From the Visayan Daily Star (Jun 5, 2020): NPA Negros liaison officerarrested in Metro Manila
An alleged liaison officer of the South West Front Committee of the Komiteng Rehiyonal-Negros was captured by the police at Brgy. Merville in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Wednesday.
PLt. Col. Necerato Sabando, Sipalay City police chief, yesterday said that the alleged NPA liaison officer, identified as Roger Lumanog, alias Jijie Lumanog, has a pending arrest warrant issued by Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Rodney Magbanua for the crime of murder with no bail recommended.
Lumanog, 36, and a resident of Brgy. Camindangan, Sipalay City, was apprehended by intelligence operatives of the Southern Police District of National Capital Region Police Office, in coordination with the Sipalay City Police Station.
Initial police investigation showed that Lumanog is the liaison officer of the NPA South West Front-KR Negros, with another accused person identified by the police as Rex Vargas, for logistical requirements of the NPA in southern Negros.
Sabando said that Lumanog was accused for killing his former comrade who had left their group.
Lumanog is now detained at the Taguig City Police Station jail, pending his transfer to Negros Occidental, Sabando said.
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2020/June/05/topstory10.htm
Friday, June 5, 2020
Tatlong miyembro ng CPP-NPA, sumuko sa pamahalaan
From the Philippine Information Agency (Jun 6, 2020): Tatlong miyembro ng CPP-NPA, sumuko sa pamahalaan (By 5ID Star Troopers)
GAMU, Isabela, Hunyo 6 (PIA)–Ang patuloy na pagpapatupad ng ating pamamahalaan sa EO #70 o Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) sa Rehiyon ng Cagayan Valley ay nagresulta muli ng boluntaryong pagbabalik-loob ng isang miyembro ng Milisya ng Bayan (MB) at dalawang tagasuporta ng teroristang-Komunistang NPA sa Bayan ng Benito Soliven at San Mariano, Isabela noong ika-uno ng Hunyo.
Sa tulong ng mga kasundaluhan at kapulisan ng 95th Infantry Battalion, 502nd Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, Philippine Army at ng Isabela Police Provincial Police Office, Police Regional Office 2 (IPPO-PRO2), nagbalik-loob ang nasabing miyembro at lider ng Milisya ng Bayan (MB) na itago sa pangalang “aka” Kaloy, na naatasang sekretarya ng CPP Local Party Branch at sina “aka” Tomas at “aka” Heroy na tagasuporta ng Komunistang NPA sa nasabing lugar.
Maliban dito, dala-dala nila ang tatlong matataas na kalibre ng baril na kinabibilangan ng isang US M1 Carbine na may isang magazine at limang bala, isang (1) M653 rifle, at isang (1) M16 rifle. Ayon sa mga nagbalik loob, ang mga dala nilang mga baril ay ipinagkatiwala sa kanila ng mga miyembro ng Regional Sentro De Grabidad, Komiteng Rehiyong-Cagayan Valley (RSDG-KR-CV).
Ayon pa sa tatlo (mga sumuko), hindi sila nag-alinlangan at minabuti nilang magbalik-loob na sa ating pamahalaan, sapagkat naramdaman na nila ang katahimikan sa kanilang mga bayan nang nawala ang presensya ng mga terorista NPA.
Dagdag nila, naramdaman nila ang taos-pusong suporta ng ating gobyerno at ng mga kasundaluhan na matulungan silang maituwid sa kanilang pamumuhay.
Gayunpaman, pinuri at hinikayat naman ni MGen Pablo M Lorenzo AFP, Commander, 5ID ang naging tamang desisyon ng mga nagsipagbalik-loob at ang mga natitira pang mga kasapi ng NPA sa Cagayan Valley at Cordillera na yakapin ang tunay na kapayapaan.
Ipinaabot din niya na ang mga benepisyo mula sa Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) na programa ng ating gobyerno sa bawat rebeldeng nagbalik-loob ay agad na iproseso na magsisilbing panimula nila tungo sa isang tahimik na pamumuhay kasama ang kanilang pamilya. (MDCT/PIA-2)
GAMU, Isabela, Hunyo 6 (PIA)–Ang patuloy na pagpapatupad ng ating pamamahalaan sa EO #70 o Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) sa Rehiyon ng Cagayan Valley ay nagresulta muli ng boluntaryong pagbabalik-loob ng isang miyembro ng Milisya ng Bayan (MB) at dalawang tagasuporta ng teroristang-Komunistang NPA sa Bayan ng Benito Soliven at San Mariano, Isabela noong ika-uno ng Hunyo.
Sa tulong ng mga kasundaluhan at kapulisan ng 95th Infantry Battalion, 502nd Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, Philippine Army at ng Isabela Police Provincial Police Office, Police Regional Office 2 (IPPO-PRO2), nagbalik-loob ang nasabing miyembro at lider ng Milisya ng Bayan (MB) na itago sa pangalang “aka” Kaloy, na naatasang sekretarya ng CPP Local Party Branch at sina “aka” Tomas at “aka” Heroy na tagasuporta ng Komunistang NPA sa nasabing lugar.
Maliban dito, dala-dala nila ang tatlong matataas na kalibre ng baril na kinabibilangan ng isang US M1 Carbine na may isang magazine at limang bala, isang (1) M653 rifle, at isang (1) M16 rifle. Ayon sa mga nagbalik loob, ang mga dala nilang mga baril ay ipinagkatiwala sa kanila ng mga miyembro ng Regional Sentro De Grabidad, Komiteng Rehiyong-Cagayan Valley (RSDG-KR-CV).
Ayon pa sa tatlo (mga sumuko), hindi sila nag-alinlangan at minabuti nilang magbalik-loob na sa ating pamahalaan, sapagkat naramdaman na nila ang katahimikan sa kanilang mga bayan nang nawala ang presensya ng mga terorista NPA.
Dagdag nila, naramdaman nila ang taos-pusong suporta ng ating gobyerno at ng mga kasundaluhan na matulungan silang maituwid sa kanilang pamumuhay.
Gayunpaman, pinuri at hinikayat naman ni MGen Pablo M Lorenzo AFP, Commander, 5ID ang naging tamang desisyon ng mga nagsipagbalik-loob at ang mga natitira pang mga kasapi ng NPA sa Cagayan Valley at Cordillera na yakapin ang tunay na kapayapaan.
Ipinaabot din niya na ang mga benepisyo mula sa Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) na programa ng ating gobyerno sa bawat rebeldeng nagbalik-loob ay agad na iproseso na magsisilbing panimula nila tungo sa isang tahimik na pamumuhay kasama ang kanilang pamilya. (MDCT/PIA-2)
LGUs Basey, Marabut in Samar tag CPP-NPA-NDF persona non grata
From the Philippine Information Agency (Jun 6, 2020): LGUs Basey, Marabut in Samar tag CPP-NPA-NDF persona non grata (By PIA-8)
TACLOBAN CITY, June 6 (PIA) - In two separate occasions on June 2, 2020, the Municipal Task Forces- ELCAC in Basey and Marabut, both in Samar, declared the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army and National Democratic Front (CNN) as unwelcome and persona non grata in their respective areas.
In a Municipal Task Force ELCAC meeting through a joint meeting of the Municipal Peace and Order Council, Municipal Development Council, Sangguniang Bayan Members and Punong Barangays of Basey, the members unanimously agreed to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army and National Democratic Front (CNN) as unwelcome in their area and persona non grata.
The decision and pronouncement transpired during the meeting that was held at the municipality on June 2, after discussing of the adverse impact of the CNN’s presence in their community.
Earlier that day, the Sangguniang Bayan members of Marabut also signed a resolution declaring the CNN as persona non grata.
The 63rd Infantry Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, welcomed these significant and pivotal decisions of the Local Chief Executives, Council members and Chairpersons including their respective Punong Barangays.
In a statement, Lt. Col. Edgar Allan Orbito said, “The people have spoken. Communism and terrorism are unwanted in Basey and Marabut.”
“I therefore ask those active and still deceived members of the CNN to instead cooperate and help build a peaceful community, Orbito added.
“Our government is opening its doors for those who wanted to go back, otherwise they will face the full force of the law if they opted to continue terrorizing the locals,” Orbito concluded.
Last year, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order No. 70 which institutionalized the Whole-Of-Nation Approach wherein government agencies will work in a holistic and integrated manner to deliver much-needed services to remote, conflict-affected communities.
In particular, the approach will utilize localized peace engagements wherein LGUs and other stakeholders in the community will take the lead in finding solutions to resolve the decades-long communist insurgency in the country. (opt/PIA-8)
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1044016
TACLOBAN CITY, June 6 (PIA) - In two separate occasions on June 2, 2020, the Municipal Task Forces- ELCAC in Basey and Marabut, both in Samar, declared the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army and National Democratic Front (CNN) as unwelcome and persona non grata in their respective areas.
In a Municipal Task Force ELCAC meeting through a joint meeting of the Municipal Peace and Order Council, Municipal Development Council, Sangguniang Bayan Members and Punong Barangays of Basey, the members unanimously agreed to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army and National Democratic Front (CNN) as unwelcome in their area and persona non grata.
The decision and pronouncement transpired during the meeting that was held at the municipality on June 2, after discussing of the adverse impact of the CNN’s presence in their community.
Earlier that day, the Sangguniang Bayan members of Marabut also signed a resolution declaring the CNN as persona non grata.
The 63rd Infantry Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, welcomed these significant and pivotal decisions of the Local Chief Executives, Council members and Chairpersons including their respective Punong Barangays.
In a statement, Lt. Col. Edgar Allan Orbito said, “The people have spoken. Communism and terrorism are unwanted in Basey and Marabut.”
“I therefore ask those active and still deceived members of the CNN to instead cooperate and help build a peaceful community, Orbito added.
“Our government is opening its doors for those who wanted to go back, otherwise they will face the full force of the law if they opted to continue terrorizing the locals,” Orbito concluded.
Last year, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order No. 70 which institutionalized the Whole-Of-Nation Approach wherein government agencies will work in a holistic and integrated manner to deliver much-needed services to remote, conflict-affected communities.
In particular, the approach will utilize localized peace engagements wherein LGUs and other stakeholders in the community will take the lead in finding solutions to resolve the decades-long communist insurgency in the country. (opt/PIA-8)
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1044016
Anti-terror bill not after activists: Cayetano
From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 5, 2020): Anti-terror bill not after activists: Cayetano (By Filane Mikee Cervantes)
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday defended the approval of the controversial anti-terror bill, saying that the measure would not target activists.
"Let me make that clear ha. We agree with you. Ang aktibismo po ay hindi terrorism (Activism is not terrorism). We want to promote activism... Activism is essential. Hindi magbabago ang mga dapat baguhin sa ating bansa ‘pag walang aktibismo (The necessary changes won't happen in our country without activism)," Cayetano said in his adjournment speech.
The measure states that terrorism "shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights, which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety."
Cayetano, however, reminded activists not to allow terrorists to hide within their groups.
"Terrorism is not activism. So in the same way that we should not persecute or go after the activists in the guise that they are terrorists. Kayong mga aktibista (You activists), do not allow the terrorists to hide within your ranks," he said.
He cited the case of the 2017 Marawi siege wherein terrorists have infiltrated the law-abiding community.
"Most of the citizens of Marawi are law-abiding. Many of the people of Marawi were just fighting for the traditional and historic injustices for the discrimination against mga kababayan nating Muslim. Ang problema po, nasingitan ng ilang mga terorista na armas at dahas ang gusto (The problem was that terrorists have pervaded [the community] with weapons and violence)," he said.
He also urged critics to read and examine the bill seeking to provide more teeth to the law against terrorism.
"Basahin n’yo naman ang batas. Hindi n’yo pwedeng sabihing, “Congress please listen,” tapos sasagot kami, ayaw n’yo namang basahin ‘yung batas (Read the proposed law. You can't tell us 'Congress please listen', then we'll answer, but you still won't read the bill)," he said.
The House has adopted the Senate version of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in order to do away with a bicameral conference and immediately transmit the measure to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.
The bill introduced provisions imposing life imprisonment without parole on those who will participate in the planning, training, preparation, and facilitation of a terrorist act; possess objects connected with the preparation for the commission of terrorism; or collect or make documents connected with the preparation of terrorism.
Under the bill, any person who shall threaten to commit terrorism shall suffer the penalty of 12 years. The same jail term will be meted against those who will propose any terroristic acts or incite others to commit terrorism.
Any person who shall voluntarily and knowingly join any organization, association, or group of persons knowing that such is a terrorist organization, shall suffer imprisonment of 12 years.
Under the bill, the number of days a suspected person can be detained without a warrant of arrest is 14 calendar days, extendible by 10 days.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105079
"Let me make that clear ha. We agree with you. Ang aktibismo po ay hindi terrorism (Activism is not terrorism). We want to promote activism... Activism is essential. Hindi magbabago ang mga dapat baguhin sa ating bansa ‘pag walang aktibismo (The necessary changes won't happen in our country without activism)," Cayetano said in his adjournment speech.
The measure states that terrorism "shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights, which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety."
Cayetano, however, reminded activists not to allow terrorists to hide within their groups.
"Terrorism is not activism. So in the same way that we should not persecute or go after the activists in the guise that they are terrorists. Kayong mga aktibista (You activists), do not allow the terrorists to hide within your ranks," he said.
He cited the case of the 2017 Marawi siege wherein terrorists have infiltrated the law-abiding community.
"Most of the citizens of Marawi are law-abiding. Many of the people of Marawi were just fighting for the traditional and historic injustices for the discrimination against mga kababayan nating Muslim. Ang problema po, nasingitan ng ilang mga terorista na armas at dahas ang gusto (The problem was that terrorists have pervaded [the community] with weapons and violence)," he said.
He also urged critics to read and examine the bill seeking to provide more teeth to the law against terrorism.
"Basahin n’yo naman ang batas. Hindi n’yo pwedeng sabihing, “Congress please listen,” tapos sasagot kami, ayaw n’yo namang basahin ‘yung batas (Read the proposed law. You can't tell us 'Congress please listen', then we'll answer, but you still won't read the bill)," he said.
The House has adopted the Senate version of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in order to do away with a bicameral conference and immediately transmit the measure to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.
The bill introduced provisions imposing life imprisonment without parole on those who will participate in the planning, training, preparation, and facilitation of a terrorist act; possess objects connected with the preparation for the commission of terrorism; or collect or make documents connected with the preparation of terrorism.
Under the bill, any person who shall threaten to commit terrorism shall suffer the penalty of 12 years. The same jail term will be meted against those who will propose any terroristic acts or incite others to commit terrorism.
Any person who shall voluntarily and knowingly join any organization, association, or group of persons knowing that such is a terrorist organization, shall suffer imprisonment of 12 years.
Under the bill, the number of days a suspected person can be detained without a warrant of arrest is 14 calendar days, extendible by 10 days.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105079
Why junk anti-terror bill if it will boost your ranks, Reds told
From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 5, 2020): Why junk anti-terror bill if it will boost your ranks, Reds told (By Priam Nepomuceno)
Southern Luzon Command chief, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr. (left) and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate (PNA File photo)
Southern Luzon Command chief, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr. (left) and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate (PNA File photo)
Communist rebels and their allies should not bother opposing the new anti-terror law, certified as urgent by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, if they believe that the legislation will cause more people to join the ranks of the New People's Army (NPA).
In a statement Thursday, Southern Luzon Command chief, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., said communists should rejoice over Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) information officer Marco Valbuena's claims that House Bill 6875 or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 would cause an upsurge in people joining their armed ranks.
"Valbuena and the CPP said that the Anti-Terror Law will further push people to join the NPA. If that is the case, then they should be happy with it. He should not oppose it so they will have more fighter recruits," Parlade said.
Valbuena earlier said Duterte regime's "intense persecution, suppression, and threats" have continued to attract " toiling masses and intellectuals" in joining the NPA.
Parlade, a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), however, dismissed Valbuena's allegations by citing reports of numerous former rebels who voluntarily surrendered due to lack of support from the CPP and its false promises.
"That's not what the NPAs in Mindoro said. You have recruited mercenaries by exploiting Mangyans with a promise of 'SUPAMIL' (Suporta sa Pamilya) worth PHP1,500 a month. Well, they got PHP1,500 upon signing up and their families never got anything else after for six years, not even medical assistance when their wives got sick and eventually died. It's the same story from surrenderers in Panay, Cordillera, Surigao, Samar, and elsewhere. So your fighters stay with the NPAs for a year or even less, and then surrender after realizing their condition in the movement is even worse," he added.
He also scored the CPP-NPA and its allies for being too handy with branding Congress and the NTF ELCAC as "fascist diehards" for coming up with the anti-terror bill and yet quickly clamps up whenever evidence is presented showing the communist rebels' plan to establish a proletarian dictatorship.
"You refuse to comment every time we expose to the people what your CPP Constitution Plans and Programs (May 2017) adhere to -- a proletarian dictatorship, which we are sure is of the worst kind," he added.
He added that the government will do everything in its authority to neutralize violent dissent and terrorism but is not in the business of suppressing dissent and activism contrary to claims of supporters of the communist rebels.
"Do we suppress dissent? No. Violent dissent Yes. Do we suppress activism? Hell, no. Terrorism? You bet," he added.
Parlade asked Valbuena and the CPP if they are really promoting democratic rights and pro-people with the burning of a church and several houses in Misamis Oriental on May 28.
"Tell us Valbuena, exactly what democratic rights and pro-people's interest are you trying to promote with your communist and godless ideology? Is that something like the burning of a Born Again church and several houses because the people there are anti-communist? Did you at least coordinate with your comrade (Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani) Zarate on how to disassociate yourselves because clearly your ideas and methods are one and the same," he said.
Challenge
He said they have been constantly challenging members of the Makabayan bloc to a debate to justify themselves.
"You ask for proof? We have been challenging the (Makabayan) Kamatayan Bloc to meet us in any fora and discuss the merits of their accusations of red-tagging but they won’t. Not in congressional inquiries, committee public hearings on Salugpungan schools, not in any ABS-CBN or any TV program, neither will you face me when I came alone to discuss your issues during your Forum on Criminalizing Dissent. You so love to vilify the government, the NTF ELCAC, and myself under the full and exclusive protection of a congressional privilege hour," Parlade added.
He also challenged Valbuena to condemn the atrocities perpetrated by NPA terrorists as Zarate and other members of the Makabayan bloc seem to loathe.
He also dared Valbuena to disown Zarate for claiming that he belongs to a democratic and legal organization.
"Mr. Valbuena, maaring ikaw na siguro ang magtatakwil sa mga karahasan ng NPA sapagkat ayaw itong itakwil ni Rep. Zarate. Puede mo bang itakwil si Rep. Zarate na nagsasabing kasapi sila ng demokratiko at ligal na organisasyon? Ang CPP ay dapat maingat sa mga nagpapanggap na mga kasapi na nagsasabing sila ay sumasampalataya sa kumunismo, gayon namang sila pala ay mga demokratikong tao daw," he said.
He also asked if being democratic and legal means being escorted by NPA rebels during campaigns or meetings in the hinterlands of electoral candidates, or whether it is legal for organizations to oust or topple the duly-elected government through a bloody revolution.
"Kung susuriin natin demokratiko nga ba ang mga taong napapaikutan naman ng mga NPA bilang security nila tuwing may kampanya o miting sa bundok? Ligal nga ba ang mga organisasyon na naglalayong pabagsakin ang gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng madugong rebolusyon? Ligal nga ba ang mga grupong 'Panday Sining' na ang pinagaaralan naman ay pano gumawa ng molotov bomb upang guluhin ang ating katahimikan? Ligal nga ba ang Anakbayan at LFS na ang sinisigaw sa kalsada ay 'Sumapi sa Hukbo at Isulong ang Rebolusyon'?," he said.
Parlade said he finds it odd that while communist rebels and their allies are consistent in accusing the government of instigating the killing of activists, these very same people seem to loathe to have these investigated as witnesses might possibly point to them as the masterminds and perpetrators as evidenced by the confession of former Special Partisan Unit (SPARU) hitman James Durimon alias "Juros" who earlier owned up to the killing of several activists in Panay.
Durimon's series of killings, ordered by the communist leadership, were routinely claimed by the CPP-NPA as the work of government agents.
Parlade also cited the cases of SPARU assassins, Roldan Malucon alias "Jande" who surrendered to government forces after experiencing discrimination at the rebel movement and of Felex Masong alias "Asga", who operated in Palawan, and decided to turn himself over after the CPP-NPA failed to give him support.
"Nasundan nyo ba ang kaso ni (Have you been following the case of) Randy Felix Malayao (National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant) na pinatay ng (who was killed by) SPARU sa Nueva Viscaya (on January 30, 2019) dahil sa (because of) financial at sexual opportunism?" he said.
He added that the CPP-NPA is not inclined to investigate these cases as findings that they themselves are the ones responsible for killing their members, stealing money from their own coffers, and sexually abusing or molesting wives of their members, crimes they habitually accused of government troops of.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
"Sinali nyo pa ang CHR (Commission on Human Rights) sa privileged speech, wala na nga silang maisagot sa aming mga tanong kung bakit walang pagkondena ang ahensya sa dinami dami ng mga pinaslang ng CPP-NPA (You still mentioned the CHR in your privileged speech when they cannot even answer our questions on its seeming apathy to the several killings perpetrated by the CPP-NPA) ," Parlade said.
Militant groups and their allies, he added, are finding it difficult to condemn atrocities committed by the NPA even if they themselves are professing to be fighting for democracy.
“Kung tunay na demokrasya ang iyong pinaglalaban, Rep. Zarate, at ikaw ang may sabi nyan, itakwil mo ang karahasan ng kumunismo at teroristang NPA. Ngayon na at marahil bukas mananahimik na si Gen. Parlade (If Rep. Zarate claims he is fighting for genuine democracy, then he can condemn NPA violence and atrocities now, and that will silence General Parlade)," he said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105078
In a statement Thursday, Southern Luzon Command chief, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., said communists should rejoice over Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) information officer Marco Valbuena's claims that House Bill 6875 or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 would cause an upsurge in people joining their armed ranks.
"Valbuena and the CPP said that the Anti-Terror Law will further push people to join the NPA. If that is the case, then they should be happy with it. He should not oppose it so they will have more fighter recruits," Parlade said.
Valbuena earlier said Duterte regime's "intense persecution, suppression, and threats" have continued to attract " toiling masses and intellectuals" in joining the NPA.
Parlade, a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), however, dismissed Valbuena's allegations by citing reports of numerous former rebels who voluntarily surrendered due to lack of support from the CPP and its false promises.
"That's not what the NPAs in Mindoro said. You have recruited mercenaries by exploiting Mangyans with a promise of 'SUPAMIL' (Suporta sa Pamilya) worth PHP1,500 a month. Well, they got PHP1,500 upon signing up and their families never got anything else after for six years, not even medical assistance when their wives got sick and eventually died. It's the same story from surrenderers in Panay, Cordillera, Surigao, Samar, and elsewhere. So your fighters stay with the NPAs for a year or even less, and then surrender after realizing their condition in the movement is even worse," he added.
He also scored the CPP-NPA and its allies for being too handy with branding Congress and the NTF ELCAC as "fascist diehards" for coming up with the anti-terror bill and yet quickly clamps up whenever evidence is presented showing the communist rebels' plan to establish a proletarian dictatorship.
"You refuse to comment every time we expose to the people what your CPP Constitution Plans and Programs (May 2017) adhere to -- a proletarian dictatorship, which we are sure is of the worst kind," he added.
He added that the government will do everything in its authority to neutralize violent dissent and terrorism but is not in the business of suppressing dissent and activism contrary to claims of supporters of the communist rebels.
"Do we suppress dissent? No. Violent dissent Yes. Do we suppress activism? Hell, no. Terrorism? You bet," he added.
Parlade asked Valbuena and the CPP if they are really promoting democratic rights and pro-people with the burning of a church and several houses in Misamis Oriental on May 28.
"Tell us Valbuena, exactly what democratic rights and pro-people's interest are you trying to promote with your communist and godless ideology? Is that something like the burning of a Born Again church and several houses because the people there are anti-communist? Did you at least coordinate with your comrade (Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani) Zarate on how to disassociate yourselves because clearly your ideas and methods are one and the same," he said.
Challenge
He said they have been constantly challenging members of the Makabayan bloc to a debate to justify themselves.
"You ask for proof? We have been challenging the (Makabayan) Kamatayan Bloc to meet us in any fora and discuss the merits of their accusations of red-tagging but they won’t. Not in congressional inquiries, committee public hearings on Salugpungan schools, not in any ABS-CBN or any TV program, neither will you face me when I came alone to discuss your issues during your Forum on Criminalizing Dissent. You so love to vilify the government, the NTF ELCAC, and myself under the full and exclusive protection of a congressional privilege hour," Parlade added.
He also challenged Valbuena to condemn the atrocities perpetrated by NPA terrorists as Zarate and other members of the Makabayan bloc seem to loathe.
He also dared Valbuena to disown Zarate for claiming that he belongs to a democratic and legal organization.
"Mr. Valbuena, maaring ikaw na siguro ang magtatakwil sa mga karahasan ng NPA sapagkat ayaw itong itakwil ni Rep. Zarate. Puede mo bang itakwil si Rep. Zarate na nagsasabing kasapi sila ng demokratiko at ligal na organisasyon? Ang CPP ay dapat maingat sa mga nagpapanggap na mga kasapi na nagsasabing sila ay sumasampalataya sa kumunismo, gayon namang sila pala ay mga demokratikong tao daw," he said.
He also asked if being democratic and legal means being escorted by NPA rebels during campaigns or meetings in the hinterlands of electoral candidates, or whether it is legal for organizations to oust or topple the duly-elected government through a bloody revolution.
"Kung susuriin natin demokratiko nga ba ang mga taong napapaikutan naman ng mga NPA bilang security nila tuwing may kampanya o miting sa bundok? Ligal nga ba ang mga organisasyon na naglalayong pabagsakin ang gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng madugong rebolusyon? Ligal nga ba ang mga grupong 'Panday Sining' na ang pinagaaralan naman ay pano gumawa ng molotov bomb upang guluhin ang ating katahimikan? Ligal nga ba ang Anakbayan at LFS na ang sinisigaw sa kalsada ay 'Sumapi sa Hukbo at Isulong ang Rebolusyon'?," he said.
Parlade said he finds it odd that while communist rebels and their allies are consistent in accusing the government of instigating the killing of activists, these very same people seem to loathe to have these investigated as witnesses might possibly point to them as the masterminds and perpetrators as evidenced by the confession of former Special Partisan Unit (SPARU) hitman James Durimon alias "Juros" who earlier owned up to the killing of several activists in Panay.
Durimon's series of killings, ordered by the communist leadership, were routinely claimed by the CPP-NPA as the work of government agents.
Parlade also cited the cases of SPARU assassins, Roldan Malucon alias "Jande" who surrendered to government forces after experiencing discrimination at the rebel movement and of Felex Masong alias "Asga", who operated in Palawan, and decided to turn himself over after the CPP-NPA failed to give him support.
"Nasundan nyo ba ang kaso ni (Have you been following the case of) Randy Felix Malayao (National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant) na pinatay ng (who was killed by) SPARU sa Nueva Viscaya (on January 30, 2019) dahil sa (because of) financial at sexual opportunism?" he said.
He added that the CPP-NPA is not inclined to investigate these cases as findings that they themselves are the ones responsible for killing their members, stealing money from their own coffers, and sexually abusing or molesting wives of their members, crimes they habitually accused of government troops of.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
"Sinali nyo pa ang CHR (Commission on Human Rights) sa privileged speech, wala na nga silang maisagot sa aming mga tanong kung bakit walang pagkondena ang ahensya sa dinami dami ng mga pinaslang ng CPP-NPA (You still mentioned the CHR in your privileged speech when they cannot even answer our questions on its seeming apathy to the several killings perpetrated by the CPP-NPA) ," Parlade said.
Militant groups and their allies, he added, are finding it difficult to condemn atrocities committed by the NPA even if they themselves are professing to be fighting for democracy.
“Kung tunay na demokrasya ang iyong pinaglalaban, Rep. Zarate, at ikaw ang may sabi nyan, itakwil mo ang karahasan ng kumunismo at teroristang NPA. Ngayon na at marahil bukas mananahimik na si Gen. Parlade (If Rep. Zarate claims he is fighting for genuine democracy, then he can condemn NPA violence and atrocities now, and that will silence General Parlade)," he said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105078
Army eager to train with Aussie counterparts once Covid-19 eases
From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 5, 2020): Army eager to train with Aussie counterparts once Covid-19 eases (By Priam Nepomuceno)
Philippine Army commander, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay. (File photo)
Philippine Army commander, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay. (File photo)
The Philippine Army (PA) is eager to go on training and exercises with its Australian counterparts once conditions return to normal as soon as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is over.
"Our planners are in constant coordination such that trainings and exercises can be conducted once conditions permit," Army commander, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said in a statement Friday, following his video meeting with Australian Ambassador Steven Robinson on Thursday.
He, however, admitted the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the postponement and cancelation of majority of its security engagements with Australia.
Gapay also said the video meeting shows that Philippine ties with the global community, including Australia, remain strong.
There, the Army commander exchanged updates and thanked the Australian envoy for the donation of supplies used by the country's medical front-liners.
When asked on the significance of Gapay and Robinson's meeting, PA spokesperson Col. Ramon Zagala said this highlights the strong ties between the two nations.
"We have Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with them and we have the (Enhanced) Defense Cooperation Program with them. They also assist us in anti-terror training," he said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
The country's Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program with Australia stemmed from the earlier Operation Augury which provided Australian counter-terrorism training to 10,000 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines aside from essential land-based activities focused on urban combat and joint coordination skills; air training focused on enhancing air coordination; and maritime activities.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105053
"Our planners are in constant coordination such that trainings and exercises can be conducted once conditions permit," Army commander, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said in a statement Friday, following his video meeting with Australian Ambassador Steven Robinson on Thursday.
He, however, admitted the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the postponement and cancelation of majority of its security engagements with Australia.
Gapay also said the video meeting shows that Philippine ties with the global community, including Australia, remain strong.
There, the Army commander exchanged updates and thanked the Australian envoy for the donation of supplies used by the country's medical front-liners.
When asked on the significance of Gapay and Robinson's meeting, PA spokesperson Col. Ramon Zagala said this highlights the strong ties between the two nations.
"We have Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with them and we have the (Enhanced) Defense Cooperation Program with them. They also assist us in anti-terror training," he said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
The country's Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program with Australia stemmed from the earlier Operation Augury which provided Australian counter-terrorism training to 10,000 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines aside from essential land-based activities focused on urban combat and joint coordination skills; air training focused on enhancing air coordination; and maritime activities.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105053
4 generals included in latest PNP reshuffle
From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 6, 2020): 4 generals included in latest PNP reshuffle (By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
PNP chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa. (File photo)
PNP chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa. (File photo)
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa has designated Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay Jr., as the new director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula).
In an order that took effect Thursday, Gamboa said Cambay, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) "Makatao" Class of 1989 is one of the four police generals included in the latest reorganization in the PNP.
Cambay was the former director of the PNP Intelligence Group (IG) before assuming the PRO-9 top post. He replaced Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla who was re-assigned to the Office of the Chief PNP.
Replacing Cambay as IG director is Brig. Gen. Joseph Gohel, former deputy director of the PNP Directorate for Research and Development (DRD).
Taking over as DRD deputy director is Brig. Gen. Remus Zacharias Canieso.
The other officers assigned to new posts are:
-Col. Alan Nazarro – as head of PRO 10 (Northern Mindanao);
-Col. Sidney Hernia - Directorate for Plans;
-Col. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. - Finance Service;
-Col. Ross Alvaardo - PRO 6 (Western Visayas);
-Col. Lope Lim - Anti-Cybercrime Group;
-Col. Giovanie Maines, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-North Luzon;
-Col. Limuel Obon - Aviation Security Group; and
-Col. Andrew Cayad - Intelligence Group.
Gamboa said the latest round of reorganization manifests the continuing reform in the command structure of the 205,000-strong police force.
“The latest round of reorganization manifests the strong commitment of the PNP to human resource and career development,” he said in a statement.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105080
In an order that took effect Thursday, Gamboa said Cambay, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) "Makatao" Class of 1989 is one of the four police generals included in the latest reorganization in the PNP.
Cambay was the former director of the PNP Intelligence Group (IG) before assuming the PRO-9 top post. He replaced Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla who was re-assigned to the Office of the Chief PNP.
Replacing Cambay as IG director is Brig. Gen. Joseph Gohel, former deputy director of the PNP Directorate for Research and Development (DRD).
Taking over as DRD deputy director is Brig. Gen. Remus Zacharias Canieso.
The other officers assigned to new posts are:
-Col. Alan Nazarro – as head of PRO 10 (Northern Mindanao);
-Col. Sidney Hernia - Directorate for Plans;
-Col. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. - Finance Service;
-Col. Ross Alvaardo - PRO 6 (Western Visayas);
-Col. Lope Lim - Anti-Cybercrime Group;
-Col. Giovanie Maines, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-North Luzon;
-Col. Limuel Obon - Aviation Security Group; and
-Col. Andrew Cayad - Intelligence Group.
Gamboa said the latest round of reorganization manifests the continuing reform in the command structure of the 205,000-strong police force.
“The latest round of reorganization manifests the strong commitment of the PNP to human resource and career development,” he said in a statement.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105080
1st Pinay female submarine officer earns Dolphins aboard USS Ohio
From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 6, 2020): 1st Pinay female submarine officer earns Dolphins aboard USS Ohio
PINOY PRIDE. Lt. Melanie Martins, a supply officer serving aboard the USS Ohio, has become the first Filipina to earn the Submarine Warfare Specialist pin in September last year. Martins hails from Angeles City, Pampanga. (Photo courtesy of the US Navy Office of Community Outreach)
PINOY PRIDE. Lt. Melanie Martins, a supply officer serving aboard the USS Ohio, has become the first Filipina to earn the Submarine Warfare Specialist pin in September last year. Martins hails from Angeles City, Pampanga. (Photo courtesy of the US Navy Office of Community Outreach)
JAPAN (NNS) – A supply officer serving aboard the USS Ohio (SSGN 726) has become the first Filipina to earn her submarine warfare insignia.
Lt. Melanie Martins, who hails from Angeles City, Pampanga, made the challenging transition from the enlisted aviation community to the wardroom of a guided missile submarine in 2013, becoming the first female Filipino officer to earn the Submarine Warfare Specialist pin in September last year, the US Navy Office of Community Outreach said in a news release issued Friday.
The submarine warfare insignia, worn by all qualified submariners worldwide, is a universally recognizable symbol of a submariner’s experience, competency, and in the case of officers, the ability to assume command in an emergency. Over many decades, earning one’s “dolphins” has evolved into a rite of passage in submarine culture.
The US Navy submarine warfare pin features the starboard angle of an O-class submarine emerging from the center of the insignia, slicing through the waves of an oceanic horizon. Two dolphins, the attendants of the Greek god of the sea Poseidon and patron deity to sailors, bring shape to the submariners’ badge and are seen surfacing from the sea, facing the submarine.
The insignia is an unspoken indication that the wearer has challenged the depths of the seas and has been deemed worthy of donning it by their peers. Those who wear “dolphins” are widely acknowledged as part of an elite community, and as Martins related, accepted as part of a close-knit team.
“I felt like I knew my wardroom for a very long time when I first got there! There was no awkward moment with anyone, even in the enlisted ranks,” said Martins. “My first experience was scary, especially when I found out how to get in and out of the boat. I was so scared to climb up and down the escape trunk. The passageways are so tight and the compartments are confusing, but everyone is willing to show and teach you where everything is, so I got familiar with the boat quickly.”
She said the challenges of being a submariner exceeded her expectations.
“I thought it was hard. I was wrong. It is really, really hard,” Martins said. “There are times when I am too busy, and I ask myself, ‘Why did I do this at all?’ But then I realize that not all people are offered this opportunity. I have to grab it and be the best that I can be.”
She recounted some of the challenges of submarine life and the path to earning her “dolphins”. No one gets cut any slack, she learned. Qualifications take time, perseverance, and at times, a thick skin.
“I was qualifying for Diving Officer of the Watch. I was going to take the boat to Periscope Depth, and I was so nervous and stressed because, for me, it is probably the most difficult evolution of the watch,” Martins said. “You have to be able to do it in minutes. It took me forever to take it up. The commanding officer was really frustrated. But I practiced more and got better at doing it.”
She acknowledged that the path to earning one’s “dolphins”, as difficult as it is, would never be a solo endeavor. Everyone, from the most junior submariner to senior officers, is deeply invested in a new crew member’s success.
“In the submarine fleet, we are closer to each other, not only physically, but it is a brotherhood. No matter the rank, if you are doing something wrong that can potentially kill everyone on the ship, you will be corrected,” Martins said. “We rely heavily on each other, especially under the sea, because the possibility of losing all hands in one mistake is highly likely. Trust is huge and very important.”
She returns the favor by bringing a bit of her own culture below the depths of the sea aboard the guided-missile submarine and to her fellow submariners.
“I cook Filipino dishes underway sometimes,” Martins said. “I am the only Pinoy aboard my submarine, so I show everyone our dishes. We never run out of rice of course! But I miss (the Filipino dish) sinigang. It is my all-time favorite!”
At the end of the day, however, she reminds herself of the things, or the people, that motivate her to do her best and push forward.
“My family motivates me to be the best I can be, especially my daughter. I want her to be proud of me one day and say to everyone that her mommy is a submariner!” Martins said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105109
Lt. Melanie Martins, who hails from Angeles City, Pampanga, made the challenging transition from the enlisted aviation community to the wardroom of a guided missile submarine in 2013, becoming the first female Filipino officer to earn the Submarine Warfare Specialist pin in September last year, the US Navy Office of Community Outreach said in a news release issued Friday.
The submarine warfare insignia, worn by all qualified submariners worldwide, is a universally recognizable symbol of a submariner’s experience, competency, and in the case of officers, the ability to assume command in an emergency. Over many decades, earning one’s “dolphins” has evolved into a rite of passage in submarine culture.
The US Navy submarine warfare pin features the starboard angle of an O-class submarine emerging from the center of the insignia, slicing through the waves of an oceanic horizon. Two dolphins, the attendants of the Greek god of the sea Poseidon and patron deity to sailors, bring shape to the submariners’ badge and are seen surfacing from the sea, facing the submarine.
The insignia is an unspoken indication that the wearer has challenged the depths of the seas and has been deemed worthy of donning it by their peers. Those who wear “dolphins” are widely acknowledged as part of an elite community, and as Martins related, accepted as part of a close-knit team.
“I felt like I knew my wardroom for a very long time when I first got there! There was no awkward moment with anyone, even in the enlisted ranks,” said Martins. “My first experience was scary, especially when I found out how to get in and out of the boat. I was so scared to climb up and down the escape trunk. The passageways are so tight and the compartments are confusing, but everyone is willing to show and teach you where everything is, so I got familiar with the boat quickly.”
She said the challenges of being a submariner exceeded her expectations.
“I thought it was hard. I was wrong. It is really, really hard,” Martins said. “There are times when I am too busy, and I ask myself, ‘Why did I do this at all?’ But then I realize that not all people are offered this opportunity. I have to grab it and be the best that I can be.”
She recounted some of the challenges of submarine life and the path to earning her “dolphins”. No one gets cut any slack, she learned. Qualifications take time, perseverance, and at times, a thick skin.
“I was qualifying for Diving Officer of the Watch. I was going to take the boat to Periscope Depth, and I was so nervous and stressed because, for me, it is probably the most difficult evolution of the watch,” Martins said. “You have to be able to do it in minutes. It took me forever to take it up. The commanding officer was really frustrated. But I practiced more and got better at doing it.”
She acknowledged that the path to earning one’s “dolphins”, as difficult as it is, would never be a solo endeavor. Everyone, from the most junior submariner to senior officers, is deeply invested in a new crew member’s success.
“In the submarine fleet, we are closer to each other, not only physically, but it is a brotherhood. No matter the rank, if you are doing something wrong that can potentially kill everyone on the ship, you will be corrected,” Martins said. “We rely heavily on each other, especially under the sea, because the possibility of losing all hands in one mistake is highly likely. Trust is huge and very important.”
She returns the favor by bringing a bit of her own culture below the depths of the sea aboard the guided-missile submarine and to her fellow submariners.
“I cook Filipino dishes underway sometimes,” Martins said. “I am the only Pinoy aboard my submarine, so I show everyone our dishes. We never run out of rice of course! But I miss (the Filipino dish) sinigang. It is my all-time favorite!”
At the end of the day, however, she reminds herself of the things, or the people, that motivate her to do her best and push forward.
“My family motivates me to be the best I can be, especially my daughter. I want her to be proud of me one day and say to everyone that her mommy is a submariner!” Martins said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1105109
Southeast Asia’s Overlooked Foreign Fighter Problem
Posted to Lawfare (Jun 5, 2020): Southeast Asia’s Overlooked Foreign Fighter Problem
(By Emma Broches)
(By Emma Broches)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo addresses a crowd at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. in 2015 (Brookings Institution/Paul Morigi/https://flic.kr/p/BBbG98/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continues to confront a dilemma: what to do with the fighters accused of fleeing to Syria to join the Islamic State. To the extent that this issue gets any airtime in English-language press, the focus tends to be on the 800 or so European fighters and their families. But English-language outlets tend to pay far less attention to another cohort of those detained: fighters who come from Southeast Asia. In fact, mismanagement of this group may entail particularly dire consequences. Southeast Asia is a region with porous borders, where Islamic State-inspired attacks continue apace.
The situation in the prisons in Syria that house foreign fighters and the camps that house their families has grown particularly unstable over the past few months. In early May, a group of former Islamic State fighters staged a riot in a prison in Hassakeh, a city in northeastern Syria. The detainees took control of the prison for about 24 hours until the SDF, the Kurdish-dominated group in charge of the prison, began negotiating with the detainees. This was the second prisoner uprising in the area in the past two months. If nothing else, these incidents serve as a reminder that SDF authorities have struggled to mitigate the security concerns that analysts expressed more than a year ago when coalition forces defeated the Islamic State. As the Defense Department inspector general report from January explained: “The longer IS [Islamic State] prisoners are held in SDF prisons, the greater the potential for them to organize breakouts.”
The SDF operates more than two dozen detention facilities across northeastern Syria, holding about 10,000 Islamic State fighters. Among those detained, there are estimated to be about 2,000 foreign fighters from about 50 different countries. The SDF also operates camps that hold upward of 73,000 Islamic State-affiliated women and children, including about 13,000 foreigners. According to a Soufan Center report from 2017, at least 1,000 fighters from Southeast Asia (and maybe closer to 1,500)—primarily Malaysia and Indonesia—traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State. And today, analysts estimate that there are around 700 Indonesians (including an estimated 34 suspected male fighters), 65 Malaysians (including an estimated 11 suspected male fighters), and maybe a handful of Filipinos currently held in SDF prisons or camps in northern Syria. But these numbers are far from certain as accurate head counts are hard to come by.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia has turned into an increasingly significant region for the Islamic State over the past four years. The Islamic State first claimed responsibility for attacks in the region in 2016—first in Jakarta and then on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Since then, the group has started to regularly feature Southeast Asians in its media and has developed recruitment materials in Bahasa, the official language of Indonesia. Extremist groups that were already active in the region—such as Jamaah Ansharut Daulah in Indonesia and Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines—have begun to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State. These affiliate groups have staged a number of significant attacks or attempted attacks, sometimes involving fighters who had previously been in Syria. The region has also begun to attract foreign fighters of its own: Some Chechyans and those from the Middle East who encountered hurdles to traveling to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have instead rerouted and joined extremist cells in Southeast Asia. And since 2018, there has been an uptick in suicide bombings in the region (11 in Indonesia and 6 in the Philippines as of September 2019), a trend that experts believe is likely to continue.
The Islamic State has sought to exploit the instability caused by the coronavirus pandemic and has launched a wave of attacks across Syria and Iraq. And the group has also gone on the offensive in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, for instance, Islamic State fighters killed 11 Filipino soldiers who were on a mission to locate the leader of an Abu Sayyaf Group faction. This comes almost three years after the Philippine military launched a five-month-long battle to retake the city of Marawi from the Islamic State-affiliated groups that had laid siege to the city. The battle drew Islamic State fighters from across the region and put the Philippines more firmly on the map for the Islamic State. And in Indonesia, counterterrorism police recently seized a high volume of ammunition from suspects with links to the Islamic State. This activity is particularly noteworthy when viewed in comparison to that in Europe—the continent has seen very little Islamic State-inspired violent activity over the past few months.
As such, the potential return of fighters to Southeast Asia from Syria and Iraq, or an increase in fighters traveling from other areas to join the Islamic State in the region, brings new urgency to the question of how the region’s governments are tackling the problem of fighters stuck in SDF prisons.
Repatriation Policies
Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have adopted different approaches to the question of repatriation. Indonesia and the Philippines have endorsed policies that bear similarities to the Western European countries—extreme reluctance to repatriate fighters. But Malaysia’s policy more closely resembles those of some of the Central Asian countries, like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, that have actively repatriated their citizens. The approach taken by these Central Asian countries and Malaysia is also the approach that the U.S. government has praised.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that has distinguished itself globally by making a commitment to repatriate its foreign fighters. The government will allow its nationals to return under the condition that they comply with enforcement and participate in a month-long rehabilitation program. As of March 2019, Malaysia had actively repatriated 11 of its citizens from Syria. The eight men in the group were charged and convicted in Malaysian courts upon their return (although it is unclear what they were charged for). The remaining woman and children underwent a mandatory rehabilitation program. The government is “optimistic” that more of its nationals will be able to return. However, policy experts have expressed concerns about the efficacy of the government’s deradicalization efforts for individuals who have participated in active combat and who remain deeply committed to the extremist views of the Islamic State.
Originally it seemed like Indonesia was taking a similar approach. In 2017, the Turkish government deported around 75 Indonesian nationals who had links to the Islamic State, the majority of whom were women and children. Over the subsequent months, the Turkish government deported many more Indonesians (as of January 2018, about 226 people had been deported from Turkey over about eight or nine batches of deportations). While a few of these returnees were arrested upon arrival, the majority of them were sent to reintegration facilities for 30-day programs before they reentered their communities. This relatively lax policy didn’t sit well with many. There are concerns among observers that since this first wave of returnees were able to avoid arrest, they managed to resettle in their hometowns, and continue working with or building extremist networks. In fact, one foreign fighter couple deported from Turkey went through this Indonesian rehabilitation program before eventually making their way to an island in the southern Philippines and conducting a suicide bombing attack that killed 22 people in a local cathedral in early 2019.
After months of debate, in February 2020, the Indonesian government reversed its repatriation policy and announced that 689 Indonesians linked to the Islamic State, including women and children, would not be allowed to return. Although the country’s National Counterterrorism Agency along with other law enforcement agencies had been developing a plan for repatriation and deradicalization, public opinion was overwhelmingly against this option. Dissent to repatriation included even the largest Islamic organization in the country (Nahdlatus Ulama). A large cohort of the public, along with some lawmakers, argued that the Indonesian foreign fighters had renounced their citizenship by pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. Ultimately, with public support, the government justified its new policy banning repatriation, citing fears that the fighters would “become a new virus” and threaten the safety of the public. A subset of lawyers, human rights activists, and some political leaders raised concerns about whether this would constitute unlawful citizenship stripping.
Finally, the Philippines also refuses to repatriate any of its citizens who have gone abroad to join the Islamic State. However, the country does not have the same legal structures or law enforcement capabilities in place as Malaysia or Indonesia to arrest and prosecute returnees. And the Philippines has released minimal information about what it has done to address the issue of returnees. Amid this inaction, foreign fighters from other countries—particularly Indonesia and Malaysia—who have left Syria or never made it to Syria, have increasingly traveled to the Philippines instead of returning to their home countries.
Legal Mechanisms to Counter Terrorism
Importantly, Southeast Asian countries have different legal regimes governing terror offenses than their European counterparts. The region has seen a flurry of legislative activity in this space, as countries update their criminal codes to enable better response to the growing threat of terror.
Most recently, in February, the Philippine Senate approved 19-2 a new anti-terrorism law intended to add teeth to a 2007 law—the Human Security Act (HSA)—that grounds the country’s counterterror legal regime. Only one individual and one organization had been convicted under the old law, partly because it required a suspect to be convicted under predicate crimes such as rebellion, bomb-making, or piracy before a terrorism charge could be brought. Even the fighters captured after the 2017 Battle of Marawi were not charged with terrorism. The new law—the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020—includes a broader definition of terrorism and provisions that criminalize terrorism financing and extend powers of search and arrest, including the number of days suspected terrorist can be detained without an arrest warrant (from three days in the old law up to 14 days in the new one). The bill also proposes 12 years of imprisonment for any person convicted of joining a designated terrorist organization.
While there is strong support for the act from President Rodrigo Duterte, who prioritized the legislation, and his allies, members of the liberal opposition parties and human rights activists find it highly problematic. The two senators who voted against the bill explained that it could make the country’s counterterror law “an even worse tool for repression instead of an instrument of thwarting terrorists” and worried that it could sacrifice “democratic freedoms … in the name of security.” Human rights advocates agree with this characterization, fearing that the new legislation would allow the government to target Duterte’s political opponents and critics. Despite these concerns, the joint committees of the Philippine House of Representatives reportedly approved the Senate version of the bill in the first week of June, pushing it closer toward becoming law.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia have also strengthened their anti-terrorism laws over the past few years. In Indonesia, less than two weeks after a series of suicide bombings and armed attacks on churches and police posts in 2018, the government passed legislation that criminalizes joining a terrorist organization, disseminating relevant teachings and participating in military-style training with a terrorist group. The law also allows police to preemptively detain suspects and hold them in detention for up to 21 days without charges. Finally, the law specifies that the military may also play a role in counterterrorism efforts. Indonesia has used this law to detain hundreds of suspects since its adoption, including an Indonesian couple who went on trial in April for a failed assassination attempt on the country’s former chief security minister. If convicted under this anti-terrorism law, the couple could face life sentences or the death penalty.
Like the bill recently passed in the Philippines, the Indonesian law has been criticized by rights activists for its vague wording that critics fear could be exploited to crack down on any group seen as a threat to the ruling party. Critics of the law also worry about the consequences of involving the military in law enforcement. In fact, the law was first proposed in 2016 but languished in parliament amid concerns over some of the details, including its definition of terrorism. But after the attacks in 2018, President Joko Widodo threatened to impose the law by special decree if parliament did not take action.
Malaysia updated its anti-terrorism law before its Southeast Asian peers, and its anti-terror law gives the most leeway to law enforcement among the three. In direct response to the rise of the Islamic State, Malaysia passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2015. Under the act, terrorism suspects can be held for 59 days without charges and without trial for up to two years, with indefinite extensions. The act also empowers a terrorism board to order and review criminal detention without involving the judiciary. The government has used this law and other relevant national security legislation to arrest more than 512 people with suspected links to the organization and to foil 25 planned attacks in the country over the past six years. The two men who perpetrated the first attack by the Islamic State in Malaysia in June 2016, for instance, were charged under this law and each was sentenced to 25 years in prison (they were also charged with eight counts of attempted murder). Like in Indonesia and the Philippines, the Malaysian law has been heavily criticized by human rights groups for allowing indefinite detention without charge and for creating what rights groups decry as a black hole for human rights in the country.
The Remaining Threat
Despite the governments’ efforts to control or stop repatriation and strengthen their legal mechanisms to prevent terrorism, the Islamic State adherents returning from Syria and Iraq, or those who never left, remain a threat.
First, there are concerns that fighters will be able to return home without detection and move freely within Southeast Asia as a result of porous borders, well-established illicit transit routes between the three countries and lax visa policies. Malaysia, for instance, does not require visas for travelers from Syria, Iraq or Turkey, and Indonesia just rubber stamps visas upon arrival for travelers from the aforementioned three countries. The international airport in the Philippines also has a long history of implementing insufficient security practices. For this reason, anti-repatriation policies may be antithetical to the governments’ counterterrorism goals. If fighters and their families are able to escape the strained detention facilities in northeastern Syria, then they may be able to walk back into their home countries undetected and continue to pursue extremist activities.
Second, if fighters are not detained upon their return, they can easily gain access to the militant networks that already span the region. The returnees can then participate in plotting and implementing attacks. Those who already returned from Syria have been involved in some of the attacks or attempted attacks in the region over the past few years. In June 2017, two men associated with Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, one of whom had spent five months in Syria in 2013, stabbed a police officer to death. And in May 2018, Indonesian authorities arrested seven returnees who were involved with an Islamic State terrorist cell attempting to use Wi-Fi to detonate explosive devices in Indonesia.
Finally, even if returnees or Islamic State supporters are captured and convicted, they may still be able to advance their cause from captivity. The penitentiary systems in Malaysia and Indonesia have a history of allowing for further radicalization. In Indonesia, for instance, clerics who promote radical ideologies are allowed to commingle with the general prison population, enabling them to spread their messages and continue recruiting.
It’s a complicated situation where every policy poses certain risks and challenges. But that doesn’t mean that Islamic State militants pose a greater threat if they return home than if they are left in the Middle East. As one commentator on Malaysia’s program argues, “[I]t is not too late” for the countries to continue to improve upon their existing legal mechanisms and repatriation programs to tackle this complex problem.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/southeast-asias-overlooked-foreign-fighter-problem
The situation in the prisons in Syria that house foreign fighters and the camps that house their families has grown particularly unstable over the past few months. In early May, a group of former Islamic State fighters staged a riot in a prison in Hassakeh, a city in northeastern Syria. The detainees took control of the prison for about 24 hours until the SDF, the Kurdish-dominated group in charge of the prison, began negotiating with the detainees. This was the second prisoner uprising in the area in the past two months. If nothing else, these incidents serve as a reminder that SDF authorities have struggled to mitigate the security concerns that analysts expressed more than a year ago when coalition forces defeated the Islamic State. As the Defense Department inspector general report from January explained: “The longer IS [Islamic State] prisoners are held in SDF prisons, the greater the potential for them to organize breakouts.”
The SDF operates more than two dozen detention facilities across northeastern Syria, holding about 10,000 Islamic State fighters. Among those detained, there are estimated to be about 2,000 foreign fighters from about 50 different countries. The SDF also operates camps that hold upward of 73,000 Islamic State-affiliated women and children, including about 13,000 foreigners. According to a Soufan Center report from 2017, at least 1,000 fighters from Southeast Asia (and maybe closer to 1,500)—primarily Malaysia and Indonesia—traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State. And today, analysts estimate that there are around 700 Indonesians (including an estimated 34 suspected male fighters), 65 Malaysians (including an estimated 11 suspected male fighters), and maybe a handful of Filipinos currently held in SDF prisons or camps in northern Syria. But these numbers are far from certain as accurate head counts are hard to come by.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia has turned into an increasingly significant region for the Islamic State over the past four years. The Islamic State first claimed responsibility for attacks in the region in 2016—first in Jakarta and then on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Since then, the group has started to regularly feature Southeast Asians in its media and has developed recruitment materials in Bahasa, the official language of Indonesia. Extremist groups that were already active in the region—such as Jamaah Ansharut Daulah in Indonesia and Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines—have begun to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State. These affiliate groups have staged a number of significant attacks or attempted attacks, sometimes involving fighters who had previously been in Syria. The region has also begun to attract foreign fighters of its own: Some Chechyans and those from the Middle East who encountered hurdles to traveling to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have instead rerouted and joined extremist cells in Southeast Asia. And since 2018, there has been an uptick in suicide bombings in the region (11 in Indonesia and 6 in the Philippines as of September 2019), a trend that experts believe is likely to continue.
The Islamic State has sought to exploit the instability caused by the coronavirus pandemic and has launched a wave of attacks across Syria and Iraq. And the group has also gone on the offensive in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, for instance, Islamic State fighters killed 11 Filipino soldiers who were on a mission to locate the leader of an Abu Sayyaf Group faction. This comes almost three years after the Philippine military launched a five-month-long battle to retake the city of Marawi from the Islamic State-affiliated groups that had laid siege to the city. The battle drew Islamic State fighters from across the region and put the Philippines more firmly on the map for the Islamic State. And in Indonesia, counterterrorism police recently seized a high volume of ammunition from suspects with links to the Islamic State. This activity is particularly noteworthy when viewed in comparison to that in Europe—the continent has seen very little Islamic State-inspired violent activity over the past few months.
As such, the potential return of fighters to Southeast Asia from Syria and Iraq, or an increase in fighters traveling from other areas to join the Islamic State in the region, brings new urgency to the question of how the region’s governments are tackling the problem of fighters stuck in SDF prisons.
Repatriation Policies
Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have adopted different approaches to the question of repatriation. Indonesia and the Philippines have endorsed policies that bear similarities to the Western European countries—extreme reluctance to repatriate fighters. But Malaysia’s policy more closely resembles those of some of the Central Asian countries, like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, that have actively repatriated their citizens. The approach taken by these Central Asian countries and Malaysia is also the approach that the U.S. government has praised.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that has distinguished itself globally by making a commitment to repatriate its foreign fighters. The government will allow its nationals to return under the condition that they comply with enforcement and participate in a month-long rehabilitation program. As of March 2019, Malaysia had actively repatriated 11 of its citizens from Syria. The eight men in the group were charged and convicted in Malaysian courts upon their return (although it is unclear what they were charged for). The remaining woman and children underwent a mandatory rehabilitation program. The government is “optimistic” that more of its nationals will be able to return. However, policy experts have expressed concerns about the efficacy of the government’s deradicalization efforts for individuals who have participated in active combat and who remain deeply committed to the extremist views of the Islamic State.
Originally it seemed like Indonesia was taking a similar approach. In 2017, the Turkish government deported around 75 Indonesian nationals who had links to the Islamic State, the majority of whom were women and children. Over the subsequent months, the Turkish government deported many more Indonesians (as of January 2018, about 226 people had been deported from Turkey over about eight or nine batches of deportations). While a few of these returnees were arrested upon arrival, the majority of them were sent to reintegration facilities for 30-day programs before they reentered their communities. This relatively lax policy didn’t sit well with many. There are concerns among observers that since this first wave of returnees were able to avoid arrest, they managed to resettle in their hometowns, and continue working with or building extremist networks. In fact, one foreign fighter couple deported from Turkey went through this Indonesian rehabilitation program before eventually making their way to an island in the southern Philippines and conducting a suicide bombing attack that killed 22 people in a local cathedral in early 2019.
After months of debate, in February 2020, the Indonesian government reversed its repatriation policy and announced that 689 Indonesians linked to the Islamic State, including women and children, would not be allowed to return. Although the country’s National Counterterrorism Agency along with other law enforcement agencies had been developing a plan for repatriation and deradicalization, public opinion was overwhelmingly against this option. Dissent to repatriation included even the largest Islamic organization in the country (Nahdlatus Ulama). A large cohort of the public, along with some lawmakers, argued that the Indonesian foreign fighters had renounced their citizenship by pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. Ultimately, with public support, the government justified its new policy banning repatriation, citing fears that the fighters would “become a new virus” and threaten the safety of the public. A subset of lawyers, human rights activists, and some political leaders raised concerns about whether this would constitute unlawful citizenship stripping.
Finally, the Philippines also refuses to repatriate any of its citizens who have gone abroad to join the Islamic State. However, the country does not have the same legal structures or law enforcement capabilities in place as Malaysia or Indonesia to arrest and prosecute returnees. And the Philippines has released minimal information about what it has done to address the issue of returnees. Amid this inaction, foreign fighters from other countries—particularly Indonesia and Malaysia—who have left Syria or never made it to Syria, have increasingly traveled to the Philippines instead of returning to their home countries.
Legal Mechanisms to Counter Terrorism
Importantly, Southeast Asian countries have different legal regimes governing terror offenses than their European counterparts. The region has seen a flurry of legislative activity in this space, as countries update their criminal codes to enable better response to the growing threat of terror.
Most recently, in February, the Philippine Senate approved 19-2 a new anti-terrorism law intended to add teeth to a 2007 law—the Human Security Act (HSA)—that grounds the country’s counterterror legal regime. Only one individual and one organization had been convicted under the old law, partly because it required a suspect to be convicted under predicate crimes such as rebellion, bomb-making, or piracy before a terrorism charge could be brought. Even the fighters captured after the 2017 Battle of Marawi were not charged with terrorism. The new law—the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020—includes a broader definition of terrorism and provisions that criminalize terrorism financing and extend powers of search and arrest, including the number of days suspected terrorist can be detained without an arrest warrant (from three days in the old law up to 14 days in the new one). The bill also proposes 12 years of imprisonment for any person convicted of joining a designated terrorist organization.
While there is strong support for the act from President Rodrigo Duterte, who prioritized the legislation, and his allies, members of the liberal opposition parties and human rights activists find it highly problematic. The two senators who voted against the bill explained that it could make the country’s counterterror law “an even worse tool for repression instead of an instrument of thwarting terrorists” and worried that it could sacrifice “democratic freedoms … in the name of security.” Human rights advocates agree with this characterization, fearing that the new legislation would allow the government to target Duterte’s political opponents and critics. Despite these concerns, the joint committees of the Philippine House of Representatives reportedly approved the Senate version of the bill in the first week of June, pushing it closer toward becoming law.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia have also strengthened their anti-terrorism laws over the past few years. In Indonesia, less than two weeks after a series of suicide bombings and armed attacks on churches and police posts in 2018, the government passed legislation that criminalizes joining a terrorist organization, disseminating relevant teachings and participating in military-style training with a terrorist group. The law also allows police to preemptively detain suspects and hold them in detention for up to 21 days without charges. Finally, the law specifies that the military may also play a role in counterterrorism efforts. Indonesia has used this law to detain hundreds of suspects since its adoption, including an Indonesian couple who went on trial in April for a failed assassination attempt on the country’s former chief security minister. If convicted under this anti-terrorism law, the couple could face life sentences or the death penalty.
Like the bill recently passed in the Philippines, the Indonesian law has been criticized by rights activists for its vague wording that critics fear could be exploited to crack down on any group seen as a threat to the ruling party. Critics of the law also worry about the consequences of involving the military in law enforcement. In fact, the law was first proposed in 2016 but languished in parliament amid concerns over some of the details, including its definition of terrorism. But after the attacks in 2018, President Joko Widodo threatened to impose the law by special decree if parliament did not take action.
Malaysia updated its anti-terrorism law before its Southeast Asian peers, and its anti-terror law gives the most leeway to law enforcement among the three. In direct response to the rise of the Islamic State, Malaysia passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2015. Under the act, terrorism suspects can be held for 59 days without charges and without trial for up to two years, with indefinite extensions. The act also empowers a terrorism board to order and review criminal detention without involving the judiciary. The government has used this law and other relevant national security legislation to arrest more than 512 people with suspected links to the organization and to foil 25 planned attacks in the country over the past six years. The two men who perpetrated the first attack by the Islamic State in Malaysia in June 2016, for instance, were charged under this law and each was sentenced to 25 years in prison (they were also charged with eight counts of attempted murder). Like in Indonesia and the Philippines, the Malaysian law has been heavily criticized by human rights groups for allowing indefinite detention without charge and for creating what rights groups decry as a black hole for human rights in the country.
The Remaining Threat
Despite the governments’ efforts to control or stop repatriation and strengthen their legal mechanisms to prevent terrorism, the Islamic State adherents returning from Syria and Iraq, or those who never left, remain a threat.
First, there are concerns that fighters will be able to return home without detection and move freely within Southeast Asia as a result of porous borders, well-established illicit transit routes between the three countries and lax visa policies. Malaysia, for instance, does not require visas for travelers from Syria, Iraq or Turkey, and Indonesia just rubber stamps visas upon arrival for travelers from the aforementioned three countries. The international airport in the Philippines also has a long history of implementing insufficient security practices. For this reason, anti-repatriation policies may be antithetical to the governments’ counterterrorism goals. If fighters and their families are able to escape the strained detention facilities in northeastern Syria, then they may be able to walk back into their home countries undetected and continue to pursue extremist activities.
Second, if fighters are not detained upon their return, they can easily gain access to the militant networks that already span the region. The returnees can then participate in plotting and implementing attacks. Those who already returned from Syria have been involved in some of the attacks or attempted attacks in the region over the past few years. In June 2017, two men associated with Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, one of whom had spent five months in Syria in 2013, stabbed a police officer to death. And in May 2018, Indonesian authorities arrested seven returnees who were involved with an Islamic State terrorist cell attempting to use Wi-Fi to detonate explosive devices in Indonesia.
Finally, even if returnees or Islamic State supporters are captured and convicted, they may still be able to advance their cause from captivity. The penitentiary systems in Malaysia and Indonesia have a history of allowing for further radicalization. In Indonesia, for instance, clerics who promote radical ideologies are allowed to commingle with the general prison population, enabling them to spread their messages and continue recruiting.
It’s a complicated situation where every policy poses certain risks and challenges. But that doesn’t mean that Islamic State militants pose a greater threat if they return home than if they are left in the Middle East. As one commentator on Malaysia’s program argues, “[I]t is not too late” for the countries to continue to improve upon their existing legal mechanisms and repatriation programs to tackle this complex problem.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/southeast-asias-overlooked-foreign-fighter-problem
'Terror law’: The pet bill of the generals
From Rappler (Jun 5, 2020): 'Terror law’: The pet bill of the generals (By Carmela Fonbuena)
‘You don’t deserve that kind of power. No one does,’ a farmers' party-list representative tells the military, referring to the proposed Anti-Terror Act of 2020, which is up for President Duterte's signature
SECURITY CLUSTER. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in a huddle with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr in this file photo from May 6, 2019. Photo by Rey Baniquet/Malacañan
‘You don’t deserve that kind of power. No one does,’ a farmers' party-list representative tells the military, referring to the proposed Anti-Terror Act of 2020, which is up for President Duterte's signature
SECURITY CLUSTER. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in a huddle with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr in this file photo from May 6, 2019. Photo by Rey Baniquet/Malacañan
No, it wasn't President Rodrigo Duterte's idea to widen the net for who may be tagged as terrorists, detain them without warrant for 24 days, and wiretap them for up to 90 days. The proposed Anti-Terror Act of 2020, which is awaiting his signature, is entirely the brainchild of military and police generals who are now trying to dismiss fears that it is prone to abuse.
Many Mindanao lawmakers are up in arms against the measure, concerned that the proposed law will make the situation on the ground worse. The history of the country's anti-terrorism drive in the region has no dearth of abuses that until now are crying for justice.
In the country's capital, groups are also afraid the new law could be used against government critics and to advance political ends, especially during elections.
These powers were all that generals have been talking about for the past several years. It's a longtime bid to repeal the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007, which has more safeguards to prevent possible abuses, but which the police and military found too cumbersome that they claimed the law effectively aided terrorists.
Many Mindanao lawmakers are up in arms against the measure, concerned that the proposed law will make the situation on the ground worse. The history of the country's anti-terrorism drive in the region has no dearth of abuses that until now are crying for justice.
In the country's capital, groups are also afraid the new law could be used against government critics and to advance political ends, especially during elections.
These powers were all that generals have been talking about for the past several years. It's a longtime bid to repeal the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007, which has more safeguards to prevent possible abuses, but which the police and military found too cumbersome that they claimed the law effectively aided terrorists.
(READ: 'Security before human rights': Lorenzana wants tougher law vs terrorists)
In a Senate hearing in 2018, then-Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Carlito Galvez Jr claimed they had to release captured suspects behind the bombing in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat because of what he called "permissive" measures under HSA. They couldn't build a case within the 3 days that the law required them to charge the suspects.
The generals wanted a 30-day period for warrantless arrests to allow them to conduct their investigation. They said suspects normally break in information on the second or third week.
It was National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Alex Monteagudo, a retired police general, who pushed for a 90-day surveillance period or one month longer than what HSA allowed.
"A longer period of surveillance will allow us to identify the network of the organization, including their international connection," he said in the same hearing.
Railroaded
It's this proclaimed weakness of the Human Security Act that generals used to persuade Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao for over two years since the Marawi siege, a period where commanders exercised some power over local government units. When martial law was lifted by New Year of 2020, they wasted no time to ask Congress for a new law.
In February, the Senate approved a proposed measure that would give the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) the power to detain suspects without warrant for 14 days, which may be extended for another 10 days, or a total of 24 days. They would also allow suspects to be wiretapped for 60 days, which may be extended for another 30 days, or a total of 90 days.
If there wasn't enough uproar then, it's because the Senate version was just the starting point in what was supposed to be a longer legislative process that could still temper the powers.
Suddenly, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Duterte certified the bill as urgent.
With two unexpected moves, the House of Representatives railroaded its passage. First, the House committee dropped its own bills to adopt the Senate version. Next, the leadership allowed no amendments at the plenary.
Lawmakers cast their votes without understanding what was happening. They voted yes to the proposed new law, expressed reservations when they explained their votes, and promised to fix the measure at the bicameral conference committee hearing or bicam.
They didn't realize that the two-move legislative trick allowed the bill to skirt the bicam, the stage where the Senate and the House would consolidate bills if they passed different versions.
It would have afforded time for last-minute lobbies from human rights groups, too. But not anymore.
More harm than good
The new law could do more harm than good, warned former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Mujiv Hataman, who is now congressman of the lone district of Basilan province.
"This law is not meant to combat terrorism. It is meant to give the state the power to tag whomever they please as a terrorist," said Hataman. Basilan, which he represents, is where the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group was born and slain Islamic State emir Isnilon Hapilon operated for decades.
Critics said the proposed law has "too broad and vague" provisions on who might be considered terrorists. They could be open to the misinterpretation of the Anti-Terrorism Council, a body composed of the same generals who pushed for the law.
"What if an innocent person is arrested? What can he expect from this law? He can be detained for 24 days without warrant and authorities don't need to bring him to court," Hataman said. He recalled how a former CAFGU died in prison over allegations of involvement in a terror attack, only for the court to declare him innocent long after his death.
Representatives from the Lanao provinces, where the Maute Group operated, also raised alarm.
Lanao del Norte Representative Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said they could have crafted a better version of the law.
"My real contention, where I feel uneasy, is the issue of warrantless arrests. I feel it's unfair for us in the House of Representatives that we are not allowed to amend Section 29," he said. He abstained from voting.
Lanao del Sur Representative Yasser Alonto Balindong said he wants to stamp out terrorism, but he also wants to prevent abuse of authority.
"As a Meranao, we know that we are the most affected when it comes to terrorism, as shown to us by the Marawi siege of 2017.... We, together with the other Muslim Filipinos, are also the most vulnerable when it comes to abuse of authority," Balindong said. He voted no.
Abuses are too often what push people to violent extremism, the lawmakers from Mindanao said. Because, for every bomber the new law will capture and neutralize, how many more innocent civilians will become victims of wrongful arrest, mistaken identity, and planted evidence?
Hataman said he would have pressed for more safeguards to protect citizens from abuse. He also lamented why the new law discarded penalties for wrongful arrests committed.
"It sends a clear message to enforcers. Arrest anyone you want. Anyway, there's no penalty if you commit a mistake," Hataman said.
Who is the law really for?
Dimaporo also raised questions about the urgency of the law and its practical use in the country's battle against terrorists.
"The real meat of this is to detain terrorists," he said. But operations against high-profile terrorists "never did end with detention."
He referred to the moves to arrest Malaysian terrorist Marwan in 2015 and Hapilon in 2017, which ended in the Mamasapano tragedy and the Marawi siege, respectively.
Most of the country's high-profile terrorists already face outstanding warrants of arrests. "If we're able to do it that way, why do we need [this law]? We have the manpower and ability to file cases against terrorists at large," Dimaporo said.
There are fears that legitimate organizations might be among the targets of the proposed law.
Progressive party-list groups in the House of Representatives are concerned more than others. They've been tagged as front organizations for the communist rebel group New People's Army, which faces a proscription case in court as a terrorist organization.
"Activism is not terrorism. Criticism is not terrorism," said Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago in an emotional speech after the vote on Wednesday, June 3.
Anyone could be subjected to the draconian measures of the law, according to human rights groups. Advocacy, protest, and dissent are expressely exempted from what may considered acts of terrorism, but it offers little comfort amid vague exemptions.
There are provisions that punish anyone who provides "material support" to tagged terrorists, too, prompting alarm over various scenarios.
Among close-knit families in Mindanao, are family members going to be detained if they provide tagged terrorists among them with shelter and food? Are doctors guilty if they follow their hippocratic oath and attend to tagged terrorists needing healthcare? Are lawyers guilty if tagged terrorists visit their homes to seek advice? Are journalists guilty if they interview them?
"You don't deserve that kind of power. No one does," said Magsasaka Party-list Representative Argel Joseph Cabatbat, addressing the military, after the House voted 168-36 in favor of the measure. (The House secretariat corrected its vote count of 173-31 on June 3, to 168-36 on June 4.)
The farmers' representative doesn't belong to the broad coalition of leftist party-list organizations often tagged by the military as terrorist organizations. But Cabatbat said his group had been harassed too many times due to dangerous stereotypes in the military that farmers were rebels and subversives.
"I beg you to use that power with justice, prudence, and with the objective of attaining lasting peace for everyone," he said.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/262967-terror-law-pet-bill-of-generals
In a Senate hearing in 2018, then-Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Carlito Galvez Jr claimed they had to release captured suspects behind the bombing in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat because of what he called "permissive" measures under HSA. They couldn't build a case within the 3 days that the law required them to charge the suspects.
The generals wanted a 30-day period for warrantless arrests to allow them to conduct their investigation. They said suspects normally break in information on the second or third week.
It was National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Alex Monteagudo, a retired police general, who pushed for a 90-day surveillance period or one month longer than what HSA allowed.
"A longer period of surveillance will allow us to identify the network of the organization, including their international connection," he said in the same hearing.
Railroaded
It's this proclaimed weakness of the Human Security Act that generals used to persuade Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao for over two years since the Marawi siege, a period where commanders exercised some power over local government units. When martial law was lifted by New Year of 2020, they wasted no time to ask Congress for a new law.
In February, the Senate approved a proposed measure that would give the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) the power to detain suspects without warrant for 14 days, which may be extended for another 10 days, or a total of 24 days. They would also allow suspects to be wiretapped for 60 days, which may be extended for another 30 days, or a total of 90 days.
If there wasn't enough uproar then, it's because the Senate version was just the starting point in what was supposed to be a longer legislative process that could still temper the powers.
Suddenly, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Duterte certified the bill as urgent.
With two unexpected moves, the House of Representatives railroaded its passage. First, the House committee dropped its own bills to adopt the Senate version. Next, the leadership allowed no amendments at the plenary.
Lawmakers cast their votes without understanding what was happening. They voted yes to the proposed new law, expressed reservations when they explained their votes, and promised to fix the measure at the bicameral conference committee hearing or bicam.
They didn't realize that the two-move legislative trick allowed the bill to skirt the bicam, the stage where the Senate and the House would consolidate bills if they passed different versions.
It would have afforded time for last-minute lobbies from human rights groups, too. But not anymore.
More harm than good
The new law could do more harm than good, warned former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Mujiv Hataman, who is now congressman of the lone district of Basilan province.
"This law is not meant to combat terrorism. It is meant to give the state the power to tag whomever they please as a terrorist," said Hataman. Basilan, which he represents, is where the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group was born and slain Islamic State emir Isnilon Hapilon operated for decades.
Critics said the proposed law has "too broad and vague" provisions on who might be considered terrorists. They could be open to the misinterpretation of the Anti-Terrorism Council, a body composed of the same generals who pushed for the law.
"What if an innocent person is arrested? What can he expect from this law? He can be detained for 24 days without warrant and authorities don't need to bring him to court," Hataman said. He recalled how a former CAFGU died in prison over allegations of involvement in a terror attack, only for the court to declare him innocent long after his death.
Representatives from the Lanao provinces, where the Maute Group operated, also raised alarm.
Lanao del Norte Representative Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said they could have crafted a better version of the law.
"My real contention, where I feel uneasy, is the issue of warrantless arrests. I feel it's unfair for us in the House of Representatives that we are not allowed to amend Section 29," he said. He abstained from voting.
Lanao del Sur Representative Yasser Alonto Balindong said he wants to stamp out terrorism, but he also wants to prevent abuse of authority.
"As a Meranao, we know that we are the most affected when it comes to terrorism, as shown to us by the Marawi siege of 2017.... We, together with the other Muslim Filipinos, are also the most vulnerable when it comes to abuse of authority," Balindong said. He voted no.
Abuses are too often what push people to violent extremism, the lawmakers from Mindanao said. Because, for every bomber the new law will capture and neutralize, how many more innocent civilians will become victims of wrongful arrest, mistaken identity, and planted evidence?
Hataman said he would have pressed for more safeguards to protect citizens from abuse. He also lamented why the new law discarded penalties for wrongful arrests committed.
"It sends a clear message to enforcers. Arrest anyone you want. Anyway, there's no penalty if you commit a mistake," Hataman said.
Who is the law really for?
Dimaporo also raised questions about the urgency of the law and its practical use in the country's battle against terrorists.
"The real meat of this is to detain terrorists," he said. But operations against high-profile terrorists "never did end with detention."
He referred to the moves to arrest Malaysian terrorist Marwan in 2015 and Hapilon in 2017, which ended in the Mamasapano tragedy and the Marawi siege, respectively.
Most of the country's high-profile terrorists already face outstanding warrants of arrests. "If we're able to do it that way, why do we need [this law]? We have the manpower and ability to file cases against terrorists at large," Dimaporo said.
There are fears that legitimate organizations might be among the targets of the proposed law.
Progressive party-list groups in the House of Representatives are concerned more than others. They've been tagged as front organizations for the communist rebel group New People's Army, which faces a proscription case in court as a terrorist organization.
"Activism is not terrorism. Criticism is not terrorism," said Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago in an emotional speech after the vote on Wednesday, June 3.
Anyone could be subjected to the draconian measures of the law, according to human rights groups. Advocacy, protest, and dissent are expressely exempted from what may considered acts of terrorism, but it offers little comfort amid vague exemptions.
There are provisions that punish anyone who provides "material support" to tagged terrorists, too, prompting alarm over various scenarios.
Among close-knit families in Mindanao, are family members going to be detained if they provide tagged terrorists among them with shelter and food? Are doctors guilty if they follow their hippocratic oath and attend to tagged terrorists needing healthcare? Are lawyers guilty if tagged terrorists visit their homes to seek advice? Are journalists guilty if they interview them?
"You don't deserve that kind of power. No one does," said Magsasaka Party-list Representative Argel Joseph Cabatbat, addressing the military, after the House voted 168-36 in favor of the measure. (The House secretariat corrected its vote count of 173-31 on June 3, to 168-36 on June 4.)
The farmers' representative doesn't belong to the broad coalition of leftist party-list organizations often tagged by the military as terrorist organizations. But Cabatbat said his group had been harassed too many times due to dangerous stereotypes in the military that farmers were rebels and subversives.
"I beg you to use that power with justice, prudence, and with the objective of attaining lasting peace for everyone," he said.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/262967-terror-law-pet-bill-of-generals
Suspected NPA leader arrested
From the Sun Star-Bacolod (Jun 6, 2020): Suspected NPA leader arrested (By TERESA D. ELLERA)
A SUSPECTED leader of the New People's Army (NPA) in Negros was arrested on June 3 in Manggahan Dos, Barangay Merville, Parañaque City.
The suspect was identified as Roger Lumanog alias Jijie Lumanog, 36, single, with provincial address in Camindangan, Sipalay, Negros Occidental and currently residing in Manggahan Dos, Brgy Merville, Paranaque City.
Lumanog was reportedly the liaison officer of South Western Front of NPA-Negros.
Police report said the Intelligence Unit of the Southern Police District in coordination with the elements of Sipalay City Police Station served the warrant of arrest issued by Judge Rodney Magbanua of RTC Branch 61, Kabankalan City, of the above-named accused upon receipt of the information of the whereabouts of the subject.
Allegedly, the arrested person is a liaison of South Western Front-NPA Negros with another accused Rex Vargas and functioning as supplier of needed medical and food resources of NPA in the Area. Information received that the murder case was from the killing of their fellow NPA who left the group.
The suspect will be turned over to the Jail facility of Taguig City Polie Station for temporary custody prior to his eventual transfer to Kabankalan, Negros Occidental for subsequent return of suspect to the court of origin.
The suspect was identified as Roger Lumanog alias Jijie Lumanog, 36, single, with provincial address in Camindangan, Sipalay, Negros Occidental and currently residing in Manggahan Dos, Brgy Merville, Paranaque City.
Lumanog was reportedly the liaison officer of South Western Front of NPA-Negros.
Police report said the Intelligence Unit of the Southern Police District in coordination with the elements of Sipalay City Police Station served the warrant of arrest issued by Judge Rodney Magbanua of RTC Branch 61, Kabankalan City, of the above-named accused upon receipt of the information of the whereabouts of the subject.
Allegedly, the arrested person is a liaison of South Western Front-NPA Negros with another accused Rex Vargas and functioning as supplier of needed medical and food resources of NPA in the Area. Information received that the murder case was from the killing of their fellow NPA who left the group.
The suspect will be turned over to the Jail facility of Taguig City Polie Station for temporary custody prior to his eventual transfer to Kabankalan, Negros Occidental for subsequent return of suspect to the court of origin.
Suspected NPA leader falls
From Panay News (Jun 6, 2020): Suspected NPA leader falls (BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA)
A suspected New People’s Army (NPA) leader from Negros Occidental was arrested after police tracked down his whereabouts at Manggahan Dos, Barangay Merville, Parañaque City.
Lumanog was believed to be the primary suspect in the murder of a former NPA insurgent, who surrendered to the government.
The suspect was turned over to the Jail facility of Taguig City police station for temporary custody prior to his eventual transfer to Kabankalan City, where he would face trial for the murder.
https://www.panaynews.net/suspected-npa-leader-falls/
A suspected New People’s Army (NPA) leader from Negros Occidental was arrested after police tracked down his whereabouts at Manggahan Dos, Barangay Merville, Parañaque City.
Authorities identified the alleged insurgent as 36-year-old Roger Lumanog, a native of Barangay Camindangan in Negros Occidental’s Sipalay City.
The Sipalay City police said Lumanog served as a liaison officer of NPA’s South Western Front-Negros.
The Intelligence Unit of the Southern Police District in coordination with the elements of Sipalay City police station staged Lumanog’s apprehension on June 3 on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Rodney Magbanua of Regional Trial Court Branch 61 in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.
The Sipalay City police said Lumanog served as a liaison officer of NPA’s South Western Front-Negros.
The Intelligence Unit of the Southern Police District in coordination with the elements of Sipalay City police station staged Lumanog’s apprehension on June 3 on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Rodney Magbanua of Regional Trial Court Branch 61 in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.
Lumanog was believed to be the primary suspect in the murder of a former NPA insurgent, who surrendered to the government.
The suspect was turned over to the Jail facility of Taguig City police station for temporary custody prior to his eventual transfer to Kabankalan City, where he would face trial for the murder.
https://www.panaynews.net/suspected-npa-leader-falls/
Member of 'Morong 43' killed in Oriental Mindoro clash – military
From CNN Philippines (Jun 5, 2020): Member of 'Morong 43' killed in Oriental Mindoro clash – military (By CNN Philippines Staff)
A community health worker accused of being a member of the New People's Army was killed in an encounter in Oriental Mindoro, the military said Friday.
The fatality, identified as Lorelyn Saligumba who goes by the alias Fara died after a 10-minute firefight at Barangay Mangangan I in Baco town Thursday afternoon, the Army's 2nd Infantry Division said in a statement.
It said Saligumba was the political instructor of members of the New People's Army under KLG ICM’s Platoon Dos, noting that she was also part of the "Morong 43."
The "Morong 43" is composed of health workers who were arrested in 2010 and detained for 10 months until then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III dropped the charges against them for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in time for Human Rights Day.
The health workers said they were blindfolded and tied up while under interrogation. The Ombudsman dropped the torture charges against soldiers and police officers involved in the case.
READ: Sandiganbayan clears soldiers, policemen in ‘Morong 43’ case
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, said Friday that Saligumba's death "justifies" the law enforcement operations in Morong, Rizal 10 years ago.
“It only proves the government’s position then that they were NPA terrorists and not the health workers which NPA-affiliated organizations said they were in their propaganda campaign during that time," Burgos said in a statement.
The military said government forces conducted Thursday's operations following reports that 10 NPA rebels were extorting from the residents. A firearm and improvised explosive device were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old boy who was caught in the crossfire was grazed by a bullet on his upper right leg but is now in stable condition, the military said. The family was given financial assistance.
Another NPA leader, Elmar Murillo, was killed in an earlier encounter in Occidental Mindoro on Sunday. His remains have been turned over to his family. Saligumba's remains, on the other hand, will be transported to a funeral parlor pending the claim of relatives.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the remaining rebels, the military said. Authorities are validating information that some of them were wounded.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has waged a five-decade insurgency.
A community health worker accused of being a member of the New People's Army was killed in an encounter in Oriental Mindoro, the military said Friday.
The fatality, identified as Lorelyn Saligumba who goes by the alias Fara died after a 10-minute firefight at Barangay Mangangan I in Baco town Thursday afternoon, the Army's 2nd Infantry Division said in a statement.
It said Saligumba was the political instructor of members of the New People's Army under KLG ICM’s Platoon Dos, noting that she was also part of the "Morong 43."
The "Morong 43" is composed of health workers who were arrested in 2010 and detained for 10 months until then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III dropped the charges against them for illegal possession of firearms and explosives in time for Human Rights Day.
The health workers said they were blindfolded and tied up while under interrogation. The Ombudsman dropped the torture charges against soldiers and police officers involved in the case.
READ: Sandiganbayan clears soldiers, policemen in ‘Morong 43’ case
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, said Friday that Saligumba's death "justifies" the law enforcement operations in Morong, Rizal 10 years ago.
“It only proves the government’s position then that they were NPA terrorists and not the health workers which NPA-affiliated organizations said they were in their propaganda campaign during that time," Burgos said in a statement.
The military said government forces conducted Thursday's operations following reports that 10 NPA rebels were extorting from the residents. A firearm and improvised explosive device were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old boy who was caught in the crossfire was grazed by a bullet on his upper right leg but is now in stable condition, the military said. The family was given financial assistance.
Another NPA leader, Elmar Murillo, was killed in an earlier encounter in Occidental Mindoro on Sunday. His remains have been turned over to his family. Saligumba's remains, on the other hand, will be transported to a funeral parlor pending the claim of relatives.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the remaining rebels, the military said. Authorities are validating information that some of them were wounded.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has waged a five-decade insurgency.
In Sudden Step, Philippines Reverses Course on Ending US Visiting Forces Agreement—For Now
From The Diplomat (Jun 4, 2020): In Sudden Step, Philippines Reverses Course on Ending US Visiting Forces Agreement—For Now (By By Ankit Panda)
Will the reversal last?
Will the reversal last?
Credit: ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
The government of the Philippines has suspended its plan to abrogate the bilateral Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. The decision, announced on Tuesday and taken Monday, is meant to last for six months.
Teodoro Locsin, the Philippine foreign secretary, made the announcement on Tuesday over Twitter. In a tweet, Locsin shared a diplomatic note that he had sent to the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines.
“The Note is self-explanatory and does not require comment except from me,” he said. “The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the President’s instruction.”
According to the text of the diplomatic note, the six-month abrogation will be “extendible by the Philippines for another six months.” After that period, unless other action is taken, Manila would revert to its original plan to abrogate the agreement, which was first announced on February 11, 2020.
On that date, the Philippine government, led by President Rodrigo Duterte, gave formal notice to the United States that would abrogate the agreement, which governs the status of U.S. military forces in the Philippines.
The termination of the VFA would not put an end to the U.S.-Philippines alliance, which is governed by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
But the VFA — the latest iteration of which was initially ratified in 1999 — plays a fundamental role in normal military activities within the confines of the alliance. Without a VFA, the temporary presence of U.S. forces in the Philippines and, importantly, the implementation of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Act, or EDCA, would be impossible.
The U.S.-Philippines alliance has seen its share of doldrums in the past. Most notably, after the Cold War, the Philippines in the early 1990s moved to end the permanent U.S. presence in the country. The 1999 VFA allowed the alliance to find a new footing.ADVERTISEMENT
The geopolitics of the Philippines’ February decision had much to do with ongoing U.S.-China tensions in the region. The abrogation decision came after more than three years of efforts by the administration of Rodrigo Duterte to move Manila closer to Beijing.
The proximal trigger for Duterte’s decision to abrogate the VFA was anger over the United States’ refusal to grant a visa to one of his confidants, a Philippine lawmaker who had been responsible for Duterte’s war on drugs, which has been widely criticized for human rights violations and extrajudicial violence.
The present decision to suspend the abrogation comes amid two important developments, one regional and one global. First, Manila has witnessed a series of provocations by China in the South China Sea, where it is a claimant state. Even though Duterte himself has tried to keep the South China Sea a low-profile issue, parts of the Philippine government continue to see threats to Manila’s interests.
As a result, recent Chinese standoffs with claimants including Vietnam and Malaysia may have weighed on Manila’s decision. The U.S. Navy has been present in the region and vocally supported these countries against Chinese assertiveness.
Separately, the implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic may be weighing on Manila. The Philippines has one of the region’s least well-equipped militaries and, as room for maneuver for militaries becomes constrained amid the pandemic, continued U.S.-Philippine cooperation may allow for improved capacity to respond to various contingencies
https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/in-sudden-step-philippines-reverses-course-on-ending-us-visiting-forces-agreement-for-now/
Teodoro Locsin, the Philippine foreign secretary, made the announcement on Tuesday over Twitter. In a tweet, Locsin shared a diplomatic note that he had sent to the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines.
“The Note is self-explanatory and does not require comment except from me,” he said. “The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the President’s instruction.”
According to the text of the diplomatic note, the six-month abrogation will be “extendible by the Philippines for another six months.” After that period, unless other action is taken, Manila would revert to its original plan to abrogate the agreement, which was first announced on February 11, 2020.
On that date, the Philippine government, led by President Rodrigo Duterte, gave formal notice to the United States that would abrogate the agreement, which governs the status of U.S. military forces in the Philippines.
The termination of the VFA would not put an end to the U.S.-Philippines alliance, which is governed by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
But the VFA — the latest iteration of which was initially ratified in 1999 — plays a fundamental role in normal military activities within the confines of the alliance. Without a VFA, the temporary presence of U.S. forces in the Philippines and, importantly, the implementation of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Act, or EDCA, would be impossible.
The U.S.-Philippines alliance has seen its share of doldrums in the past. Most notably, after the Cold War, the Philippines in the early 1990s moved to end the permanent U.S. presence in the country. The 1999 VFA allowed the alliance to find a new footing.ADVERTISEMENT
The geopolitics of the Philippines’ February decision had much to do with ongoing U.S.-China tensions in the region. The abrogation decision came after more than three years of efforts by the administration of Rodrigo Duterte to move Manila closer to Beijing.
The proximal trigger for Duterte’s decision to abrogate the VFA was anger over the United States’ refusal to grant a visa to one of his confidants, a Philippine lawmaker who had been responsible for Duterte’s war on drugs, which has been widely criticized for human rights violations and extrajudicial violence.
The present decision to suspend the abrogation comes amid two important developments, one regional and one global. First, Manila has witnessed a series of provocations by China in the South China Sea, where it is a claimant state. Even though Duterte himself has tried to keep the South China Sea a low-profile issue, parts of the Philippine government continue to see threats to Manila’s interests.
As a result, recent Chinese standoffs with claimants including Vietnam and Malaysia may have weighed on Manila’s decision. The U.S. Navy has been present in the region and vocally supported these countries against Chinese assertiveness.
Separately, the implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic may be weighing on Manila. The Philippines has one of the region’s least well-equipped militaries and, as room for maneuver for militaries becomes constrained amid the pandemic, continued U.S.-Philippine cooperation may allow for improved capacity to respond to various contingencies
https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/in-sudden-step-philippines-reverses-course-on-ending-us-visiting-forces-agreement-for-now/
PH Army activates new logistics, support unit to back troops in war on terror in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jun 5, 2020): PH Army activates new logistics, support unit to back troops in war on terror in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi (By: Frances Mangosing)
A new Army unit has been activated on Thursday (June 4) to supervise logistical support for soldiers battling terrorists in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. OACPA
A new Army unit has been activated on Thursday (June 4) to supervise logistical support for soldiers battling terrorists in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. OACPA
A new Army unit has been activated on Thursday (June 4) to supervise logistical support for soldiers battling terrorists in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, Philippine Army chief, led the activation of the 15th Forward Service Support Unit (15FSSU) at the Army Support Command (Ascom).
In a statement, the Army said the new unit would focus on logistical and other needs of the 11th Infantry Division and other Army units in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which play a key role in securing the so-called country’s southern backdoor against terror groups like Abu Sayyaf and others.
The Abu Sayyaf, a homegrown terror group, is notorious for kidnappings in Sulu and waters nearby. Most factions had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, Philippine Army chief, led the activation of the 15th Forward Service Support Unit (15FSSU) at the Army Support Command (Ascom).
In a statement, the Army said the new unit would focus on logistical and other needs of the 11th Infantry Division and other Army units in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which play a key role in securing the so-called country’s southern backdoor against terror groups like Abu Sayyaf and others.
The Abu Sayyaf, a homegrown terror group, is notorious for kidnappings in Sulu and waters nearby. Most factions had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Amid the pandemic, the statement quoted Gapay as saying, “the country depends so much on the Army’s logistics and we expect this to continue.”
“As a newly activated unit of Ascom, I welcome 15FSSU to the ways the Army wins wars,” Gapay said.
The Army chief said the activation of 15FSSU is only the start of Ascom’s future initiatives.
Ascom was expected to launch programs to improve troop readiness, coordination with logistics units of other services, the Procurement Management Office and upgrade the Army’s little known Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear platoon to a company.
“As a newly activated unit of Ascom, I welcome 15FSSU to the ways the Army wins wars,” Gapay said.
The Army chief said the activation of 15FSSU is only the start of Ascom’s future initiatives.
Ascom was expected to launch programs to improve troop readiness, coordination with logistics units of other services, the Procurement Management Office and upgrade the Army’s little known Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear platoon to a company.
5 gunmen slain, head of crime group captured in Sultan Kudarat
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jun 5, 2020): 5 gunmen slain, head of crime group captured in Sultan Kudarat (By: Jeoffrey Maitem)
Security forces killed five members of a lawless group in a clash on Thursday in a remote village of Labayong town, Sultan Kudarat, the military reported Friday.
Army Col. Joel Mamon, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, said nine other armed men were wounded, while 15, including the armed group’s leader, had been captured during the fighting in the town’s Baumol village.
According to Mamon, troops belonging to the 40th Infantry Battalion were conducting a law enforcement mission against commander Tugali Guiamal Galmak when they ran into the armed men.
Tugali, who is among those captured, is the commander of an armed lawless group and a former member of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group operating in Central Mindanao, said Mamon.
“When our troops reached the area at 6:29 in the morning, our target was reinforced with more or less 20 fully armed men,” said regional military commander Maj. Gen. Diosdado Carreon, who also heads the Joint Task Force Central.
Regional military spokesman Major Arvin Encinas of Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Mindanao Command told the Inquirer by phone that the suspects had been involved in abduction and crimes across the region.
Photographs released by the military showed the remains of the slain gunmen and arrested personalities guarded by troops after the encounter.
Encinas said they were checking if Tugali’s group had been working with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a group that splintered from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the government.
The fighting occurred days after President Duterte certified as urgent House Bill No. 6875, which contains provisions that would allow warrantless arrests of terror suspects and imprisonment for at least 14 days.
Security forces killed five members of a lawless group in a clash on Thursday in a remote village of Labayong town, Sultan Kudarat, the military reported Friday.
Army Col. Joel Mamon, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, said nine other armed men were wounded, while 15, including the armed group’s leader, had been captured during the fighting in the town’s Baumol village.
According to Mamon, troops belonging to the 40th Infantry Battalion were conducting a law enforcement mission against commander Tugali Guiamal Galmak when they ran into the armed men.
Tugali, who is among those captured, is the commander of an armed lawless group and a former member of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group operating in Central Mindanao, said Mamon.
“When our troops reached the area at 6:29 in the morning, our target was reinforced with more or less 20 fully armed men,” said regional military commander Maj. Gen. Diosdado Carreon, who also heads the Joint Task Force Central.
Regional military spokesman Major Arvin Encinas of Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Mindanao Command told the Inquirer by phone that the suspects had been involved in abduction and crimes across the region.
Photographs released by the military showed the remains of the slain gunmen and arrested personalities guarded by troops after the encounter.
Encinas said they were checking if Tugali’s group had been working with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a group that splintered from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the government.
The fighting occurred days after President Duterte certified as urgent House Bill No. 6875, which contains provisions that would allow warrantless arrests of terror suspects and imprisonment for at least 14 days.
Philippines hesitates to boot US troops
Posted to the Asia Times (Jun 3, 2020): Philippines hesitates to boot US troops (By By RICHARD JAVAD HEYDARIAN)
Manila delays planned abrogation of US Visiting Forces Agreement as China ups strategic ante in nearby waters
China’s control of the shoal, situated within the Philippines’ EEZ is crucial for the ADIZ.
“[In the past] Beijing has been hesitant to declare the ADIZ in the South China Sea due to a number of technical, political, and diplomatic considerations,” an anonymous source in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently told the South China Sea Morning Post newspaper.
“But the most practical problem is that the PLA has in the past not had the capability to scramble its fighter jets to expel intrusive foreign aircraft in the South China Sea, which is several times the size of the East China Sea, and the cost to support the ADIZ would be huge.”
But Beijing could soon make the move since it has consolidated its strategic position across a sprawling network of airstrips and military facilities in the Spratlys and Paracels, which could now credibly support and sustain an ADIZ declaration, strategic analysts say.
“Recent satellite images show that the People’s Liberation Army has deployed KJ-500 airborne early-warning and control aircraft and KQ-200 anti-submarine patrol planes at Fiery Cross Reef,” Lu Li-Shih, a China military expert told regional media.
“Once the PLA’s fighter jets arrive they can join the early-warning and anti-submarine aircraft in conducting ADIZ patrol operations.”
Whether the US military is currently in a position to counter such a move is not immediately clear, considering certain of its aircraft carriers have been docked at home ports due to Covid-19 infections among personnel. But assured access to nearby Philippine bases, via the VFA, could tip the strategic balance enough to give Beijing second thoughts.
Manila delays planned abrogation of US Visiting Forces Agreement as China ups strategic ante in nearby waters
US and Philippine troops arm and arm in a joint military exercise. Photo: AFP
In a major policy reversal with sweeping strategic implications, the Philippine government suspended on Tuesday its earlier decision to abrogate its decades-long Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.
“The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the President’s [Rodrigo Duterte] instruction,” tweeted Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin without elaborating on the reason for the reversal.
In a formal letter to the US Embassy in Manila, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs vaguely mentioned “political and other developments in the region” as the basis for a six-month suspension of the impending abrogation of the vital defense agreement.
The suspension is extendable for another six months, meaning the VFA will likely remain in effect well into 2021, and with Duterte entering his final years in office, the agreement seems secure for the foreseeable future, analysts and observers say.
In a statement, the US Embassy welcomed the reversal and highlighted how “[o]ur long-standing alliance has benefited both countries, and we look forward to continued close security and defense cooperation with the Philippines.”
The VFA, negotiated soon after the closure of American military bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s, provides the legal framework for US soldiers to enter the Philippines.
It also provides the the legal framework for the Philippine-US defense alliance, enshrined in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which at any given time sees US troops stationed in the country on a rotating basis, including in terrorism-prone southern regions.
“The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the President’s [Rodrigo Duterte] instruction,” tweeted Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin without elaborating on the reason for the reversal.
In a formal letter to the US Embassy in Manila, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs vaguely mentioned “political and other developments in the region” as the basis for a six-month suspension of the impending abrogation of the vital defense agreement.
The suspension is extendable for another six months, meaning the VFA will likely remain in effect well into 2021, and with Duterte entering his final years in office, the agreement seems secure for the foreseeable future, analysts and observers say.
In a statement, the US Embassy welcomed the reversal and highlighted how “[o]ur long-standing alliance has benefited both countries, and we look forward to continued close security and defense cooperation with the Philippines.”
The VFA, negotiated soon after the closure of American military bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s, provides the legal framework for US soldiers to enter the Philippines.
It also provides the the legal framework for the Philippine-US defense alliance, enshrined in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which at any given time sees US troops stationed in the country on a rotating basis, including in terrorism-prone southern regions.
US and Philippine Marines at the formal opening of annual Philippine-US Amphibious Landing Exercises at ex-US Subic naval base. Photo: AFP/Jay Directo
Without the VFA, the US would not be able to sustain its significant military presence in the Philippines, a turn that would have major ramifications for America’s strategic position in the Western Pacific, particularly vis-à-vis China.
It would also impact on joint military activities and exercises, of which nearly 300 were held last year, and effectively neuter the two countries’ longstanding alliance.
Since his election in mid-2016, the China-leaning Duterte has threatened to sever security cooperation with the US. His threat to cancel the VFA came in angry response in January to travel bans imposed by the US on Filipino officials involved in alleged rights abuses, including in prosecuting his drug war.
Experts and insiders believe Duterte’s reversal was likely motivated by China’s rising maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea, including in Philippine waters, as well as his government’s desperate need for sustained humanitarian assistance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are reasons for the Philippines to be concerned. News reports suggest that China may soon move ahead with plan to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) across the South China Sea, including over islands, features and waters claimed by the Philippines.
For the past two decades, the VFA has been a linchpin of the Philippine-US alliance, facilitating large-scale entry of American troops for counter-terrorism and maritime security exercises, as well as billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance during major humanitarian crises.
The VFA allowed the Pentagon to deploy thousands of troops during the Haiyan super typhoon in 2013, which devastated much of the central Philippines, as well as US Special Forces and drones during the months-long siege of southern city of Marawi by Islamic State-backed militants in 2017.
During a high-profile Senate hearing earlier this year, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana underscored the centrality of the agreement to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations (HADR) since “the US forces are always there in times of calamities.”
It would also impact on joint military activities and exercises, of which nearly 300 were held last year, and effectively neuter the two countries’ longstanding alliance.
Since his election in mid-2016, the China-leaning Duterte has threatened to sever security cooperation with the US. His threat to cancel the VFA came in angry response in January to travel bans imposed by the US on Filipino officials involved in alleged rights abuses, including in prosecuting his drug war.
Experts and insiders believe Duterte’s reversal was likely motivated by China’s rising maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea, including in Philippine waters, as well as his government’s desperate need for sustained humanitarian assistance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are reasons for the Philippines to be concerned. News reports suggest that China may soon move ahead with plan to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) across the South China Sea, including over islands, features and waters claimed by the Philippines.
For the past two decades, the VFA has been a linchpin of the Philippine-US alliance, facilitating large-scale entry of American troops for counter-terrorism and maritime security exercises, as well as billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance during major humanitarian crises.
The VFA allowed the Pentagon to deploy thousands of troops during the Haiyan super typhoon in 2013, which devastated much of the central Philippines, as well as US Special Forces and drones during the months-long siege of southern city of Marawi by Islamic State-backed militants in 2017.
During a high-profile Senate hearing earlier this year, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana underscored the centrality of the agreement to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations (HADR) since “the US forces are always there in times of calamities.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (L) talks to US President Donald Trump (R) before the 31st ASEAN Summit, Manila, November 13, 2017. – Photo: AFP/Pool/Mark R Cristino
Duterte initiated the agreement’s abrogation on February 11 this year. Because it is a bilateral agreement, the two sides had 180 days to finalize the agreement’s cancellation in order to provide enough room for adjustments to the Pentagon.
The decision was unpopular among many Filipinos, who have favored strong security cooperation with the US to counterbalance China. Even Duterte’s allies in the Senate joined with the opposition earlier this year to challenging his unilateral nixing of the agreement without legislative concurrence.
In early March, veteran senators led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked the Philippine Supreme Court to “issue an order” to “refer [Duterte’s] Notice of Withdrawal to the Senate of the Philippines for its concurrence.” That legal challenge is still pending.
But the ongoing pandemic and China’s rising aggressiveness have seemingly forced Duterte’s hands.
Despite his rhetorical hostility towards the West, including the US, and cozy diplomatic relations with Beijing, Duterte has often shown strategic maturity vis-à-vis the perilous geopolitical environment in the region.
He has also been well-attuned to the sentiments of the powerful Philippine defense establishment, which has lobbied for robust security cooperation with the US, especially in these times of unprecedented strategic uncertainty.
In recent months, the Philippines has shown a willingness to highlight Chinese strategic adventurism.
For example, top Filipino military officials revealed to the media in April that a Chinese warship pointed a laser gun at a Philippine frigate in the Spratlys in February, while Filipino diplomats stood in solidarity with Hanoi in early April by criticizing China’s sinking of Vietnamese fishing vessels.
One of the Philippines’ leading concerns is China’s next move in the South China Sea, including the possible reclamation and militarization of the Manila-claimed Scarborough Shoal, as well as declaration of an ADIZ across the entire area.
The decision was unpopular among many Filipinos, who have favored strong security cooperation with the US to counterbalance China. Even Duterte’s allies in the Senate joined with the opposition earlier this year to challenging his unilateral nixing of the agreement without legislative concurrence.
In early March, veteran senators led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked the Philippine Supreme Court to “issue an order” to “refer [Duterte’s] Notice of Withdrawal to the Senate of the Philippines for its concurrence.” That legal challenge is still pending.
But the ongoing pandemic and China’s rising aggressiveness have seemingly forced Duterte’s hands.
Despite his rhetorical hostility towards the West, including the US, and cozy diplomatic relations with Beijing, Duterte has often shown strategic maturity vis-à-vis the perilous geopolitical environment in the region.
He has also been well-attuned to the sentiments of the powerful Philippine defense establishment, which has lobbied for robust security cooperation with the US, especially in these times of unprecedented strategic uncertainty.
In recent months, the Philippines has shown a willingness to highlight Chinese strategic adventurism.
For example, top Filipino military officials revealed to the media in April that a Chinese warship pointed a laser gun at a Philippine frigate in the Spratlys in February, while Filipino diplomats stood in solidarity with Hanoi in early April by criticizing China’s sinking of Vietnamese fishing vessels.
One of the Philippines’ leading concerns is China’s next move in the South China Sea, including the possible reclamation and militarization of the Manila-claimed Scarborough Shoal, as well as declaration of an ADIZ across the entire area.
China’s control of the shoal, situated within the Philippines’ EEZ is crucial for the ADIZ.
“[In the past] Beijing has been hesitant to declare the ADIZ in the South China Sea due to a number of technical, political, and diplomatic considerations,” an anonymous source in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently told the South China Sea Morning Post newspaper.
“But the most practical problem is that the PLA has in the past not had the capability to scramble its fighter jets to expel intrusive foreign aircraft in the South China Sea, which is several times the size of the East China Sea, and the cost to support the ADIZ would be huge.”
But Beijing could soon make the move since it has consolidated its strategic position across a sprawling network of airstrips and military facilities in the Spratlys and Paracels, which could now credibly support and sustain an ADIZ declaration, strategic analysts say.
“Recent satellite images show that the People’s Liberation Army has deployed KJ-500 airborne early-warning and control aircraft and KQ-200 anti-submarine patrol planes at Fiery Cross Reef,” Lu Li-Shih, a China military expert told regional media.
“Once the PLA’s fighter jets arrive they can join the early-warning and anti-submarine aircraft in conducting ADIZ patrol operations.”
Whether the US military is currently in a position to counter such a move is not immediately clear, considering certain of its aircraft carriers have been docked at home ports due to Covid-19 infections among personnel. But assured access to nearby Philippine bases, via the VFA, could tip the strategic balance enough to give Beijing second thoughts.
CPP/NPA-Negros Island: MCC-NPA: Aprobado nga Anti-terrorism Bill sang Kongreso Pagpatay sang Demokrasya kag Kahilwayan sang Pumuluyong Pilipino
Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 5, 2020): MCC-NPA: Aprobado nga Anti-terrorism Bill sang Kongreso Pagpatay sang Demokrasya kag Kahilwayan sang Pumuluyong Pilipino
DIONESIO MAGBUELAS
NPA-NEGROS ISLAND
MT. CANSERMON COMMAND
NEW PEOPLE'S ARMY
JUNE 05, 2020
“Lutong-makaw” ang madasig nga pagpasar sang Kongreso sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang nagligad nga adlaw sa pihak sang Covid-19 pandemic.
Makahuluya ang “copy paste” nga estilo sang Kongreso sa mga proposisyon sang Senado diin ginpaboran naman sang 168 ka mga kontra-pumuluyo nga kongresista nga wala sang madalum nga painu-ino para sa interes kag kinamatarung sang malapad nga pumuluyong Pilipino.
Nadumduman antis pa sang pag-aprobar sang manubo nga panalgan sang kongreso, naghatag na sang sertipikasyon si Duterte sa madasig nga pagtalakay sang Anti-terrorism Bill sa Kongreso.
Imbes nga hatagan solusyon ang gina-atubang nga krisis sa Coronavirus nga pandemya kag lapnagon nga gutom sa pungsod, nagahingagaw ang rehimeng US-Duterte upod sa mga militarista nga sanday Lorenzana, Año, Esperon kag iban pa nga mga alipuris sini sa militaristang solusyon sa paghinabon sang ila mga kapalpakan sa aspeto sang pulitika, ekonomiya, ikaayung-lawas kag iban pa.
Ang pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang kongreso nagapalala lamang sang paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung. Nagahatag ligwa sa awtoridad kag sa ehekutibo sa pag-abuso sang ila poder batok sa nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko sang rehimeng US-Duterte bangud sang mga mapiguson sini nga mga probisyon.
Kaangay sa ginasuspetsahan nga terorista, mahimo nga dakpon sang arresting officer sang estado paagi sa “designated council” nga wala sang warrant of arrest kag madetinar sa sulod sang 14-24 ka adlaw bisan wala sang kaso nga napasaka sa biktima. Subject ang indibidwal ukon grupo nga ginasuspetsahan sang estado kag awtoridad sa red-tagging, surveillance, wire tapping/monitoring sa mga opisina kag iban pa. Bulnerable man ang indibidwal nga makasuhan sang inciting to sedition, rebellion kag iban pa bisan wala sang maathag nga ebidensiya batok sa natungdan.
“Fast track” ang ginhimo sang Kongreso kag Senado sa pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill. Nagabuyagyag ini sang ila pag-abuso sa poder sa pag-intimidar sa nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko sang rehimeng US-Duterte. Kakonsabo sila sa utok-pulbura nga mga heneral kaangay ni Lorenzana sang DND, Año sang DILG kag iban pa nga commanding officer sang Armed Forces of the Philippines kag Philippine National Police.
Nagabuyagyag man nga ang estado mismo ang matuod nga terorista kag nagagamit sang “Kangaroo Court” sa katumanan sang ila personal nga mga interesis.
Sistematiko ang plano ni Duterte. Paagi sa pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill nagahawan sang dalan ni Duterte sa pagpatuman sang Martial law sa pungsod. “Kapit-tuko” ang rehimeng Duterte nga magpabilin sa poder gamit ang mahigko kag mapintas nga kamot sang estado
Indi garantiya ang Anti-terrorism Bill sa seguridad sang pumuluyong Pilipino. Kon madamo ang nangin biktima sang extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, red tagging, intimidations, vilifications, impunity kag iban pa sa kampanya kontra-druga kag kontra-insurhensiya sang rehimeng US-Duterte diin direkta nga ginakomiter sang AFP kag PNP. Sa Anti-terrorism Bill mas naga-enganyo pa sa pasistang AFP kag PNP sa masingki nga paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung agud busalan ang baba sang nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko. Ginapatay sini ang demokrasya kag kahilwayan sang pumuluyong Pilipino.
Mabaskog nga ginakondenar sang Mount Cansermon Command New People’s Army sa South-Central Negros ang pag-aprobar sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang Kongreso.
Ginapanawagan ang malapad nga pumuluyo sa South Central Negros nga maghiusa kag maghimakas sa pag-reject sang Anti-terrorism Bill. Itib-ong ang tawhanon nga kinamatarung, demokrasya kag pungsodnon nga kahilwayan! Magintra sa NPA! ###
https://cpp.ph/statement/mcc-npa-aprobado-nga-anti-terrorism-bill-sang-kongreso-pagpatay-sang-demokrasya-kag-kahilwayan-sang-pumuluyong-pilipino/
“Lutong-makaw” ang madasig nga pagpasar sang Kongreso sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang nagligad nga adlaw sa pihak sang Covid-19 pandemic.
Makahuluya ang “copy paste” nga estilo sang Kongreso sa mga proposisyon sang Senado diin ginpaboran naman sang 168 ka mga kontra-pumuluyo nga kongresista nga wala sang madalum nga painu-ino para sa interes kag kinamatarung sang malapad nga pumuluyong Pilipino.
Nadumduman antis pa sang pag-aprobar sang manubo nga panalgan sang kongreso, naghatag na sang sertipikasyon si Duterte sa madasig nga pagtalakay sang Anti-terrorism Bill sa Kongreso.
Imbes nga hatagan solusyon ang gina-atubang nga krisis sa Coronavirus nga pandemya kag lapnagon nga gutom sa pungsod, nagahingagaw ang rehimeng US-Duterte upod sa mga militarista nga sanday Lorenzana, Año, Esperon kag iban pa nga mga alipuris sini sa militaristang solusyon sa paghinabon sang ila mga kapalpakan sa aspeto sang pulitika, ekonomiya, ikaayung-lawas kag iban pa.
Ang pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang kongreso nagapalala lamang sang paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung. Nagahatag ligwa sa awtoridad kag sa ehekutibo sa pag-abuso sang ila poder batok sa nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko sang rehimeng US-Duterte bangud sang mga mapiguson sini nga mga probisyon.
Kaangay sa ginasuspetsahan nga terorista, mahimo nga dakpon sang arresting officer sang estado paagi sa “designated council” nga wala sang warrant of arrest kag madetinar sa sulod sang 14-24 ka adlaw bisan wala sang kaso nga napasaka sa biktima. Subject ang indibidwal ukon grupo nga ginasuspetsahan sang estado kag awtoridad sa red-tagging, surveillance, wire tapping/monitoring sa mga opisina kag iban pa. Bulnerable man ang indibidwal nga makasuhan sang inciting to sedition, rebellion kag iban pa bisan wala sang maathag nga ebidensiya batok sa natungdan.
“Fast track” ang ginhimo sang Kongreso kag Senado sa pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill. Nagabuyagyag ini sang ila pag-abuso sa poder sa pag-intimidar sa nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko sang rehimeng US-Duterte. Kakonsabo sila sa utok-pulbura nga mga heneral kaangay ni Lorenzana sang DND, Año sang DILG kag iban pa nga commanding officer sang Armed Forces of the Philippines kag Philippine National Police.
Nagabuyagyag man nga ang estado mismo ang matuod nga terorista kag nagagamit sang “Kangaroo Court” sa katumanan sang ila personal nga mga interesis.
Sistematiko ang plano ni Duterte. Paagi sa pagpasar sang Anti-terrorism Bill nagahawan sang dalan ni Duterte sa pagpatuman sang Martial law sa pungsod. “Kapit-tuko” ang rehimeng Duterte nga magpabilin sa poder gamit ang mahigko kag mapintas nga kamot sang estado
Indi garantiya ang Anti-terrorism Bill sa seguridad sang pumuluyong Pilipino. Kon madamo ang nangin biktima sang extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, red tagging, intimidations, vilifications, impunity kag iban pa sa kampanya kontra-druga kag kontra-insurhensiya sang rehimeng US-Duterte diin direkta nga ginakomiter sang AFP kag PNP. Sa Anti-terrorism Bill mas naga-enganyo pa sa pasistang AFP kag PNP sa masingki nga paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung agud busalan ang baba sang nagahimakas nga pumuluyo kag mga kritiko. Ginapatay sini ang demokrasya kag kahilwayan sang pumuluyong Pilipino.
Mabaskog nga ginakondenar sang Mount Cansermon Command New People’s Army sa South-Central Negros ang pag-aprobar sang Anti-terrorism Bill sang Kongreso.
Ginapanawagan ang malapad nga pumuluyo sa South Central Negros nga maghiusa kag maghimakas sa pag-reject sang Anti-terrorism Bill. Itib-ong ang tawhanon nga kinamatarung, demokrasya kag pungsodnon nga kahilwayan! Magintra sa NPA! ###
https://cpp.ph/statement/mcc-npa-aprobado-nga-anti-terrorism-bill-sang-kongreso-pagpatay-sang-demokrasya-kag-kahilwayan-sang-pumuluyong-pilipino/
CPP/NPA-Negros Island: Ang kakinahanglanon sang armadong paghimakas sa pag-atubang sa halit tuga sang rehimeng US-Duterte — NPA-Negros
Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 5, 2020): Ang kakinahanglanon sang armadong paghimakas sa pag-atubang sa halit tuga sang rehimeng US-Duterte — NPA-Negros
JUANITO MAGBANUA
NPA-NEGROS ISLAND
APOLINARIO GATMAITAN COMMAND
NEW PEOPLE'S ARMY
JUNE 05, 2020
Tuman kadasig nga ginpasa kag na-aprobahan sa kongreso sa third and final reading ang anti-terrorism bill kag inugpasa na sa Malacañang para pirmahan ni Duterte agud mangin laye. Wala sa mga probisyon sang laye nga nagapabor sa interes sang pumuluyo, gani ginapa-abot ang lapnagon nga paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung sa porma sang EJK, red-tagging, death threats sa mga aktibista kag mga kritiko sang gobyerno, illegal nga pagpang-aresto nga wala sang warrant of arrest kag pagdetini sa mga ginsuspetsahan nga mga nagasuporta o ginakilala nga terorista kag madamu pa nga porma sang pagpanglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung. Ini nagtuga lang sang tuman nga kakugmat kag pag-antus sang pumuluyo samtang naga-atubang sang makamamatay nga Covid-19.
Wala sang lauman ang pumuluyo sa subong nga rehimen. Sa baylo nga tutukan ang pagsulbar sang makamamatay nga pandemya, ginpili ang militarista nga pamaagi gamit ang polis kag militar sa pagsulbar. Wala-huya nga pagpangawat sang pundo nga natalana para diri, indi na makita kon pila ang nagasto kag pila ang nabilin sang P275 ka bilyon nga Covid-19 Emergency fund kag sa mga dugang pang binilyon nga utang sa dumuluong nga segurado ara na sa bulsa sang hakugan nga Duterte kag serkulo sini.
Lapnagon nga gutom kag kapigaduhon ang ginabatas sang pumuluyo sa adlaw-adlaw ilabi na ang mga mangunguma kag mamumugon. Naga-antus sang tuman ka mahal nga presyo sang nagapanguna nga balaklon, manubo nga sweldo, wala sang trabaho kag naga-antus sa sayop nga pamaagi sa pagsulbar sang problema sang Covid-19 ang tiraniko nga rehimen Duterte, ang pagkurong sang bug-os nga pumuluyo gamit ang rason sang Covid-19 nga isyu.
Bangud sang sobra nga pagpanghimulos kag pagpamigos kag pagpamahog kontra sa demokratiko nga pwersa, ang mga masang pigos, kabataan, kababainhan kag mga inteliktwal ginatulod nga magpasakop sa NPA. Ang anti-terrorism law mapaslawan sa pagpa-untat sa pagtubo sang armadong reboluyonayong armadong paghimakas sa baylo naga-abono sa matambok nga duta agud mas pa nga pagtubo sang NPA.
Gindali-dali nga ginpasa ang anti-terrorism bill nga klaro nga ginaderiher sang National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict ukon NTF-ELCAC kag ang Malacañang mismo. Si Duterte kag kapareho nya nga mga militarista nga opisyal sa pagpanguna ni Delfin Lorenzana, Eduardo Año kag Hermogenes Esperon gusto mabutang sa ila duguon nga mga kamot ang anti-terrorism law kag mas nga konsolidahon ang pasista nga rehimen kag lupigon ang mga nagapamatok sa ila maitum nga plano.
Ang anti-terrorism law, katapusan nga bahin agud makompleto sang rehimen Duterte ang pagdihon sang martial law, ginapaseguro nga mabutang sa lugar ang malain kag mapintas nga plano ni Duterte-Lorenzana-Año-Esperon nga junta nga madugay na nga ginaplano nga ipatuman para sa pagterorisa kag pagpahipos sa pumuluyo kag pagtukod sang absuluto nga gahum.
Indi kapatihan ang ginhambal ni Pasaporte nga indi angay kahadlokan ang ATB. Gani, sini lang nga adlaw may 7 nga iligal nga gindakop sa Cebu nga linong nga nagaprotesta batok sa indi makatarunganon nga laye. Si Duterte kag ang AFP-PNP upod sa mga kontra-pumuluyo nga patakaran mismo ang nagatulod sa pumuluyo nga magkapot sang armas agud tapuson ang malawig nga pag-antos. Indi malikawan ang pagdamo sa magintra sa NPA agud manindugan kag makigbato para sa tuod nga kahilwayan.
Sa sini nga kahimtangan, wala sang iban pa nga lauman ang pumuluyo magluwas sa paghiliusa nga mapatukan ang pag-imposar sang martial law, militante nga paglunsar sang koliktibo nga pagpamatok bisan naga-atubang sang pandemya agud iduso ang demokratiko nga kinamatarung kag protiktahan ang interes sang pumuluyo kontra sa korap, pasista kag kontra pumuluyo nga rehimen. Mag-upod kag magpasakop sa armadong rebolusyon bilang solo nga solusyon sa problima sang pumuluyo tuga sang malakolonyal kag malapyudal nga sistima sang pungsod Pilipinas. ###
Mabuhay ang masang Pigos!
Magpasakop sa NPA!
Isulong ang armadong rebolusyon tubtob sa kadalag-an!
https://cpp.ph/statement/ang-kakinahanglanon-sang-armadong-paghimakas-sa-pag-atubang-sa-halit-tuga-sang-rehimeng-us-duterte-npa-negros/
Tuman kadasig nga ginpasa kag na-aprobahan sa kongreso sa third and final reading ang anti-terrorism bill kag inugpasa na sa Malacañang para pirmahan ni Duterte agud mangin laye. Wala sa mga probisyon sang laye nga nagapabor sa interes sang pumuluyo, gani ginapa-abot ang lapnagon nga paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung sa porma sang EJK, red-tagging, death threats sa mga aktibista kag mga kritiko sang gobyerno, illegal nga pagpang-aresto nga wala sang warrant of arrest kag pagdetini sa mga ginsuspetsahan nga mga nagasuporta o ginakilala nga terorista kag madamu pa nga porma sang pagpanglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung. Ini nagtuga lang sang tuman nga kakugmat kag pag-antus sang pumuluyo samtang naga-atubang sang makamamatay nga Covid-19.
Wala sang lauman ang pumuluyo sa subong nga rehimen. Sa baylo nga tutukan ang pagsulbar sang makamamatay nga pandemya, ginpili ang militarista nga pamaagi gamit ang polis kag militar sa pagsulbar. Wala-huya nga pagpangawat sang pundo nga natalana para diri, indi na makita kon pila ang nagasto kag pila ang nabilin sang P275 ka bilyon nga Covid-19 Emergency fund kag sa mga dugang pang binilyon nga utang sa dumuluong nga segurado ara na sa bulsa sang hakugan nga Duterte kag serkulo sini.
Lapnagon nga gutom kag kapigaduhon ang ginabatas sang pumuluyo sa adlaw-adlaw ilabi na ang mga mangunguma kag mamumugon. Naga-antus sang tuman ka mahal nga presyo sang nagapanguna nga balaklon, manubo nga sweldo, wala sang trabaho kag naga-antus sa sayop nga pamaagi sa pagsulbar sang problema sang Covid-19 ang tiraniko nga rehimen Duterte, ang pagkurong sang bug-os nga pumuluyo gamit ang rason sang Covid-19 nga isyu.
Bangud sang sobra nga pagpanghimulos kag pagpamigos kag pagpamahog kontra sa demokratiko nga pwersa, ang mga masang pigos, kabataan, kababainhan kag mga inteliktwal ginatulod nga magpasakop sa NPA. Ang anti-terrorism law mapaslawan sa pagpa-untat sa pagtubo sang armadong reboluyonayong armadong paghimakas sa baylo naga-abono sa matambok nga duta agud mas pa nga pagtubo sang NPA.
Gindali-dali nga ginpasa ang anti-terrorism bill nga klaro nga ginaderiher sang National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict ukon NTF-ELCAC kag ang Malacañang mismo. Si Duterte kag kapareho nya nga mga militarista nga opisyal sa pagpanguna ni Delfin Lorenzana, Eduardo Año kag Hermogenes Esperon gusto mabutang sa ila duguon nga mga kamot ang anti-terrorism law kag mas nga konsolidahon ang pasista nga rehimen kag lupigon ang mga nagapamatok sa ila maitum nga plano.
Ang anti-terrorism law, katapusan nga bahin agud makompleto sang rehimen Duterte ang pagdihon sang martial law, ginapaseguro nga mabutang sa lugar ang malain kag mapintas nga plano ni Duterte-Lorenzana-Año-Esperon nga junta nga madugay na nga ginaplano nga ipatuman para sa pagterorisa kag pagpahipos sa pumuluyo kag pagtukod sang absuluto nga gahum.
Indi kapatihan ang ginhambal ni Pasaporte nga indi angay kahadlokan ang ATB. Gani, sini lang nga adlaw may 7 nga iligal nga gindakop sa Cebu nga linong nga nagaprotesta batok sa indi makatarunganon nga laye. Si Duterte kag ang AFP-PNP upod sa mga kontra-pumuluyo nga patakaran mismo ang nagatulod sa pumuluyo nga magkapot sang armas agud tapuson ang malawig nga pag-antos. Indi malikawan ang pagdamo sa magintra sa NPA agud manindugan kag makigbato para sa tuod nga kahilwayan.
Sa sini nga kahimtangan, wala sang iban pa nga lauman ang pumuluyo magluwas sa paghiliusa nga mapatukan ang pag-imposar sang martial law, militante nga paglunsar sang koliktibo nga pagpamatok bisan naga-atubang sang pandemya agud iduso ang demokratiko nga kinamatarung kag protiktahan ang interes sang pumuluyo kontra sa korap, pasista kag kontra pumuluyo nga rehimen. Mag-upod kag magpasakop sa armadong rebolusyon bilang solo nga solusyon sa problima sang pumuluyo tuga sang malakolonyal kag malapyudal nga sistima sang pungsod Pilipinas. ###
Mabuhay ang masang Pigos!
Magpasakop sa NPA!
Isulong ang armadong rebolusyon tubtob sa kadalag-an!
https://cpp.ph/statement/ang-kakinahanglanon-sang-armadong-paghimakas-sa-pag-atubang-sa-halit-tuga-sang-rehimeng-us-duterte-npa-negros/