DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 25, 2009) – Communist rebels in the southern Philippines ambushed an army patrol and killed one soldier in the attack staged on Tuesday, reports said.
New People’s Army rebels opened fire on the soldiers on a village in the town of Lianga in Surigao del Sur province, a known stronghold of the communist group which is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country the past four decades.
There was no report of casualties on the part of the NPA and army officials said one infantryman added to the long list of those killed by rebels since early this year.
The attack occurred days after the NPA accused Manila of reneging on a deal to free more than a dozen political detainees, including rebel leaders accused of murder and rebellion, as a condition for the resumption of the stalled peace talks.
Peace negotiations between the Arroyo government and the communist rebels collapsed in 2004 after the NPA accused Manila of failing to honor several agreements they forged, among them the release of dozens of captured guerrillas and political prisoners.
The presidential peace adviser, Avelino Razon, said the National Democratic Front, the political wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, has virtually abandoned the peace talks.
He said the NDF is demanding the government to drop all criminal charges against two senior CPP leaders - Rafael Baylosis and Vicente Ladlad – so they can join the peace talks.
But both men refused to surface despite a government guarantee that they will not be arrested. Two other arrested rebel leaders - Randall Echanis and Elizabeth Principe – had been released by the government.
“We regret the virtual decision of the National Democratic Front to abandon the peace negotiations table. It is unfortunate that the NDF has easily and quickly belittled the efforts of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) to pursue confidence building measures such as the lifting of the suspension of the JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee), which led to the release from detention of two of its alleged consultants, Randall Echanis and Elizabeth Principe,” Razon said in a statement posted Tuesday on a government website which can be accessed on this URL: http://www.opapp.gov.ph.
“The refusal of Rafael Baylosis and Vicente Ladlad to surface despite the JASIG is entirely their personal decision. But for the NDF to ask the GRP to withdraw charges of multiple murders against them because the NDF thinks the charges are false or trumped up, and dictate on the judicial and administrative mechanisms that government must take to deliver their consultants to them in Utrecht are clear modes of conflict escalation to prevent the resumption of the talks,” he said, adding, the infighting among rebel leaders have affected the peace process and that the NPA is only using the peace talks to advance its armed struggle.
“This is clear indication that the debate within the CPP-NPA-NDF has turned in favor of simply using the peace process as a tool in advancing its armed struggle agenda,” Razon said.
He said the government has bent backwards to make space for peace. “But it cannot violate or short circuit the operative justice system to save the NDF’s consultants from being answerable for the crimes they are accused of. This is a blatant abuse of the peace table to get concessions they cannot get anywhere else,” he said.
“As expected, the NDF is already cooking up on excuse to end peace talks and blame the government for it. This propaganda line will surely be played up for their intended local and international audience to further CPP-NPA-NDF support,” Razon added.
The NDF said Razon was lying when he claimed that Echanis and Principe have been released in compliance with the JASIG.
“Principe was released by virtue of her legal victories in court and the military even tried to block her release. The conditional release of Echanis for six months is a violation of JASIG and not in compliance with it. The sham safe conduct passes issued in the cases of Rafael Baylosis and Vicente Ladlad incriminate and convict them, serve as their death warrant and are a brazen violation of the JASIG,” said Marissa Palo, of the NDF. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
NPA rebels ambush army patrol in Surigao province
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Philippines to resume peace talks with MILF, NPA rebels
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 8, 2009) – The Philippines on Wednesday said it is ready to revive the collapsed peace talks with Muslim and communist rebels following the spate of bombings and fighting in the troubled region of Mindanao.
Government peace talks with the New People’s Army 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 Moro Islamic Liberation Front broke down after the failed signing of the Muslim ancestral domain in August last year.
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. While the MILF said Arroyo reneged on a deal that would have granted to some four million Muslims their own homeland in Mindanao.
“After 40 years of fighting, it’s time we give peace a chance,” said Secretary Avelino Razon, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
Razon’s call 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.
“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.
Razon, a former Philippine police chief, said he is optimistic the stalled peace talks between the government and the MILF would resume despite the four bombing attacks that occurred in Mindanao since Sunday.
He urged the MILF to return to the peace negotiations to stop the fighting in Mindanao where security forces are battling rebels since the collapsed of the talks. The clashes displaced some half a million people in Mindanao.
Razon said the wave of bombings in Cotabato City, Iligan City, Sulu and Lanao del Norte province would not deter the government from pushing the peace process with the MILF.
Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said rebel and government negotiators are currently holding unofficial talks in Malaysia for the resumption of the stalled peace talks.
“The MILF chief peace negotiator, Brother Mohagher Iqbal and the Philippine representative Rafael Seguis are now in Kuala Lumpur and they are discussing with the Malaysian government the possibility of resuming the stalled peace talks,” Kabalu said.
Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is helping in the peace process. “The ball is in the hands of the Philippine government. It is the Arroyo government which can resolve the Mindanao problem,” Kabalu said.
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 communist rebels by 2010 as envisioned by President Arroyo.
Razon also said that the government has intensified its rehabilitation and development projects in Mindanao and other rebel-influenced areas. But the MILF said continued government offensive against the rebels resulted in a humanitarian crisis and unabated human rights violations against Muslims.
Razon also announced that the government would lift suspension of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees with the NPA to allow the rebels to resume peace talks.
Communist leaders earlier called on the citizens “to employ to the fullest all forms of open protest and armed resistance against all of Gloria Arroyo's moves to perpetuate her reign through all means foul and brutal.”
Arroyo is to step down next year when her term ends, but her allies in Congress are campaigning to amend the Constitution and eventually change the presidential form of government to parliamentary.
Opposition politicians and civil groups opposed to Arroyo said amending the Constitution would eventually prolong her stay in power. Arroyo is said to be eyeing a congressional seat in her hometown in Pampanga province next year to evade possible law suits from corruption scandals that rocked her administration.
“Gloria Arroyo is increasingly becoming desperate with time running short and her schemes at reign perpetuation through 'legal' means exposed and opposed at every turn. More and more of Arroyo's dirty, out rightly illegal and fascist cards are now coming out of her sleeves, including the replication of Marcosian tactics to extend her reign of terror and corruption,” the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines said in a statement.
“There is really nothing new about these moves of naked power perpetuation. The bombing spree going on now is an exact replication of Marcos' bombings in many areas of Metro Manila in 1971 and the first eight months of 1972 that eventually led to the imposition of martial law," the CPP said, referring to Philippine dictator President Marcos.
The CPP said it directed the NPA rebels to intensify its offensives against the government. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Ang kalinaw may kalabutan ang tanan...
"Nagkalain-lain man ang mga natad sa mga kalihokan nga atong gihimo, ako maga-ingon nga ang atong tanan nga mga paningkamot gikinahanglan nga magtultol ning maong katuyuan," si Razon nagkanayon tungod kay bisan pa man sa mga panagbingkil ug mga kakulian nga masinati, "ang kalinaw dili halayo kon kita ang hiniusa nga magtrabaho padulong ngadto sa iyang katumanan.
Usa ka tigpatuman sa balaod sobra sa tulo ka mga dekada isip suluguon sa katawhan, lakip na ang iyang paghupot sa katungdanan isip pinakataas nga ranggo sa pulis sa wala pa siya miundang sa iyang katungdanan sa Septyembre sa nakalabay nga tuig, si Razon ang mi-abiba sa iyang bag-o nga trabaho andam sa pagpakigharong sa hagit dili sa pag-inusara kon dili kauban ang mga katawhan ug katilingban nga atong gisilbihan aron makab-ot ang tinuod ug malahutayon nga kalinaw sa nasud nga gihandum sa matag-usa ka Filipino.
Nagpahayag nga ang maong tahas dili mabangbang, si Razon nagpalanog sa panawagan ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nga ang "2009 mao ang nagbalk nga tuig sa kalinaw, kauswagan, ug kalampusan sa Mindanao."
"Mao kini ang panawagan nga atong sundon tungod kay mao kini ang pangawagn sa matag-Filipino. Ug mao kini ang panawagan nga dili nato angay nga isalikway ilabi na karong panahona diin daghan sa atong mga katagilungsodilabi ang Mindanao, magapadayon pag-ampo alang sa kalinaw ug kalamboan;"matud pa niya. (Philippine Information Agency)