Palace accepts Chinese shipowner’s apology for Recto Bank mishap

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 28, 2019): Palace accepts Chinese shipowner’s apology for Recto Bank mishap

Malacañang on Wednesday confirmed that it has accepted the apology issued by the owner of the Chinese vessel which rammed into a Philippine fishing boat near the Reed Bank (Recto Bank) last June 9.

“We accept the recent apology extended by the owner of the Chinese vessel to our fishermen affected by the incident,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“We likewise welcome the owner's humility to take responsibility and acknowledgment that compensation must be provided to cover the actual loss,” he added.

In a memorandum penned to Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. which was posted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), a letter from an unnamed association relayed the Chinese shipowner's apologies.

Reports showed that the letter sender came from Chen Shiquin, president of the Guangdong Fishery Mutual Insurance Association.

"It is fortunate that there were no casualties. I feel deep regret that this accident had to happen and I would like to express my deep sympathy to the Filipino fishermen. The shipowner of the Chinese fishing boat involved, through our Association, would like to express his sincere apology to the Filipino fishermen," the memorandum read.

He, however, insisted that despite the accident being “unintentional”, he noted that the Chinese vessel should take the major responsibility in the accident.

He also asked the Philippine government to file a specific appeal for civil compensation based on the actual loss of the Filipinos affected.

In his fifth trip to China from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, Duterte is expected to discuss the Recto Bank incident among other areas of concern with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Panelo said the highlight of the President's visit will be a bilateral meeting with Xi to discuss the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the Philippines and China.

He pointed out that the President also intends to discuss with Xi the crafting of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea and how they can expedite its conclusion.

“The President believes that the absence of the COC that is to be observed by affected countries has caused numerous conflicts in the subject waters that could have been prevented by a document that will regulate their actions. A good example of such conflict would be the maritime incident which transpired a few months ago in Recto Bank,” Panelo said.

Panelo said Duterte is also expected to raise the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) which nullified China’s claims over the disputed waters in relation to the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

He said Duterte and Xi will discuss the conduct and framework of a possible joint oil exploration between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea.

The two leaders would likewise exchange views on fast-tracking the existing big-ticket projects of China in the Philippines and improving trade relations.

The two leaders are also scheduled to witness the signing of cooperative bilateral documents and memoranda of understanding meant to strengthen ties, deepen friendship and enhance diplomacy of both countries.

After his meeting with Xi, Panelo said Duterte will proceed to Guangzhou, accompanied by Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, to watch Gilas Pilipinas in one of their scheduled games during the FIBA World Basketball World Cup.

Aside from Panelo, joining the President’s official delegation are Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato Dela Pena, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera III, and Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078968

Duterte leaves for 5th China visit

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 28, 2019): Duterte leaves for 5th China visit



OFF TO CHINA. President Rodrigo R. Duterte is accorded foyer honors as he prepares to board a plane bound for the People's Republic of China at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on August 28, 2019. Duterte will visit China for the fifth time upon the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. (King Rodriguez/Presidential Photo)

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday night left for his fifth visit to Beijing upon the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s former aide, said the President departed Manila at around 6:45 p.m.

According to a Palace statement, Duterte will meet with Xi in Beijing “to take stock of developments in bilateral relations and in the region”.

“The Leaders are expected to exchange views on further deepening and broadening bilateral engagement in areas of interest to both countries, such as defense and security, infrastructure and development cooperation, and energy, in order to strengthen the Philippines’ and China's Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation,” it added.

Malacañang also bared that several key agreements are expected to be signed during Duterte’s five-day visit.

“Duterte is expected to grace a dinner banquet to be hosted by Xi,” the statement read.

After his engagement with Xi, Duterte will also meet Premier Li Keqiang to agree on ways to intensify Philippines-China economic ties, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and ASEAN-China cooperation.

Finally, Duterte will be received by Vice President Wang Qishan and the top political leaders of Guangdong Province.

Wang will accompany Duterte in watching the first game of the Gilas Pilipinas’ men's team against Italy in the 2019 FIBA World Cup at the Foshan International Sports Cultural Center in Foshan City, Guangdong.

Earlier, Duterte said he would raise the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling with Xi. In 2016, the PCA nullified China’s nine-dash line map covering nearly the entire South China Sea.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte will also bring up the June 9 Recto bank incident where a Chinese vessel rammed and abandoned a Filipino fishing boat; and the 60-40 sharing arrangement on the proposed joint exploration for oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078970

Navy now using one of Hanjin's piers

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 28, 2019): Navy now using one of Hanjin's piers



The Philippine Navy (PN) on Wednesday said it is currently using one of the piers of the debt-ridden shipbuilder, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC-Phil), located in Subic Bay, Zambales.

Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, in a press briefing Wednesday, however, said he is not privy as to the ongoing deals concerning possible takers of the cash-strapped shipbuilder.

"I think that there are countries (proposing to take over). The Secretary of Finance (Carlos Dominguez) is in charge of this one. If that pushes through, the Navy will be a part of the (joint) venture. In fact, we are using as one of (Hanjin's) piers, with permission from RCBC (one of the creditor banks)," he added in mix of English and Filipino.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government could use the Hanjin's facilities to house and repair large Philippine Navy ships.

But he added that prospective investors for the cash-strapped firm should really come from the shipbuilding sector as it will take a lot of money and foreign contacts, to get orders abroad, to make its operations profitable.

HHIC-Phils earlier revealed that it has a total of USD1.3 billion in outstanding loans -- USD400 million from Philippine banks and USD900 million from South Korean lenders.

According to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), HHIC-Phil filed a petition at the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City on January 8 "to initiate voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142, otherwise known as An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals".

With this, the shipbuilder has sought help from the government to find investors that can take over the operation of its shipyard in Subic, as well as to help its employees, who have taken the brunt of the company's financial woes.

In December 2018, the company laid off more than 7,000 workers.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078884

Lumads account for 70 percent of NPA’s fighting force

From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 27, 2019): Lumads account for 70 percent of NPA’s fighting force

About 70 percent of Communist rebels fighting the government come from the indigenous peoples (IP) community.

The Communists collect as revolutionary tax some P1.2 billion per year in region 11 (the Davao provinces).



New People’s Army (MANILA BULLETIN)

These were revealed Tuesday in an interview by The Manila Bulletin, and during a public hearing conducted by the Senate Cultural Communities Committee chaired by Senator Imee R. Marcos on the closure of 55 lumad (IPs) schools in the Davao region.

The so-called “Salugpungan Centers” were reportedly closed because they were already being run by elements of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (NPA).

Three former NPA fighters, one of whom was recruited when he was just five years old, testified before the Marcos committee with two of them admitting having participated in NPA-government firefights.

One of them, Bai Magdalena Iligan, testified that in one such skirmish, she saw a University of the Philippines (UP) student killed.

Iligan said she was recruited at the age of 13, underwent Communist teachings, including military tactics, and joined rallies in Manila.

She escaped from the NPA in 2016 after witnessing the killing by the NPA of her uncle.

Datu Joel Darusay, a former teacher, said many foreigners have gone to the mountains, and later went abroad for financial help.

Datu Awing Apuga, recruited at the age of 5, said those who had been recruited by the NPA used air guns for target shooting practice when they reach the age of seven, and when they reach the age of 10, shift to using M16 rifles.

He said he was first wounded in an encounter when he was 15 years old.

The government will lose if it does not address the needs and concerns of the lumads, warned National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

Allen Capuyan, chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), said the NPA collected the revolutionary taxes in Region 11, which has been experiencing exceptional economic growth.

Capuyan, a retired Army colonel, said he was not sure whether the estimated P1.2 billion revolutionary tax was collected in Region 11 alone.

He, however, said that the scale of government-NPA fighting has been reduced as a result of the government’s cooperation with the community.

Esperon, a former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, said the IPs’ ‘’Salugpugan,’’ a tribal social grouping, had to be stopped to stop the entry of the NPA into schools for IPs.

The Department of Education (DepEd) should be able to reach these schools that are located in the mountains, he pointed out.

Efforts to contain the decades-old Communist insurgency are being conducted by President Duterte who is chairman of this Cabinet-level campaign with Esperon as vice chairman.

The containment campaign includes the infusion of livelihood projects, infrastructure, basic services, TESDA training, education, and health, he said.

He said the government must enter the mass base of the Communists, and face off with those who give financial help to the rebels.

Esperon said nuns and lay leaders have gone to the United States and Europe to solicit funds for the IPs by showing pictures of IPs in not so appealing situation.

Another organization in Brussels had given 15 million Euros to this group of missionaries, he added.

Read more: Fate of child warriors: IP groups march forward for the ‘truth’

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/08/27/lumads-account-for-70-percent-of-npas-fighting-force/

Take up cudgels for grieving mothers, Parlade to Gabriela

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 27, 2019): Take up cudgels for grieving mothers, Parlade to Gabriela



Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations

Dismayed by the baffling silence of militant women's group, Gabriela, over the cases of missing minors reportedly recruited by Anakbayan in various schools in Metro Manila, a ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) on Tuesday urged the group to take up the cudgels for grieving mothers.

Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., who is also Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations, said this lack of response from the group that claims to advocate women's rights and welfare is hard to understand considering that many of them are mothers themselves.

"Amidst this controversy on the missing children recruited by Anakbayan from schools in Manila, Gabriela is surprisingly so quiet. You are mothers too. Say something about the exploitation of these children recruited at ages 16 or even younger. You are showing your true color as allies of Anakbayan and the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army) by not standing up in protest, together with the children's grieving mothers," he said in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency.

If they are really championing the cause of all Filipino women, Parlade said, then it is high time for Gabriela to stand up for 8,635 mothers grieving over the disappearance of their children so that they can all be safely returned home.

"You claim to defend the rights of women. What happened to you? With your timely intervention maybe you can convince your colleagues in Anakbayan and the NPA to return the children alive. It's not too late, I hope," he added.

Parlade added that the AFP and government will do everything it can to return these children safely to their loved ones and provide a better life even if they are already full-time communist rebels.

"They are just kids and they are simply victims of your exploitation. We will offer them safe-conduct passes if they reach out to the nearest parish, barangay official, school official or wherever they will feel safe," he said.

To accomplish this, he made the request that militant human rights group, Karapatan, keep its hands off government efforts to recover the missing minors.

"Our only request is for Karapatan not to intervene, again, like you always do when NPAs get in trouble. Instead, we urge (Karapatan secretary general Cristina) Palabay and Karapatan to look into the summary execution of three non-combatants in Kitaotao, Bukidnon by the NPAs. The three were abducted by the NPAs in 2017 and were recently exhumed,” he said.

He expressed disgust that Karapatan remains mum about the extra-judicial killing of retired policeman Joel Rey Miqu Galendez, Army Sgt. Reynante Havana Espana, and tribal leader Datu Dionisio Camarullo Havana.

He also lambasted members of the Makabayan bloc for not condemning these extra-judicial killings but have the temerity to complain of being "red-tagged" by the government during the budget hearings in Congress.

“It’s your act or inaction that gives away your affiliation with the Reds. It's not us who red-tagged you,” he said.

He added that no one believes the fake advocates of human rights and defenders of justice.

“That is why they target our gullible children aged 13, 14 and 15. How inhumane can you be, Ms. (Sarah) Elago (Kabataan party-list representative) and Mr. (Carlos) Zarate? (Bayan Muna Party-list representative)," he added.

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

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078855

Alleged leftist leader recruited students — Eduardo Año

From the Philippine Star (Aug 28, 2019): Alleged leftist leader recruited students — Eduardo Año

A woman identified as the secretary general of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), who was arrested at a condominium in Quezon City on Monday, was allegedly leading the recruitment of students for the communist movement in Metro Manila, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said yesterday.

He claimed that 60-year-old Esterlita Suaybaguio was handpicked by the CPP central committee to revitalize student, youth and labor recruitment activities for Metro Manila.

“She is one example of a CPP-NPA (New People’s Army) leader masquerading as a peace advocate. She is a party member, NPA rebel yet at the same time an NDF (National Democratic Front) consultant for the failed peace talks,” Año said in a statement.

The police and military arrested Suaybaguio at her safehouse in Escalades Condominum Tower 5 in Cubao, Quezon City. A 9mm pistol, a hand grenade and subversive documents were found in her possession. She was charged with violating Republic Act 10591 for illegal possession of firearms and RA 9516 for illegal possession of an explosive.

According to Año, Suaybaguio was the secretary of the rebel group’s Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee and Komisyon Mindanao (KOMMID) before she transferred to Metro Manila.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said the rebel leader has been staying at the condominium building for two months, renting a unit for at least P30,000 a month.

Karapatan vice chairperson Reylan Vergara said Suaybaguio’s arrest is an example of the government’s militarist campaign to subvert the country’s laws.

Meanwhile, only Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares, Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago and former Akbayan party-list representative Tomasito Villarin personally appeared in yesterday’s preliminary investigation on the recruitment of student Alicia Jasper Lucena to join Anakbayan.

Six others—Charlie del Rosario, Bianca Gacos, Jayroven Villafuente Balais, Anakbayan president Vencer Crisostomo, Anakbayan national secretary general Einstein Recedes, Anakbayan party-list Rep. Alex Danday—were represented by their lawyers during the hearing conducted by Assistant State Prosecutor Christine Perolino.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/08/28/1947019/alleged-leftist-leader-recruited-students-eduardo-ao

Delfin Lorenzana, Makabayan face off at House

From the Philippine Star (Aug 28, 2019): Delfin Lorenzana, Makabayan face off at House

The DND chief stressed that only then will the government stop from tagging the left-leaning party-list groups as communist fronts.  KJ Rosales

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday defended in Congress the inclusion of several militant organizations among targets of the government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

Confronted by party-list lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc during the hearing on the budget of the Department of National Defense, Lorenzana turned the tables and challenged them to condemn the terroristic acts of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

The DND chief stressed that only then will the government stop from tagging the left-leaning party-list groups as communist fronts.

“When (the NPA) burn down equipment, you remain silent. How can we now dissociate you from this communist group?” Lorenzana asked.

“Condemn the CPP-NPA, stop these atrocities. Condemn yung armed struggle and we will also stop what we’re doing,” he said.

Lorenzana made the challenge after Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate slammed the Armed Forced for red-tagging their groups. Aside from the Bayan Muna, the party-list groups Gabriela, Kabataan, and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) have been linked by the government to the CPP-NPA.

“These statements are very dangerous, Mr. Chair, because when we go to our constituents in the regions, because authorities have been spreading rumors that the Bayan Muna and Makabayan bloc are terrorists, we are vulnerable even if we are members of this House,” Zarate said in Filipino.

While the government’s move seeking to classify communist rebels as terrorists is still pending before a local court, Zarate challenged Lorenzana to present evidence to support defense and security officials’ claims that members of the Makabayan bloc have been stirring up trouble in anti-government rallies.

“When are you going to stop this? We are responsible members of this House. Have you seen us cause any trouble?” Zarate argued.

In response, Lorenzana clarified that it was the exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison who first identified the left-leaning groups as the front organizations and “backbone” of the CPP-NPA.

He also revealed that his agency has evidence that the Makabayan groups are being used by the CPP-NPA to strengthen their ranks.

Members of the Makabayan bloc did not respond to Lorenzana’s claims during the hearing, which was cut short as DND officials were invited to a luncheon with Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/08/28/1947010/delfin-lorenzana-makabayan-face-house

Philippines: Third Communist Party Negotiator Arrested

From BenarNews (Aug 27, 2019: Philippines: Third Communist Party Negotiator Arrested

A man holding a rosary raises his fist during a rally in Manila to denounce a wave of killings targeting leftist activists in the central island of Negros Occidental, Aug. 21, 2019.  Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews

Philippine police arrested a third peace negotiator for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as part of a crackdown ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, after four police were killed last month in an ambush in central Negros Oriental province, officials said Tuesday.

Esterlita Suaybaguio, 59, a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), was taken into custody before dawn Monday from her apartment building in Quezon City, a northern Manila suburb, officials said.

Two other consultants, Winona Birondo, 60, and her husband Alexander Birondo, 67, were arrested in July. The three are peace-panel members of the NDFP, the political wing of the CPP, which has been waging a rebellion for the past 50 years.

Metro Manila police director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar alleged that Suaybaguio was the rebel group’s secretary who was wanted in connection with the killing of a police officer last month.

A handgun with seven bullets, a grenade and subversive documents were recovered from the suspect, according Eleazar. He said the authorities acted on a tip.

“We are thankful to our fellow Filipinos who informed the authorities about (her) activities which prompted us to apply for a search warrant,” he said. “Their role is vital in curbing all kind of crimes as well as terror activities.”

NDFP chairman Fidel Agcaoili denounced the latest police action and called on the government to free the three, saying they were covered by an immunity agreement because of their roles on the peace panel.

“Suaybaguio’s arrest is another obstacle to the peace talks which the Duterte regime wants to bury,” Agcaoili said in a statement.

“The Duterte regime remains on a fascist rampage that adds more and more obstacles to the resumption of the peace negotiations with the NDFP,” he said.

President ordered crackdown

Last month, Duterte ordered a nationwide crackdown against communist rebels following the death of four police during a July 18 ambush in Negros Oriental province. The Binondos were taken into custody five days later.

Police arrested the couple after going to their apartment to search for a murder suspect, national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in July.

“During the operation, the couple interfered, assaulted and physically prevented the police officers from arresting a suspect who has a standing warrant of arrest for murder,” Banac said.

The Birondos were brought to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit headquarters, where authorities determined that they allegedly were tied to previous cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Officers returned to the couple’s apartment and found weapons, ammunition and grenades, officials said.

Suaybaguio’s arrest was reported two days after soldiers killed a rebel leader during an encounter in the city of Ozamiz in the southern Philippines that saw the arrests of seven New People’s Army rebels. The NPA is the armed unit of the communist movement.

Shortly after taking office in 2016, President Duterte, a self-described leftist, opened peace talks with the CPP and released dozens of detained insurgent leaders as a goodwill measure.

The relationship soured months later when the rebels were accused of continuing their attacks in remote areas of the country, despite the peace talks.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/negotiator-arrested-08272019113906.html

Opinion: Duterte must outlaw Communist Party, now!

Opinion piece by Rigoberto D. Tiglao posted to the Manila Times (Aug 28, 2019): Duterte must outlaw Communist Party, now!

A MOUNTAIN of evidence has been piling up that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), through its front organizations like Anakbayan, has continued to dupe our gullible youth, barely out of adolescence, to join their long- discredited project to topple our democratic system.

Simply put, they want to install — to be quite frank about it — the mass murderer Jose Ma. Sison as the Filipino “Dear Leader,” or some NPA commander who has spent his adulthood in jungles, the kind of milieu that created the genocidal Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.

Isn’t it such a no-brainer that it is high time this violent organization is outlawed?

With his coalition’s control of Congress and his immense popularity, President Duterte — because of his long stint as Davao City mayor, the only president to have a deep insight into the insurgency and its record of brutality and treachery — would default on his sworn duty to defend the Republic if he cannot get the legislature to reimpose the Anti-Subversion Law, which the opportunist President Fidel Ramos got Congress to repeal in September 1992, three months after he assumed power.

“Opportunist” as Ramos’ overarching interest was for his regime to be politically stable, even at the cost of the Republic’s future.

Nearly three decades after that “experiment” of letting a violent organization be shielded by our own laws, allowing it to continue its killings, why are we so stupid as a nation not to do anything about it?

Window

A window of opportunity has opened for our country to bring an end to this violent rebellion which has resulted in at least 100,000 Filipinos killed, who weren’t even divided — as in the cases of the civil wars in Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960s and say, Myanmar in this era — by the more intractable problems of ethnicity or religion.

It is mostly Sison’s demagoguery and Machiavellian maneuvers — such as his Plaza Miranda bombing operation — that has resulted in so many of our idealistic youth killed, mostly with little military training, in some forgotten rice field or jungle.

I’m sick of reading leftist and naïve bleeding-heart Facebook posts that so and so gave his life to fight the Marcos dictatorship, and to struggle with “workers and peasants” — with no mention at all that they were high-ranking communist cadres or NPA commanders.

Latest issue of Communist newspaper: And they claim they’re not in the schools?

I can give you names of scores of young people who did that, but are now alive and well, and enjoying their grandchildren in middle-class subdivisions: They didn’t join the Communist Party, much less the New People’s Army.

What did they expect the Armed Forces of the Philippines — led by such distinguished generals as Gen. Romeo Espino and even Philippine Constabulary chief Fidel Ramos during Martial Law — to do, that their soldiers would just use tear gas or rubber bullets in confronting in a battlefield NPAs with AK-47s and the Chinese-copied M-14s?

The primordial duty of any nation-state is to defend its existence. This is the reason why all nations in the world each have an army. The communists are threatening our nation-state’s very existence.

CPP Constitution

The CPP’s Constitution very categorically declares that its goal is to overthrow our democratic, republican system using the weapons of “revolutionary armed struggle and the national united front.” Its program declares that this is to be done by building guerrilla fronts “to encircle the cities from the countryside… until it becomes possible to seize power in the cities.”

And what will replace the Philippine Republic, its Congress and Constitution? “The Party as the ruling party, in representation of the working class, shall form the government,” the CPP program declares.

Last year the communists even had the gall to issue a statement — carried by all newspapers — ordering the NPA to attack, that is, to kill without provocation our soldiers and policemen. The statement declared: “ The CPP calls on the NPA to mount tactical offensives across the country in response to the extension of martial law in Mindanao. All NPA units must exert all possible effort to punish the worst fascist units and officers of the AFP…”

Have we become a nation of masochists that we don’t have a law to ban an organization that has declared war on our way of life?

Most countries in the world facing insurgencies led by communists have banned these organizations, as a means of defeating them. Even India declared illegal 10 Maoist parties in 1990. Even former members of the dissolved communist-ruled USSR, such as Ukraine, have criminalized communist parties in their nations. Indonesia’s total ban on the Indonesian Communist Party in 1965 helped it demolish what was then the second biggest communist party (after China’s) in the world. Thailand’s ban on its communist insurgency in the late 1970s, coupled with an amnesty to those who surrendered, defeated the rebellion in a few years.

Many countries even impose criminal penalties on the display — and publishing in media — of the communist hammer-and-sickle symbol.

Consensus

What would such a law banning the CPP accomplish? A lot.

First, laws reflect the national consensus. A law criminalizing the CPP would mean that we as a nation have become so fed up after 50 years of this terrorist organization’s existence and its dragging down of our country’s development, that we want it obliterated from this land.

Second, an anti-communist law would make the incarceration of the CPP’s ranking leaders and even its rank-and-file easier, as it would make it a de facto crime to be a party member. Since the emergence of the Maoists in the 1970s, authorities had to prove that communist leaders and even NPA commanders were involved in homicide and murder, in order for them to be arrested and jailed.

If Sison can be proven here to be a Maoist party member, and therefore in violation of the anti-communist law, the Philippine government can request his extradition from the Netherlands.

The Maoists extensively use the world wide web for its propaganda efforts, as Islamic jihadists do, mainly but not exclusively through the website Philippine Revolution Web Central (https://www.philippinerevolution.info).

If we have a law criminalizing Sison’s party, the government can ask the website’s servers (the outfit that hosts the website for global access) to desist from providing the criminal organization web services, just as most servers in the world have stopped hosting website of Islamic jihadists. That would go a long way in cutting off the party’s propaganda reach, especially to the youth.

And third, a law criminalizing Sison’s party could be part of a broader strategy to finally end this useless, bloody insurgency. It could offer an amnesty to those who admit their membership in the party and register with the government within a specific period of time. That in fact was one of Thailand’s key strategies to defeat its communist insurgency in the 1970s.

It is time for Filipinos to unite against this curse that has been bringing our nation down, which has killed over 100,000 policemen, soldiers and innocent civilians.

Is there any doubt at all that Sison’s CPP has been a criminal organization for 50 years now?

Email: tiglao.manilatimes@gmail.com
Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao
Twitter: @bobitiglao
Book orders: www.rigobertotiglao.com/debunked

https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-must-outlaw-communist-party-now/606971/

NegOcc students urged: ‘Be critical of NPA’s deception’

From Panay News (Aug 28, 2019): NegOcc students urged: ‘Be critical of NPA’s deception’

BACOLOD City – Students must be critical thinkers to distinguish activism from supporting terrorism, Brigadier General Benedict Arevalo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IB) said.

Arevalo underscored this during a forum at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum here on Aug. 24.

He said that this is part of their awareness campaign against the recruitment strategies of the New People’s Army following reports of student organizations across the country being “infiltrated” by the communist rebels.

The government, according to Arevalo, respects the academic freedom and allows students to express what they want and critic the flaws they see in the society.

“However, when a person starts to take up arms or support terrorist organizations that is already against the law and the government will act upon it,” he said.

Invited by the said university as one of the speakers in a security forum, Arevalo showed to the students a 3-minute animated film “Pindoy”, which portrays how the communist rebels encroach universities; mislead, enrage students; and eventually turn them to become NPAs.

“Sadly, statistics tell us that many youth – who joined the NPAs – only perished during encounters with the military,” he said.

Arevalo added the true exercise of academic freedom starts when the military is also heard by the students and faculty about the lies, deceptions and manipulations of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

Negros Occidental is considered a hotbed of insurgency, with the continued presence of the CPP-NPA cadres mainly in the first, fifth and six districts of the province; although the military said their number has dwindled in recent years.

https://www.panaynews.net/negocc-students-urged-be-critical-of-npas-deception/

NDF consultant top Red recruiter in Metro

From the Manila Times (Aug 28, 2019): NDF consultant top Red recruiter in Metro

A peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), who was arrested late Monday in Quezon City, headed the recruitment operations of the communist movement in Metro Manila, the police claimed on Tuesday.

BIG FISH Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde presents Esterlita Suaybaguio Espinosa.
PHOTO BY RUY L. MARTINEZ

Esterlita Espinosa Suaybaguio — alias “Nali,” “Loida,” or “Ester” — 60, is a “big” leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NDF-New People’s Army (NPA), according to National Capital Region Police Office Director Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar.

Suaybaguio headed the NPA’s Regional Party Committee in Metro Manila, the police official said.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde said more NPA leaders would fall as the government presses its campaign against the communists to stamp out insurgency.

“The President said gusto niya tapusin itong insurgency (he wants to end insurgency),” he told reporters in a press briefing.

Albayalde said the PNP was monitoring other NPA leaders hiding in Metro Manila, especially its top officials.

“Malilikot ‘yung mga ‘yan (These leaders are hard to catch),” Albayalde said.

A joint team of the military and police arrested Suaybaguio at Escalades Condominium on the strength of a warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 89 on charges of illegal possession of firearms. Seized from her were a 9 mm pistol, a grenade and subversive documents.

“Malaki ito, remember she was the secretary of Metro Manila Committee, mataas na party leader, malaking tao ito, especially dito sa Metro Manila na ‘white area’ (She is big, she is a high-ranking leader, especially in Metro Manila),” Albayalde said.

White areas are urban centers where the NPA actively recruits new members.

The human rights group Karapatan condemned the arrest of Suaybaguio, saying the firearms seized by authorities were planted.

Quezon City Police Director Joselito Esquivel Jr. dismissed the allegations.

“Lagi naman ‘yan kini-claim nila kapag may nahuhuli (They always claim that when someone’s arrested),” Esquivel said.

Esquivel said the NPA’s goal was to “overthrow the government using violence.”

The police said a concerned citizen tipped authorities on the whereabouts of Suaybaguio, whose arrest was witnessed by village officials.

https://www.manilatimes.net/ndf-consultant-top-red-recruiter-in-metro/607085/

Duterte, Misuari eye ‘bigger’ meetings –­ Go

From the Manila Times (Aug 27, 2019): Duterte, Misuari eye ‘bigger’ meetings –­ Go

President Rodrigo Duterte met anew with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari to advance the peace process in Mindanao, his former top aide Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said on Monday.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte chats with Moro National Liberation Front Founding Chairman Nur Misuari at a meeting at the Malacañan Palace on March 19, 2019.

The meeting between Duterte and Misuari took place in Davao City on Friday night. The two agreed to meet again with “bigger groups” to further discuss the peace agenda, Go said.

“Siguro parang panel na ‘yung makikipag-usap on both sides kung papaano ipagpatuloy ‘yung kapayapaaan sa Mindanao. Tutulong po si Nur Misuari (Maybe panels from both sides will hold talks on how to sustain peace in Mindanao. Nur Misuari will continue to help),” he added.

It was Duterte’s fourth meeting with Misuari this year. They met in Malacañang on February 25, March 19 and July 9.

The Duterte administration is exploring the possibility of creating a regional government in areas under the influence of the MNLF.

The President had repeatedly expressed hope of reaching an agreement with Misuari, who warned of war should government fail to pursue a shift to federalism.

Early this month, Duterte said he was hoping that Misuari would accept “the same terms” given to Murad Ebrahim, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) interim chief minister.

BARMM was created through the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, a product of peace negotiations between the government and MILF.

The MILF split from the MNLF in the 1980s over leadership disagreements.

https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-misuari-eye-bigger-meetings-go/606424/

Lorenzana ‘rattled’ when quizzed about Balikatan budget — Gabriela solon

From Politiko (Aug 27, 2019): Lorenzana ‘rattled’ when quizzed about Balikatan budget — Gabriela solon



Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas quizzed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday about the budget spent by his department in the Balikatan military exercises with the United States.

But the Makabayan lawmaker was not pleased with Lorenzana’s answers, saying he appeared “rattled” by the question.

Brosas had asked Lorenzana if the DND spent any funds for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the US.

“None, your honor. The funding there is the sole responsibility of the United States,” Lorenzana said.

Brosas then asked how many exercises the Philippines and the US military engaged in. Lorenzana said there were 250 exercises, including small tabletop exercises.

Lorenzana said the DND did not spend much on the US-Philippines military exercises, as the US shouldered much of the cost.

Brosas said it was a shame Lorenzana “failed to answer even the most basic questions on the department’s budget breakdown for foreign engagements and peace support operations.”

“It is even more alarming that Sec. Delfin Lorenza seems to be rattled when asked about the Balikatan exercises’ fund which was conducted last April 2019,” she said.

“He said that the government did not spend a single centavo which is impossible considering that Balikatan 2019 is one of the biggest in the project’s history,” Brosas said.

https://politics.com.ph/lorenzana-rattled-when-quizzed-about-balikatan-budget-gabriela-solon1/

This beauty queen just joined the Army reserve force

From ABS-CBN (Aug 27, 2019): This beauty queen just joined the Army reserve force

Zahra Bianca Saldua is crowned Miss Air Philippines during the finals night of Miss Earth Philippines in May 2018. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Zahra Bianca Saldua, who was crowned Miss Air Philippines in the national Miss Earth pageant in 2018, has joined the Philippine Army reserve force.

Saldua shared the personal achievement in a Facebook post on Monday, saying she is now a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Reserve Component.

“Since I was in college being part of ROTC, I always wanted to serve our country. I always wanted to help the people and I wanted to be a part of the future of the Philippine Army being its representative to the public.

“I have been with the Army for 3 years as their host for many events and saw the love they have for the country and its people. This a dream come true for me and I hope I can influence more of our youth to serve the people as well,” she wrote.

Zahra Bianca Saldua

on Sunday

Happy 123rd National Heroes Day!

Allow me to re-introduce myself.
2nd Lieutenant Zahra Bianca Saldua of the Philippine Army. 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
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According to Saldua, she made her first steps to become part of the Army in 2016, when she was tapped to host the Senior Leaders’ Conference of the group.

She went on to thank Army officers who “helped me throughout this process and all those who are welcoming me as well and pushing me to make better contributions to our society.”

“I am honored and humbled by this experience,” she wrote.

Saldua’s announcement coincided with National Heroes Day. In light of the occasion, she also paid tribute to the “brave men and women, the unsung heroes of our nation” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/08/26/19/this-beauty-queen-just-joined-the-army-reserve-force

Philippine military vows to crush Abu Sayyaf militant group this year

From Xinhua (Aug 26, 2019): Philippine military vows to crush Abu Sayyaf militant group this year

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vowed on Monday to crush the Abu Sayyaf group by December this year, saying it is about time to wipe out the armed group which has been sowing terror in the southern Philippines for decades.

Army Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the AFP's Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte "has issued an order to finish the Abu Sayyaf problem" before the end of 2019.

Sobejana said a "substantial" number of troops, and air and naval assets have been deployed in Sulu over the past months to crush the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group that carried out deadly bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings in the southern Philippines.

However, Sobejana did not give the exact figures of the troops and assets.

The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group bases in the waters off the west coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, but has also conducted cross-border operations into eastern Malaysia.

The group, which has been terrorizing the Philippine southern region since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands.

To fight the elusive Abu Sayyaf terrorists, Sobejana said the troops are collaborating with local government officials and residents to hasten the defeat of the Abu Sayyaf.

"We're getting (the people's) support. Hopefully, before the end of the year, we're going to wipe them out or we can solve the Abu Sayyaf problem which started in 1990," he added.

On Aug. 8, Duterte ordered the Philippine National Police to recruit and train up to 10,000 elite special action forces to fight the growing threat of Islamic State-affiliated terror groups that are trying to establish a front in the Philippines.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/26/c_138339998.htm