Philippine Army says 152 rebels surrender in Mindanao

A photo released by the Philippine Army shows Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, commander of the 10th Infantry Division in Mindanao, hands over cheques to New People's Army rebels who surrendered Tuesday, July 28, 2009 to the military after a series of negotiations. The army says a total of 152 NPA rebels have surrendered the past six months in southern Mindanao region. (Mindanao Examiner)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 29, 2009) – Some 152 communist rebels have surrendered to the military in the southern Philippines the past six months after a series of negotiations, officials said Wednesday.

Army Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the 10th Infantry Division, said the rebels, who were members of the New People’s Army, had also surrendered 32 assorted weapons, mostly rifles, and were provided livelihood aid as part of the government’s amnesty program.

“The former rebels who availed the government’s Social Integration Program ensures them of livelihood benefits that aims to help them return into the mainstream of the society and live with their families,” Manuel told the Mindanao Examiner.

Under the program, NPA rebels who surrender to the government will receive P20,000 each on top of P50,000 paid for their M16 rifle. Rebels are also given livelihood skills training and aid worth P50,000 for them to start their own business.

Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, aA regional army commander, urged rebels to surrender peacefully and avail of the government offer of amnesty for them to start a new life.

“We are moving forward towards peace and progress. This is the first step to the healing process and I am sure we are getting closer to achieving our goal of getting our brothers back into the folds of the law so that as one nation, we can jointly step forward to development.”

“We call on our brothers still on the mountains to go back into the folds of the law and give peace a chance. Our government is sincere in reaching out to them and we are waiting to give them the care and necessary help they need in order for them to enjoy a peaceful life with their families. We are all Filipinos and the only way for us to gain progress is to have lasting peace,” Mapagu said.

But Fidel Agcaoli, chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, has branded the Social Integration Program as a money-making scheme for corrupt military commanders.

“The so-called Social Integration Program is nothing but a money-making scheme for Armed Forces of the Philippines field commanders to buy their loyalty to the Gloria Arroyo regime and project through press releases the image of making strides in the regime's much vaunted objective of wiping out or rendering irrelevant the New People's Army by 2010,” Agcaoili said.

“These rebel returnees are actually local AFP agents and assets or civilians forcibly conscripted and coerced by the AFP to take part in elaborate surrender ceremonies and SIP graduation rites presided over sometimes by the fake president herself,” he added.

Agcaoili said the government allegedly spent P18.8 million last year for the bogus program. “In truth, the fake surrenderors retain only a little amount of that money while the huge chunk of the bounty goes to the pocket of field commanders and AFP officials," Agcaoili said.

The army spokeswoman denied Agcaoili’s accusation and branded them as propaganda to cover the truth about the surrender of many rebels to the government.

“There are a lot of process and safety measures in the granting of livelihood aid and assistance to the rebels who surrender to the military. We make sure that those who surrender are genuine members of the New People’s Army. All the funding released by the government for the Social Integration Program undergoes strict and regular audit procedures,” Manuel said.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines is the political wing of the New People’s Army and the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines. The rebels have been fighting the past for 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)

Pursue Peace Talks With Reds, Lawyers' Group Urges Manila

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 17, 2008) - The local chapter of the Union of Peoples' Lawyers in Mindanao called on the Arroyo government to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and to issue immediate suspension of military operations (SOMO) to pave way for the safe release of an army official and a police officer being held captive by the New People's Army rebels.

The NPA is holding First Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo since November 7 after rebel forces attacked his unit and killed two soldiers and a government militia in a fierce firefight in Casoon village in the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province.

Aside from Cammayo, the rebels also captured Police Officer 3 Eduardo Tumol, a member of the 1105th Provincial Mobile Group, who was arrested on November 5 by the NPA at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental's Caraga town.

The UPLM said the continuing militarist approach of the Arroyo government only hinders the imminent release of the two prisoners of war and reinforces the escalating human rights violations in the Lumad and peasant communities in the southern region.

The group also cited previous statements made by Presidential Secretary Jesus Dureza that the Arroyo government would leave the matter to the military.

"With such, the GRP effectively abandoned the headways and breakthroughs of the peace talks in general. We refer to the previous agreements such as The Hague Joint Agreement, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHIHL)," said UPLM Davao City Chairperson Atty. Eduardo Estores.

"A rational government would hear the plea of the POWs' family. But the Arroyo government seems to play deaf and mute to such appeal. The government must do all it can to uphold at all times the security of the civilian populace and the POWs as guaranteed by the international humanitarian laws," Estores said.

"The GRP has the obligation of ensuring the immediate and safe release of the POWs and the respect of the human rights and the international humanitarian laws," Estores added.

ZTE-Diwalwal Deal Exposes Govt Greed, Says NDF

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 14, 2008) - The Arroyo regime's approval of and dismissive stance over the ZTE-Diwalwal mining deal sounds even more ominous and insensitive in the light of the huge landslide disaster in Maco town in Compostela Valley in Southern Mindanao which snuffed the lives of 24 people, the leftist National Democratic Front said Sunday.

It said the town of Maco, like Diwalwal, heaved its gold-rush mountains last week after years of plunder and ecological destruction by transnational mining corporations like the Canadian Crew Gold Corp.

The twin landslides that occurred in the village of Masara, Maco and Diwalwal in Monkayo which also injured a two-year old girl only add to the long list of mining tragedies in gold-rich site of Compostela Valley. Last year, ten people also died in the village of Masara after heavy rains triggered a landslide.

Crew Gold Corporation acquired three-fourths of share of Apex Mining Corporation which have been mining, causing ecological destruction and the massive displacement of peasant and Lumad families since the 1970s. At every onset of minimal monsoon rains and storms, landslides and flash floods are triggered because of the already damaged soil, the NDF said.

NDF spokesman Rubi del Mundo said through Mining Act of 1995, the Arroyo regime legitimized the unbridled plunder of our mining resources and the wanton destruction of our environment in the name of profit and total sell-out of our lands to multi-national, transnational and big local companies.

"As the victims of landslides suffer from the great loss of their loved ones and their livelihood, the Arroyo regime is shameless in holding of a Mining Summit in Davao City this month to further peddle whatever is left of our mineral- rich lands to foreign capitalists. Further, the anomalous Memorandum of Agreement between the GRP and the China's ZTE International Investment Limited which purportedly awarded 8,000 hectares claim in mining area of Mt. Diwalwal to the latter shows the brazen duplicity of the Arroyo regime," he said in a statement.

"The revolutionary movement will continue to resist this incessant plunder of our mining resources and plunder of our economy. The Red fighters of the New People's Army will continue to launch tactical offensives for the protection of the environment and the people; and the broad united front of the people will topple down this hated Arroyo regime," Del Mundo warned.

Reds Demand Manila To Abide By Agreement Before Peace Talks Can Resume

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 17, 2008) – The National Democratic Front of the Philippines on Saturday demanded that Manila complies with agreements it previously signed with communist rebels.

The NDFP, political wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, ended a three-day informal meeting with Filipino peace negotiators in Norway which brokered the talks.

“We are pleased with the opportunity provided by this informal meeting to exchange views with regards to the impediments that must be overcome for the formal meetings to resume,” said Luis Jalandoni, chief NDFP peace negotiator.

The NDFP praised the Royal Norwegian Government for making possible the meeting between peace negotiators aimed at finding ways of resuming talks stalled since 2004 after rebel leaders accused Manila of reneging its agreements with the CPP.

The informal talks were held from May 13-15m but Jalandoni said the Filipino peace panel failed to come with solutions that will lead to the resumption of the negotiations.

“The NDFP delegation expressed its strong desire for the resumption of the formal meetings and took pains to persuade the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) delegation to do away with said impediments.”

“It is unfortunate that the GRP delegation did not bring any idea towards the resolution of any problems that impedes the resumption of the formal meetings,” he said, adding, his group presented 13 impediments that must be overcome before formal peace talks could resume.

Jalandoni said among the impediments are the terrorist tag by the United States and the European Union, on Manila’s prodding, of the NDFP chief political consultant Prof. Jose Maria Sison, the CPP and the NPA; the illegal “suspension” of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

And also the Oplan Bantay Laya and the consequent gross and systematic violations of human rights; the persecution, murder, arrest and enforced disappearance of NDFP consultants; the demand for capitulation of the NDFP to the GRP in the guise of prolonged ceasefire before addressing the fundamental problems of Philippine society and the roots of the armed conflict; and the failure to indemnify the victims of human rights violations under the Marcos regime.

“We stressed that overcoming these impediments is not a precondition but an obligation of the Arroyo government to comply with the agreements it has signed with the NDFP,” Jalandoni said.

The Philippine Army said it would abide by the decisions of the government as far as the possibility of the resumption of the peace talks with rebels.

“We will follow the decision of our political leaders. Whatever would be the outcome of these talks (with the NDFP), we will abide like a true soldier that we are,” Major Raymundo Aguada, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

But many soldiers in the southern Philippines are disgruntled by the news that Manila is trying to reopen peace talks with communist rebels, saying, it the NPA will only use the negotiations to recruit and strengthen its forces.

“This has been a cycle already. All presidents of this forsaken country had tried everything and failed to bring back peace, but the NPA remains defiant and victorious and all it wanted is to topple this democratic government and install a dictatorial government.”

“There should be no peace with rebels who waged war and sow terror through out all these years,” said a local army soldier, who asked not to be named for fear that he would be reprimanded by his commander for speaking to the media about the peace talks.

Government soldiers are not allowed in the Philippines to speak out about their feelings or opinion, especially if it concerns national interests or government decisions.

The NPA is the military wing of the CPP, which the Philippine military said was founded in the 1968 by Sison, who is living in exile in The Netherlands since 1987.

Sison was arrested by the Dutch police on charges of masterminding the killings of two former NPA rebel leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, but had been subsequently freed.

Since its founding, the CPP has been fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the Philippines.

Aside from the communist rebels, Manila is also negotiating peace with a Muslim separatist guerrilla group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has also accused the government of reneging on its commitment to grant them ancestral lands in Mindanao.

The seven-year old peace talks with the MILF have been stalled since last year and are now threatening the fragile truce and security in the southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)

Jailed Filipino Communist Leader Freed

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Sept) – Dutch authorities have ordered the release of jailed Filipino communist leader Jose Maria Sison for lack of evidence in all murder charges against him, reports said Thursday.

Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was arrested on Aug. 28 in The Netherlands where he is living in exile by the Dutch police allegedly for ordering the NPA killings in 2003 and 2004 of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, ex-CPP leaders.

The U.S. designated the CPP, NDF and the NPA as foreign terrorist organizations on Manila's prodding after peace talks failed in 2004. The Philippine government insisted the rebels, who fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country, to lay down their arms and sign a peace deal.

Earlier, Luis Jalandoni, of the CPP’s National Democratic Front of the Philippines, protested the decision of The Hague Court extending the detention of Sison for a further 90 days.

Jalandoni said Sison's detention is a gross violation of his right to due process.

“At a stage when he is a mere suspect, he is subjected to prolonged detention of 105 days. Moreover, the Dutch authorities are violating his internationally recognized right to receive visits from his family and his doctor.”

“The conditions of solitary confinement inflicted on him are inhuman and a disgrace to a government that claims to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” he said in a statement released early on Thursday.

The NDFP has condemned the persecution of Sison on what it called “trumped-up charges” already dismissed by the Philippine Supreme Court on June 1, 2007. (Mindanao Examiner)

NDF Fears Widespread Rights Violations, Militarization In South RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Feb) - The National Democratic Front accused Manila on Thursday of militarization after authorities designated many areas in the southern Philippines as election “hot spots”.

The NDF fears of widespread violations of human rights and harassment of civil and militant groups opposed to President Gloria Arroyo’s rule.

Rubi del Mundo, NDF spokesman for Southern Mindanao, said police and military authorities tagged the towns and cities of Bansalan, Digos, Don Marcelino, Hagonoy, Jose Abad Santos, Kiblawan, Magsaysay, Malalag, Malita, Matanao, Sta. Cruz, Sta. Maria and Sulop in Davao del Sur province as election hot spots.

And also Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella and Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Laak, Monkayo, New Bataan and Pantukan in Compostela Valley, and Banaybanay, Cateel and Lupon in Davao Oriental provinces.

“The NDF-Southern Mindanao maintains that this is only part and parcel of the plan of the Arroyo government of ensuring the victory of its national and local candidates and puppets in the upcoming elections by pinning down its vocal critics including the opposition and progressive party-lists,” Del Mundo said.

Del Mundo said government militias and soldiers harassed and killed members of militant groups every ime elections were held. Most of those killed were political activists opposed to Arroyo’s rule.

During the May 2004 Presidential and National elections, Del Mundo said at least 36 people had been killed in Mindanao, especially in “hot spot” areas where security forces were deployed.

Hundreds of political activists and members of progressive and militant groups and journalists had been killed since Arroyo was catapulted into power in 2001. Most of the killings were allegedly perpetrated by soldiers and hired assassins.

The NDF is the political wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, whose armed group, the New People’s Army is fighting the past three decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.

Peace talks between the government and rebels collapsed in 2004 after the United States, on Manila’s prodding, tagged the CPP-NDF and the NPA as foreign terrorist organizations and froze its assets abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)

Commies Accuse Arroyo War Dogs As Behind Mindanao Bombings

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Jan) – The National Democratic Front accused the Arroyo government as behind the rash of bombings in the southern Philippines to justify the passage of an anti-terror law.

"The Arroyo regime stood to gain with the recent attacks as these will justify the passage of an anti-terrorism bill and a counterpart pact by the ASEAN members in Cebu," said Rubi del Mundo, spokesman of the regional National Democratic Front (NDF) in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Three homemade bombs exploded late Wednesday in the cities of General Santos, Kidapawan and Cotabato, killing at least 7 people and wounding more than 40 people.

Authorities blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the Jemaah Islamiya and rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, implicated the Abu Sayyaf group. The attacks coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu.

“The latest Mindanao bombings serve to push foreign delegates of the ongoing summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cebu City to sign a convention urging the ASEAN to improve cross-border cooperation and share intelligence information against terrorist organizations,” Del Mundo said.

Del Mundo did not identify who were behind the bombings, but said they were the “war dogs” of the Arroyo administration. The NDF is the political wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, whose armed group, the New People’s Army, is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

NDF Condemns Attempts To Change RP Charter

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 Dec) - The National Democratic Front (NDF) in Southern Mindanao on Monday condemned attempts by lawmakers allied with President Gloria Arroyo to change the Philippine Constitution despite a widespread public opposition.

Lawmakers were pushing for a Constituent Assembly to tamper with the Charter that would prolong their stay in power, opposition politicians said.Church leaders, civil and militant groups have threatened to stage a mass action to protest the move by Congress to change the Constitution.

Arroyo’s allies said there is a need to amend the Constitution and shift to Parliamentary government, but politicians opposed to this fear that the move will prolong the President into power beyond her term in 2010.

“The NDF commends the broad masses of our people, the Church and evangelical groups, and opposition lawmakers in vigilantly exposing and opposing the devious Charter Change (Cha-cha) scheme of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime,” said Rubi del Mundo, the NDF spokesman, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Changing the Philippine Charter will only perpetuate Arroyo to power, he said.The NDF is the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting the government for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Church Leaders, Militant Groups Condemn Police Raid On Convent

BUTUAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Nov) — Church leaders on Saturday condemned the police for raiding a convent in the southern Philippine city of Butuan.

Heavily-armed policemen, tracking down a senior New People’s Army (NPA) rebel leader, stormed the Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd (CGS) run by Catholic nuns in the village of Tiniwisan late Wednesday, but failed to find Jorge Madlos.

Madlos is also the spokesman of the National Democratic Front in Mindanao.

Militant groups and human rights advocates denounced the raid and accused the police of desecrating the convent. It said policemen barged into rooms and searched for Madlos even though the nuns denied links with the rebel leader.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd, founded over two hundred years ago in Angers, France, by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, form one international congregation ministering in 71 countries on five continents. The nuns and volunteers helping the congregation are mostly involved in community works in poor areas. (Mindanao Examiner)

NDF Assails Banana Firm, Urges Striking Workers To Unite

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 12 Oct) – The National Democratic Front (NDF), the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, on Thursday assailed the alleged rejection of the Japanese-owned banana packing company in Compostela Valley to grant the legitimate demands of its striking workers.

Some 200 banana workers from the group called Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa San Jose (NAMASAN) went on strike recently after accusing the AJMR-Sumitomo Fruit Corporation of unfair labor practise.

The NDF in Southern Midnanao also scored the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Justice of allegedly siding with the Japanese firm, but it did elaborate on the accusations against the two agencies.

But the workers were demanding that the AJMR-Sumitomo recognize their union so they can negotiate for fair wages and other labor benefits.

The banana firm was previously owned by the Stanfilco Dole and later handed its operations to the Fresh Banana Agricultural Corporation and was acquired by the AJMR-Sumitomo Fruit Corporation.

Rubi del Mundo, the NDF spokesman, said many workers were earning as little as P126 a day while the regular wage is P224.

“Workers must ally with other workers and farmers in Comval and other basic masses to demand for genuine land reform and national industrialization to stop land monopoly and to create more jobs,” Del Mundo said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner on Thursday. (Mindanao Examiner)