog din ng mga sun­dalo ang malaking bahagi ng kagubatan sa pagitan ng mga bayan ng Lacub at Malicbong. Ninakaw at kinatay din mga sundalo ang alagang baka ng mga magsasaka.

Ini­rek­la­mo na­man ng mga re­si­den­te sa Negros Zam­boa­nga Mi­sa­mis Occi­den­tal ang pag­pa­pa­si­mu­no ng mga sun­da­lo ng sa­bong at inu­man.

Sa ulat na isi­nu­mi­te ng BHB-Sout­hern Ta­ga­log noong Abril 15, ini­la­had ni­to na umaa­bot na sa 157 ba­ra­ngay ang sak­law ng mga ope­ra­syong mi­li­tar sa buong re­hi­yon. Sa Quezon pa la­mang, uma­bot na sa 105 ba­ra­ngay ang sak­law ng mga ope­ra­syong kontra-­in­sur­hen­sya sa pru­bin­sya. Sa­man­ta­la, hin­di ba­ba­ba sa 13 ba­ra­ngay ang inoo­pe­ra­syon ng AFP sa Pa­la­wan.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/21/pkp-pinalawig-ang-tigil-putukan/

CPP/Ang Bayan: Duterte is exploiting the Covid-19 crisis to impose fascist dictatorship

Propaganda editorial from the Tagalog language edition of Ang Bayan posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Apr 20, 2020): Duterte is exploiting the Covid-19 crisis to impose fascist dictatorship



The Duterte regime is exploiting the Covid-19 crisis to further accumulate authoritarian powers and tighten its grip on power. The pandemic is far from contained. Yet instead of more aggressively undertaking needed public health measures, it is threatening to further mobilize its military forces and place the country under martial law “total lockdown” and establish a fascist dictatorship.

More than a month ago, the Filipino people were made to accept the quarantine and lockdown measures as a means to slow down the spread of the virus with an expectation that the necessary public health measures and socio-economic assistance will be carried out with urgency. However, these measures were not carried out competently, sufficiently and expeditiously. One month after the lockdown was imposed on Luzon and in many parts of Visayas and Mindanao, the Covid-19 continues to spread across the country and infect more and more people. Millions of families suffer hunger, anxiety and uncertainty as Duterte and his inept generals lurched from one ill-thought plan to another.

The regime has failed to carry out the necessary measures to enable the public health system to fight the spread of the virus, and to provide socio-economic support to the millions of families during the lockdown. Government agencies have been sloppy and haphazard in planning a response to the crisis.

It has yet to take steps to systematically carry out mass screening and testing of the population, as the most crucial component in the fight against the pandemic. It has relied on the initiative of private hospitals, organizations, and local government units. It has not realigned enough funds to build new facilities, hire doctors and nurses, train health workers, or set up factories to produce equipment for protection, mass screening and testing. It has prioritized funding to increase the “hazard pay” of police and military personnel, instead of health workers.

After initially bragging that he has the money, Duterte declared that his government is broke as an excuse for the bureaucratic, chaotic and tightfisted distribution of funds for “social amelioration.” Funds for distribution are insufficient. The workers and semiproletariat are suffering the worst from the lockdown and the government stinginess. Middle-income earners are also becoming increasingly desperate with savings running out. With help from private organizations running out, they are being compelled by their economic conditions to defy the restrictions to seek ways to earn a living.

The regime’s Covid-19 response is being led by military officials, instead of public health experts, resulting in a militarized approach to the crisis. There is a rapidly increasing deployment of military forces in the National Capital Region. Military and police forces are exercising martial law powers to “impose order.” Tens of thousands have been arrested and detained for quarantine violations.

Amid the public health crisis, the regime deployed thousands of soldiers in the rural areas to further intensify counterinsurgency, wasting hundreds of millions of pesos in very costly combat operations, bombing, psywar and drone surveillance. His soldiers roam the countryside without proper health precautions, making the so far insulated barrios vulnerable to infection. As in the cities, he set up checkpoints in national and provincial roads, forcing people to unnecessarily stop for useless “temperature checks” which only expose them to possible infection.

Despite the urgent need for economic reforms, the government has chosen to stubbornly stick to the neoliberal measures which, in the first place, has taken away funds for health and public services. It has refused to heed the clamor for suspending debt servicing and instead plans to borrow more money, bury the country deeper in debt and impose new taxes in the future.

To strengthen his authoritarianism and justify his plans to impose more draconian measures, the Duterte regime is blaming the people for the spread of the disease. Duterte puts a spotlight on some recalcitrants to condemn everyone except his own errors, failures and ineptitude. He has resorted to outright lying, falsely claiming to have had the foresight and imposed early the lockdown to prevent the spread of the disease.

The plain truth is that the Duterte government refused to heed the demand of the people as early as January and February to close the country’s borders to China where the virus originated. It imposed the lockdown on Luzon too late and without the necessary accompanying measures to detect and contain the virus, and worse, without sufficient social support to tide the broad masses over the crisis.

Duterte is browbeating the people to make them believe that the virus can be defeated by his authoritarian “just obey” dogma. He is using the people’s fear of the virus to make them bow in submission to his authority, and paralyze them by compelling them to “stay at home.” As the people’s fear of the virus is overcome by their desperation to live and earn a living, Duterte resorts to instilling fear of his wrath backed by his proven murderous record.

Without mass screening, testing and contact-tracing, even with Duterte’s lockdown and checkpoints, the virus has continued to spread undetected and now threatens widespread infection in the congested urban communities. People in the rural areas, especially the hinterland communities, may ultimately be infected in numbers if the government remains unable to detect the spread of the virus.

Wearing face masks, physical distancing, practicing proper hygiene and maintaining sanitation are necessary measures to help prevent or slow down the spread of the virus. However, stopping the spread of the Covid-19 can only be done effectively with mass screening and testing, rigorous contact tracing, and judicious isolation and quarantine measures. It is only through such measures can the chains of transmission be broken.

The experience of South Korea, Vietnam, Venezuela, Iceland, Canada, Taiwan and other countries prove that the spread of the virus can be controlled or slowed down through detection and isolation, even without the overly restrictive measures against travel and work and certainly without the heavy-handed use of military and police to enforce people’s compliance with public health measures.

The spread of the Covid-19 in the Philippines has already reached a relatively advanced stage with the number of infections reaching more than 6,200. Thus, there is need to urgently conduct screening and testing, as well as contact tracing on a mass scale. This requires the mobilization, training and equipping of tens of thousands of health workers in order to scour communities, factories, schools, and so on. The scientific community must be mobilized and heeded in order to determine how to systematically and effectively conduct this campaign. The machinery must be built with the help of local government units, civic and religious associations, scientists, doctors and health workers, and people’s mass organizations. There must be open consultations and everyone must be encouraged to do their utmost to defeat the spread of the virus.

To their credit, some local officials have gone against the orders of Duterte’s generals and aimed to carry out widespread testing, contract-tracing, loosening of quarantine measures, as well as distribution of financial aid. These efforts, however, will be in vain if these will be done in isolation from each other. There must be initiative on the ground with fund support, push and coordination from the top.

In other words, to surmount the Covid-19, democracy must be unleashed, not suppressed. No amount of Duterte’s tyranny can defeat the spread of the Covid-19. On the contrary, without mass testing and contact-tracing to detect and isolate the virus carriers, Duterte’s lockdown and quarantine restrictions are blind measures and mere fascist tools designed to suppress democracy.

In the face of the Duterte regime’s continuing failure to control the spread of the Covid-19, it is incumbent on the Filipino people to more actively demand the government to carry out widespread mass screening and testing, and contact tracing, and oppose the indefinite extension of the military lockdown and checkpoints which has caused an intolerable humanitarian crisis.

At the same time, they must push for immediate and sufficient social support as recompense in the form of cash distribution. They can push the government to allot funds enough to provide every family with the equivalent of the daily minimum wages set by the government. The Filipino people have been demanding Duterte and his inept generals to answer for their failed Covid-19 response. Failure to heed these urgent demands will only further stoke the people’s demand for Duterte’s resignation or ouster through direct democratic action.

Amid the lockdown, economic hardships and lack of government support, the people’s mass organizations must continue to carry out mutual aid efforts in their communities and strengthen people’s solidarity to bring together their efforts to help each other surmount the economic and health crisis. They can continue setting up community kitchens, collective buying of supplies, cooperative stores, production of face masks for the community, and raising funds through donations and other means. They must identify and give extra effort to help those requiring extra assistance and care, such as the elderly and infirm, pregnant women, single-parents and others.

Unions must demand that workers be paid compensation to cover their cost of living in the past month under lockdown. Workers in factories, restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies and other establishments must demand safety measures in their workplaces to protect them against Covid-19 infections. Contractual workers must demand assurances of continued work and job security.

Market vendors, as well as small shop owners can demand rent reduction or suspension for their stalls. Farmers must demand state subsidy for the purchase of rice and other farm produce to save them from bankruptcy and help ease consumer prices. Local government units can demand greater funds to respond to the urgent demands and needs of their constituencies.

The Party calls on all its committees in the cities to further strengthen and consolidate themselves, and help guide and lead the people and their organizations to confront the crisis.

In the countryside, the Party calls on the New People’s Army to give priority to responding to the public health and economic needs of the people. The extension of the ceasefire in response to the United Nation’s call for a global ceasefire will give all NPA units the opportunity to expand its reach among the masses to conduct a public health campaign to help the peasant masses prevent Covid-19 infections and prepare for its possible spread in their villages. They must continue to conduct information drives, at the same time, help train the community in screening, preparation of the necessary facilities and equipment for isolating and treating patients, and emergency transportation to city hospitals. They must moreover assist the masses in waging antifeudal struggle and raising production in the face of an imminent economic downturn.

At the same time, the NPA must be on high alert in the face of the intensified operations of the AFP. While maintaining the strictest secrecy to avoid detection, they must be ready to engage in battle the fascist forces who are determined to prevent the people’s army from extending its support and service to the people.

The Filipino people must seek to overcome the state of social paralysis that they have been forced into by the Duterte regime’s lockdown. They must find ways to express their voices and take collective action. They must not only overcome their fear of the virus, but shatter as well the terror of Duterte’s de facto martial law rule.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

https://cpp.ph/2020/04/20/duterte-is-exploiting-covid-19-to-impose-fascist-dictatorship/

Sayyaf militant surrenders in Sulu

Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Apr 21, 2020): Sayyaf militant surrenders in Sulu

SULU – An Abu Sayyaf militant surrendered to the security officials in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where military operations continue against the pro-ISIS group.

Officials said Mawallil Sayyadi, a native of Parang town, yielded an automatic rifle and a grenade launcher, including ammunition when he surrendered to the 100th Infantry Battalion in Indanan town.

“This is a result of our relentless operations where the group suffered numerous casualties. Other members now fear for their lives, leading to the series of surrenders,” Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Sulu, said Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, urged other members of the terrorist group to surrender peacefully. “We are working together with all our partners and stakeholders to destroy the terrorist groups in our area of operation. We want to end all conflicts to pave way for peace and development especially in the island province of Sulu,” he said.

A recent fighting in Patikul town killed 11 soldiers and wounded 14 more, but one of them died in the hospital. Security forces launched a massive campaign following the deadly battle.

The Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance with ISIS, is waging a violent war in an effort to put up a caliphate in the restive Muslim region. (Zamboanga Post)

https://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/2020/04/sayyaf-militant-surrenders-in-sulu.html

OCD denounces disinformation on medical supplies, other misleading post

From the Philippine Information Agency (Apr 21, 2020): OCD denounces disinformation on medical supplies, other misleading posts (By PIA DDCU)

QUEZON CITY, April 21 -- The Office of Civil Defense on Monday, April 20 denounced misleading posts of netizens using photos of PPE's being unloaded from a military aircraft for business purposes claiming that the items are for sale.

"Days ago, the agency has received some reports of misleading posts. One of which was a photo of PPEs being unloaded from a military aircraft used by a netizen for business purposes, claiming that the items in the photo which are intended for distribution to hospitals are for sale. The OCD condemns the said act as well as the other disinformation which aim is to advance a personal interest," OCD said.

The OCD which leads the distribution of medical equipment such as face masks, protective coverall suits, gloves, goggles, and other supplies, reiterated that all equipment sets are being distributed directly to various health institutions.

"The agency assures that donations and other procured items by the government are being ­­received by intended beneficiaries as it uses a strict monitoring system for its distribution," the OCD said.

It further assured that donations and other procured items are properly managed as it upholds transparency and efficient arrangements and that anomalous transactions will be dealt with accordingly.

"However, if the agency discovers any irregularities, it assures the public that appropriate actions towards people involved will be given and appropriate charges will be made as warranted," it stressed.

The OCD once again calls on public to be cautious, check sources, and refrain from sharing unverified information.

Meanwhile, the agency has launched a section for COVID-19 donations on its website, in which public can access the list and other further details of donations http://www.ocd.gov.ph/donations.html (PIA DDCU/OCD)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1039583

Army’s 55EBde shares subsistence allowance to vulnerable sector

From the Philippine Information Agency (Apr 21, 2020): Army’s 55EBde shares subsistence allowance to vulnerable sector (By Lou Ellen L. Antonio)



ILIGAN CITY, Apr. 22 (PIA) -- Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, the 55th Engineer Brigade (55EBde) of the Philippine Army rolled out its relief operations for the vulnerable and most affected sectors in Iligan City and municipality of Balo-i, and the internally displaced persons of Marawi City.

An official from the 55th Engineer Brigade (55EBde) of the Philippine Army delivers food pack to a family amid coronavirus disease 2019. (55EBde)

Dubbed “Tulong Mula Sa Inyong Mga Sundalo, Mula Sa Aming Puso, Para Sa Kababayang Pilipino," the officers and enlisted personnel of the 55EBde voluntarily shared a portion of their meal allowance to provide food packs to the affected sectors of its area of responsibility.

With the contribution of the personnel, 2,000 affected families received the food packs containing five (5) kilos of rice, five (5) pieces of canned sardines, five (5) packs of noodles, six (6) packs of coffee, and 0.3 kilos sugar.

“We decided to share a portion of our subsistence allowance in this trying time. Since our country deeply felt the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government could not address all the dilemmas our fellow Filipinos are experiencing,” said 55EBde Commander Brigadier General Nestor Abando in a photo posted by 55EBdE on Facebook.

“In our own way, we could somehow show compassion by helping our surrounding community ease their pain of thinking for the next meal,” Abando added.

The 55EBde also provided transportation, manpower and security assistance during the relief distribution of the provincial governments of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur. (LELA/ PIA ICIC)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1039643

More troops deployed to Sarangani to secure gov’t relief drive

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): More troops deployed to Sarangani to secure gov’t relief drive (By Richelyn Gubalani)

Additional troops have been deployed to the outskirt villages of Kiamba town, Sarangani province to secure the government relief operations for residents affected by the enhanced community quarantine.

1Lt. Efren James Halawig, civil-military operations officer of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion (IB), said Tuesday they have launched “community support operations” to counter the reported presence of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Gasi, Kiamba.

Halawig said the operations, which include close air support, were meant to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of the distribution of food packs and emergency cash assistance under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

He said the deployment was requested last Saturday by the municipal government of Kiamba.

“This is to ensure the unhampered distribution of the food and SAP assistance in the affected barangays,” Halawig said in an interview.

An official of Baragay Gasi, who was not named for security reasons, confirmed the presence of NPA rebels in their village, he said, adding that the combatants were reportedly planning to loot the food supplies being distributed among poor residents in the area.

Halawig said the presence of the rebels has prevented the concerned village official from visiting his farm in the past three months.

Lt. Col. Victorino Seño, 27IB commanding officer, assured that their operations would continue until the concerned communities are cleared of the presence of the NPA.

Seño said they would not allow a repeat of the incident in Samar province last April 7, where at least 30 combatants ransacked and carted away the relief stocks intended for poor residents.

“It is unfortunate that the communist terrorist group continue(s) to endanger the lives, properties, and livelihood of civilians by residing near the communities and extorting subsistence from them," he said in a statement.

Seño said the operations are legitimate and follow the rules of engagement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Development Support and Security Plan Kapayapaan.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100483

NPA hit for planting lethal explosives in Surigao Sur village

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): NPA hit for planting lethal explosives in Surigao Sur village (By Alexander Lopez)



NPA LANDMINES. Government troops recover four anti-personnel improvised landmines after an encounter Sunday (April 19, 2020) in Sitio Sparcoot, Barangay Gata in San Agustin, Surigao del Sur. The explosives, planted on a farm trail, posed great danger to the lives of the residents in the area, military officials say. (Photo courtesy of 3SFBn)

The military condemned Tuesday the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for planting deadly landmines in a farm trail regularly utilized by the farmers in San Agustin town, Surigao del Sur.

In a joint statement, the Army’s 401st Brigade (401Bde) and the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn) said the NPA endangered the lives of civilians when the rebels planted anti-personnel improvised landmines in Sitio Sparcoot, Barangay Gata, San Agustin, on Sunday (April 19).

A 10-minute firefight ensued after government troops responded to the scene, recovering an AK-47 magazine filled with ammunition, subversive documents, and the four anti-personnel improvised landmines after the clash.

No casualties were reported on the government side, said 1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo Punsalan, the civil-military operations officer of 3SFBn.

Lt. Col. Joey Baybayan, 3SFBn commander, noted that the landmines planted along the farm trail posed a great danger not only to the soldiers but also to the civilians who regularly use it to visit their farms.

“The CNTs (Communist NPA Terrorists) showed no regard to the lives and security of the farmers and residents in the area,” Baybayan said.

He also denounced the NPA’s violations of the extension of the ceasefire the communist rebel movement earlier declared.

“We all know that time and again, the CNTs violate any ceasefire agreement. The definition of ceasefire for them is a deceptive means to prepare and buy time for future terroristic attacks,” Baybayan, said.

Col. Allan Hambala, 401Bde commander, said the Army “will remain steadfast in fulfilling its role in the implementation of community quarantines in local government units (LGUs) in response to the threats of Covid-19 (2019 coronavirus disease)".

“With the CNTs’ recent attempt to hamper the distribution of social amelioration cash in Agusan del Sur which resulted to the Army’s recovery of five high-power firearms, we should have no let-up in continuing our efforts to secure the seamless delivery of government services amid the Covid-19 crisis,” Hambala said.

He said the recent NPA attacks on government troops and civilian population alike showed that "the CNTs’ declaration of a ceasefire and their false hopes in the peace talks can never be trusted".

“We will only believe their sincerity in achieving lasting peace if they (their leaders and elements) will come down and surrender themselves and their firearms peacefully and return to the folds of the law,” Hambala said.

The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100509

Negros officials denounce NPA attack amid Covid-19 crisis

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): Negros officials denounce NPA attack amid Covid-19 crisis (By Nanette Guadalquiver)



AMBUSH SITE. The site where government troops were reportedly ambushed by communist-terrorists of the New People's Army in Sitio Tugas, Barangay Carabalan in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Sunday (April 19, 2020). Three soldiers of the Philippine Army's 94th Infantry Battalion were killed while four others were wounded. (Photo courtesy of 303rd Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army)

Government officials in Negros Island have denounced the continuing atrocities of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (NPA) amid the Negrenses’ battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“I am deeply dismayed and I condemn the attacks against our soldiers during a humanitarian mission,” Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said in a statement on Monday.

Three soldiers were killed while four others were injured when troops of the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion clashed with the communist-terrorists in Sitio Tugas, Barangay Carabalan in Himamaylan City on Sunday.

The troops led by 2nd Lt. Ralf Amante Abibico, who was among the casualties, were conducting outer security patrol during the distribution of the social amelioration grant in the area.

When they learned about the presence of NPA rebels extorting food and money from residents, they pursued them. As the soldiers were closing in, the communist-terrorists set off an improvised explosive device and lobbed grenades at them.

Two of Abibico’s men, Cpl. Joel Nobleza and Pfc. Carl Venice Bustamante, were also killed.

Lacson said before Covid-19 struck, the government has been making progress in the peace process with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 70, which institutionalizes the "whole of nation" approach in ending the local communist armed conflict through the creation of a national task force.

“The entire world, the entire human race is in the midst of (a) pandemic right now. Covid-19 and the efforts to address it are not a socio-political issue or concern. This is human race survival. Let us not allow this pandemic to diminish our progress to attain real and lasting peace,” he added.

Meanwhile, all the 11 Negrense legislators in the House of Representatives also condemned the violence against the government forces perpetrated by the CPP-NPA.

“We condemn the treacherous and cowardly attack against the soldiers who were in the area to assist in the distribution of the social amelioration (grant) to beneficiaries affected by Covid-19, a clear violation of the unilateral ceasefire agreement,” the congressmen said in a resolution passed on Monday afternoon.

They said that “confirmed reports indicate that the government forces were ambushed (as) the army vehicle suffered from a landmine blast and grenades were thrown at the soldiers. It was not an encounter as claimed by the NPA spokesman.”

The lawmakers added that as they express their deepest sympathies to the families of the fallen soldiers, they also recognize the heroism of all soldiers who are among the selfless front-liners in the fight against Covid-19, and for keeping the peace in Negros Island.

The resolution was supported by Negros Occidental representatives Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (1st District), Leo Rafael Cueva (2nd District), Francisco Benitez (3rd District), Juliet Marie Ferrer (4th District), Ma. Lourdes Arroyo (5th District), Genaro Alvarez Jr. (6th District), Greg Gasataya (Lone District of Bacolod City), and Stephen Paduano of the Abang Lingkod Party-list.

Those from Negros Oriental are Jocelyn Limkaichong (1st District), Manuel Sagarbarria (2nd District), and Arnolfo Teves Jr. (3rd District).

The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100516

16 high-powered firearms, ammunition recovered in Masbate

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): 16 high-powered firearms, ammunition recovered in Masbate (By Mar Serrano)

A cache of high-powered firearms and ammunition left behind by fleeing suspected New People Army (NPA) rebels were recovered on Tuesday in a remote village in San Fernando town in Masbate province.

Army Capt. John Paul Belleza, 9th Infantry Division (9ID) public affairs office chief, said while Army soldiers were pursuing the armed guerrillas after an encounter with them on Sunday, a villager of Barangay Salvacion informed the troops about the sightings of several firearms in a copra-drying shack in Sitio Diwata.

“The Army troops, upon scouring the area, were able to recover seven M16 rifles, an M4A1 carbine, M653, a shotgun, and 13 long magazines and assorted ammunition,” Belleza said in an interview.

Earlier on Sunday, an Army soldier was slain in an encounter with NPA rebels in Barangay Salvacion. Following the clash, Army troopers recovered three M16, two M4, and an M653 rifle, as well as an M203 grenade launcher left behind by fleeing NPA rebel.

Belleza said as of the moment, a total of 16 high powered firearms and other important equipment and documents have been recovered from the NPA.

The Joint Task Force Bicolandia (JTFB) headed by Maj. Gen. Fernando Trinidad "commended the brave troops for the job well done and once again, thanked the public for the prompt report and cooperation in the government's fight against the communist rebels,” he added.

Belleza said the JTFB believes that this is a clear indication that the people are already tired and fed up with the communist-terrorist group's useless cause which only brings harm and violence to the innocent civilians.

Trinidad once again encouraged the NPA rebels to lay down their arms, surrender and live a long and peaceful life with their families.

JTFB emphasized that it is never too late for them to abandon the armed movement and avail of the numerous programs and benefits awaiting them under the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC).

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100534

Army troopers rescue 5 ‘child warriors’ in Iloilo

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): Army troopers rescue 5 ‘child warriors’ in Iloilo (By Gail Momblan)



YOUNG RECRUITS. Photo shows the temporary training ground of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) in Sitio Anoy, Cabalaunan village, Miagao, Iloilo. Five "child warriors" were among the 11 captured individuals by government troops last Saturday, Col. Marion Sison, commander of Philippine Army's 301st Infantry Brigade, said on Monday (April 20, 2020). (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army 61st Infantry Battalion)

Five "child warriors" of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were among the 11 captured individuals in an encounter between the Philippine Army and the rebels in Miagao, lloilo on Saturday, an Army commander has confirmed.

The Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) under the 301st Infantry Brigade (301st IBde) said government troops have responded to persistent reports of locals that the CPP-NPA is conducting training of minor recruits at Sitio Anoy, Cabalaunan village, Miagao.

The blocking force of the Army has captured 11 rebels while one was killed in the 35-minute gun battle.

“For the captured, we have five minors. One of them is 14 years old; two are 15 years old; one is 16 years old, and the other one is 17 years old,” Col. Marion Sison, commander of the 301st IBde, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview on Monday.

Sison confirmed that the five can be considered as "child warriors" as some of them are “newly recruited and some are armed already,” he said.

The Army commander said the five minors are all male and residents of Antique province.

The five, along with the six others, are currently under the custody of the Miagao Municipal Police Station and are undergoing inquest proceeding.

Charges will be filed against those of legal age while the minors will be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 6 (Western Visayas) for proper custody, he said.

Sison also slammed the claims of the enemy that those captured are not their members. “That is not new to us. They will always disclaim that these (captured) are not their members but we have rebel returnees here that confirmed that the captured are indeed their former comrades,” he said.

As recruitment of minors is confirmed in the southern area of Panay, Sison is calling on the parents and guardians to always guide the teenagers.

He said using minors to wage an armed struggle is “very alarming” and is a serious offense committed by the rebels.

“It is a clear violation of Rule 136 of the International Humanitarian Law which prohibits the recruitment of minors by any armed groups involved in hostilities,” he said.

The casualty on the armed encounter, meanwhile, was of legal age, a regular member of the CPP-NPA, and was already turned over to his family.

“I commend the troops of the 61st Infantry (Hunter) Battalion for acting swiftly in eliminating the threat posed by the CPP-NPA terrorists in Barangay Cabalaunan, Miagao, Iloilo, that despite being exhausted in our deployments in different quarantine control points and in performing other necessary tasks to help contain the local transmission of Covid-19 in the island of Panay, they were still able to perform their task of protecting our people from terrorism,” Maj. Gen. Eric Vinoya, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100397

NPA fighter killed, minor rescued in Agusan Norte clash (Graphic Photo)

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): NPA fighter killed, minor rescued in Agusan Norte clash (By Alexander Lopez)



DEAD FOR LOST CAUSE. A communist New People’s Army fighter is killed following a series of clashes Monday (April 20, 2020) in Bangayan, Kicharao, Agusan del Norte. The Army also recovered three high-power firearms, ammunition and subversive documents. (Photo courtesy of 29IB)

A communist New People’s Army (NPA) fighter was killed and a minor was rescued after a clash with government forces in the Agusan del Norte town of Kicharao on Monday (April 20).

The five-minute firefight broke out when Army personnel encountered about 20 NPA combatants in Barangay Bangayan, said 1Lt. Miguel Borromeo, civil-military operations officer of the Army's 29th Infantry Battalion.

Borromeo said two more skirmishes broke out on the same day in the area involving a different NPA unit, with the last encounter resulting in a 20-minute firefight.

He said the series of clashes led to the recovery of three high-power firearms, ammunition, an improvised explosive device, a backpack containing subversive documents with high intelligence value, and other pieces of evidence.
One of the NPA units was led by a certain alias “Gab” of the Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP), Borromeo said, adding no one was hurt on the government side.

The NPA units operating in the area are under Guerrilla Front 16 (GF-16) of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Command, he added.

Borromeo said a minor and the other three suspected NPA supporters were turned over to the local government of Kitcharao "for processing and investigation".

The Army official said the clashes were the result of the NPA's extortion activities on villagers.

“Life is difficult now for the NPA as they could no longer buy food due to the enhanced community quarantines (ECQs) being implemented by local government units (LGUs),” he added.

Lt. Col. Isagani Criste, 29IB commander, condemned the "continued atrocities" of the NPA in Agusan del Norte.

“The NPA shattered the aspirations of many youths, destroyed many families and killed numerous innocent people. Given this, it should have been easy for us to take vengeance into our hands, but that is not what we want,” Criste said.

“I reiterate my call to all who are still in the mountains. Lay down your weapons of war and surrender now. The government is ready to assist you in your desire to change for the better. We will help you, just surrender peacefully,” he added.

Criste said the identity of the slain NPA is currently being withheld pending validation.

“His body will later be turned over to his family,” he said.

The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100511

NPA fighter yields 'than steal food' from villagers

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): NPA fighter yields 'than steal food' from villagers (By Alexander Lopez)



NO MORE HUNGER. Alias Jack, a New People’s Army combatant, surrenders to Lt. Col. Francisco Molina, Jr. (right), commander of the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion, on April 6, 2020. Jack says hunger pushed him and six other members of the NPA's Guerrilla Front 4-A operating in Agusan del Norte to return to the fold of the law. (Photo courtesy of 23IB)

A communist New People’s Army (NPA) fighter who surrendered earlier this month on Monday said that the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has made the rebels' life harder in the mountains.

"Jack", a former member of Guerrilla Front 4-A of the NPA's North Central Mindanao Regional Committee, said food had become scarce for the rebel group when local governments in Agusan del Norte started implementing community quarantine measures to contain Covid-19 last month.
“We were hungry and tired. We could not demand or steal food from the masses because they too are affected by the quarantine,” Jack told Philippine News Agency on Monday (April 20).

Rather than join his comrades to force hinterland communities to give them food, Jack said he decided to surrender instead to ensure that his family is well-provided amid the hardships being felt during the pandemic.

“I know the government has already provided them with food through recent relief operations. But the food they received is only enough for their members,” Jack said of the hinterland villagers who have been the NPA's regular source of food supplies.

Jack said he was also worried about the safety of his family as the Covid-19 continues to threaten Agusan del Norte and neighboring areas.

“I also thought there’s no more use to continue fighting the government. After more than three years in the movement, I gained nothing. The promise our leaders made before are not realized. Instead, my life turned miserable. I cannot provide my family and children a good future,” he added.

Jack was accompanied by six other NPA fighters when he surrendered to the headquarters of the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion on April 6.

Jack and his colleagues turned over an M16 rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, three .38 caliber pistols, magazines, and assorted ammunition.

“We were surprised by the warm welcome given to us by the Army upon our surrender. In the movement, we were told that the Army would torture us once we surrender. Now we realize that all they told us were lies,” Jack said.

1Lt. Roel Maglalang, 23IB civil-military operations officer, said Jack was instrumental in the recent recovery of ammunitions cache belonging to the NPA.

“Our troops, through the direction provided by Jack, recovered 1,300 rounds of M16 ammunition buried in Barangay Aclan, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte,” Maglalang said.

Lt. Col. Francisco Molina Jr., 23IB commander, said the Army will not tire to "encourage the remaining NPA rebels to return to the government and their families".

“Even in the midst of crises, we continue to call unto our brothers to go down and join us in solving the current crises our country is facing. I am grateful that some of our brothers heed to this call and they are now with us. I hope others will follow the same,” Molina said.

The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100544

Trump offers PH add'l assistance to fight Covid-19

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): Trump offers PH add'l assistance to fight Covid-19 (By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)



CALL FROM TRUMP. President Rodrigo Duterte receives a phone call from US President Donald Trump on Sunday night (April 19, 2020). Malacañang on Monday confirmed the two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation against Covid-19 but no other details were announced. (Photo from Sen. Bong Go)

United States President Donald Trump has offered additional assistance to the Philippines in its fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) during a phone conversation with President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday.

"President Trump expressed his solidarity and offered additional assistance to the Philippines as it continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. Both leaders agreed to continue working together as long-time allies to defeat the pandemic, save lives, and restore global economic strength," the US Embassy in Manila said in a statement Tuesday.

During the call, Trump also expressed condolences for the death of 11 Philippine soldiers recently killed while fighting Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu.

The two leaders discussed how the Philippines and US can continue building upon its "strong and enduring economic, cultural, and security ties binding the two nations".

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, the US has committed a total of USD4-million in health assistance to the Philippine government.

The aid supports several efforts, including laboratory system preparedness, case-finding, and event-based surveillance, technical expert response and preparedness, risk communication, and infection prevention.

Recently, Washington also donated nearly 1,300 cots, originally intended for the Balikatan 2020 joint military exercise, for the patients and front-liners battling the deadly respiratory disease.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100464

PH Army honors troops killed in NegOcc clash

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 21, 2020): PH Army honors troops killed in NegOcc clash (By Priam Nepomuceno)



Philippine Army commander, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay. (File photo)

The Philippine Army (PA) is honoring the sacrifices made by the three soldiers who were killed by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) terrorists while on patrol in Negros Occidental last Sunday.

"We honor the sacrifice of our three fallen soldiers in Negros Occidental who fought gallantly in protecting our people against the threat brought by the CPP-NPA terrorists while doing their duty to deliver services to combat Covid-19 (coronavirus disease)," PA commander Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said in a statement on Monday.

Initial reports said the troopers of the 94th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division were conducting security patrols to protect the distribution of the government's Social Amelioration Program when residents reported the presence of communist rebels conducting extortion and recruitment activities in Sitio Tugas, Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan, Negros Occidental.

The soldiers immediately responded and engaged in a 30-minute firefight with the rebels.

A landmine detonation killed 2nd Lt. Ralf Almante C. Abibico, Cpl. Joel C. Nobleza, and Pfc. Carl Venice S. Bustamante. Four soldiers were also wounded from the blast.

"Their sacrifice will motivate us to continue our mission with formidable resolve and bring lasting peace to our country,” Gapay said.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100469