206 Reds front group members surrender, reject NPA

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 1, 2022): 206 Reds front group members surrender, reject NPA (By Che Palicte)

BURNING OF RED FLAGS. Former rebels and front members of the New People's Army (NPA) lead the burning of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front flag on Monday (Feb. 28, 2022) at the Balimba Hills, Sitio JBL, Barangay Sto. Niño in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. Around 206 indigenous peoples who were members of various NPA front groups pledged allegiance to the government and have rejected the communist armed group in their communities. (PNA photo by Che Palicte)

TALAINGOD, Davao del Norte – A total of 206 indigenous peoples (IPs) here who were members of various New People’s Army (NPA) front groups surrendered and declared "pagsalikway" or rejection of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA on Monday in a ceremony at the Balimba Hills, Sitio JBL, Barangay Sto. Niño in this town.

The surrenderers included eight members of the NPA Sub-Regional Guerrilla Unit (SRGU)/Sub-Regional Committee (SRC) 5; Bakwits - five; Milisyang Bayan (MB) – six; Komiteng Rebolusyonaryo sa Munisipal (KRM) - four, Komiteng Rebolusyonaryo sa Baryo (KRB) – 168, and Salugpungan teachers and students - 15.

Apart from signing the oath of allegiance to the government, the group also burned the replica of the NPA flag that signified their abandonment of the dismantled communist organization in the province.

In an interview, Datu Lisuro Losindo, a former rebel who was among the surrenderers, thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for helping them get back on their feet and return to the folds of the law.

Since joining the communist organization five years ago, he said it was only during the Duterte administration that he and his relatives decided to surrender because they were assured of a peaceful and normal life.

“Although I still have my grandchildren left in the mountains, I know that they will also come forward. I also urge others to do the same and let us go back to the government,” Losindo said in the vernacular.

Meanwhile, Ariane Jane Ramos alias Marikit, former secretary of the NPA Guerrilla Front (GF) 55, SRC 5 - Southern Mindanao Regional Command (SMRC), said the mass surrender has a huge impact on the communist group as they have lost their mass bases.

“This is what we call the physical barrier wherein the CPP saw that the people were objectively rejecting them and that they are willing to accept the government’s interventions,” she said.

While the people of Talaingod suffered 28 years at the hands of the NPA, she said it has come to an end and they will now live peacefully with their families.

“Let us allow the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the government to help us. They have opened their doors to us,” she added.

Ramos also urged the surrenderers to put in their hearts their total commitment to reject the CPP-NPA and avoid their false promises.

Col. Consolito Yecla, the Army’s 1003rd Brigade commander, emphasized that the surrenderers turning to the government’s fold was a historic event for Talaingod.

“Since the NPA entered this town in 1993, a lot of IPs suffer from their deceptions as they were instilled with wrong ideology. Now, it has ended,” he said.

Yecla recounted that the first to occupy the town was the NPA SRC 5 which he observed was the most advanced rebel sub-region group for they were able to create the Bakwits, KRM, and Salugpungan.

The SRC 5 was dismantled after 12 of its mostly top-ranking leaders surrendered on January 13.

The surrenderers included Ida Marie Montero alias Mandy, the secretary, finance officer, and member of Komiteng Tagapagpaganap/Komiteng Kalihiman; Renato Lubguban, deputy secretary and commanding officer of the Sub-Regional Operational Command; Lito Taluwa, acting commanding officer; Enrico Caramat, political instructor; and Rudy Saballa, military adviser and former commanding officer of the dismantled Guerrilla Front 56.

“Their dismantling [SRC 5] was a huge accomplishment and we thanked the battalion commanders for their efforts,” he said.

Yecla assured that they will continue to protect the town as they are being supported by former rebels like alias Marikit.

“You don’t have to worry, we will defend you and your ancestral domains. All we are asking is your cooperation and total rejection of the communist group,” he said.

Governor Edwin Jubahib, meanwhile, thanked the surrenderers for their courage and trust in the government.

He vowed to support the surrenderers, especially on the livelihood and education of their children.

“Our military troops did everything to make Talaingod peaceful and free from the insurgency. Rest assured that the provincial government will pour projects in this town, particularly farm-to-market roads, schools, and sitio electrification,” Jubahib 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 Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front 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/1168752

New homes, productive lives for ex-NPA rebels

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 1, 2022): NPA Guerilla Front 3 dismantled, 13 members yield in Davao Oro

DISMANTLED GUERILLA FRONT. The 13 members of the New People's Army (NPA) Guerrilla Front 3, Sub-Regional Committee 4, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (GF3, SRC4, SMRC) surrender to authorities on Feb. 26, 2022 at Purok 4, Barangay Kidawa in Laak, Davao de Oro. Their surrender has led to the collapse of the NPA front. (Photo courtesy PIA-11)

The military announced Tuesday the successful dismantling of the New People’s Army's (NPA) Guerrilla Front 3, Sub-Regional Committee 4, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (GF3, SRC4, SMRC).

This came following the surrender of 13 of its members to authorities on February 26 at Purok 4, Barangay Kidawa, Laak, Davao de Oro.

In a presentation of the newly-surrendered NPA members to the media on March 1 at the 60th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Davao del Norte, the surrenderers led by Renard Galos Catarata, the GF3 commanding officer, said their food supplies and physical strength were exhausted due to the relentless military operations in the area.

“We have nowhere to go, no food supplies were coming in,” he said in the vernacular.

"The masses also refused to help us and we are experiencing low morale due to a series of setbacks suffered by SMRC,” he added.

Apart from the setbacks suffered by the GF3, Catarata said the SMRC already experienced a leadership vacuum.

“We have no one to seek guidance to, that’s why we decided to surrender to avoid death,” he said.

The surrenderers also gave up 13 assorted firearms, thousands of ammunition of different caliber, and subversive documents.

Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III, the Army’s 1001st Brigade commander, lauded the troops for the accomplishment citing the government is gaining more grounds against the communist group.

The dismantling, according to Durante, was due to the relentless focused military operations conducted in the boundaries of Laak, Davao de Oro, and Loreto, Agusan del Sur since October last year.

“This is yet another milestone to our campaign in ridding of the five-decade deceptive and terroristic acts of the communist NPA. After all, this is not just our accomplishment but also of the government and the peace-loving people we ought to serve,” he said.

He also welcomed the “rescued” personalities of GF3 and thanked them as they return to the folds of the law.

“You’ve made the best decision. As promised, you will be taken care of,” Durante said.

The surrenderers immediately underwent medical check-ups and swab tests to ensure they were in good health.

Currently, Durante said the surrenderers are still undergoing custodial debriefing and will be enrolled in the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) – a government intervention to aid them as they reintegrate into mainstream society.

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

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front 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/1168817

Lessons from PNA, the govt’s official newswire service

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 1, 2022): Lessons from PNA, the govt’s official newswire service (By Azer Parrocha)

Screengrab from website

The Philippine News Agency (PNA) has been providing daily news services to both local and foreign readers on the policies, activities, and programs of the government and the presidency since March 1, 1973. It's no secret that the agency’s success is heavily dependent on the writers and editors behind every news story.

As the PNA marks its 49th year, it is only fitting to revisit some lessons learned by former staff members who helped the government’s official web-based newswire service get to where it is today and made remarkable careers themselves.

Not all editors are ruthless

“We were considered terrors by reporters. If we found sloppy copies, we would tear them apart and throw them in the wastebasket. Pagagalitan namin (We would scold them), ‘Did you go to college?’” radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist Ramon “Mon” Tulfo said in an interview.

Tulfo, who was one of PNA’s first deskmen from 1973 to 1975, worked alongside colleagues with an eagle eye to catch mistakes before they were published.

He went on to work for radio and TV networks and is most known for his long-running public service program, Isumbong Mo kay Tulfo! on DZRJ Radyo Bandido.

He also served a six-month stint as special envoy for public diplomacy to China in 2018.

While Tulfo was a ruthless editor, others like Severino “Viring” Samonte were much more compassionate. He had an infinite amount of patience to rewrite copies.

“I would always try to salvage stories. Hahanapan ko ng puwedeng anggulo na mai-rewrite ko kasi naawa ako sa writer. Pinaghirapan ‘yun e (I would try to look for an angle I could rewrite because I pity the writer. They worked hard to write it),” said Samonte, also one of PNA’s first deskmen.

Because of his sympathetic nature, he said many reporters would send their stories to him for editing to avoid the more brutal editors.

Samonte worked for PNA for two years but transferred jobs after he was offered a job to write for a specialized publication subsidized by the United Nations (UN). He also became a contributor to the Manila Bulletin for a decade.

Former reporter Lady Marie "Sweetie” Ventura, who joined PNA in 1998, remembered the time she was tasked to write a historical feature article under Samonte’s guidance. She had to conduct research at a time when the Internet was not yet widely accessible to the public.

“I remember a time I had to read three to four history books to write one feature article. It was such an honor to have an editor like Mr. Samonte to guide me,” Ventura said.

Though journalism may be considered one of the most stressful careers, she said having helpful colleagues make the job a bit easier.

Ventura now works as a reservation agent in El Cortez Hotel and Casino, one of the longest-running hotels in Las Vegas.

Opportunity to serve

ABS-CBN reporter Sherrie Ann Torres, who worked for PNA before deciding to move to the country’s largest media company, knows of the “limitations” in working for the government’s official web-based newswire service but learned to take an optimistic view of work.

“Being a PNA reporter doesn’t mean that you are less of a journalist. I always believe that when you do your best regardless of who you are, it makes a lot of difference. Writing for government or covering a story for government is always good advocacy to inform the people, to educate the public,” Torres said.

“Regardless of the position you are holding right now, whether you are the front-line reporters, desk people, drivers, timekeepers, encoders, or photographers, I’d like to ask you to always be proud of yourselves because you are serving the nation.”

Aside from covering the political beat, Torres also conducts journalism workshops in various government offices, corporations, public and private schools, universities, and colleges.

Former PNA editor Maricor Zapata also acknowledged that working for government-run media means showing projects and programs in a favorable light.

However, she said that reporters and editors must always be truthful and state the facts.

“Spreading positivity is always a good thing. But such positive news must always be factual and true, devoid of opinion, so it will keep its objectivity, integrity, and credibility,” she said.

Zapata talked fondly about her experience editing stories from the Cordillera region, describing it as “always a pleasure”.

She believes that featuring human interest stories about indigenous peoples’ culture and the innate kindness of Filipinos in times of calamities serves as a breather from the usual hard news.

She currently works as a financial news writer for S&P Global Market Intelligence.

There’s always room for improvement

Former News and Information Bureau (NIB) Director III and concurrent PNA General Manager Vittorio “Vot” Vitug, who worked for the agency from 2001 to 2010, said greenhorn reporters must remember that being able to look at the job as a learning experience is helpful.

“There’s always room for improvement in the field of journalism. There are lessons to be learned on a daily basis, driven by our never-ending quest to hone our craft to deliver our stories the best we can,” Vitug said.

He said the PNA has had highs and lows it had to learn from.

However, he said, the agency has managed to exhibit resilience through its 49 years of existence.

“It was a crucial time of transition in politics, as well as in technology when I started working for PNA. Against the backdrop of a successful Edsa 2, there was a shift from a teletype news delivery service to full computerization. It was the dawn of the large social media space. And PNA, being a news wire service agency, was in the middle of it all. And we’re all proud that through collective effort then and now, PNA did not only survive but it actually flourished in this age of the Internet,” he added.

Vitug was awarded the Presidential Citation for his dedicated and exemplary service during the Philippines’ hosting of the historic Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development held at the Philippine International Convention Center on March 16-18, 2010.

He now edits for Business Mirror.

Despite a few hiccups, Samonte is confident that the PNA is making a lot of progress, especially after it underwent major operational changes in 2017 with improvements on its website, editorial operations, and facilities.

“Next year will be its golden (50th) anniversary. I hope it keeps soaring high at makaabot ng (and reach) 500 years,” he said.

Torres also believes that learning to have resilience in the face of adversity is part of growth.

“There are challenges that the PNA had to face but let’s take that as part of the so-called ‘birth pains’ because you are in for a good start. The best is yet to come,” she said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168740

CPP/Ang Bayan: Ang Bayan interview with CPP Information Officer Marco L. Valbuena on the CPP’s stand on the armed conflict in Ukraine

Ang Bayan propaganda editorial posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Feb 28, 2022): Ang Bayan interview with CPP Information Officer Marco L. Valbuena on the CPP’s stand on the armed conflict in Ukraine

 

This article is available in BisayaPilipino

February 28, 2022

Some activists, friends and readers have raised the critical concern that the CPP did not clearly or roundly condemn Russia’s “invasion of Ukraine” in the two statements released before the “special military operation” of February 24 and the background article published on that day. There is the view that Russia, as an imperialist country, is as culpable as the US and its NATO allies for the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine. Or that Russia’s attacks against Ukraine serve only the interests of Russia’s oligarchs and should therefore be opposed by the working class in Russia and Ukraine and peoples across the world.

1. First of all, does the CPP consider Russia as imperialist?

Yes, Russia is an imperialist power, albeit much smaller than the US, Japan, China, Germany, France and other imperialist countries. As an imperialist country, Russia imposes its military, political and economic dominance on smaller countries particularly around its borders in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, most of which belonged to the Soviet Union (USSR) until it was dissolved in 1991.

Since the leadership of the Soviet Union was taken over by modern revisionists in 1953 who subsequently carried out capitalist restoration, capital and resources became more and more concentrated in the hands of state monopoly capitalists in Russia, the biggest state in the Soviet Union, at the expense of the smaller member states and areas of the Russian countryside, many of which were reduced to sources of cheap labor or raw materials (grain and minerals). They became dependent on Russian investments and imported commodities from Russia.

Russia perpetuates its hegemonic power through military power, and by the fact that it maintains one of the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals, which it inherited from the Soviet Union. In terms of military strength, Russia is second or third in the world, ranked behind the US, and around equivalent to the overall strength of China. It has almost the same amount of nuclear weapons as the US and is ahead in many fields of military technological research including the development of hypersonic weapons.

Military overspending combined with large-scale bureaucratic corruption and plunder by oligarchs and criminal groups, however, has depleted Russia’s economic resources. Despite being the largest country in the world in terms of land and has vast economic resources, it is not as big as the US or China in economic terms (it is ranked only 11th in the world in terms of GDP as estimated by the IMF in 2021, only 7% of the size of the US economy, and 9.7% of China) and depends largely on exporting oil and natural gas. The workers and people of Russia suffer from economic stagnation, widespread misery, worsening forms of exploitation and oppression, chronic unemployment, low wages and deteriorating socioeconomic conditions.

2. Does the CPP consider the armed conflict in Ukraine a result of inter-imperialist armed conflict?

The current armed conflict in Ukraine is within the context of rising inter-imperialist contradictions and armed conflict. It is a manifestation of the push of the US and its allied imperialist powers to redivide the world and take away from Russia its spheres of influence, investment and trade; and the counter-push of Russia to preserve the current order and recover its lost spheres.

Russia’s sphere of influence has been systematically and violently eroded by the US-led NATO alliance since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, starting with the US-NATO-initiated war and destruction of Yugoslavia, and expansion of NATO in former Warsaw Pact countries in central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Poland) and eastern Europe, right up to the borders of Russia. This is in flagrant violation of the Minsk Agreement of 1991 which dissolved the USSR and which involved assurances of the US, NATO and OSCE that the Warsaw Pact members would not be converted to NATO members. Even those who celebrated the 1991 Minsk Agreement as a landmark achievement for ending the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war are appalled at how it has been systematically violated by the US and NATO.

Since 1991, the US and NATO have established military facilities and missile and anti-missile bases in Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, in addition to those in Alaska bordering Russia. In 2019, the US trashed the intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) agreement with Russia further paving the way for expansion of the US and NATO’s missile system.

3. What are the specific circumstances that gave rise to the current armed conflict in Ukraine?

While it is important to understand the armed conflict in Ukraine as within the context of rising inter-imperialist conflict, we must proceed to grasp its particular characteristics, the main aspects of the conflict and the principal aspect of the armed conflict.

We must understand that Ukraine is the last frontier in the US imperialist drive to surround Russia with its intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The US has spent at least $4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since 1991, with over $2.5 billion since the 2014 coup. The country has also received more than $1 billion in military aid from the NATO Trust Fund. In addition, the United Kingdom has forged agreements with Kyiv, in which the UK would spend 1.5 billion pounds for upgrading Ukraine’s naval capabilities and arming its warships with British missiles, and building naval military bases on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov bordering Ukraine, Crimea and Russia.

Having eroded Russia’s sphere of influence in central and eastern Europe since 1991, US imperialism and its NATO allies proceeded to push its drive to establish their military dominance in Ukraine and complete its network of missile bases surrounding Russia. In 2014, the US instigated a coup in Ukraine and installed a neo-Nazi regime. It did so by funding and arming far-right groups under the so-called Azov Battalion that was formed in 2014 from such groups as the Patriot of Ukraine and Social National Assembly. These groups trace their roots to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) of Stepan Bandera, and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, that were both allied with Nazi Germany.

Widespread protests by people in south and eastern Ukraine, as well as in Crimea, against the US-sponsored coup was violently suppressed by the neo-Nazi Ukrainian regime combined with the forces of the Azov Battalion. It proceeded to mount attacks against the predominantly Russian population in Crimea and the Donbass region marked by gross violations of human rights, war crimes, mass looting, unlawful detention and torture. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights estimates around 14,000 people were killed in massacres and artillery shelling.

The Russophobic attacks against the Donbass region instigated the people to mount an armed resistance and seek the support of Russia. By April 2014, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic were declared to have been established, further strengthened by a referendum on May 11, 2014. In 2014 and 2015 negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in Minsk, the Donbass region was recognized as an autonomous area under Ukraine, all foreign troops were withdrawn, and a “line of contact” was established on which either side will not enter or cross.

4. What is the status of the 2014 and 2015 ceasefire agreements around the Donbass region?

The attacks against the people of the Donbass region did not cease after the Minsk 2014 and 2015 agreements with repeated violations by Ukraine which has fortified its forces along the so-line of contact area. This year alone, monitoring organizations have recorded 8,000 violations of the agreement, largely from the Ukrainian side.

US weapons, military advisers and private contractors have been deployed around the Donbass area to arm, train and instigate Ukrainian military forces in mounting attacks against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. The immediate objective of the US is to provoke Russia in order to justify its heightened military intervention and military financing in Ukraine, push for Ukraine’s inclusion into the NATO, and compel Germany and other allies in Europe to cancel trade agreements with Russia, specifically against the operations of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.

Russia and the predominantly Russian people of Donbass have been making repeated calls for negotiations to revisit the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements in order to ensure their implementation by making its provisions more explicit. Russia’s show of force since December in its western border area was a direct call for negotiations to revisit the Minsk agreements and forge new agreements to ensure security of the Donbass regions, and to push for clear prohibitions against Ukraine’s inclusion into the NATO.

Provoked by the US, Ukraine ignored calls for negotiations. Instead, it intensified attacks against Donetsk and Lugansk on February 21 firing 1,500 artillery rounds within 24 hours hitting civilian infrastructure, including power plants, water systems and school buildings.

These brazen acts prompted the DPR and LPR to declare secession from Ukraine as the only recourse to put an end to their oppression. These also heightened calls for Russia to recognize the DPR and LPR and independent nation states both from within the Donbass region, from Belarus and inside Russia. Russia formally recognized the DPR and LPR on February 22 and immediately deployed “peacekeeping” troops to fortify defenses of the Donbass region against Ukrainian attacks, then subsequently mounted a “special military operation.”

The declared objective of the “special military operations” mounted by Russia in Ukraine concerns primarily the struggle of the people of the Donbass region which has now taken the form of their defense of their right to national self-determination.

5. The CPP has condemned the US for provoking war in Ukraine? Are not both the US and Russian imperialists, in fact, equally to blame for the current armed conflict in Ukraine?

Indeed, the CPP has previously issued statements denouncing US war provocations and warmongering in Ukraine, specifically its frenzied attacks against the Donbass region to provoke Russia. It has also denounced the NATO expansion to the borders of Russia, as well as US-NATO intrusions and trouble making in Chechnya and Georgia, the so-called color revolutions. The aggressive acts of the US and NATO against Russia have been long-running and continuing.

The CPP considers the current armed conflict principally as a direct result of the heightened attacks of the Ukrainian armed forces, under the instigation by the US and planned with US military advisers, against the people in the Donbass region.

Russia’s military actions in Ukraine are not unprovoked. The CPP considers Russia’s action, tactically, as a counter-reaction to the incessant US-supported military provocations and attacks against Donbass. The escalation of the armed conflict could have been avoided had Ukraine heeded calls for it to stop the attacks against Donbass and engage in new negotiations. The CPP, however, is aware that Russia’s support for the Donbass region is motivated by its strategic imperialist interests of securing and expanding its hegemonic interests.

If we are to blame and condemn the US and Russia with equal weight for the escalation of the armed conflict in the region, we would have undermined the justness of the struggle for national self-determination of the people of Donetsk and Lugansk, the valiant armed resistance of the people of Donbass and their effort to take advantage of the inter-imperialist conflict by winning the support of Russia. It will also make the people of Donbass culpable for asking Russia to help repel Ukrainian aggression.

As a matter of fact, it is reasonable to criticize Russia and Putin for being so late in extending sufficient support to the peoples of Donetsk and Lugansk. For eight years, it allowed the Russophobic fascists to slaughter 14,000 Ukraine-born Russians, the destruction of their factories, homes, schools, hospitals and public utilities and the forced migration of millions of Russians, thus reducing the Russian population share in Ukraine from 22% in 2014 to 17% in 2022.

The people of Donetsk and Lugansk must stand firmly for their right to national self-determination and adopt a foreign policy that is consistent with their national interests. While winning the support of Russia, the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk must also stand firmly against Russian hegemonism and demand equal treatment as independent nation states. But only the US-NATO imperialists and Trotskyites would demand right now for the people of Donetsk and Lugansk to fight Russia’s “invasion” which is helping them to fight the Kyiv fascist puppets of the US and NATO.

6. Does this mean the CPP considers Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine justified because of its declared aims of ending the attacks against the people of the Donbass region?

From the point of view of the national revolutionary war of the people of Donetsk and Lugansk, Russian military support is justified and necessary. Prior to Russia’s direct support, they were practically being butchered by Ukraine’s US-supported military forces which have shown outright disregard for all previous international agreements.

The CPP, however, is also keenly aware that Russia is an imperialist power that is driven by its hegemonic aims and drive to defend and expand its spheres of influence and control. While Russia declares its “special military operation” as congruent with the objective of the Donbass people to put an end to Ukraine’s attacks, it is motivated primarily by its imperialist objective of defending its sphere of influence and strategic aim of reinstalling a client-state in Ukraine.

If Russia will stick to its declarations of hitting only military targets and not occupying territory, its actions can be considered defensive and retaliatory which are generally acceptable under international rules of war. It will be Russia’s own lookout if it has not learned any lesson from both the Soviet social-imperialist aggression and occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s and from the US wars of aggression and occupation since the end of World War II which have been frustrated by people’s resistance but which have caused the death 25 to 30 million as well self-defeating costs for the US that have accelerated its strategic decline.

There are information that Russian military forces are pushing beyond the Donbass region, and occupying Ukrainian territory reportedly prompted by the massacre of Russians in the Kharkiv region by the forces of the Akov Battalion.

The CPP joins in appeals to the Ukrainian people to demand a stop to the Russophobic fascist attacks and to demand their government to respect and protect the Ukrainians of Russian nationality in the various cities of Ukraine in and beyond the Donbass region.

At the same time, the CPP supports their fight to defend their country’s sovereignty and in the demand for Russia to suspend its military offensives, withdraw its forces as soon as possible, and pave the way for dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

7. Russia’s attacks against Ukraine are now on its fifth day. There are news of civilian casualties and residential apartments damaged by rocket fire. People in Kyiv and other areas are evacuating in droves. On the other hand, Russia insists that civilians are not being targeted and claims to have eliminated 975 Ukrainian military facilities, and shooting down jets, helicopters and drones. In light of these developments, what is the CPP’s call?

In times of intense armed conflict, the fog of war thickens, and actual facts on the ground become hard to determine in real time. Both sides are expected to heighten their propaganda offensive to support their military objectives. Even the widely-circulated photograph of an apartment in Kyiv damaged by missile fire is unverified and disputed: Ukraine claims it was hit by a Russian missile, while there are information that it was damaged by a Ukrainian missile or anti-missile rocket that misfired.

Faced with Russia’s blitzkrieg attacks, Kyiv publicly lamented that it was “left alone” to fight and declared openness to dialogue to discuss Ukraine’s “neutrality” and other issues. This was followed by Russia’s order to suspend military operations on February 25.

However, the US imperialists and its allies intensified its intervention with the US decision to extend $600 million military aid to Ukraine. The US also succeeded in pushing Germany to send tanks and other weapons contrary to its own policy of not sending weapons to conflict areas. This has apparently emboldened the Zelensky government to return to its previous bellicose position and abandon the planned negotiations. Russia’s response was to resume its attacks.

The CPP welcomes fresh news that lines of dialogue remain open and that Ukraine has proposed to meet with Russian officials in the Belarussian city of Gomel, and that Russia has declared it will be sending its delegation. The talks are set to start today. Russia, however, said it will not suspend again its military attacks during the upcoming dialogue.

The CPP urges Russia to suspend its military offensives against Ukraine in order to increase the chances of success of the talks and the Kyiv authorities to stop their offensive against the people of the Donbass region as well as the attacks on Russians by its Russophobic territorial units and neo-Nazi vigilante groups like the Azov Battalion against Russian apartments and communities.

Most importantly, the CPP calls on the US and its allies in the NATO to put an end to intervening and provoking Ukraine to escalate the war, and let the dialogue between the two countries proceed and seek to resolve the conflict through peaceful negotiations to discuss the issues being raised by both sides.

The CPP calls on the workers and people of Ukraine to demand an end to the genocidal war against the people in the Donbass region, resist Russian aggression, oppose US and NATO intervention and fight for their country’s neutrality in the face of rising conflicts among the hegemonic powers.

The CPP calls on the workers and people of Russia to strengthen support for the struggle for national self-determination of the people of the Donbass region and demand the Putin government to immediately suspend its military offensives against Ukraine, extend solidarity with the democratic people of Ukraine and advance their own struggles against the Russian oligarchs and ruling classes.

https://cpp.ph/angbayan/ang-bayan-interview-with-cpp-information-officer-marco-l-valbuena-on-the-cpps-stand-on-the-armed-conflict-in-ukraine/

CPP/NPA-Central Negros: PNP intel agent punished by NPA in Guihulngan City

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Mar 1, 2022): PNP intel agent punished by NPA in Guihulngan City

JB Regalado

Spokesperson

NPA-Central Negros (Leonardo Panaligan Command)

Negros Island Regional Operational Command (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command)

New People's Army

March 01, 2022

The LPC-NPA punished PNP intelligence agent Christian Guyha in Sitio Dadiangao 1, Barangay Luz, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, around 7 pm yesterday, February 28, 2022.

Guyha was directly involved in the 2020 AFP raid and shooting of civilian Randy Tapales, a resident of the same barangay. Having survived the shooting incident, Tapales was eventually murdered in cold blood last July 2021. The murder was then covered-up by the AFP as a fake encounter. Afterwards, Tapales’ family was threatened by the military to cooperate or face the same fate.

Guyha was also an asset of the NTF-ELCAC, currently headed by Mayor Gido Reyes in Guihulngan City, who avidly red-tagged residents in the area resulting to enforced and fake surrenders in various barangays. Together with the NTF-ELCAC and PNP, Guyha framed innocent civilians as NPA members and supporters, causing widespread fear to the point that affect livelihoods.

Prior to this, Guyha was sanctioned with a last warning by the People’s Revolutionary Court (PRC) in 2020 after his frequent violations of revolutionary law. Instead of heeding the advice of mass organizations and the NPA, his crimes worsened and he became a full-fledged asset of the mercenary police.

The masses demanded revolutionary justice against Guyha for his continuing crimes despite being warned by the revolutionary movement. As a PNP intelligence asset with blood debt, Guyha was a legitimate target of the NPA and was consequently punished.

Revolutionary justice is completely different with reactionary law used for the benefit of the ruling elite. It endeavors rehabilitation through education of people who committed minor crimes against the people and the revolutionary movement. On the other hand, it also does not hesitate to punish those who commit major crimes, like intelligence assets who aid fascist troops of the AFP and PNP in murder and other human rights violations.

The recent actions of the LPC-NPA against the AFP and PNP’s network of spies serve as a warning that their crimes against the people will not go unnoticed. Those who wish to surrender can approach a nearby NPA unit to face trial in the PRC.

The LPC-NPA vow to continue implementing revolutionary justice in Central Negros as part of the masses’ demand against the relentless attacks of the US-Duterte regime against the Negrosanons and the entire Filipino people. Aside from intelligence agents and counterrevolutionaries, this warning is more so directed to the the AFP/PNP/NTF-ELCAC combine who commit gross human rights violations against the masses and the revolution. ###

https://cpp.ph/statements/pnp-intel-agent-punished-by-npa-in-guihulngan-city/

CPP/NDF-Ilocos: Message of the NDF-Ilocos for the 50th Founding Anniversary of the Christians for National Liberation(CNL): Strengthen the People’s United Front to End Fascism and Tyranny! Advance the People’s War!

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Feb 28, 2022): Message of the NDF-Ilocos for the 50th Founding Anniversary of the Christians for National Liberation(CNL): Strengthen the People’s United Front to End Fascism and Tyranny! Advance the People’s War!

NDF-Ilocos

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

February 28, 2022

While we commemorate the 150° year of the martyrdom of Gomburza, the NDF-llocos congratulates the Christians for National Liberation in its 5o‘” founding anniversary. We give our highest salutation to the CNL in its 50 years of heartfelt service and undwindling support to the struggle of the oppressed Filipino masses. In 50 years, the CNL had imbibed the Christian principle which asserts dignity of the human person, freedom of conscience and love and service to the vast majority of the poor and oppressed. It has demonstrated faith in their determination and passion to serve the people, and expressed faith in class love for the oppressed and persecuted.

The NDF in Ilocos deeply appreciates the enthusiasm of the CNL to realize this celebration to further unite and strengthen our resolve to carry forward the national democratic revolution by means of people’s war all the way to building a socialist society. Only through the people’s war could the people fight fascism, tyranny and all forms of oppression and exploitation, and only through socialism could the people enjoy the fruits of their labor, and attain freedom, just and lasting peace.

The martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who led the anti-Spanish secular movement had drawn an unprecedented wave of national sentiment against injustice and moral authority of the lay and religious Spanish colonial authorities. Their martyrdom helped spur the First Philippine Revolution that toppled the Spanish colonization to the Philippines. Father Gregorio Aglipay also joined the old Filipino revolution and became its vicar general. Then against American imperialist colonization, Filipino priests actively rallied the people to the revolution and became collectors of resources for the revolutionary government and army.

Indeed, the CNL had persisted in its historical mission of fighting for the liberation of the Filipino people. The CNL represents the new Gomburzas and Aglipays. New, because the CNL is now guided by the most advanced philosophy in the world — Marxism-Leninism-Maoism embodied by the most advanced detachment of the proletarian class, the Communist Party. New, because it pursues the course of armed struggle as the ultimate means of achieving national democracy and liberation as a stepping stone to socialism towards a classless communist world where oppression and exploitation will eventually perish. By applying the MLM in analysing the semi-colonial and semi-feudal character of the Philippine society, liberation theology advocated by the CNL was given content which reflects and exposes the Filipino people’s actual conditions, needs, demands and aspirations for national independence, democracy, social justice and genuine social progress.

The CNL became a major organization in the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in 1973. By 1974 the progressive clergy supported the La Tondena strike and subsequent strikes and to press Cardinal Sin and other bishops to speak up against the human rights violations perpetrated by the Marcos fascist regime.

While reactionary priests like Cardinal Santos and other Catholic bishops were endorsing the Martial Law proclamation of Marcos, the CNL which was still taking its bud served as the revolutionary core of the church movement that efficiently united the people against the Marcos fascist dictatorship. The patriotic and progressive clergy and religious people did exemplary work in actively participating in the struggle to expose, oppose, isolate, weaken and overthrow the Marcos fascist dictatorship.

In 1970s, at the height of the Marcos dictatorship, revolutionary cadre priests Zacharias Agatep and Nilo Valerio shouldered the task of building the foundation and proliferation of the armed revolutionary movement in Ilocos. Fr. Agatep organized the peasant masses who struggled against several forms of feudal exploitation by the landlords. From the peasant movement, a platoon of the New People’s Army was formed and the armed struggle was launched in the region.Thus the 3 integral components of the people’s war – base building, agrarian revolution and armed struggle were laid. This is the most important victory gained by the Ilocano masses and was achieved through the painstaking efforts of arousing, organizing and mobilizing initiated and carried on by the revolutionary clerics. Through these struggles, the Ilocano people realized that only through the national democratic armed struggle can they truly defend their rights against the greedy and oppressive classes of landlords and bourgeois compradors and their fascist instruments.

In 50 years, The CNL has succeeded in building, expanding and strengthening its nationwide organization among the clergy. It has prevailed over the ideological, political and military attacks unleashed by all the puppet regimes directed by their master imperialist US. It has broadened and strengthened the NDF by linking itself to the basic alliance of the workers and peasants, to the people’s army, to the democratic organs of political power,to the mass organizations and various types of alliances. It has prevailed over a 14-year Marcos fascist dictatorship and was able to rally the people to overthrow it in 1986. Once more they were able to unite and lead the clergy against the corrupt Estrada regime and removed it from power in 2001.

And now, we are confronted by the danger of the Marcos —Dutertes’ perpetuation to power, through their dirty scheme to grab the upcoming 2022 election. Therefore, it is especially imperative for us to remember the EDSA People Power of 1986 and how the patriotic, progressive and militant clergy rallied the people to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship.

The urgent task of the NDFP to overcome this challenge is to weld the strongest and broadest alliance of the toiling and working classes and the middle classes, including those of the open-minded and patriotic elements from the ruling classes to frustrate the evil plan of the Marcoses to return in cahoots with the Dutertes’ desire to stay in power. This united front of democratic forces must resolutely fight the Marcos-Duterte collaboration to perpetuate fascism, tyranny, bureaucratic corruption and rabid puppetry to imperialists. On the longer-term, this united front must advance its aim to overthrow the current unjust ruling system and replace it with a patriotic and democratic government, through the people’s war.

Thus the main task of NDF-Ilocos at hand is to shatter the political patronage to the Marcos dynasty and repudiate the wicked deed of the Marcoses to twist history to restore their dictatorship. The CNL must be at the core of the patriotic religious movement that must stand at the frontline in this struggle.

The church must remind the Ilocano masses, especially the youth how Marcos wielded his absolute power for his and his cronies’ enrichment, of how he monopolized the Philippines’ major industries, how he opened the rich natural resources of the country for imperialist plunder, how he grabbed thousands of hectares of land of peasants and ancestral domain of the national minority, how he stole billions from the state coffers and plunged the Filipino people deeper into indedtedness.The church must educate how Marcos controlled the Congress, the legislation and implementation of laws, the court, the armed forces and the media and for his own ends. We must show how the Marcos family had been living in grandiose luxury while the overwhelming majority of the people are mired deeper into poverty. We must unmask the truth that behind the deceitful brightness of Bagong Lipunan facade of the Marcos dictatorship is total darkness wrought by the terror of Martial Law.

We should remind the masses that , the Ilocano kailyan of Marcos were not excluded by the terror of Martial Law. We should remind the Bangui 8 massacre, as well as the Adams massacre, salvagings in Dumalneg and other towns, burnt communities and properties and evacuations of national minority people of Pagudpud and Marcos towns. We must remind the people that we, the Ilocano kailyan of the Marcoses tortures and forced were among the thousands of victims of arbitrary detention, disappearances who until this time were not given justice.

It is imperative for the church to make the people of Ilocos understand that the Marcos children and grandchildren inherit their patriarch’s sins to the Filipino people because they are the very inheritors of his ill-gotten wealth, and their ulterior motive to return to Malacanang is to protect and further beef- up their wealth. It must expose how the Marcos-Duterte tandem would maximize their loot to manipulate the elections through massive vote-buying and the vote-swindling.

This election, the religious movement in Ilocos must amplify the people’s basic demands for the alleviation of their socio-economic condition and protection of their rights. It must promote the peasant demand for land and termination of all forms of feudal and semi-feudal exploitation. The church must call to end the plunder of the national minority’s ancestral domain and the the resources of the sea for the fisherfolk, the protection of the environment, just wages and benefits for the workers and teachers. It must push for the implementation of decisive measures to end the Covid-19 pandemic and fight for the people’s right to health.

To end fascism and tyranny, the church must advance the call for peace based on justice. It must demand for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC and Anti-Terror Act of 2020 and end militarization. It must press on for the resumption of the peace talks between the NDFP and GRP to decisively agree upon the CASER other agreements that would uproot the nerve-ends of the lingering people’s war.

Lastly, the NDF in Ilocos asserts that even beyond reactionary elections, only through the perseverance of the broad Filipino masses in waging the national democratic revolution up to socialism could their rights and dignity be upheld.

Long live the CNL!

Long live the NDF!

Long live the people’s war!

https://cpp.ph/statements/strengthen-the-peoples-united-front-to-end-fascism-and-tyranny-advance-the-peoples-war/

CPP/NDF-Bicol: Bukas na Liham para sa mga pulis at militar

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Feb 28, 2022): Bukas na Liham para sa mga pulis at militar (Open Letter for police and military)

NDF-Bicol 

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

February 28, 2022

Bigyan natin ng masigabong palakpakan si PNP Chief Dionardo Carlos, sa kanyang klasikong halimbawa kung paano ginagamit ng mga awtoridad at mga naghaharing uri ang kanilang mga utusan at tauhan sa PNP at AFP para sa kanilang mga pansariling mga interes.

Dahil sa kanyang halimbawa, isang patrolman ang namatay at dalawang pulis din ang nasugatan nang bumagsak ang lulan nilang helikopter upang sunduin si PNP Chief Carlos sa ekslusibo at mamahaling resort na Balesin Island sa prubinsya ng Quezon. Para sa abalang ito, sagot syempre ng PNP ang pagpalibing sa namatay na patrolman at pagpapagamot sa St. Lukes hospital ng dalawang nasugatang pulis.

Bravo! Ganito ginagamit ng mga naghaharing uri at nasa poder ang mga tulad ninyong pulis sa PNP at militar sa AFP upang ipatupad ang mga layaw nang pinagsisilbihan nilang mga panginoong maylupa, malaking burgesya kumprador at lalo na ang mga amo nilang imperyalistang US at China. Para sa mga gahamang ito papatay kayo at magpapaka-mersenaryo, itutumba ninyo ang mga nagpoprotestang mamamayang hadlang sa kanilang mga pandarambong at labis-labis na pagsasamantala. Para sa mga palalong ito, magpapakamatay kayong mga armadong pwersa matupad lamang ang mga patakaran, batas at kautusang lubusang pumapatay sa inaapi at ginugutom na taumbayan.

Ganito ninyo pinagsisilbihan sa PNP at AFP ang inyong mga amo. Hindi ba kayo nagtataka kung bakit tumaas ang mga sahod ninyo, binigyan kayo ng mga benepisyo at tinayuan pa kayo ng mga bahay? Kung bakit “minamahal” kayo ni Duterte sukat ipawalambisa ang mga batas na nagtataguyod sa karapatan ng mamamayan matapos kayong utusang Kill, kill, kill at rumagasa sa mga komunidad at imasaker ang libu-libong mamamayan?

Kayo ay mga kasangkapan lamang ng mga ulupong na nakaupo sa Malacañang. Ang mga medalyang nakamit ng inyong mga heneral ay tigmak ng dugo ng mga ordinaryong militar at pulis na isinakripisyo sa mga operasyong militar. Ang taun-taon nilang pagyaman ay dahil sa inyong pagpikit ng mata at pagtalikod habang ang kanilang mga kamay ay nakasawsaw sa malalim na balon ng kwarta. Sa pagbabantay ninyo sa mga minahan, pag-ooperasyon sa mga kabundukan upang maitayo ang mga multinasyunal na kumpanya; sa pagdedemolis ng mga komunidad, malagakan lang ng mga proyektong Build, Build, Build ang ekta-ektaryang palayan; Ang busalan ang mga bibig ng pakikibaka upang maipagpatuloy ang kanilang mga pagpapakasasa sa yamang walang tigil na dinadambong at ninanakaw mula sa nagugutom na mamamayan.

“To serve and protect” ba ikamo? Iyan ay hindi totoo sa mga ordinaryong mamamayang naghahangad ng matapat ninyong serbisyo. Ang motto na ito ay para sa inyong mga lider, sa mga naghaharing uri at nakapwesto sa poder, tulad nang ipinakitang layaw ni PNP Chief Carlos, sila ang pinagsisilbihan ninyo.

Ang tunay na pagsisilbi para sa mayorya ng mamamayan ay nakakamit nila mula sa mga tunay na hukbo ng bayan – Ang Bagong Hukbong Bayan. Sa hukbo walang puwang ang pansariling interes. Ang kalooban ng mga hukbo at Partidista ng bayan ay para sa mamamayan. Hindi nila kailangan ang mga medalya, sapat na ang pagbukas ng mga tahanan ng tao para sa kanila at ang simpleng ngiti ng pasasalamat sa kahit na maliit na ipinapakitang kabutihan ng BHB. Alam ng mamamayan na tinalikuran ng kanilang hukbo ang anumang bagay – pagtatapos sa eskwela, layaw, karera at pagpapayaman, maging ang mga sariling pamilya, makapaglingkod lamang sa pinakamamahal na mamamayan. Mulat na tinanggap ng kanilang hukbo ang sakripisyo – buhay man ay ialay, dahil sa pamamagitan nito, makakamit ng mamamayan ang nararapat para sa kanila. Ang tunay na kapayapaan hindi tulad nang sa mga sementeryo, ang tunay na katarungang pumapanig sa mga inaapi at ang tunay na kasaganaang pantay na tatamasahin ng bawat inaalipustang uri. Kasama ng BHB ang masa sa pakikibakang isinusulong nila upang mawakasan na ang pag-iral ng mga mapagsamantala.

Ito ang totoong samahan. Walang gamitan, walang panlalamang. Ang ganansya hindi lang para sa iilan kung hindi para sa higit na nakararami. Kung hindi mo na maatim ang paulit-ulit sa iyong panggagamit ng mga nasa poder, heneral at iyong presidente, bukas ang hukbo para tanggapin ka upang kasama nila, magkasabay ninyong isusulong ang rebolusyon hanggang sa tagumpay!

https://cpp.ph/statements/bukas-na-liham-para-sa-mga-pulis-at-militar/