Comrades kill former rebel

 From the Visayan Daily Star (Jun 28, 2022): Comrades kill former rebel (BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN)

The ambush-slay of former rebel Jimmy dela Cruz, alias Ka Guanzon, in Sitio Binabuyan, Brgy. Cambayobo, Calatrava, Negros Occidental, was claimed by the Roselyn Pelle Command-Northern Negros Guerilla Front.

In a statement, rebel spokesperson Cecille Estrella alleged that Dela Cruz, who was a member of their group from 2017 until 2020, served as an intelligence asset of the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion.

Dela Cruz, who had gone AWOL (absent without leave) and joined the group of former NPA members, Ka Dodong, Ka Prince Gallego and his wife, Mia, who had turned themselves into military assets, Estrella said.

While they respect the decisions of NPA members to live a normal life, they should not harm the revolutionary masses and the revolutionary movement by cooperating with the AFP, as what Dela Cruz did, the rebel spokesperson added.

“Dela Cruz became a traitor of the revolutionary movement and the revolutionary people’s court sentenced him with death penalty, which decision was swiftly implemented the RJPC,” she said in the issued statement.

Estrella reminded former comrades that they have no immunity when serving justice.

https://visayandailystar.com/comrades-kill-former-rebel/

Ex-rebel leader eludes arrest for murder charges

From the Visayan Daily Star (Jun 30, 2022): Ex-rebel leader eludes arrest for murder charges (BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN)

A former leader of the defunct Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade managed to elude arrest during a raid at his residence on June 28 in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

The subject of joint operations of the Regional Intelligence Division 6, 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, La Castellana and Bago City Police Station, as well as Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6, was Ramonito Osano, who once served as leader of the NPA and RPA-ABB.

Osano, who has pending arrest warrants for attempted homicide, frustrated murder and murder, however managed to escape after reportedly trading shots with policemen.

The police recovered a .45 caliber pistol with a magazine containing seven ammunition and a hand grenade at the place of Osano.

Osano was denied bail by Judge Mary Jennifer Protasio-Arches for murder charges.

A buy-bust operation conducted by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at Hda. Puyas 1 in Brgy. Bagtic, Silay City, also led to the apprehension of Adolfo Montebano, 36, of Brgy 2, Victorias City.

The arrest of Montebano yielded a Colt caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing two ammunition and P100 in marked money.

https://visayandailystar.com/ex-rebel-leader-eludes-arrest-for-murder-charges/

NDFP open to peace talks with new gov’t but wary of ‘all-out war’

From MindaNews (Jun 30, 2022): NDFP open to peace talks with new gov’t but wary of ‘all-out war’ policy

SIGNED. Government peace panel chair SIlvestre Bello III (r) and NDF peace panel chair FIdel Agcaoili exchange copies of the Interim Joint Ceasefire Agreement signed on April 5, 2017 in The Netherlands. but will take effect only when the guidelines and ground rules are approved. President Rodrigo Duterte called off the talks in November 2017 and declared the CPP-NPA as terrorists. Photo courtesy of OPAPP

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said it was willing to open peace negotiations with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. if the latter would also show willingness to talk.

Marcos Jr. took his oath at noon on Thursday as the 17th president of the Philippines.

A press release Thursday from the NDFP quoted Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair as saying it was Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte who terminated the peace negotiations in 2017 but that “if the incoming Marcos administration is willing to talk, why not?”

Sison, however, said: “But right now, there are no indications that Marcos would like peace talks. Resuming peace negotiations is quite easy…by simply reaffirming the agreements that were previously agreed upon and signed by the two parties in the negotiations.”

Sison issued the pronouncement during the online launch last June 28 of his latest book “On the GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations” organized by the NDFP International Information Office and the International Network for Philippine Studies.

He added that while the NDFP was open to resuming the peace talks, there is nothing it can do if the Philippine government “insists on carrying out an all-out war policy.”

Marcos Jr. made no mention about the aborted peace negotiations with the NDFP in his inaugural speech.

Peace talks with the NDFP started during the Cory Aquino administration, which assumed power after Marcos Jr.’s father and namesake, Ferdinand E. Marcos, was ousted via the EDSA People Power Revolt in February 1986.

The CPP, the leading element in the NDFP, has been waging an armed struggle through its military wing, the New People’s Army, since 1969.

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/06/ndfp-open-to-peace-talks-with-new-govt-but-wary-of-all-out-war-policy/

Lorenzana honored to serve, 'make a difference' as 36th DND chief

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): Lorenzana honored to serve, 'make a difference' as 36th DND chief (By Priam Nepomuceno)

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (Photo from Secretary Delfin Lorenzana Facebook page)

Outgoing Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said it has been an honor for him to serve and make a difference as the country's 36th defense chief.

"Karangalan ko ang makapaglingkod bilang ika-36 na Kalihim ng Tanggulang Pambansa. Salamat sa inyong tiwala at suporta! (It was an honor for me to serve as the 36th National Defense Secretary. Thank you for your trust and support!)," he said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

Lorenzana, in a quote card attached to the same post, also said the DND in the past six years has been "steadfast in fulfilling its mandate," contributing to President Rodrigo R. Duterte's legacy of building a strong uniformed force.

"I want to be remembered as the Secretary of National Defense who was able to make a difference: the improvement of the Defense organization to better secure our nation," he added.

Under his term, the Philippines was able to acquire notable defense assets, such as the two Jose Rizal-class guided-missile frigates, two AgustaWestland AW-159 anti-submarine helicopters, 16 S-70i "Black Hawk" combat utility helicopters, and six A-29B "Super Tucano" attack aircraft.

Lorenzana will be succeeded by retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Jose Faustino Jr., who will sit as officer in charge and senior undersecretary of the DND.

Faustino, who retired on November 12 last year, will assume as Secretary on November 13, after the lapse of the one-year appointment ban on retired military officials.

Lorenzana, who was appointed by Duterte as DND chief on June 30, 2016, brought to the DND his expertise in national defense and security, special operations, foreign military affairs, public diplomacy, veterans affairs, and strategic leadership.

He is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1973.

Earlier, Lorenzana said the Duterte administration worked hard for the Philippines to attain a credible defense posture to protect its vast maritime territories.

He added that the AFP significantly stepped up its external defense operations to secure the country's strategic border areas and exclusive economic zone by increasing naval surface and maritime air patrols.

Lorenzana noted that during his term, the AFP launched sustained operations against the communist insurgents and violent extremists that led to the weakening of these pressing security threats.

He said the DND prioritized international defense and security engagements, wherein agreements were forged with traditional and non-traditional security partners, which brought the Philippines closer to becoming a strategic player in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the Duterte administration, the DND further advanced good governance policies aimed at enhancing the organization’s capability to perform its mandate.

Republic Act (RA) 11709, signed by Duterte on April 13, sets a fixed three-year tour of duty for the AFP chief of staff, vice chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, major service commanders (Army, Air Force, and Navy), unified command commanders, and inspector general "unless sooner terminated by the President."

"The principal objective of this law is to allow general officers sufficient time, i.e., three years time-in-grade, to do their jobs. If they are not promoted to the next higher grade, they are retired. This ensures that only the best officers ascend the ladder of leadership. This also puts an end to the revolving door system in the AFP leadership that resulted from the retirement law passed in 1979," Lorenzana said.

AFP honors outgoing DND chief

On Tuesday afternoon, the AFP held a testimonial parade and review in honor of the outgoing defense chief.

AFP chief Gen. Andres Centino led the honors as the military recognized Lorenzana for his full support of the military's campaigns and programs.

“The Testimonial Parade & Review is the AFP’s acknowledgment of the contribution and service of the SND, a collective salute and appreciation of his life in government service. Today's (Tuesday) honoree deserves no less than our snappiest salutes and our loudest cheers,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

In the last six years at the helm of the defense department, Lorenzana was relentless in advancing the implementation of the AFP modernization program that enabled the AFP to perform its mandate of protecting the people and securing the state.

“The SND (Secretary of National Defense) was also on top of the pressing need to ensure that our personnel would have the technical proficiency to utilize the modern assets and equipment to the fullest,” Centino said.

The AFP also remembered Lorenzana's leadership during the Marawi siege, Covid-19 pandemic, and the implementation of various programs like Barangay Development Program, and Tatak ng Imprastraktura para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad.

Centino also thanked Lorenzana for his commitment and support which led to the realization of the salary increase for AFP personnel and the grant of decent housing, especially to the families of soldiers killed in action.

“Today, the AFP can say we have better workspaces, living quarters, medical health facilities, and road networks, all of which means a stronger, more productive, and more responsive AFP,” Centino said.

In his speech, Lorenzana acknowledged everyone whom he has worked with throughout his life in government service.

“When I look back at my military career that started when I was a cadet in high school, followed by my cadetship in the Philippine Military Academy, commissionship in the Army, and all throughout those years until today, I couldn’t have achieved what I have done or reached this high, this far, without the help, assistance, and mentorship of so many people along the way,” he added.

Lorenzana also paid tribute to the AFP as a “very professional organization”.

“I have no regrets, I have fought the good fight. It was all an exciting, challenging, and personally rewarding journey,” Lorenzana said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177764

Gov't aids ex-MILF members, kin get birth certificate, nat'l ID

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): Gov't aids ex-MILF members, kin get birth certificate, nat'l ID (By Lade Jean Kabagani)

INTERVENTION. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on Wednesday (June 29, 2022) said some 305 national IDs and 1,064 birth certificates belonging to decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members and their families were processed through the civil registration assistance project spearheaded by Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation and the Philippine Statistics Authority. The process is part of their full integration into mainstream society. (Photo courtesy of OPAPRU)

The government has assisted decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants and their families to register for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) and acquire birth certificates as part of their full integration into mainstream society.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on Wednesday reported that some 305 Philippine identification (PhilID) cards or the national ID and 1,064 birth certificates of MILF members and their families were processed with the help of a civil registration assistance project, jointly organized by the Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation (JTFCT) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The beneficiaries of the joint JTFCT-PSA initiative include former MILF combatants, senior citizens, and members of indigenous peoples (IP) -- were residents of the MILF’s Camps Badre in the municipalities of Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak, and Camp Omar in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Under the joint peace mechanisms of the Government of the Philippines-MILF peace implementing panels, the JTFCT is mandated to carry out socioeconomic interventions for previously acknowledged MILF camps under the Normalization Program of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Nasrola Sapal, JTFCT-MILF member based in Camp Omar, cited the activity as the “first of its kind to be conducted in the area.”

“Mahalaga talaga ang birth certificate at National ID, lalong-lalo na ang IPs natin dahil maraming IPs dito from Barangay Saniag. Sa taas ng bundok pa sila galing (The birth certificate and national ID are really important, especially to our IPs because there are many IPs here from Barangay Saniag. They come from the mountains),” Sapal said, noting that it could “largely benefit the tri-people -- Christians, Muslims, Lumad” in the community.

“Siguro, kung papipiliin sila kung bigyan ng isang libo o i-cater sila sa national ID, lalo na sa birth certificate at lalo na sa maraming mga anak, mas piliin nila itong registration. Masaya sila masyado kasi mismo taga-PSA na ang pumunta dito. Wala pang bayad at naka-less pa sila ng transportation (Maybe if given a chance to choose between receiving PHP1,000 or to avail of the National ID, especially the birth certificates and particularly those with many children, they will choose the registration more. They were really happy because the PSA came here. They didn’t have to pay for their transportation),” he added.

Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055 or the PhilSys Act aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens.

The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrolment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.

It will also boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present the PhilID during transactions.

Meanwhile, the government has integrated PhilSys with its initiative under the Social Development Domain of the Camps Transformation Plan (CTP) which was approved by GPH and MILF peace implementing panels last year.

The Camps Transformation Plan is a six-year plan (2021-2026) that outlines the process, direction, and interventions that will be carried out to harness the full economic potential of the camps and transform them into show windows of peace and development.

OPAPRU executive director Cesar de Mesa said the JTFCT’s partnership with the PSA is part of the peace mechanisms’ effort “to bring inclusive socioeconomic assistance to the tri-people residing in MILF communities.”

“This civil registration project is among the JTFCT’s initiatives that seek to bring about the meaningful transformation of camps into productive and resilient communities,” De Mesa said.

The government has been providing for the needs of former MILF combatants, including financial assistance, social entrepreneurship projects, and skills development training which are among the several accomplishments of the Bangsamoro peace process initiatives under the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177829

SoKor shipbuilder eyes maintenance depot in Subic: DND

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): SoKor shipbuilder eyes maintenance depot in Subic: DND (By Priam Nepomuceno)

MAINTENANCE DEPOT SOON. The Naval Operating Base (NOB) Subic was activated at the former Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) Shipyard in Subic in late May this year. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday (June 28, 2022) said South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries eyes constructing a maintenance depot in the same location. (Screengrab from video courtesy of Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's Facebook page)

Department of National Defense (DND) Delfin Lorenzana said there is a possibility that South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) will construct its maintenance depot in Subic, Zambales.

Lorenzana said the facility, which may rise at the former Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) shipyard in Subic Bay, would cater to the maintenance needs of all HHI-built naval vessels of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

"They are planning to construct a maintenance depot here for all (HHI-ordered) ships," Lorenzana said in his farewell meeting with reporters Tuesday, responding to queries on whether the DND will have to send its HHI-constructed ships to South Korea if they are due for repairs or maintenance.

HHI is the builder of the Philippine Navy (PN)'s first two missile frigates, BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151). The firm also bagged the PHP28 billion contract for the two anti-submarine corvettes last December and the PHP30 billion offshore patrol vessel (OPV) deal.

The HHI is also the contractor for the South Korean Navy's "Pohang"-class corvettes, of which one is now in service with the PN, and another one is expected to be transferred soon.

Aside from the OPV deal, both the DND and HHI also signed on June 27 a lifetime service support contract for the sustainment of the two Jose Rizal guided-missile frigates.

Lorenzana earlier said HHI is ideal for the OPV project as it has previously had constructed two modern ships, the Jose Rizal-class missile frigates, for the PN.

A part of the former HHIC-Phil shipyard was also converted into Naval Operating Base (NOB) Subic which was activated last May and now houses the PN's capital ships.

The activation came after the recent approval of the lease agreement for the PN to occupy the northern portion of the former HHIC-Phil shipyard which spans around 100 hectares of the site's more than 280 hectares.

The PN's acquisition of this strategic harbor was made through the collaborative efforts of the Department of National Defense, the Office of the Executive Secretary, the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Justice, Bases Conversion and Development Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

The activation and subsequent operationalization of NOB Subic are in line with the Navy's scaled-up maritime operations to support the needed base services of the deep-draft vessels such as Jose Rizal-class missile-frigates, Del Pilar-class offshore patrol ships, and Tarlac-class landing docks.

The newly activated base will house select fleet marine units, maintenance, and replenishment facilities that will enable the fleet to sustain the operational requirements of the current and future capital vessels.

The NOB Subic is a vital component in the Navy's modernization effort toward becoming a multi-capable naval force.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177768

Gov’t, MILF vow to strengthen PH ceasefire mechanisms

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): Gov’t, MILF vow to strengthen PH ceasefire mechanisms (By Lade Jean Kabagani)

CEASEFIRE PANEL. Members of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (GPH-MILF CCCH), in an undated photo, convened to send off the delegates of the International Monitoring Team Mindanao Team 16 (IMT-M16), one of the third-party monitoring teams that oversee the ceasefire agreement in the Philippines. The GPH-MILF CCCH on Wednesday (June 29, 2022) commits to further strengthen the existing joint ceasefire mechanisms amid the transition to the new administration. (Photo courtesy of OPAPRU)

The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (GPH-MILF CCCH) committed to further strengthening the existing joint ceasefire mechanisms amid the transition to the new administration.

Butch Malang, MILF-CCCH co-chair, on Wednesday said the committee “remains determined as ever” in strengthening the joint GPH-MILF peace mechanisms.

“We also take this opportunity to strengthen further our common commitment, teamwork, and dedication to work together with all our partners for a stronger proactive ceasefire accord during the post-agreement period of the peace process between the Government and the MILF,” Malang said during the committee's 28th Tripartite meeting.

Malang said the MILF’s adherence to the GPH – MILF Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities (AGCH) and the Security Aspect of the GPH – MILF Peace Process has been a "gradual success” but was “collectively realized due to the strong cooperation and partnership of the GPH and MILF highest leaderships, security forces, local governments, and communities on the ground.”

He acknowledged the support of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) contingents from the governments of Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Indonesia, Norway, and the European Union, saying peace gains could not have been reached without their help.

Meanwhile, GPH-CCCH chairperson, Brig. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, also recognized the IMT’s invaluable contribution to sustaining the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process.

He thanked the IMTs for “supporting the GPH-MILF peace process as the third monitor, independently and neutrally implementing their mandate in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.”

Nafarrete reiterated the government’s unwavering commitment to provide “an atmosphere conducive to the implementation of the GPH-MILF peace process from the negotiation to the implementation stage of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.”

To reaffirm strong support for pushing for lasting and genuine peace in Mindanao, IMT-M16 Head of Mission Maj. Gen. Datuk Hamdan Bin Hj Ismail, assured the Philippines that “the Government of Malaysia and other participating countries, such as Brunei Darussalam and the European Union will strengthen the bond and close cooperation which had been displayed throughout our stay in Mindanao.”

“I wish that your dreams and my dreams of achieving lasting peace in this part of the region can be realized in the near future,” the Malaysian peacekeeper added.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said the neutrality of the IMT as a third-party monitoring team that oversees the ceasefire agreement “has been crucial” in building on the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process over the years.

The IMT has been assisting the country to address ceasefire-related issues -- which prevented conflict situations between the MILF and the government.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177847

IBP urged to talk with former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): IBP urged to talk with former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres (By Marita Moaje)

PNA file photo

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) has invited the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) 25th Board of Governors (BOG) to sit down and listen to former cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

In a statement on Wednesday, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson for Legal Affairs lawyer Flosemer Chris Gonzales said the IBP has no cause for concern over the request of National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) to order the blocking of websites he submitted to the agency.

He also assured the IBP that Esperon has sufficient basis in fact, and in law supported by documents and evidence, for the request to the NTC and that he does not base his decisions on mere hearsays.

“In this context, we invite the 25th IBP Board of Governors to sit down with former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres so that you will hear the truth from them. By then, you will know that the NTC and the NSA are justified in their actions,” Gonzales said. “By then, you will realize that there is more to be done for the victims of the CPP-NPA-NDF atrocities”.

Gonzales said the CPP-NPA-NDF and their allied front organizations have no space in the country and that the government does not intend to give voice to these designated terrorists.

The NTF-ELCAC said the 25th IBP BOG could not deny that the blocked websites promote terrorism and armed conflict.

“The 25th IBP BOG cannot deny the fact that these blocked websites promote "armadong pakikibaka" (armed conflict), "rebolusyon" (revolution), and echoes the propaganda issuances and statements of the CPP-NPA-NDF media bureau. In our book, promotion of terrorist propaganda material is not within the reasonable bounds of press freedom,” it said.

Gonzales said professional media organizations entail possessing a certain degree of moral responsibility for the best interest of the country and that freedom of expression is never absolute.

He added that this freedom of expression must never be used to promote anti-government propaganda and serve as a platform for communist terrorist groups (CTGs).

He said the government highly regards freedom of expression and that the IBP BOG is free to express their sentiments, along with many others.

“However, the government has the sacred duty of protecting the safety and welfare of the Filipino people so that the NTC order must remain in force and effect,” Gonzales said.

The NTF ELCAC called on the IBP BOG to give a voice instead to the victims of atrocities committed by the CPP-NPA-NDF, as well as to former rebels and cadres who have so much truth to tell about the evils and crimes committed by the CTG.

Gonzales thanked the IBP BOG for its concern, however, he said Esperon knows best when it comes to matters of state security and human security concerns.

“We hope to engage you in a meaningful dialogue with the NTF-ELCAC so that you can become part of the whole-of-nation approach to end the local communist armed conflict, Gonzales said.

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

The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the ATC on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177867

PH Army fetes outgoing DND chief for big-ticket projects

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): PH Army fetes outgoing DND chief for big-ticket projects (By Priam Nepomuceno)

Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (Photo courtesy of AFP)

The Philippine Army (PA) has expressed its appreciation to outgoing Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana for his support which allowed the service to acquire big-ticket weapons and platforms during his six-year term.

Among the game-changer equipment acquired under the AFP Modernization Program's Horizon 2 during the term of the outgoing defense chief include the 15 brand-new armored mortar carriers that are now part of the newly-reactivated 1st Tank Battalion of the Armor Division and the 12 Autonomous Truck Mounted Howitzer System (ATMOS) 155mm/52 self-propelled howitzers that are now handled by the 10th Field Artillery Battalion (155-SP) of the Artillery Regiment.

These weapon systems were sourced by the PA from Israeli defense company Elbit Systems.

"Big-ticket defense assets that will soon be delivered to the Army include the Multiple-Launch Rocket System, Sabrah ASCOD light tanks, and Pandur 8x8 wheeled light tanks, PA spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement late Wednesday.

The AMCs were also delivered to the PA last December and were acquired under the Army's mounted mortar acquisition project.

"The new AMCs are part of the PA's modernization project that will capacitate the country's land force's credible defense posture from various threats, local and international," Trinidad earlier said.

The Cardom 120mm recoil mortar system mounted on the M125A2 AMC is an autonomous, computerized system that has a range of 7,000 meters and a maximum fire rate of 16 rounds per minute operated by four crewmen.

The AMCs with MMS are used by the US Army, Israeli Defense Force, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.

Meanwhile, the ATMOS 155mm/52 howitzer system is a "shoot-and-scoot" weapon that can be rapidly deployed in rugged terrain and is equipped with an "inertial navigation system" (INS)-based gun-laying method and an automatic loader.

The Army received these ATMOS howitzer units in December 2021. The self-propelled artillery pieces are worth PHP2.4 billion and would augment the existing 155mm towed-howitzers being operated by the Army Artillery Regiment.

PA commander, Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., earlier expressed the appreciation of the 110,000-strong Army for Lorenzana's unstinted support.

"On behalf of the more than 110,000-strong Philippine Army, Secretary Lorenzana, Sir, we thank you for your unparalleled service to our nation. Indeed, your hallmark of leadership in the military and in government service will definitely serve as our standard of stewardship for our esteemed organization," he added.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177878

DND officer-in-charge Faustino contracts Covid-19

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): DND officer-in-charge Faustino contracts Covid-19 (By Priam Nepomuceno)

Incoming Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge (OIC), Jose Faustino Jr. (File photo courtesy of Philippine Army)

Incoming Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge (OIC), Jose Faustino Jr. has tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong made the announcement on Thursday afternoon.

Andolong said Faustino will physically report for work after complying with the prescribed quarantine period.

"He is fully vaccinated and boostered, and is asymptomatic. He will temporarily perform his duties while in isolation," he said.

Faustino, Andolong said, came into close contact with a Covid-19 positive individual during one of his many engagements and consultations prior to his assumption as the agency's OIC.

"Contact tracing procedures are being undertaken. The transition ceremony will be conducted virtually and can be viewed live tomorrow, 1 July, starting at 9:30 A.M. on <https://www.facebook.com/DNDPHL>," he added.

Faustino, a retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, will assume office as Defense Secretary on November 13, after the one-year appointment ban on retired military officials.

He took over the AFP leadership from Gen. Cirilito Sobejana who retired from military service on July 31, 2021.

He retired as AFP chief after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 on November 12 of the same year.

Prior to his assumption as the 56th AFP chief-of-staff, Faustino was the head of the Joint Task Force Mindanao and has also served as the acting commanding general of the Philippine Army.

He is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1988.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177900

After 47 years, CPP-NPA leader meted life jail term for murder

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): After 47 years, CPP-NPA leader meted life jail term for murder (By Gigie Arcilla)

The Regional Trial Court Branch 266 in Taguig City on June 21, 2022 meted out CPP-NPA leader Concha Araneta life imprisonment for the murder of Metudio Inesa in Barangay Panipiason, Madalag, Aklan on September 17, 1975. (Contributed photo)

Justice is not elusive after all for a family who lost a loved one, slain before their eyes by New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Aklan 47 years ago.

Metudio Inesa was killed by a group of NPA rebels under Concha Araneta in Barangay Panipiason, Madalag, Aklan on the evening of September 17, 1975, after the victim was seen by NPA spies to have welcomed Philippine Constabulary personnel at his house and provided temporary resting place and drinking water.

The Regional Trial Court Branch 266 in Taguig City found Araneta alias Maria Concepcion Araneta, Chacon, Jojo, Etang, who remains scot-free, guilty of murder and meted out life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua.

In the court decision signed by Presiding Judge Marivic C. Titor on June 21, 2022 and promulgated on June 28, 2022, the then top Communist Party of the Philippines -NPA Ieader in Panay Island was also ordered to pay Inesa’s heirs PHP100,000 as civil indemnity, PHP100,000 as moral damages, and PHP100,000 as exemplary damages with 6 percent annual interest rate from the date of the court judgment.

Reports said the hinterland barangay of Panipiason became a no-man's land due to NPA reign under Araneta, then Panay’s top CPP-NPA leader, and forced people to evacuate to the lowland barangays and in the adjacent town of Libacao, Aklan where there was an active armed resistance on the part of some local town officials and populace against the NPA operating in the municipality.

The case was filed by the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Aklan before the Regional Trial Court of Aklan on June 26, 1981, with two eyewitnesses to the gruesome murder.

Araneta was arrested by the military in 1985 but was ordered released from detention at Camp Delgado in Iloilo City by then President Cory Aquino a few days after she assumed office in 1986. She was among the other jailed CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (NDF) leaders, then referred to as political prisoners, who were freed.

A day after her release and placed on house arrest, she reportedly rejoined the NPA.

On August 15, 2015, she was arrested anew by virtue of an arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 2 of Aklan.

The trial of the murder case immediately commenced with nine National Union of Peoples Lawyers representing her during the arraignment. Prosecutor 1 Flosemer Chris Gonzales was designated by the Regional State Prosecutor to handle the prosecution of Araneta’s cases.

Other witnesses were presented in court except for another main witness who was then an overseas Filipino worker during the early stages of the trial.

In 2016, however, Araneta was released on bail so she can take part in the 2016 peace talks between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF.

She and her NUPL lawyers were reportedly made to execute an undertaking that she will voluntarily return to the custody of the court in the event the peace negotiations fail. She, and neither her lawyers did not, however, honor this commitment.

The court granted the prosecution’s motion for the presentation of the OFW eyewitness who was in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) via SKYPE platform.

Despite the facilitation made by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency with Philippine embassy officials in KSA, the online hearing was canceled because Araneta jumped bail.

The venue of the case trial was later transferred from Aklan to Taguig City.

Araneta, who is said to be CPP-NPA's 1st Deputy Secretary of Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay, is also charged with rebellion before the Culasi, Antique RTC Branch 13, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and illegal possession of explosives before the Iloilo RTC Branch 23.

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

The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177940

Journalism must be in service of truth, NTF ELCAC tells NUJP

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): Journalism must be in service of truth, NTF ELCAC tells NUJP (By Marita Moaje)

The mission of journalism is to always seek the truth and to report it, without any biases, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) reminded the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

“Journalism must always remain in the service of the truth, it should not be subservient to the vested interests of any person or group. Otherwise, it is not journalism in the truest sense of the word. It is already engaging in the realm of propaganda,” NTF-ELCAC spokesperson for Legal Affairs Flosemer Chris Gonzales said in a statement on Wednesday.

The NTF ELCAC said the NUJP is again accusing the government of harassment, restricting press freedom and silencing journalism.

On Wednesday, the NUJP said it stands together against all attempts to allegedly silence journalists.

The NUJP also said the shutdown order came following the National Telecommunications Commissions’ order to internet service providers to block news organizations Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, and regulate blocktime broadcasting arrangements.

Gonzales said the NUJP's statement is a discordant response to the issues it raised.

He said the SEC has valid legal grounds to shut down Rappler.

In an order dated June 28, the SEC affirmed its earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holding Corporation for "violation of constitutional and statutory restrictions on foreign ownership in mass media."

“In this country of laws, no one is above the law. No one. Definitely not Rappler,” Gonzales said.

Meanwhile, he added that the NTC has more than sufficient cause and reason to order the blocking of Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly.

He said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon’s request to the NTC “is based on undisputed hard facts and evidence [which the NUJP and all other pocket reactionary groups have refused to perceive and understand objectively] that would warrant the issuance of the NTC order”.

Gonzales said the regulation of blocktime broadcasting arrangements is a reasonable exercise of regulatory powers by the NTC.

He said freedom of expression and press freedom are very much alive in the country as demonstrated by the fact that the NUJP can react and criticize freely the actions of the government and its agencies.

“If the NUJP so intends, they can criticize the government on a daily basis but that will not change the fact that the government agencies like the SEC and the NTC have their respective mandates to implement the law and exercise their regulatory powers as allowed under our laws,” he said.

Esperon earlier said Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly websites promote misinformation and even terrorism.

“Misinformation remains to be one of the nation’s greatest enemies; and is in fact a powerful tool used by the Communist Terrorist Group to sow enmity and discord—dividing the Filipino people and separating us from objectivity and the truth,” Esperon said.

“Though we recognize that websites like Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly have been using their platforms to spread information on causes important to them, we cannot simply turn a blind eye to the fact that they have actively supported organizations affiliated with the CPP-NPA-NDF,” he added.

Esperon said the decision to include the two news organizations in the list of websites affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) stemmed from the stories and articles published by the news sites.

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

The ATC also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177953

Sulu town kicks off ‘Road to Tourism’ program

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): Sulu town kicks off ‘Road to Tourism’ program (By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)

FOOD PACKS. Former members of the Abu Sayyaf Group receive food packs from the municipal government of Parang, Sulu. The food packs were distributed during the launch of the 'Road to Tourism' program Tuesday (June 28, 2022) graced by Major Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, Joint Task Force (JTF)-Sulu commander (left). (Photo courtesy of JTF-Sulu)

Aided by the Army's 2nd Special Forces Battalion, the municipality of Parang launched Tuesday the “Road to Tourism” program to change the battle-scarred image of the place into a tourist destination in the Sulu Archipelago.

In a statement Wednesday, 2SFBn said the program intends to promote tourism through local media engagements and other social media platforms, as well as provide psychosocial activities for former Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members, their families, and the local community.

The initiative also aims to "change the image of the municipality of Parang and the province of Sulu as a whole, from a war-torn island to one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the country,” 2SFBn said.

Tuesday's launching was attended by military, police, provincial, and municipal officials, former ASG members as well as representatives and officials from nearby towns.

Major Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, Joint Task Force (JTF)-Sulu commander, said tourism is one of the huge drivers of development in any municipality as it can create other livelihood opportunities.

“Focus on the road ahead, not on the road behind. This program is a good start for the people of Parang,” Patrimonio was quoted to have said during the program launch.

“This municipality (of Parang) has a high potential to be one of the beautiful tourist destinations in the area, thanks to its beautiful beaches,” Patrimonio added.

During the launching, a covenant was signed to signify the continued support of former ASG members, their families, and the local community to the developmental efforts in the area, including their rejection of the terroristic activities of the ASG.

“Our area is far from what it used to be in the past. As one former member of the Abu Sayyaf Group, I can say that the province of Sulu is now peaceful,” Abu Gajir, an ASG surrenderer, said in the same statement.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177808

CPP-NPA official gets reclusion perpetua for 1975 murder

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 29. 2022): CPP-NPA official gets reclusion perpetua for 1975 murder (By Perla Lena)

SEIZED. Some of the recovered firearms in various operations conducted by government troops against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front. On June 21, 2022, a high-ranking official of the communist terrorist group Concha Araneta was convicted of murder by Taguig City Court Branch 266. (PNA file photo by Iloilo Police Provincial Office)

A high-ranking official of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) was convicted of murder perpetrated over four decades ago.

A Taguig City Court found Concha Araneta alias Maria Concepcion Araneta/Chacon/Jojo/Etang guilty for the death of Metodio Inisa on the night of September 18, 1975 in Sitio Agbanuod, Barangay Panipiason, Madalag, Aklan.

Araneta is the Deputy Secretary of the Regional Party Committee in Panay of the CPP NPA NDF, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office officer-in-charge Capt. Kim Apitong told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.

“The court finds that the prosecution was able to prove the guilt of the accused Araneta beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of murder,” based on the 16-page decision of Taguig City Branch 266 Presiding Judge Marivic C. Vitor dated June 21, 2022.

The judge sentenced her to suffer reclusion perpetua and was also ordered to pay the heirs of the victim a total of PHP300,000 as civil indemnity, moral and exemplary damages.

Inisa was said to have been killed in full view of his relatives after he allowed a member of the Philippine Constabulary to temporary rest in his house.

Araneta was arrested by the military in 1985 but was released from detention at Camp Delgado in Iloilo City as she then was labeled as a political prisoner and supposed to undergo house arrest but escaped.

She was again apprehended in August 2015 but temporarily released in 2016 to join the peace talks in Norway.

She remained at large following the termination of the negotiation by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017.

Her husband, Reynaldo Bocala, also a high-ranking NPA leader in Panay, was killed in a police operation in Barangay Balabag, Pavia on May 28, 2021.

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

The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the ATC on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177850

Bomb courier killed in Basilan

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): Bomb courier killed in Basilan (By Teofilo Garcia)

Google map of Lamitan City, Basilan.

LAMITAN CITY, Basilan – A bomb courier formerly identified with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was killed and another suspect escaped in a shootout with government troops in this city, military officials said Thursday.

Brigadier Gen. Domingo Gobway, Joint Task Force (JTF)-Basilan commander, said Adil Akarab was killed in a shootout with the troops late Wednesday in Barangay Sabong here.

Lt. Col. Cyril Santander, 18th Infantry Battalion commander, said the Akarab had joined with a group of lawless elements after his stint with the Basilan-based terrorist group.

Prior to the shootout, Gobway said soldiers received information that two lawless elements will be transporting an improvised explosive device (IED) from Tipo-Tipo municipality to this city.

“Upon receiving the report, all checkpoints were advised to conduct intensified checkpoint operation,” Gobway said.

He said the shootout broke out after the troops cornered the suspects in a pursuit operation. Soldiers recovered a sack containing an IED and an M-16 Armalite rifle with ammunition.

The other suspect driving the motorcycle, Gobway said, managed to escape.

According to Santander, the suspect had intended to set off the bomb during the culmination of the “Lami-Lamihan” celebration here Wednesday.

Major Nurhaib Bungkac, city police chief, said they turned over early Thursday the suspect's remains to his relatives for interment in accordance with Islamic law.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177906

Murder conviction shows NPA leaders’ 'true color'

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): Murder conviction shows NPA leaders’ 'true color' (By Perla Lena)

CONVICTED. Concha Araneta, deputy secretary of Komiteng Rehiyon Panay of the Communist Party of the Philippines of the Communist Party of the Philippines New People’s Army National Democratic Front, was found guilty of murder committed in 1975. Capt. Kim Apitong, officer-in-charge of the 3rd Division Public Affairs Office of the 3rd Infantry Division, said on Thursday (June 30, 2022) that anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts may inform authorities for her to be placed behind bars. (PNA contributed photo)

The conviction of a high-ranking Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) official for murder shows the "true color" of its leaders, the military said on Thursday.

A Taguig City Court sentenced Concha Araneta alias Maria Concepcion Araneta/Chacon/Jojo/Etang to reclusion perpetua for the death of Metodio Inisa on the night of September 18, 1975 in Sitio Agbanuod, Barangay Panipiason, Madalag, Aklan.

The victim was killed for providing temporary shelter to a member of the Philippine Constabulary.

Araneta is the deputy secretary of Komiteng Rehiyon Panay of CPP-NPA-NDF) based on the military's records, Capt. Kim Apitong, officer-in-charge of the 3rd Division Public Affairs Office of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said in an interview.

“The judgment for her criminal case 3035, which is murder, by the National Capital Judicial Region Taguig City Branch 266 has a huge impact on the communist terrorist group. This is a big development, we welcome this because this shows their true color, especially of their leadership,” he added.

The 16-page court decision dated June 21, 2022 and promulgated on June 28 also ordered the accused to pay the heirs of the victim a total of PHP300,000 as civil indemnity, moral and exemplary damages.

Since Araneta serves as the second secretary that leads the operation of the terrorist group in Panay, the military spokesperson said there could still be other cases with all the killings committed by her group within their area of operation.

Apitong added that she should be held accountable for all their operations to include recruitment and killing.

The last time Araneta was seen was between 2016 and 2017 when she was part of the terminated peace talks.

All lower military units have been informed of the development and Apitong also called on those with knowledge of her whereabouts to inform authorities.

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

The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the ATC on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177950

Suspected NPA rebel nabbed 'anew' for murder

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 30. 2022): Suspected NPA rebel nabbed 'anew' for murder (By Mary Judaline Partlow)

ARRESTED 'AGAIN'. A suspected member of the CPP-NPA was "arrested" the second time around for a murder case in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental. The suspect was first arrested early this year and is incarcerated at the Guihulngan City District Jail when another warrant of arrest against him was served on Wednesday (June 29, 2022). (Photo courtesy of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office)

A suspected Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebel detained in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental was placed under arrest for the second time for yet another murder case.

A report from the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) on Thursday said suspect Rustom Fat, a resident of Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City was served another warrant of arrest on Wednesday afternoon in relation to the deaths of the son and husband of a barangay captain in the adjacent town of Vallehermoso.

Lt. Col. Ruben Verbo Jr., head of the Police Community Affairs and Development Unit (PCADU) and public information office of NOPPO said Fat is among the suspected NPA members who allegedly shot and killed the husband and son of Barangay Malangsa chief Beatriz Perater.

The suspects barged into Perater's home and shot her husband Lucio, and their son, in front of the barangay official last February 16.

“He was a person of interest in that incident. The statements of some witnesses pinpointed his involvement in the said crime,” Verbo said in mixed English and Cebuano.

The latest warrant of arrest against Fat was issued by acting Presiding Judge Anthony Dumpilo of the Regional Trial Court Branch 64 in Guihulngan City. No bail was recommended for his temporary liberty.

He will continue to be incarcerated at the Guihulngan District Jail, Verbo said.

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

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177959

Kalinaw News: Government provides sustainable programs for Former Rebels in Cotabato

From Kalinaw News (Jun 30, 2022): Government provides sustainable programs for Former Rebels in Cotabato

MAKILALA, COTABATO – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in coordination with the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and the Local Government Unit of Cotabato, spearheaded the Turnover Ceremony of Livelihood Starter Kits to 40 Former Rebels in the said municipality on June 29, 2022.

The activity aimed to sustain the initial interventions given to FRs after they were successfully mainstreamed to their respective communities. This will also help them cope with the new life given to them to become responsive and interactive to the needs and interests of the communities they are part of.

As he talked to the beneficiaries, Congressman Rudy Caoagdan inspired them to be good and to have a genuine transition of becoming good citizens of the country. He said, “Let us always be thankful to the government as it looks for the betterment of every Filipino and may this program help convince others to surrender and become responsible residents of their communities.”

Government’s sustainment program is essential to ensure that the FRs will become progressive and productive citizens of the their communities which will further prevent them from returning to armed struggle.

[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]

https://www.kalinawnews.com/government-provides-sustainable-programs-for-former-rebels-in-cotabato/

CPP/NPA-Northern Negros: 79th IB-PA Conducts RCSP in Northern Negros, HRVs Perpetrated!

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 26, 2022): 79th IB-PA Conducts RCSP in Northern Negros, HRVs Perpetrated!

Cecil Estrella

Spokesperson

NPA-Northern Negros (Roselyn Pelle Command)

Negros Island Regional Operational Command (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command)

New People's Army

June 26, 2022

This article is available in Hiligaynon

Residents from Northern Negros experienced human rights violations (HRVs) as 79th Infantry Battalion – Philippine Army (79th IB-PA) conducts Retooled Community Service Program (RCSP) in Victorias City and the towns of Toboso and Calatrava. Common HRVs includes community encampment, interrogation, threat and intimidation and forced surrenderrees.

Since September 2021, RCSP is conducted in Barangay Hilub-ang, Calatrava covering the sitios Baybayon, Ginpungtan, Carbon, Proper Hilub-ang, among others. Residents underwent repeated interrogation, intimidation and threat. Despite people’s clamor, RCSP team of the 79th IB-PA continues encampment in civilian communities. Residents area also forced to surrender as NPA combatant or supporter.

In Sitio Malig-on 2, Barangay Bandila, Toboso, RCSP started since 1st week of January 2022. Similar rights violations mentioned were conducted in the area. An alarming incident was reported on March 2022 that a fistfight broke out between an element of 79th IB-PA and a drunk resident over a clamor against their community encampment.

To protect the landlords and bureaucrats of Northern Negros, RCSP is conducted in Barangay XI (Gawahon), Victorias City since January 24, 2022. Similar HRVs were perpetrated, and some threat and intimidations were escalated to liquidation should residents do not cooperate to the demands of the ruling class.

To add to the mentioned HRVs, residents of each area commonly reported the anti-social activities, like drinking alcoholic beverages, cockfighting and other gambling activities, headed by the reactionary government troops in their area of operation.

In a public meeting with the residents of Barangay Bandila, Toboso, Lt. Col. J-jay Javinez, 79th IB-PA Commanding Officer, admitted that their temporary camp within the community violated the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws (CARHIHL) and blamed the NPA for harassing the RCSP team. Lt. Col. Javinez must have forgotten that the law applies whether temporary or permanent encampment, yet pursued the decision even he surely violates the rule and obviously using the civilian lives as safeguard.

A unit of RJPC-NPA on April 3, 2022 successfully harassed the RCSP Team in Brgy. Bandila. Despite community encampment of enemy troops in the said area, no civilian was harmed during the operation.

If these HRVs and anti-social activities are the acts of the implementors of “crushers of the revolution”, then, Lt. Col. Javinez, the 79th IB-PA and the US-Duterte regime are dreaming with their eyes wide open with their objective to destroy the revolutionary movement, nor to dismantle the Northern Negros Guerilla Front.

Red commanders and fighters of the RJPC-NPA, as well as the whole revolutionary movement, perceive that the masses are the true measure of success in whatever endeavors we aspire to achieve.

The Filipino people, especially of Northern Negros, remains to cherish their people’s army. The RJPC-NPA continues to receive undying masses’ support.

RJPC-NPA calls on all the people of Northern Negros to turn your fears into a collective struggle against the fascist enemy troops. Your collective action can become the unbeatable weapon that can extinguish enemies’ advanced weaponries. RJPC-NPA is alongside with you in serving justice and punishing enemy troops and achieve long lasting peace.

https://cpp.ph/statements/79th-ib-pa-conducts-rcsp-in-northern-negros-hrvs-perpetrated/

CPP/NPA-Negros Island ROC: 79th IB-PA’s RCSP in Gawahon, Victorias City, Protector of Anti-People Projects

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 26, 2022): 79th IB-PA’s RCSP in Gawahon, Victorias City, Protector of Anti-People Projects

Cecil Estrella

Spokesperson

NPA-Northern Negros (Roselyn Pelle Command)

Negros Island Regional Operational Command (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command)

New People's Army

June 26, 2022

This article is available in Hiligaynon

79th Infantry Battalion – Philippine Army (79th IB-PA) conducts Retooled Community Service Program (RCSP) in Barangay XI (Gawahon), Victorias City since January 24, 2022. Their operations covered the areas of Proper Gawahon, Hda. Aida of the said barangay and its neighboring sitios.

RCSP is conducted by the enemy force to clear the areas of all possible hindrance to make way for businesses of big comprador-landlords to happen. In Brgy. XI (Gawahon), RCSP served as protection of bureaucrats’ destructive quarry operations and landlords’ expansion of ecotourism projects.

To make such projects, people experienced various human rights violations perpetrated by 79th IB-PA. Residents reported that they have been forced to become intelligence assets, as well as force to become “NPA surrenderees”; else, they are threatened to be liquidated if they do not cooperate with the reactionary uniformed personnel. The people fear for their lives and safety, especially that the fascist military stayed within the civilian communities against their will.

Such terroristic acts by the 79th IB-PA are done to control the possible obstacles of rich families’ money-making activities in the 3rd District of Negros Occidental.

Destructive quarry operations conducted along Malogo River of which bureaucrats, such as outgoing Mayor Mark Andrew J. Golez of Silay City and the incumbent barangay captain of Barangay Consing, EB Magalona, served as protector and operator, with the help of the 79th IB-PA’s RCSP team operation nearby.

An expansion of eco-tourism project, to include a coffee shop, is the aim of Melvin Ybaῆez in Hda. Aida, Brgy. XI (Gawahon). Ybaῆez, a landlord in the city, claims to own the land covered by CARP in which the people have been tilling for years. It is easier for Ybaῆez to remove the farmers from their livelihood with the help of the 79th IB-PA nearby and start constructing his showpiece eco-tourism project and a bodega for animal feeds.

It is clear to the Filipino people, especially of Northern Negros, that the reactionary armed forces are genuinely serving the interest of the rich, and not protectors of the people against exploiters of the natural resource. RCSP is but just a reactionaries’ tool to fast-track their agenda of exploitation of human and natural resources.

The US-Duterte regime, nor the incoming Marcos Jr. administration, could not expect to crush the people’s revolutionary vigor and win the hearts of the broad masses, when they continue to step on the people’s dream for a peaceful living and genuine national independence.

RJPC-NPA call on all patriotic among the reactionary uniformed personnel to become part of the revolutionary force in truly serving the people. The RJPC-NPA welcomes your support in whatever ways you can.

https://cpp.ph/statements/79th-ib-pas-rcsp-in-gawahon-victorias-city-protector-of-anti-people-projects/

CPP/Southern Mindanao ROC: Troops deployment, FMO betray 10th ID’s claim of insurgency-free provinces in Southern Mindanao

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 26, 2022): Troops deployment, FMO betray 10th ID’s claim of insurgency-free provinces in Southern Mindanao

Rigoberto F. Sanchez

Spokesperson

Southern Mindanao Regional Operational Command (Merardo Arce Command)

New People's Army

June 26, 2022

The 10th Infantry Division is fooling no one in its recent declaration that the provinces of Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and Davao City are now “insurgency-free.” Not even its own foot soldiers under the 19 battalions who continue to be deployed and are relentlessly conducting focus military operations in the countryside of Southern Mindanao. Aside from these regular Army forces, billions in taxpayers’ money are being spent to maintain at least 400 CAFGU detachments and 13 paramilitary forces. All these, in a region that is supposed to be 80% NPA-free.

To lend credence to its claim, the 10th ID lists as its accomplishments the several thousands of surrendered supporters, i.e. civilian non-combatants, its fascist troops managed to coerce and herd in expensive “surrender ceremonies.” It also boasted the liquidation of NPA and CPP officers, most of whom were hors de combat at the time they were killed, and arrest or surrender of several others. In all of these figures, however, the 10th ID conveniently glossed over the thousands more civilians and non-combatants that its troops either bombed, terrorized or killed in the process and the billions of pesos it questionably spent in order to backtrack to just an “insurgency-free declaration” instead of its earlier haughty target of “defeating” the NPA in the region.

The Regional Operations Command of the NPA in Southern Mindanao is well aware of the temporary setbacks incurred from temporary decrease in the number of Red fighters and personnel and several battlefield losses. These do not equate to “insurgency-free areas,” much less the defeat of the revolutionary armed struggle. It is a reality in the fluid nature of war that Marxist revolutionaries are prepared for. If anything, these circumstances only reveal the limits of the enemy’s strength and forces, the resources it employs against the people and the extent of fascism and tyranny it is capable of. These are matters which are being thoroughly studied and addressed by battle-tested Red commanders and Party officers still in the thick and on top of the guerilla war.

The 10th ID, like all enemy units across the country, do not grasp the principles of the people’s protracted war. If it had, it would have understood from the onset how guerilla units, in the face of relentless enemy campaign of encirclement and suppression, are able to maintain initiative, conceal and preserve their forces and secretly conduct comprehensive revolutionary work through shifting, concentration, dispersal and expansion. Indeed, if the enemy grasped the barest basics of guerilla warfare at all, the enemy would know how hallow their so-called declarations truly were.

It is worth evaluating the 10th ID’s true motivations in declaring the aforesaid provinces as “insurgency-free.” The US-Duterte regime is hell-bent in sweeping its innumerable war crimes and crimes against the people under the rug by projecting the legacy of bringing the revolutionary movement, especially the NPA, down to its knees. Bombarded by criticism from all sectors of society, the militarist regime needs justification for the hundreds of billions of pesos it squandered in “modernizing” the state armed forces and billions more it wasted on or pocketed from graft-laden programs such as the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) and Barangay Development Program (BDP). It is similarly hard-pressed to downplay the fatal damage that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has wrought against civil society with its incessant red-tagging and harassment. By declaring parts of the country, especially in Southern Mindanao which it has long-considered to be a priority region, to be “insurgency-free,” the fascist regime is desperately courting support to continue its bloody counterinsurgency madness.

In issuing such declarations, the 10th ID is trying in vain to negate the fact that not only do the roots of the civil war remain an urgent matter of reality but Duterte’s six-year fascist tyranny has in fact exacerbated them. The regime made no headway in addressing the problem of landlessness among the peasantry but subjected them to myriad cases of landgrabbing and displacement with aggressive expansion of monocrop plantations and mining, big-ticket infrastructure projects and eco-tourism ventures. Workers’ woes worsened with slave wages, job insecurity and unfair labor practices in the workplace. The petty bourgeoisie, a dwindling class in Duterte’s reign, continues to suffer loss of employment and sources of income. These are easily verifiable facts that contradict the US-Duterte regime and the AFP’s highfalutin claims.

Behind all the bravado, the 10th ID and the Eastern Mindanao Command know for sure it is only a matter of time when their declarations will come back and haunt them, as they did many times in the past. NPA units in Southern Mindanao know this, as do the millions of masses in the region who love and support them.

https://cpp.ph/statements/troops-deployment-fmo-betray-10th-ids-claim-of-insurgency-free-provinces-in-southern-mindanao/

CPP/Northern Negros: 79th IB-PA Bombed Trangkal Range in San Isidro, Toboso

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 28, 2022): 79th IB-PA Bombed Trangkal Range in San Isidro, Toboso

Cecil Estrella

Spokesperson

NPA-Northern Negros (Roselyn Pelle Command)

New People's Army

June 28, 2022

This article is available in Hiligaynon

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) unit operating in Northern Negros bombed a portion of Trangkal Range located in Sitio Mansulaw, Barangay San Isidro of Toboso town last March 20, 2022. No unit of Roselyn Jean Pelle Command – Northern Negros Guerilla Front of the New People’s Army (RJPC-NPA) was deployed in the area during the incident.

As per investigation of the RJPC-NPA, residents, both nearby and from neighboring barangays, were frightened when at least five (5) explosions from an unknown weapon were heard and felt on a Sunday between 10 o’clock in the morning and 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Days before their presumed practice shelling, the 79th IB-PA informed some residents of neighboring barangays in Escalante City. Moreover, residents and farmers near the site were not informed. No casualties were further reported.

With the advancement of AFP’s armaments, civilian communities in Northern Negros were made sites for practice shooting and shelling of the fascists and terrorists 79th IB-PA. Residents are shocked and traumatized when sudden explosions are heard. The animals, both farm animals and wild, are distressed with the environment’s disturbance.

Despite the reactionaries’ terrorist-tagging of the revolutionary movement, the 79th IB-PA made an out-and-out contradiction and displayed the true terroristic act of bombing a civilian community.

79th Masaligan Battalion, is truly Masaligan (Dependable) in targeting unarmed individuals and in peddling fake news and in fabricating stories. Residents of Barangay Winaswasan, Calatrava can remember of a mentally-challenged individual targeted by the Masaligan Battalion last December 5, 2021 and was reported to public that an encounter with NPA happened.

RJPC-NPA calls on all the Filipino people, especially from Northern Negros, to expose all rights violations and oppose militarization of your communities. The revolutionary NPA is alongside with you in punishing criminals and fascist enemy troops to attain genuine independence and peace.

https://cpp.ph/statements/79th-ib-pa-bombed-trangkal-range-in-san-isidro-toboso/

CPP/NPA-Northern Negros: Aset sg Paniktik, Gin-Ambusan sa BHB!

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 28, 2022): Aset sg Paniktik, Gin-Ambusan sa BHB! (Intelligence Assets Ambushed by the NPA!)

Karljoe Hidalgo

Deputy Spokesperson

NPA-Northern Negros (Roselyn Pelle Command)

Negros Island Regional Operational Command (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command)

New People's Army

June 28, 2022

Ang mga operatiba sang Bag-ong Hangaway sang Banwa idalum sa Roselyn Jean Pelle Command – Northern Negros Guerilla Front (RJPC-BHB) nag-ambus kay Bienvenido Montejar sang Sitio Mainit, Barangay San Isidro sa banwa sang Toboso sadtong ika-19 sa Abril 2022. Si Montejar isa ka masupog nga aset sang paniktik sa 6th Special Action Forces – Phlippine National Police (6th SAF).

Madugay na nga gin-reklamo sa mga pumuluyo sa lain-lain nga erya ang iya nga pagpanilag, pagpaniktik kag pagpilit sa iban pumuluyo nga mag-surender sa reaksyunaryo nga gobyerno. Pila ka bes nakita si Montejar sa mga masa nga upod ang mga masupog nga intel kag tirador sa mga sibilyan, sanday alyas Astro kag Bakata, nga nagpakadto sa lain-laing lugar para manilag kag pilit nga pa-surenderon ang mga sibilyan bilang BHB. Nagmadinalag-on si Montejar sa pagpasurender sa iya kaugalingon nga bata, anay katapo sa BHB, kag karon nangin traydor man sa rebolusyon kag kaaway sa pumuluyo. Si Montejar ang may rekord man sang pagpa-reyd kag nakuhaan ang rebolusyonaryo nga BHB sang carbine nga armas.

Luwas sa mga nasambit, ginreklamo man sa mga pumuluyo ang pag-angkon ni Montejar sa daku nga parte sang duta nga naangkon sa mga pumuluyo paagi sa paghimakas. Nangin hari-hari si Montejar bangud nagasalig siya sa iya kaangtanan sa pasista nga mga armado.

Bangud nagpagamit bilang aset sang SAF, iya kontra-rebolusyonaryong mga gawi kag pagpanghalit sa pumuluyo, nangin lehitimo nga military target si Montejar sa BHB.

Indi matuod ang gipalapta sa reaksyunayong AFP kag PNP, partikular ang 79th IB-PA kag Toboso PNP, nga ordinaryo nga pumuluyo ang ginatarget sang RJPC-BHB. Ang mga nagapanghalit sa pumuluyo, indi malawag nga ordinaryo nga pumuluyo, bangud nagapangabuhi sila sa kabuhi kag palangabuhian sa iban nga pumuluyo.

Ang katuyuan sang atong inaway banwa amo ang paghilway sa bilog pumuluyo halin sa pagpamigos.

Ginapaandaman sang RJPC-BHB ang bilog pumuluyo, ilabe ang pamatan-on kag kababayen-an nga yara sa norte nga bahin sang Negros, nga magbinantayon sa pagbarkada kag pakig-relasyon sa mga sakop sang AFP, PNP kag iban nga Puting armado. May mga kaso na gingamit ang relasyon sa pumuluyo pero nagkuha sang impormasyon sa ato nga rebolusyonaryong kawsa.

Ang RJPC-BHB nagapanawagan sa tanan nga mga aset sang paniktik sa tropa sang reaksyunaryo nga gubyerno nga untaton na ninyo ang inyu makahuluya nga obra antes pa kamo maka-obra sang indi mapasaylo nga obra, sama sa gihimo ni Montejar.

Tutom ang RJPC-BHB sa paghatag hustisya kag paghawan sa dalan pakadto sa hilway kag malinong nga sosyedad.

https://cpp.ph/statements/aset-sg-paniktik-gin-ambusan-sa-bhb/

CPP/NDF-Sison: Extreme Crisis and Urgent Tasks

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Jun 30, 2022): Extreme Crisis and Urgent Tasks

Jose Maria Sison

Chief Political Consultant

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

June 29, 2022

30 June 2022

Dear Comrades and Friends,

Through a nontransparent and fraudulent automated election system, the Duterte regime has succeeded in combining the worst political dynasties, the Marcoses and Dutertes, and giving their representatives the highest political positions, with Ferdinand Junior as president and Sara Duterte- Carpio as vice president of the reactionary state, getting the over bloated mostly pre-programmed and mostly faked overkill 31 and 32 million votes, respectively. The attempt to conjure the illusion of a landslide victory for the Marcos-Duterte tandem with an overkill avalanche vote has totally and publicly manifested the colossal electronic fraud and violation of the people’s right to suffrage.
The Social and Economic Crisis

The chronic social and economic crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system is unprecedentedly extreme as a result of the outgoing Duterte regime’s grievous bankrupting of the government and the entire economy. In a matter of six years, this regime has more than doubled the Philippine public debt of Php 5.9 trillion (accumulated in more than 120 years as of June 2016) to the level of nearly Php 13 trillion.

The incoming Marcos regime has no plan whatsoever but to preserve and aggravate the social and economic system that favors anti-development foreign investments and that is dependent on the export of cheap raw materials, fruits, some semi-manufactures and cheap labor. The income always falls short of paying for the importation of equipment and manufactured consumer goods and requires a heavier amount of foreign debt to cover the perennial trade deficit. The current balance of payments deficit is now USD 1.6 billion and continues to grow.

At the same time, the budgetary deficit keeps on widening as tax revenues never keeps up with the far faster rise of debt service to foreign banks and superprofit remittances by foreign monopoly firms, the corruption of the bureaucrat capitalists in collaboration with the foreign monopolies and the local big compradors and landlords and the wanton military overspending in the acquisition of local and foreign supplies and raising the salary scale of armed personnel of the state high above that of the personnel in the dwindling social services (education, health, social housing and the like).

Like the Duterte regime, the Marcos regime is expected to oppose genuine land reform and national industrialization. It wishes to preserve the underdeveloped, semifeudal and pre-industrial economy because this provides ample space for bureaucratic corruption. And claims to development can always be made up by undertaking a certain amount of infrastructure projects which are dependent on foreign loans, overpriced, graft-laden and conducive to preserving the traditional exchange of raw material-exports and manufactured imports.

As a result of the extreme social and economic crisis, the political crisis of the ruling system is rapidly worsening. The ruling classes of big compradors, landlords and bureaucrat capitalists are increasingly unable to rule according to the liberal democratic pretensions of their constitution and laws. They themselves easily fall into violent factional struggles as those oppressors and exploiters with the most power accumulate the most wealth at the expense of their own class colleagues and the broad masses of the people.

The Filipino people, especially the toiling masses of workers and peasants, suffer most the ever worsening crisis of the ruling system in terms of mass unemployment, landlessness, low incomes, the inflated prices of basic commodities and services, mass hunger and widespread poverty. Of the labor force of 48 million in the population of 110 million, more than 20 per cent have left the country to seek jobs abroad and another more than 20 per cent have to stay in the Philippines with no jobs.
The Political Crisis

The Filipino people know that the basic problems of foreign monopoly capitalism, domestic feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism inflict so much misery and suffering on them. They also know the necessity of a new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war in order to achieve their national and social liberation. They are desirous of revolutionary change because they know the causes of their dire situation and the solution to the basic problems from their own experience and from the educational and informative campaigns waged by the legal patriotic and democratic forces as well as by the forces of the armed revolution.

But emulating the evil example of the Marcos fascist dictatorship, the outgoing Duterte regime and the incoming Marcos II regime and their bureaucratic and military minions blame the Filipino people themselves, the most enlightened of the conservative opposition, the legal national democratic forces and the armed revolution of the people for the gross underdevelopment of the country, the chronic crisis of the ruling system, the gross inequality between the propertied few and the working people and the countless injustices that the people suffer,

The Marcos II presidency has been set up by US imperialism (i.e. officials of the US State Department, Pentagon and the CIA) in consultation with the Duterte regime and the alliance of the Marcos, Duterte, Macapagal-Arroyo, Estrada and Enrile dynasties and factions to continue the evil legacy of state terrorism begun by the Marcos fascist dictatorship and revived by the Duterte tyranny in the last six years and to “finish the job” of destroying the legal national democratic movement as well as the armed revolutionary movement.

The Anti-Terror Law is designed to legitimize the state terrorism in the name of anti-terrorism, repress the legal conservative and progressive opposition, enable the monopoly of information and propaganda by the ruling clique and facilitate the escalation of the campaigns of anti-communist propaganda and military suppression. The tyrant Duterte has publicly indicated that it will take only two more years for Marcos Junior to destroy the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. Those in imminent danger of indefinite detention and murder are thereby forewarned to go underground and join the people’s armed resistance.

Some analysts have speculated that if Marcos Junior fails to meet Duterte’s expectations he would be vulnerable to a coup headed by Sara or a general. But Duterte himself has been a big failure in his own attempt to destroy the revolutionary movement. It is not true, as claimed by his sycophant Lorenzana, that the reactionary armed forces have decimated 56 out of 68 guerrilla fronts of the NPA and that more than 27,000 NPA fighters have either been killed, captured or surrendered. These are patent lies by a running dog of Duterte.

Since the 2021 anniversary statement of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the 2022 anniversary statement of the New People’s Army, the CPP Central Committee and and the NPA National Operational Command have declared that the CPP has more than 150,000 cadres and members and Party branches in all provinces of the Philippines and that the NPA has thousands of full-time Red fighters, plus auxiliary forces of tens of thousands as people’s militia members and hundreds of thousands as members of self-defense units of revolutionary mass organizations, in more than 110 guerrilla fronts in 74 out 81 Philippine provinces.

The 140,000 troops of the reactionary and forces of the Philippines and the 220,000 personnel of the Philippine National Police cannot effectively control more than 10 per cent of the Philippine archipelago at any given time. The NPA has complete freedom to move among the people in 90 per cent of the Philippines at every given time. The best that the reactionary armed forces and police can do is to carry out focused joint military operations (with a company or battalion) against an NPA guerrilla front and conjure the false illusion that it has dismantled such guerrilla front.

But the best that the NPA can do in this guerrilla front is to lay mines, deploy sniper teams and retreat to redeploy the guerrilla force (an oversized platoon or company) to a wider scale in the same general area or shift it to another accessible general area and in either case prepare for tactical offensives of counter-encirclement against parts and parts of the invading enemy force. The previous intelligence stock that drives the enemy’s focused military operations becomes useless for the most part as the NPA can launch offensives by teams, squads, platoons and companies not only against the invading enemy force but also against the weaker enemy posts on a wider scale.

What makes the revolutionary movement of the Filipino people invincible is the correct and effective leadership of the revolutionary party of the proletariat, the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is always determined and militant to build itself ideologically, politically and organizationally. This is well proven by more than 53 years of successful revolutionary struggle, growing from small and weak to big and strong and from a few regions to nationwide. This revolutionary struggle is self-reliant and has not been benefited by cross-border advantages of the Chinese, Korean and Indochinese revolutions as a result of the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

On the basis of the publications of the CPP and related sources, let me now discuss the ideological, political and organizational tasks of the CPP and other revolutionary forces of the Filipino people. This presentation is informative and is meant to explain the revolutionary role of the CPP and popular forces, what they can do against the escalation of state terrorism to preserve the oppressive and exploitative ruling system.
The Task of Ideological Building

The first and most important task in building the CPP is ideological building through the education of its cadres and members in the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. There is a collection of the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao that teaches us the basic principles of dialectical and historical materialism in philosophy, the political economy of capitalism and the socialism and social science of class struggle and socialist revolution.

There is also a collection of works reflecting the victories of the new democratic and socialist revolutions led and won by the proletariat in various countries against imperialism and reaction and against “Left” opportunism and Right opportunism. These works can be subjected to comparative studies in order order to learn the principles and practice applicable to the Philippine society and revolution. Of course, the CPP thinkers and leaders have produced a rich collection of works that are studied by their Filipino comrades for the advance of the revolutionary struggle in the Philippines.

Ideological building of the CPP is necessary to educate the cadres and members and enable them to be at the leadership and at the core of the entire revolutionary movement at every level and scale of territory. Without a revolutionary theory as guide to practice, there can be no revolutionary movement because the CPP cadres and members would be at a loss as how to lead and advance the struggle to revolutionary victory.

CPP cadres and members, as individuals and collectives, can take the initiative in reading and studying revolutionary literature and engage in study meetings pertinent to the Philippine situation, work and issues. But the Central Committee and its Education Department always makes sure that there is a systematic ideological education and training program for all party cadres and members through three standardized courses: from the basic course on Philippine society and revolution through the intermediate course of comparative studies in revolution on an international scale to the advance course on the study and application of the classical works of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

The necessity and importance of ideological building cannot be underestimated, especially at a time when the imperialists and the local reactionaries are doing everything to slander and discredit the revolutionary theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and using all kinds of intimidation and punitive actions, including mass arrests and mass murder, to discourage the widespread reading and study of revolutionary literature and to isolate and destroy the CPP and all other revolutionary forces of the Filipino people.

Ideological building through timely study meetings related to work and current issues and the fulfillment of the basic, intermediate and advanced levels of education raises the revolutionary knowledge and fighting spirit of the CPP cadres and members and actually increases rapidly the number of the most resolute and militant cadres and members who are willing to dedicate their entire lives to the revolution.

It is beyond the capacity of the counterrevolutionaries to stop the timely work-related study meetings and the basic, intermediate and d advanced courses convened in a wide variety of sizes and places. To expand and intensify the ideological building of the CPP is to propel the current CPP membership to a far a higher number and level than now. To have more Party cadres and members highly educated in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is to have more effective leaders arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people in greater numbers than before.
The Task of Political Building

The CPP has set as the current general line of the Philippine revolution, the new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war in order to end the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system in the Philippines, establish the people’s democratic republic and open the socialist stage of the Philippine revolution. To achieve the total victory of the new democratic revolution, the CPP must lead the Filipino proletariat and people and build itself, the people’s army and the national united front politically.

The CPP must eventually raise its membership to the level of hundreds of thousands and then millions of cadres and members. Thus, it can lead more effectively the Filipino people in their tens of millions. Increasing the number of CPP members can be more easily done when its cadres and members in the New People’s Army, the people’s militia, the revolutionary mass organizations, the organs of political power and the united front can recruit far more mass activists.

The NPA is the main instrument of the CPP and the entire people in waging armed revolutionary struggle, carrying out agrarian revolution as the main content of the democratic revolution and building the mass base and the people’s revolutionary government in the countryside. The CPP relies mainly on the poor peasants and farm workers, wins over the middle peasants, neutralizes the rich peasants and takes advantage of the splits between the enlightened and evil gentry in order to isolate and destroy the power of the despotic landlords.

The peasants, farm workers and fishermen are more than ever determined to participate and support the armed revolution because they are suffering gravely from the escalating campaigns of military suppression in the countryside, import liberalization of rice and fish, low subsidy prices for rice, high fertilizer and fuel prices, Chinese bans on Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea and the landgrabbing being done by the local and foreign agri-corporations and real estate speculators along major highways and roads.

The share of agriculture in the economy has been understated as merely 9 per cent in order to conjure the false illusion that the Philippines is developing with an industry sector whose share in the economy is 23 per cent and which is mainly extractive of raw materials and uses imported machine tools and a service sector whose imputed share of output value is 58 per cent and is over-bloated with the financial accounts of banks and trading companies, the costs of importing machine tools and consumer products and even the imputed output of the unemployed and underemployed in the so-called informal sector.

Since the launching in 2016 of a widescale rectification campaign by the Political Bureau, and the affirmation of this campaign by the Second National Congress, the CPP has combated conservatism and has urged all levels of the CPP, NPA, NDFP, the people’s democratic government, the revolutionary mass organizations and the broad masses of the people to expand and intensify the revolutionary armed struggle. This is the main form of revolutionary struggle, which can make definite advances only through successful tactical offensives and the capture of more arms from the enemy from one strategic stage to a higher stage. It is the line of developing guerrilla warfare towards regular mobile warfare in the archipelago.

When certain guerrilla fronts of the NPA are under focused military operations of the enemy, they are able to redeploy their forces not only to avoid the head-on attack by the enemy but to gain positions for counter-attacking and defeating the enemy. Those guerrilla fronts which are not under enemy attack can launch offensives by way of strengthening themselves and supporting the guerrilla fronts under attack. The line of extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever widening and deepening mass base has been set forth since a long time ago

The CPP is steadfastly and militantly building the national united front by relying mainly on the toiling masses of workers and peasants, winning over the urban petty bourgeoisie and middle bourgeoisie and taking advantage of the splits among the reactionary classes in order to isolate and defeat the US and Chinese imperialists and their worst Filipino puppets among the big compradors, landlords and bureaucrat capitalists.

The US and Chinese imperialists are now economic competitors and political rivals from being main neoliberal collaborators until the second decade of the current century. The Chinese imperialists have brazenly encroached on the West Philippines Sea, coveted the marine and mineral resources here and militarized the artificial islands that they have built on maritime features, like shoals and reefs.

The incoming Marcos II regime still harbors the illusion that it it can play off the US and Chinese imperialist against each other to conjure the false illusion of “independent foreign policy” and at the same time collaborate with the US imperialists in unleashing an all-out war against the armed revolution and with the Chinese imperialists in robbing the Filipino people of their rich natural resources and letting them operate their own military bases in the West Philippine Sea.

The Marcos II regime is predisposed to continue the Duterte policy of preventing the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, use the Anti-Terror Law to escalate state terrorism and and engage in red-tagging, mass arrests, torture and mass killings in a futile attempt to destroy the people’s democratic revolution. The broad masses of the people and the revolutionary movement therefore demand a tit for tat struggle and the listing for arrest, trial and punishment of war criminals by the people’s court and people’s army in order to avenge the crimes committed by the reactionary state and its agents.

The Task of Organizational Building

The CPP follows the principle of democratic centralism in building itself organizationally as well as other revolutionary forces that it organizes among the broad masses of the people. The principle means centralized ideological and political leadership on the basis of democratic fact-gathering and deliberation from the mass base and through the various levels of leading organs up to the central level where the Central Committee of the CPP makes the final decisions and exercises absolute leadership between Party Congresses.

The same principle of democratic centralism also means centralized ideological and political leadership and decentralized operations in accordance with the course of the people’s war and the archipelagic character of the Philippines. The CPP has a nationwide scale organization that is closely integrated with the people, especially the toiling masses of workers and peasants, through the revolutionary mass organizations, the units of the people’s army and the organs of political power.

The overwhelming majority of CPP cadres and members are recruited from the mass movement. They are therefore in various ways and degrees qualified to be at the core and in the leadership of the mass movement. The CPP also recruits Party cadres and members from various types of well-established institutions, including the reactionary ones, in order to gain knowledge and various competencies needed by the revolution and in order to enable the disintegration of the ruling system as a complement to the annihilation of the most die-hard forces of reaction.

Since the beginning of the current protracted people’s war along the line of the people’s democratic revolution, the CPP has ensured the integration of an increasing number of worker cadres and educated youth to join the New People’s Army and the revolutionary work in the countryside. Especially because of the threats of mass arrests, torture and mass murder in the urban areas, the CPP is required to deploy more worker cadres and educated youth in the people’s army and countryside.

They are needed for expanding and strengthening the people’s army, the mass organizations, the organs of political power and the alliances in the countryside, for coordinating revolutionary movement in the cities and the countryside and ensuring the success of offensives against urban targets of units deployed from the countryside. So far, the most effective actions against urban targets have been prepared in the countryside by cadres and members who have familiarity with and are knowledgeable about said targets and who can safely withdraw to their rural base.

Because more than 40 per cent of the Philippine labor force are unemployed, every year hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers and professionals migrate to other countries to take jobs below their education and training. And because of the escalation of state terrorism, a growing percentage of the Filipino migrants who are previously members of patriotic and progressive mass organizations go abroad to become political refugees and to join the diaspora both to earn income for their families and to evade imminent acts of repression by the terrorist state.

There is an estimated 10 to 12 million Filipinos overseas. This has become a substantial mass base for building patriotic and progressive mass organizations of overseas Filipinos, women, youth and professionals. Their self-organization under the leadership of the CPP is for upholding, defending and promoting their rights and interests, for developing anti-imperialist and democratic solidarity with the host people and organizations and for bringing about moral, political and material support and assistance to the struggle of the Filipino people for national and social liberation in the Philippines.###

https://cpp.ph/statements/extreme-crisis-and-urgent-tasks/