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)

Rebels Raid Mining Firm In Southern RP

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 01, 2008) – Communist insurgents attacked early Tuesday a mining firm in South Cotabato province in southern Philippines, where security forces are battling the New People's Army (NPA), which is fighting for a separate Maoist state.

The raiders torched a building and destroyed equipment owned by the Sagittarius Mines Inc. in the town called Tampakan past 3 a.m., according to a military report.

No one was reported injured or killed in the raid.

But the attack sent a chilling warning to the government that the NPA can carry out offensive despite a massive military operation to crush the growing insurgency problems in Mindanao island, where Muslim rebels are also fighting for a separate homeland.

The insurgents fled after the attack. The motive of the attack is still unknown, but NPA forces have previously raided other mining firms in Mindanao which refused to pay illegal taxation.

Indigenous tribes also were protesting the operation of the SMI, saying, the mining activities allegedly encroached into ancestral lands and caused pollution in rivers and streams in Tampakan, which is considered a watershed area.

In March last year, insurgents also raided a private coal mining firm, the MG Mining Company, in Raja Cabunsuan village in Surigao del Sur's Lingig town.

The NPA carted weapons taken from security guards at the mining headquarters after MG executives refused to pay illegal taxation imposed by the insurgents.

The NPA had been collecting so-called "revolutionary taxes" to support its armed struggle to overthrow the democratic government for a separate Maoist homeland in the Philippines.

The weapons maintained by mining firms' security guards have also attracted the insurgents.

The latest attack came days after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the NPA has achieved significant military victories in 2007 and warned of more and bigger offensive this year. (Mindanao Examiner)

Jose Maria Sison Versions Of Italian Partisan Song & Andres Bonifacio's Own Now On YouTube

A Filipino activist raises his clenched fist during a rally in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Feb) – A song by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison has been posted on YouTube and so far gathered almost 4,000 views in just over 3 months.

Sison sung the Italian partisan song, Bella Ciao, (http://www.youtube.com/v/3IZ31IZ339A) in Spanish version and Filipino interpretation. A guitar accompanied his version of the World War II song. Aside from Bella Ciao, he also sung the Filipino revolutionary “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa” (http://www.youtube.com/v/iJ3qeaIu-7w) by national hero Andres Bonifacio.

Bella Ciao, which runs for 3 minutes and 46 seconds, drew various comments from pro-Sison supporters to anti-communist advocates.

YouTube is a popular Web video sharing site that lets anyone store short videos for private or public viewing.

One comment from a Sison supporter, who goes by the alias “revenger64”, had this posted on YouTube: “Mabuhay si Ka Joma! Xa ang tunay na bayaning Pilipino! Ituloy ang laban sa makalumang naghaharing sistema! Rebelyon ang tunay na buhay ng mga Pilipino sa panahon ng krisis at pagsasamantala! Wakasan ang lumang at sinungaling na demokrasyang naghahari sa lipunan, palitan ng tunay at makamasang demokrasya!”

But emilio1969, an anti-Sison, said: Communism is dead! Get over it and get a life! If you truly love the Filipino masses go home and fight in the Philippines. Do not hide in Europe and live comfortable life while your comrades are eating coconuts for breakfast and guavas for dinner. Pabigat ka lang sa Dutch government. Mahiya ka naman!

Sison is currently living in exile in The Netherlands. The CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army is fighting in the Philippines for the establishment of a Maoist state.

Both the CPP and NPA and their political group, the National Democratic Front were listed as foreign terrorist organizations on Manila’s prodding after the peace talks collapsed in 2004. (Mindanao Examiner)

CPP Steps Up Recruitment To Carry Fresh Offensive In RP

PAMPANGA (Mindanao Examiner / 27 Dec) – The outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it was stepping up recruitment of fighters to carry out fresh offensive against government targets.

"We must expand and intensify the tactical offensives of the people's army against the enemy. We must seize more arms from the enemy in order to form more platoons of the New People's Army and build more guerrilla fronts," the CPP said during its 38th founding anniversary Tuesday.

"We must strive to advance from the early to the middle phase of the strategic defensive by multiplying the platoons and the guerrilla fronts, and improving command at the levels of the region and guerrilla fronts."

It called for the recruitment of tens of thousands of new members, emphasizing its importance in advancing the level of revolutionary struggle. And to take advantage of the intensifying struggles to expand its ranks.

"The intense and widespread armed and legal forms of struggle are providing a continuous flow of fresh highly motivated and militant Party recruits," it said.

The NPA, armed wing of the CPP, is fighting the past three decades to topple the government and install a Maoist state in the country.

Peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels collapsed following the pullout of the National Democratic Front (NDF) from the talks due to its inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union.

Rebel leaders demanded that Manila asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. (Mindanao Examiner)