New Zealand tags CPP-NPA international terror organizations

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 12, 2010) – New Zealand has blacklisted the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, adding the two organizations in its international terrorist groups.

The CPP and NPA were among six other international terrorist groups – Indian Mujahideen, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the military wing of Hamas (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades), the Real Irish Republican Army, the Continuity Irish Republican Army and Hizbollah's military wing (the Islamic Resistance) – that have been designated under New Zealand's Terrorism Suppression Act.

Prime Minister John Key said the designations help implement New Zealand's international obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which aims to prevent the activities of terrorists.

He said all seven entities had carried out terrorist acts, including the indiscriminate killing of civilians.

"As a result of the designations, any assets held by the groups and found in New Zealand, either now or in future, will be frozen, and it will be a criminal offence to deal with property, or make property or financial services available, to the entities," Key said.

Under New Zealand’s Terrorism Suppression Act, other support such as fund-raising and recruiting or harboring terrorists is a criminal offence, regardless of whether a group is designated as a terrorist entity or not.

Key said the designations were part of the New Zealand’s support for the building of an international defense against terrorist activities. Nearly 500 terrorist groups and individuals are now listed in New Zealand.

The CPP and the NPA are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Philippine authorities have repeatedly accused the two organizations of terrorism and murdering innocent civilians suspected of spying for the government or those who refused to join the rebel group in the provinces.

There were no immediate statement from either the CPP or the NPA, or the Philippine military about the designations, but rebels are expected to condemn the terror tag, which came as Manila proposed to resume peace talks with communist leaders.

Peace talks between Manila and the CPP collapsed in 2004 after rebel leaders accused then President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners in the country and for the government to put a stop to extrajudicial killings victimizing political activists.

The communist insurgency in the Philippines, the longest in the world, had killed hundreds of thousands of people during the last four decades. The United States and European Union have previously tagged the CPP and the NPA as international terrorist organizations. (Mindanao Examiner)

State agents accused of defacing campaign posters of leftist lawmakers in Mindanao

Photos released by the Makabayan Cotabato show one of two men it accused of defacing campaign posters of Representatives Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza in Cotabato City in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 26, 2010) – Two progressive party list groups accused state agents of defacing campaign posters of its two senatorial candidates in the southern Philippines.

Jayvee Apiag, secretariat of Makabayan Cotabato, an alliance of progressive political groups, said volunteers of Bayan Muna and Kabataan party lists, caught two men over the weekend defacing posters of Representatives Liza Maza and Satur Ocampo in Cotabato City.

He said the men also posted signs tagging the two candidates and their organizations as communist groups. Ocampo who belongs to Bayan Muna and Maza, a member of the GABRIELA party list group, are both political activists.

The military previously tagged the two lawmakers as communists and their organizations as front of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines. The two had previously denied military accusations against them and branded them as black propaganda.

“We are once again being maltreated for carrying a political platform that promotes fundamental human and democratic rights, for leading mass struggles against oppression and exploitation and for using the ballot to elect patriotic and pro people candidates.”

“What transpired shows that the Arroyo regime is very frantic in trying to stop progressive candidates from pursuing politics of change; that the government and its allies will never cease its time worn fascist tactics and smear campaign against progressive party lists and candidates so as to triumph on Oplan Zero Scheme,” Apiag said.

“Oplan Zero Scheme” refers to a supposed secret military campaign to deny or prevent leftist personalities from winning in next month’s general elections.

Apiag said they have photographs of one of the two men who were caught defacing the campaign posters of Ocampo and Maza. The second man escaped after volunteers of Bayan Muna and Kabataan party list groups accosted them.

“When being confronted, the civilian avoided questions and rushed on a green multi-cab vehicle with license plate number LFX 739 where his companion is waiting for him and hurried their way to Notre Dame Avenue fly-over. Makabayan has documented the scenario,” he said.

Apiag said the two men were state agents. He said they would file charges against the two men for violating the Omnibus Election Code. “We will file formal complaints against agents of state for violating the election laws and for denying us our right to campaign freely, free from any form of harassments, duress and threats,” he said.

Early this month, the militant group called Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, also accused government soldiers of actively campaigning against progressive party list organizations.

It said government soldiers are conducting vilification campaign in Davao City after political activists chanced upon members of the 69th Infantry Battalion campaigning against progressive party list groups at the Philippine College of Technology.

The military also tagged the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan as a communist front accused it and other leftist party list organizations of misusing its congressional funds to the point that it cannot even provide even a piece of door for a school in Davao City.

“Dirty propaganda will not succeed for as long as this corrupt government fails in uplifting people’s lives from dire poverty," said John Birondo, a spokesman for the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.

“These dirty verbal attacks against us will fail to gain people’s sympathy; we will not tolerate these lies sowed by the military because it is pure deception,” he said.

Birondo said soldiers urged students not to join or support progressive groups, particularly Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and GABRIELA, which advocates for women’s issues.

GABRIELA is the acronym of General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action.

“The military accused progressive party lists of corrupting ‘pork barrel’ funds in Congress, a move in direct violation of the election code which prohibits the Armed Forces of the Philippines from partisan politics and partisan campaigning,” Birondo said.

Pork barrel refers to the Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF amounting to P200 million pesos for each senator and P70 million for each congressman.

The PDAF makes possible the implementation, in every congressional district, of small-scale but significant projects which can not be part of large-scale projects of national agencies. These projects are generally in the form of infrastructure, health, education and social aid packages.

Ariel Casilao, a regional coordinator of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Mindanao, said: “The military is desperate in preventing us from pushing reforms in the government; it being the mouthpiece of this corrupt and bankrupt government."

Casilao described the military as “mad dogs,” and denied accusations that the progressive party lists have misused pork barrel fund. “The military is so frantic because it failed in their counter-insurgency program, the Oplan Bantay Laya and this is the reason why the military establishment is hell-bent in sowing lies and deception against legitimate people’s organizations and progressive party lists,” he said.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan strongly denied it was misusing pork barrel funds.

It said President Arroyo stopped approving medical, education and infrastructure projects from progressive party list groups, including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, after it pursued impeachment cases against the President in the past in connection to corruption scandals in the government.

“Everybody knows that Malacanang has stopped approving referrals from progressive party list for medical, education, and infrastructure projects since Bayan Muna and the other groups filed for Gloria’s impeachment. What is even worthy is that despite this fact, progressive party list organizations have continued to expand and consolidate its ranks and provide ample services to the vast majority through sheer hard work and principled alliance with other political groups over the last five years,” Birondo said.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division denied it was campaigning against progressive party list groups, including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and GABRIELA, but admitted embarking on an information drive exposing alleged links of these organizations to the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army which is actively operating in Davao City and other parts of Mindanao.

“The military is not campaigning against progressive party list organizations or other political groups, but we are just continuing our information drive exposing the links of these militant groups to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army rebels,” said Army Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel. “It is up to the public to decide who to vote for in the coming national elections. We are non-partisan.”

She also said militant groups are fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army based on documents recovered by security forces from captured rebel camps in Mindanao.

The NPA is fighting the past decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Government peace talks with the rebels collapsed in 2001 after the communist group accused President Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Top NPA rebels arrested in Mindanao

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 3, 2010) – Philippine authorities have captured two senior communist rebel leaders who are long wanted for a string of criminal charges at a military checkpoint in Mindanao, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said security forces detained Maria Luisa Purcray and Allen Solis after they were held Tuesday afternoon at a government checkpoint on a highway near the village of Dicayo in Zamboanga del Norte’s Katipunan town.

“Their capture is a big blow to the rebel group. They are being investigated by authorities,” First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

She said a hand grenade and subversive documents were seized from Purcray and Solis, who are both senior leaders of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

The military said Purcray is the current leader of the CPP’s North Central Mindanao Regional Party Committee, while Solis is a senior staff of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee.

Purcray is included in the military’s most wanted list and has a P2.6-million bounty for her capture, according to Cacho.

It was unknown whether the two was traveling on a private vehicle or not and where they were heading to, but NPA rebels are actively operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula which covers the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga City.

There was no immediate statement either from the CPP or the NPA.

Last week, troops also captured a senior NPA leader, Elizalde Canete, after a running gun battle in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao. Three rebels were also killed in the fighting which broke out Sunday in the village of Sarmiento in Laak town, said Major General Carlos Holganza, a regional army commander.

A government soldier and two rebels were also wounded in the firefight, he said.

Canete is facing a string or criminal charges from multiple murders to robbery and homicide, the general said.

The fighting erupted after members of the Army Special Forces spotted the rebels and a firefight ensued.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past five decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Becky de Asis contributed to this report)

Army finishes peace, development projects in Mindanao; rebels howl propaganda

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 12, 2010) – The Philippine Army on Tuesday said it finished more than P76 million worth of peace and development projects in Mindanao, but communist rebels branded them as propaganda and part of Manila's anti-insurgency campaign.

The 10th Infantry Division said a total of 59 projects were completed by soldiers under the so-called Kalayaan sa Barangay Program in Davao region last year. It said soldiers finished many 16 farm-to-market roads, 13 school buildings, 13 rural electrification projects and 14 water systems, including 3 day care centers.

“Elements of 10th Infantry Division together with the Army Engineer Battalions and different support units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines spearheaded the implementation of these projects in coordination and support of local government units, non-government and people’s organizations and other stakeholders, particularly the civilians,” said Captain Emmanuel Garcia, an army spokesman.

He said Compostela Valley province, a known stronghold of communist rebels, has the most number of development projects, followed by Davao del Norte province.

Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, said the overwhelming support of the citizens to the government’s peace and development efforts played a crucial role in the completion of the projects. “This is a proof of the sincerity of the government to bring much needed infrastructures for our people in the countryside,” Holganza said.

He also lauded the soldiers for their hard work and dedication to the peace efforts in Mindanao.

“Our soldiers deserve our admiration as they tirelessly carried on their tasks in implementing the KBP projects in the countryside where continued threats of saboteurs are present. The local government units, line government agencies, the local residents and other stakeholders also deserve our praise for their inspiring support. They are the true heroes in these endeavors,” Holganza said.

The KBP projects are infrastructures being implemented nationwide by the Armed Forces of the Philippines through funds coming from the Department of National Defense. It is line with the government’s peace and development initiative focused on national priority areas where the presence of threats to national development is strongly felt.

Communist rebels have recently accused the military of embarking on a massive propaganda in Mindanao aimed at targeting the New People’s Army and leftist organizations as part of the government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

The NPA branded as propaganda the Philippine Army’s ACEs or Army's Concern for the Environment, Army's Concern for Engineering, Army's Combat Excellence and Advocacy for Credible Elections.

“The fascist Philippine Army's recently pronounced four ACEs is only a preliminary propaganda purveyed by its chief, the notorious Lieutenant General Delfin Bangit,” said Rubi del Mundo, a rebel spokesman.

“The Philippine Army's Concern for Engineering means it will intensify its ‘winning the hearts and minds campaign’ through hard projects or road construction in areas where both United States and the Philippine Government have economic interests and where revolutionary movements such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front are strong. These projects are part of its psychological war tactics in counter-insurgency operations and belie the sincerity of the Philippine government in delivering social services, which should otherwise be carried out by civilian institutions of government,” Del Mundo said.

The NPA has been fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between rebels and the government failed in 2004 after the NPA accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners and to put a stop to extrajudicial killings of activists in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 soldiers, village chieftain killed in rebel ambush in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 22, 2009) – Communist rebels killed 2 government soldiers and a village chieftain in ambush Wednesday in Compostela Valley province in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the attack occurred at around 10.30 a.m. in the village of Banlag in Monkayo town. The trio was on a motorcycle on their way to a meeting with other village leaders when New People’s Army rebels attacked them, said Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

“The soldiers and the local chieftain were about to meet other village officials in relation to the development projects to be done in the said place when the incident happened,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.

She identified the slain soldiers as Sergeant Wendell Salva and Corporal Pancrasio Catubig while the village chieftain as Juan Bacharo.

Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, a regional army commander, branded the attack as treacherous and said the soldiers were on a mission of peace.

“We cannot tolerate these kinds of individuals who victimize the civilians and taking our country hostage by destroying development projects and killing innocent lives who are trying to uplift the living of the people in the countryside.”

“They do not distinguish between armed and unarmed individuals. They repeatedly violated the Principles of Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law.” Mapagu said.

The attack came after Manila and the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines announced the resumption of the stalled peace talks this year. The rebels have been fighting for the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Commies now ready to talk peace with Manila

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels said they are resuming formal peace talks with Manila next month, five years after the negotiations collapsed.

Luis Jalandoni, head of the communist peace panel, said preparations are being made by both sides for the resumption of formal talks in Oslo, Norway next month.

“On behalf of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, I wish to announce that preparations are being made by the Negotiating Panels of the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for the resumption of formal talks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway sometime in August 2009.”

“The GRP and NDFP Negotiating Panels have agreed on the implementation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees for the purpose of enabling persons covered by JASIG to participate in the preparatory meeting and formal talks of the aforesaid parties in August. Legal teams of the two panels are currently working and cooperating to ensure the implementation of the JASIG,” Jalandoni said.

He said both the peace panels have also agreed to exchange within this month a joint statement containing the agenda and points of agreement in the formal talks.

Norway, which is brokering the peace talks, helped negotiators meet June 15 in The Hague to discuss the preparations for the resumption of formal talks, according to Jalandoni.

It was unknown if communist rebels would sign a case-fire agreement with the government or not.

The United States listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and their armed wing, the New People’s Army as a foreign terrorist organization on Manila’s prodding after the peace talks collapsed. The European Union also blacklisted the three groups.

The NPA accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on an agreement that would free political prisoners and stop the killings of activists in the country, among others.

Secretary Avelino Razon, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, on Wednesday said the government is ready to resume formal talks with communist and Muslim rebels in an effort to end decades of bloody secessionist war in the country.

Razon’s call came Razon’s announcement came after a series of recent bombings blamed by the police and military to the MILF killed six people and wounded dozens more in the southern Philippines.

Government peace talks with the NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement that will put an end to four decades of bloody fighting in the country.

Peace talks also with the MILF also in August last year after the failed signing of the Muslim ancestral domain. The MILF said Arroyo reneged on a deal that would have granted to some four million Muslims their own homeland in Mindanao. But the Supreme Court said the agreement was unconstitutional.

“After 40 years of fighting, it’s time we give peace a chance,” Razon said. “The government sees a good prospect for the resumption of the talks in the immediate period given the commitment of both parties to work in addressing the issues that clog the negotiating table.”

Razon said the Arroyo government is determined to end the fighting not only in Mindanao, but all other conflict areas in the country. He said the government would like to see a conclusion of the peace process, particularly with the MILF and the NPA rebels by 2010 as envisioned by Arroyo.

Razon also said that the government has intensified its rehabilitation and development projects in Mindanao and other rebel-influenced areas. But rebels said continued government offensive resulted in a humanitarian crisis and unabated human rights violations against Muslims. (Mindanao Examiner)

Top NPA leader falls in Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 1, 2009) – Security forces captured a senior leader of the New People’s Army in the southern Philippines, where military operations against the Maoist rebel group is continuing, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said Dennis Paradero Rodinas was captured on Monday in a village called Villaba in Tangub City in Misamis Occidental province, but his arrest was only announced two days later because of an ongoing operation to capture other rebel leaders.

Rodinas is a leader of the NPA forces in Westerm Mindanao and holds a critical position in the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines in the region.

First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional army spokeswoman, said policemen, backed by soldiers, captured Rodinas during a combat operation launched by the Army’s 55th Infantry Battalion and the 10th Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police.

“It was the result of a long surveillance operation. His capture is a big blow to the NPA in Western Mindanao. Troops also recovered from Rodinas were explosives’ components, a laptop, five units of cellular phones, a palmtop and subversive documents,” Cacho told the Mindanao Examiner.

She did not say whether Rodinas engaged the soldiers in a firefight or had been captured in his hideout.

Cacho claimed the rebel leader was also behind several murders in the province, including the killing of pro-government militia Ernesto Gumilid last month in the town of Clarin. “We have filed murder charges and illegal possession of explosives in court against Rodinas,” Cacho said.

The NPA is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.

Peace talks between Manila and the rebel leaders collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign a deal that would end the world’s longest running communist insurgency. (Mindanao Examiner)

Reds vow justice for abducted Filipino activist

Photos of victims of extra-judicial killings and abducted political activists during an interfaith rally in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 28, 2009) – Communist rebels vowed to exact justice against government soldiers tagged as behind the abduction of a peasant activist Jonas Burgos in the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) also condemned Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo for promoting three military officials allegedly involved in the disappearance of Burgos in April 2007.

“Arroyo's promotion of lieutenant colonels Noel Clement, Melquiades Feliciano and Edison Caga to full colonel only shows how she rewards fascist scoundrels who carry out with impunity her policy of state terrorism. She has demonstrated her complete disdain of human rights.”

“The promotion of these three military officers is in outright contempt of the aggrieved family, friends and advocates to the cause of Jonas Burgos,” the CPP said in a statement.

It said the three officials belong to the Philippine Army's 56th Infantry Battalion based in Bulacan’s Norzagaray town.

“They have been directly named as respondents in the habeas corpus case filed by the Burgos family. The pieces of evidence against the three include the license plate TAB 194 of a jeep impounded at their headquarters in Norzagaray. The license plate was seen attached to the van used in the abduction of Burgos,” the CPP said.

“The revolutionary forces will not tire in their efforts to achieve justice. Sooner or later, these fascists will pay for their crimes,” the CPP said.

The NPA is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine military reacts on Solidarity Mission reports, OB list

CPP/NPA demoralized, ISM on the rescue.

Press Release
May 19, 2009

The International Solidarity Mission (ISM) came in town to rescue the demoralized CPP/NPA in the area, and raised recycled communist propaganda to disrupt our operations.

The 10th Infantry Division is gaining more support from the local executives and the populace who are tired of the CPP/NPA’s anti-development and criminal activities.

The BDS: effective against CPP/NPA

The Local Government Code (RA 7160) provides the legal basis for the Barangay Defense System (BDS). Section 387 provides that a barangay may organize its own Lupong Tagapamayapa to ensure peace and order in the community. Further, as the need arises, the barangay may organize community brigades or similar organization that can help in facilitating the peace and order in their barangay.

The establishment of a BDS is initiated by the barangay populace through its barangay council. It comes from a collective realization that a common requirement for peace and order can be best achieved through collective but voluntary participation.

It has a historical perspective, tracing back to the ancient times of the Romans, when ordinary citizens would normally work during the day, but would come to the defense of their country (community) when their security was under threat.

The BDS also comes from a practical perspective. Though it is the mandate of the AFP and PNP to protect the community, they can better perform their mandate when their functions are complemented with community participation.

The BDS is unarmed, and it is neither designed nor capable to fight the insurgents, contrary to the allegations of its detractors. What the BDS provides is an organizational structure that promotes continuing awareness of people’s responsibility to actively assist in peace and order, by active monitoring and reporting of suspicious criminal elements in the community. What is wrong with that?

The BDS is under attack by the CPP/NPA because it has insulated the barangays from communist infiltration/re-infiltration. Barangays previously affected by CPP/NPA deception, agitation and coercion and with established BDS have become immune from re-infiltration, owing to people’s participation in community defense and arising from their awareness of the communist menace.

The CPP/NPA, through its front organizations, is very vocal against the BDS because the BDS has caused them to lose their mass bases, where they used to get their logistical and other needs. The increasing number of surrenderees can be directly attributed to the BDS.

For 2009 so far, 71 NPAs have surrendered to 10th ID. Likewise the increasing flow of information from the communities have enabled the military/police to react more effectively to reports of insurgent presence, resulting in increased encounters that caused casualties mostly from the rebel side.

In short, the BDS has proven to be one of the most effective countermeasures against the CPP/NPA. Clearly, the reaction of the front organizations against the BDS betrays their links to the CPP/NPA.

The BDS is also a mechanism where the community responds to all forms of criminality and help in all endeavors of the community such as disaster rescue and relief efforts. The BDS can also be a forum for noble advocacies such as care for the environment, sanitation and the like.

As long as the people see the need for a structure like the BDS for their security and well-being, they will support it, and it is government’s duty to ensure that the people gets all the support and the protection, mainly from the military and the police, and the local governments, so that their aspirations for peace and security can be achieved.

Order of Battle (OB) is not a target list

As to the purported document that details the tagging and killings, it is preposterous and unbelievable, for how can we document something that does not exist? The allegation is nothing but recycled communist propaganda.

While we deny that the alleged document, distributed by Satur Ocampo to various media outfits, is from 10ID, it is a fact that some militant groups are indeed under the United Front of the CPP. This was declared by no less than Jose Maria Sison many years ago in a video taken in Utrecht, Netherlands. Likewise, rebel surrenderees for the past decades have proven such alliance.

The 10ID has its Order of Battle, and it is not for public consumption. It requires thorough confirmation and validation from different law enforcement agencies, and from various sectors and stakeholders who are the ones providing the information about the people and organizations that may in one way or the other, wittingly or unwittingly, become involved in the CPP’s grand design.

An “order of battle” does not target individuals; it is mainly an assessment of the general threat to national security. What the ISM presented is not a list of targets, but that is how they want the public to see it, so that unsolved/unexplained killings can be attributed to the military. They presented the list to create confusion and paranoia and eventually agitate the people to go against the military.

“Ambush me”

A certain Liza Alo, a former union leader, was reportedly ambushed. Reliable reports revealed that she was a union leader a long time ago and her organization had long been inactive until the time the ISM arrived in COMVAL.

When asked, she is not even sure if the three people on board the motorcycle were chasing her. Alo said that she did not report the incident because she does not trust the authorities, but she “volunteered” to be interviewed by media. Looks like it was an “ambush” that only she knows, but her story landed in the ISM report.

The CPP/NPA admitted killing many civilians on mere suspicion and without due process. It is the CPP/NPA that has adopted a policy using violence, atrocities and lies.

The ISM is a solidarity of front organizations and simply aimed against 10ID and it was designed to assist the CPP/NPA. Amidst that, the troops under 25th Infantry Battalion assisted them by providing security. In fact, Diwata Barangay Captain Franco Tito said that he posed for posterity, and exchanged pleasantries with the ISM delegates and the soldiers and he saw the activities in the area culminated well without any untoward incident, contrary to the ISM report.

The CPP/NPA is almost dismantled in Region XI that is why they have to organize a high profile “mission” to drum up these issues. They failed miserably to catch people’s attention.

They did not see or feel the support of the people that is why they have to resort to this recycled matter on the military target list. Instead of continuing the armed struggle, the CPP must accept defeat now, and heed the call for peace and reconciliation, so that our country can move forward.

The freedom of these groups to air their stand on various issues is proof that democracy is very much alive, that government tolerates dissent, and that there is no policy to neutralize them.

"10th ID priority thrusts"

The 10th ID focuses its efforts on neutralizing only the NPA, particularly by inviting the NPA to avail the Social Integration Program (SIP) of the government, wherein former rebels get financial and livelihood assistance in exchange for their firearm and for leaving the movement.

Likewise, day-in, day- out, the troops of 10ID are busy helping communities through development projects. The 10ID reiterates its call for the local CPP/NPA members to avail of the government programs that will help them start normal, productive lives in our democratic society.

LT COL KURT A DECAPIA GSC (INF) PA
Chief, Division Public Affairs Office
10th Infantry (AGILA) Division, Philippine Army
Davao City

Philippine rebels vow to seek justice for brutal murder of leader's daughter

Some 3,000 people join Rebelyn Pitao's funeral march in Davao City. (AKP Images)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 15, 2009) – Communist rebels on Wednesday vowed to seek to justice for the brutal murder of a young Filipino woman by government soldiers.

Rebelyn Pitao, 20, was abducted in Davao City in the southern Philippines on March 4 and her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her body bore torture marks and was believed raped before she was stabbed in the chest.

She was a teacher by profession, who led a simple and quiet life with her family in Davao City.

Some 3,000 people joined her funeral march. Many were chanting anti-government slogan and blaming the military for the murder of the woman, whose father Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, is chieftain of the New People’s Army (NPA) Pulang Bagani Command.

Pitao tagged 11 military agents as behind the murder, an accusation strongly denied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Today we are remembering Rebelyn on the 40th day of her violent death. We grieve her passing and are united in fighting for justice for a beloved daughter, friend and teacher. With the same purpose, we are also fighting for justice for all victims of state terrorism under Gloria Arroyo,” he said.

He said the past few weeks after the murder of her daughter, the state has engaged in a deceptive campaign in an attempt to pacify the people's outrage on the savage murder of Rebelyn.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division and the Eastern Mindanao Command have repeatedly denied any involvements of soldiers to the murder. Police also put up Task Force Rebelyn which is investigating the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

But Pitao said the police task force is insignificant.

“Its sole purpose is to do the bidding of the criminal Arroyo regime. It has only proven the public perception that it was hastily set up to instantly absolve the criminal agents of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP for masterminding and executing Rebelyn's abduction, torture, rape and murder,” he said.

“The Zarzuela of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP during the Commission on Human Rights public hearing and the lies it has propagated related to Rebelyn's death are just the tip of the rottenness of the AFP organization. The duplicity and criminal deeds of Arroyo's running dogs has long been exposed here in Southern Mindanao. It comes as no surprise that the rotten state is not on the people's side, but on the executioners, the killers, the minions of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP,” he said.

The NPA has ordered the arrest of all those involved in the killing of the woman while the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) also held Arroyo and the AFP responsible for the murder.

“These fascist agents are believed to have carried out this dastardly crime in accordance with instructions from higher ups in their desperate campaign to shatter the determination of Kumander Parago and his fellow NPA Red fighters in advancing the people’s revolution. These suspects should be sought and arrested so they could undergo investigation by duly authorized revolutionary authorities and face criminal charges.”

The CPP said the murder of Pitao’s daughter highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war.

“Ultimately, it is Gloria Arroyo and her top fascist henchmen who are to blame for the crimes against Rebelyn Pitao. Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 has long regarded civilians as targets of military operations including killings, abductions, torture and other forms of fascism. This has now been most hideously extended to apply as well to loved ones and relatives of armed revolutionaries the fascists cannot get hold of,” the CPP said.

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government anti-insurgency campaign in the country.

As for Pitao, he said: “The people have long despised Arroyo, the mastermind of the killings, the chief implementer of the counter-revolutionary Oplan Bantay Laya, and the main representative of the rotten social system.

Arroyo's criminal regime and its running dogs are extremely isolated from the people.”
He said that genuine justice can only be achieved through revolutionary struggle.

”The revolutionary legal and judicial processes of the people's government, the continued strengthening of the people's revolutionary government in the countryside and the tactical offensives of the New People's Army strongly serve the people's interest and the interest of genuine justice,” he said.

Communist rebels broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States listed the communist groups as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on government's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)

10 wounded in Maoist rebel attacks in the southern Philippines

A file photo of the KIA KM450 truck, also known as M715 truck.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 30, 2009) – Communist rebels ambushed a military convoy and raided a police station in separate attacks and wounding at least 10 people in the southern Philippines.

New People’s Army rebels detonated a roadside bomb while the military convoy was passing on a village in Paquibato District in the outskirts of Davao City on Thursday.

“Seven infantry soldiers were wounded in the landmine attack,” an army spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the soldiers also exchanged automatic gunfire with at least 5 rebels, but there were no reports of NPA casualties.

The soldiers were traveling on a convoy of eight KM450 trucks when the rebels detonated a landmine, he said. “One truck was destroyed in the blast,” he said.

Another group of NPA rebels also raided a police station in South Cotabato’s Tampakan town later in the day. At least 3 policemen were reported wounded in the raid.

The attacks coincided with demands by NPA to free three rebels arrested by government soldiers on January 26 in Compostela Valley province. Rebel leaders said the trio Ruel Cabales, 41; Nelson Carvajosa, 35; and Catherine Cacdac, 31 was abducted by soldiers.

“The January 26 incident is a blatant abduction. The 10th Infantry Division which prides itself on torturing captured NPA combatants and finishing off NPA hors de combat employs treachery and makes a mockery of the international humanitarian law and the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.”

“We demand that the 10th Infantry Division surface Ka Rael, Ka Janggo and Ka Kulay, and to treat their captives humanely according to universally acceptable norms and to desist from subjecting the said NPA cadres to barbaric and inhuman torture,” said Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman.

Last year, the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines have ordered the NPA to intensify attacks as part of its new offensive, whose main purpose it said, is to seize weapons and increase the number of rebel forces in the country.

he CPP broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States listed the communist groups as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on government's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: NPA Posters Fill Sidewalk In Mindanao

Posters of the communist New People's Army rebels adorn Monday, December 29, 2008 a sidewalk near a commuter bus depot in Kidapawan City in the southern Philippines. The rebels recently celebrated their 40th founding anniversary. The NPA is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the Philippines.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geonarri Solmerano)

Moro rebels reject offer by communist insurgents to jointly fight Arroyo government

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

40th Founding Anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)

40th Founding Anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP): Celebrating Forty Years of Continuous Denial of A Better Way of Life for Every Filipino by Col. Daniel A. Lucero

As the Communist Party of the Philippines celebrates its 40th founding anniversary, it highlights as it always does, its propaganda that it is fighting to achieve an equitable society through a democratic political system for the Filipino Nation.

Just like any insurgent group, the CPP, with its armed component, the New People’s Army (NPA) and its mass base organizer, the National Democratic Front (NDF), continues to promise anything to advance its political cause without any obligation and responsibility to prove it. It still uses the usual deceptive measures such as lying, cheating and exaggerating hoping that these can undermine the government’s credibility and press forward its political and social ambitions.

A case in point of this observation is the recent condemnation against the Philippine Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion based in Aurora Province which is another clear media trick initiated by the NDF, and supported by the proposal of the Multi-Sectoral Action Group of Aurora submitted to the Commission of Human Rights for the closure of the battalion’s camps in Aurora.

It speaks well of the NDF’s influence over an unsuspecting non-government organization. The Philippine Army has been positively receptive of any criticism from the public hoping that this can improve the delivery of its sworn security contract with the Filipino Nation. However, any request for a pullout of an army’s encampment is seen rather as a move of a local terrorist group to get rid of a hindrance to the achievement of its political aims.

Today, Aurora Province is the only remaining CPP/NPA/NDF’s sanctuary in Central Luzon, after nine guerrilla fronts have been dismantled in this year alone. As an added setback, in September of this year, four NPA members namely; Carlos Hurial, Ton-Ton Mijares, Orlando Aimboyutan and Jessie Garcia decided to turn their backs against the terrorist group in Aurora and surrendered five firearms to the government forces. Carlos Mijares even killed four of his comrades when they tried to stop him from joining the cause of the government and even took two M-16 rifles when he fled.

The story mentioned above is just one of the many stories of failure of the CPP/NPA/NDF. The group has continuously denied every Filipino of achieving a better life. It has continuously ignored the fact that there are still citizens and groups in our nation which only support them because of fear and reprisal. The CPP/NPA/NDF then has nothing to celebrate. (The author is the Commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, Philippine Army in Fort Andres Bonifacio, Makati City)

Philippine soldiers capture NPA rebel camp in Midnanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 28, 2008) – Government troops captured a rebel encampment of the communist New People’s Army after a firefight that left one soldier wounded in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.

Officials said the troops seized the camp in Mount Diwata in Compostela Valley’s Monkayo town late Thursday afternoon. The mountain is a known gold rush area in the province, a stronghold of NPA rebels in Mindanao Island.

An army commander said villagers allegedly tipped off the soldiers about the presence of the rebels. Troops assaulted the camp, sparking a firefight that wounded infantryman Larry Plana.

“This discovery of the NPA encampment was attributed to the locals who informed us of the presence of NPAs in their village,” said Maj.Rolando Rodil, commander of the 25th Infantry Battalion, who led the assault against the rebels.

Rodil said a still undetermined number of NPA gunmen were believed killed or wounded. “The NPAs believed to have suffered casualties as the troops seen scattered bloodstains in the said encampment and at their route of withdrawal,” he said.

He said troops also recovered about 40 meters of wire used for claymore mine, sacks of rice and canned goods, including tents and subversive documents.

“The rebels are believed to be members of the Sentro de Gravidad of Guerilla Front 25 of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. The encampment, which can accommodate 50 persons, is the improvised explosive manufacturing center of the NPA,” Rodil said.

Government forces are pursuing rebels holding a police officer and a Special Forces commander who were both captured by the NPA in separate attacks in Mindanao.

The rebels said Police Officer 3 Eduardo Tumol, a member of the 1105th Provincial Mobile Group and First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo, commander of a Special Forces unit, are being investigated for possible human rights violations and other crimes committed against innocent civilians.

Tumol was arrested on Nov. 5 after stopping a police car at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Caraga town in Davao Oriental, while Cammayo had been captured Nov. 19 by rebel forces after a firefight in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province.

The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside. (Mindanao Examiner)

Davao City Council Members Under Threat

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 11, 2008) – Three members of the Davao City Council are allegedly the target of assassinations in Mindanao, the official Philippine News Agency reported Saturday.

It said Davao City Deputy Mayor Sara Duterte will meet with security officials in a bid to confirm assassination plots against the trio.

Duterte said City Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling reportedly is in the hit-list of the New People’s Army (NPA) and an assassin had been sent down from the mountains of Paquibato district to carry out the hit job.

City Councilors Peter Lavina and Angela Trinidad, known for their leftist bent, are also the subject of the same operations apparently by soldiers.

Cabling said he does not know why he could be in the hit list, saying he has no debt to the people. Cabling is the chair of the committee on housing, rural and urban development, and has lately been praised for his efforts to provide socialized housing to the homeless urban poor.

On the other hand, Lavina has deplored reports saying he has a house in far-flung Barangay Tamayong in Calinan district that he loaned out to communist rebels.

Trinidad has complained she is being tailed by suspicious persons and that allegedly could only be from the military.

Trinidad, daughter of the late militant firebrand Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairperson Erasto Librado is a ranking official of the leftist Bayan Muna, branded by the military as a legal front organization of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Policemen Wounded In Clash With Rebels In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 26, 2008) – One Philippine policeman was wounded in a clash Friday with communist insurgents in Davao City in Mindanao Island, officials said.

Officials said police forces, backed by army soldiers, clashed with insurgents at around 1.10 p.m. in the village of Tamayong in Calinan district. They said villagers reported the presence of gunmen in the area.

Major Armando Rico, a regional army spokesman, said an undetermined number of insurgents were either killed or wounded in the fighting.

“They suffered heavy casualties,” Rico said, referring to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004.

On Thursday, eight insurgents and three government soldiers were killed in fierce clashes that also left 14 infantrymen wounded in Lingig town in Surigao del Sur province, where troops captured a rebel base.

The rebels broke off peace talks with the Filipino government after they accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a deal that would have freed hundreds of political detainees and a put a stop to extrajudicial killings of activists in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Army Confirms Alliance Between Muslim And Communist Rebels In Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 27, 2008) – The Philippine Army on Wednesday confirmed government reports that Muslim rebels and have forged an alliance with communist insurgents in Mindanao, where security forces are battling the guerrillas.

Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s Civil-Military Operations, said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the outlawed New People’s Army have forged a formal alliance as early as in 1999.

“In fact, an informal agreement has been in existence since the late 1980’s. The formal link between the NDF, represented by the Mindanao Commission, and the MILF was forged in 1999. The written agreement covers, among others, exchange of information, sharing of training, manufacture of arms and ammunition - particularly rocket-propelled grenades,” Lucero said, referring to the National Democratic Front, the political wing of the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Lucero said this explains why the Mindanao-based NPA rebels were reported to have used anti-tank rockets, loaned by the MILF, in battling government soldiers. He said there were many occasions that MILF forces had disrupted military operations against the NPA in the past.

“Government troops had monitored, in many occasions that MILF forces had been utilized to act as blocking force to NPA’s terror offensives, particularly in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and South Cotabato,” he said.

He said the MILF, which authorities also linked to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya, also provided sanctuary and refuge to communist insurgents who were fleeing government offensives in Mindanao.

“What is more revealing in this alliance is the deafening silence and refusal of the CPP-NPA-NDF and its allied organizations to condemn the terror acts perpetrated by the MILF rebels (in recent attacks in Mindanao),” he said.

The MILF, which is fighting for a separate Muslim homeland, admitted forging an alliance with the NPA, which has been waging a secessionist war for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the Philippines. Manila has said the two rebel groups have forged an alliance and that the communist rebels were financing and proving arms and automatic weapons to the MILF.

Communist rebels broke off peace talks with the Arroyo government in 2004 after accusing Manila of reneging on its commitments to free all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings, among others.

The United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, including its political arm, the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)

Rebels Vow More Attacks In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 25, 2008) – Philippine communist rebels on Friday vowed to launch more attacks against government and military targets in Mindanao even as thousands of troops were sent to the strife-torn region, south of the country, to fight insurgency.

The New People’s Army said the deployment of military forces in Mindanao will give the rebels opportunities to carry out more “telling tactical offensives.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the deployment of more troops in the southern region was in response to growing NPA attacks in the provinces.

Marco Valbuena, a rebel spokesman, said the NPA forces have launched hundreds of successful tactical offensives since last year. The more recent, he said, was the raid on a drilling site of the Sagittarius Mines in Davao del Sur’s Kiblawan town on July 19 where rebels carted away a dozen firearms from the firm’s arsenal.

But police and military also blamed communist rebels for the killing of a government militia in a landmine attack Thursday that also wounded three others in Makilala town in North Cotabato province where NPA gunmen raided a banana plantation owned by Dole Philippines.

Valbuena said the deployment of additional troops will not affect rebel offensives in Mindanao. “The deployment of troops will in no way hinder the advance of the armed revolutionary movement. On the contrary, by pouring in more fascist troops and brutalizing more and more people in its campaigns of suppression, the AFP succeeds only in teaching the people the need to wage armed revolutionary struggle against the reactionary regime,” he said.

“The redeployment of AFP troops allows the armed revolutionary forces in other guerrilla fronts greater leeway to step up their revolutionary work and continue tactical offensives against small and isolated enemy units.”

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the government operations against the NPA are ongoing, despite a proposal by AFP chief Alexander Yano to forge an “indefinite cease-fire” with rebels to pave way for the resumption of suspended peace talks with communist leaders.

Rigoberto Sanchez, another rebel spokesman, downplayed the presence of huge government forces in Mindanao, saying, it is no much to the guerrilla warfare the NPA is campaigning in the south.

“A display of superior armament and troop strength by the AFP is inconsequential to the New People's Army. While tanks and artillery are important weapons in conventional war, they hardly play a significant role against a mass-based army waging guerrilla warfare.”

“For one, the NPA at the current stage of the people's war is basically a mobile politico-military army. Thus, the AFP has no fixed military target to attack. The rugged mountainous terrain of the guerrilla bases and zones render these tanks and artillery nearly useless,” Sanchez said.

He said what the AFP is doing is to “shock and terrorize” civilians caught in the middle of the government’s campaign against the NPA. “Except for bombing purposes, which hit no particular NPA target but rather only pose clear danger to the lives and livelihood of the civilian population, AFP artillery is no match to the superiority of guerrilla warfare,” he said.

The NPA has been fighting the government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Rebel leaders broke off peace talk with the Arroyo government in 2004 after accusing Manila of reneging on its commitments to free all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings, among others.

The United States and the European Union listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, including its political arm, the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations on Manila's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)

Village Chieftain Killed in Davao City

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 25, 2008) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a village chieftain Davao City in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said Ernesto Binggan, of the village of Fatima in Paquibato district, was killed at around 7 a.m.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but the slain official was a staunch supporter of the military and had aided soldiers in the past in anti-insurgency campaign in his village.

Davao City is a stronghold of communist insurgents, blamed by the police and military for the spate of attacks and killings of civilians suspected as government spy or those aiding security forces in fighting the New People’s Army.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which broke off peace talks with the Arroyo government in 2004 after the United States and the European Union listed the groups, in Manila’s prodding, as foreign terrorist organizations. (Romy Bwaga)