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This issues

highlights...Coronas impeachment

PAGE 3

Antifeudal struggles

in Cagayan Valley

PAGE 7

Strikes paralyze US

ports PAGE 9

Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng PilipinasPinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-MaoismoANG

English editionVol. XLII No. 24

December 21, 2011www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

The ruling system is currently being shaken bya political crisis wrought by a series of at-tacks and counter-attacks launched againt

each other by rival reactionary cliques. The peo-ple and the revolutionary forces must take advan-tage of such conflicts.

The latest maneuverings concern the im-peachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Rena-to Corona by allies of Benigno Aquino III in Con-gress. Corona is a lackey of Gloria Arroyo who sheappointed as Supreme Court chief justice justdays before the end of her term as president. Thiswas to ensure that she would have a defenderwithin the highest court should she be prosecut-ed for her grave crimes against the people.

The people and the progressive parties in Con-gress supported Corona's impeachment because itwas one of the necessary steps that had to betaken to do away with obstacles to Arroyo's in-dictment, trial and punishment. Aquino's allieshad the same avowed objective in pushing forCorona's impeachment. Nonetheless, the peopleare aware that the Aquino ruling clique has otherobjectives as well in its efforts to oust Corona as

Supreme Court chief justice.Corona's ouster forms part

of the landlord presi-

Take advantage of the conflictswithin the ruling classes

dent's counter-punch to the Supreme Court deci-sion ordering the distribution of the lands withinHacienda Luisita. More important, Aquino wants

to bring the entire Supreme Court to its knees andensure its acquiescence to his regime's actions inthe future.

The conflicts between the Aquino and Arroyocliques reflect the difficulty of maintainingpeaceful accommodation between the two rivalfactions. The Arroyo and Aquino camps had ar-rived at a US-brokered arrangement even beforethe 2010 elections where the Arroyo camp wouldallow an orderly transition of power in exchangefor Aquino's leniency with respect to Arroyo.

But it has become quite untenable for Aquinoto keep his end of the bargain in the face of thepeople's continuing demand to attain justice forArroyo's crimes while she was president. By filingcharges against Arroyo and detaining her, Aquinohas been able to keep up appearances about hisseriousness in prosecuting the Arroyos.

Of Arroyo's many grave transgressions, howev-er, the Aquino regime chose to charge her for therelatively less serious crime of sabotaging the

2007 elections. It was a move calculated to makeroom for possible accommodations in the future

between the two cliques. But the Ar-royo camp's retaliatory blowtheSupreme Court decision on HaciendaLuisitahas gravely affected andpiqued Aquino.

The Aquino clique's impeachmentmove against Corona has worsened thepolitical crisis of the ruling system.Contrary to Aquino's design to force

Corona into resigning, the latter has de-clared his readiness to lock horns with Aquinoand confront the charges that have been filed

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Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of the Philippines

Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino,

Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and

English editions.

It is available for downloading at

the Philippine Revolution Web Central

located at:

www.philippinerevolution.org.

Ang Bayan welcomes contributionsin the form of articles and news.

Readers are likewise enjoined to send

in their comments and suggestions for

the betterment of our publication. You

can reach us by email at:

angbayan@yahoo.com

Vol. XLII No. 24 December 21, 2011

Contents

Editorial: Take advantage of the

conflicts within the ruling classes 1

Coronas impeachment 3

Political detainees go on hunger

strike 4

Palparan charged by DOJ 4

6-day ceasefire 6

CPP condoles with victims

of typhoon Sendong 6

Offensives in Antique and Leyte 7

Antifeudal struggles in CV 7

NDF-Cagayan assails Dy dynasty 9

Strikes paralyze US ports 9

US drone downed in Iran 10

ANG

2 ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

against him. He has begun re-cruiting allies, especially amongjudges and lawyers. In attackingAquino, Corona hopes to win thesupport of people disenchantedwith the ruling regime.

Some elements of the ruling

Liberal Party have been bootedout for defying Aquino's ordersto impeach Corona with dis-patch. The fallout may even af-fect other branches of govern-ment such as the Senate. Aquinowants assurance that the personat the helm of the Upper Housewill be completely loyal to him,since it is the Senate which willserve as an impeachment court

to try Corona,.These maneuvers and coun-

termaneuvers by the rival cliqueshave deepened the fissuresamong the reactionary classes.These are positive developmentsfor, and a matter that should betaken advantage of, by the peo-ple's revolutionary movement.

To benefit from all these

troubles wrought on the rulingsystem by Corona's impeach-ment, we must use united fronttactics to form alliances in orderto isolate the ruling Aquinoclique and make Arroyo pay forher crimes against the people.

The people's democratic andprogressive forces must perse-vere in launching the broadmovement to indict and punish

Arroyo. They must pursue thefiling of cases against her forelectoral fraud in the 2004polls, violations of human rightsand humanitarian law and gravecases of corruption and bribe-taking. We must seize all oppor-

tunities to reach out to variousgroups and personalities, in-cluding those supportive of theAquino regime but are not nec-essarily its rabid apologists.There must be concerted effortto be vigilant against possibleaccommodations between Aqui-no and Arroyo in the future.

We must also take advantageof the growing disappointment

with Aquino of people who arenot necessarily pro-Arroyo butwho have been repelled by thehigh-handed and brutal attacksagainst Corona. If Corona trulywants to win the people's sup-port, he must distance himselffrom Arroyo and lead theSupreme Court in siding withthe people's interests and re-

verse its previous decisions onso many cases.The people must challenge

the Supreme Court to abrogatepolicies and laws that are op-pressive to the people such asthe practice of labor-only con-tracting, budget cuts on socialservices, demolitions of urbanpoor communities, the OilDeregulation Law, the Mining

Act of 1995, the ComprehensiveAgrarian Reform Program Exten-sion with Reforms (CARPER) andthe Foreign Investments Incen-tives Act, among others,

In order for the people to ef-fectively use united front tactics,

they must strengthen their ranksand broaden their mass strugglesfor their basic interests.

They must not relent instruggling against CARPER andfor genuine land reform. Theymust persevere in struggling forpatriotic economic policies thatgive premium to creating localemployment, granting livingwages and reducing the prices

of petroleum products and otherbasic commodities. They mustfurther strengthen and expandtheir struggles against budgetcuts for health care, educationand other social services and ex-pose and oppose the regime'sConditional Cash Transfer (CCT)scheme as a counterinsurgencytool and a bogus poverty allevi-

ation program.The people's revolutionarymovement is sure to benefitfrom the political crisis of theruling system. The deepeningrifts among rival factions of theruling class will definitely spillover to the AFP and PNP. Basedon previous experience, disen-chanted junior officers and therank and file within the military

and police will seek out the rev-olutionary forces.

The New People's Army mustconsciously plan for this even-tuality and touch base withthese officers and elements inorder to be able to conduct po-litical education among theirranks and win them over to theside of revolution. Simultane-ously, the NPA must launchmore frequent and bigger tacti-cal offensives to weaken thearmed machinery of the state,defeat the campaign of suppres-sion against the people,strengthen the people's armyand advance to the next higherstage of people's war. ~

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3ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

Corona's impeachment

After a meeting by the Liber-al Party and other members ofthe majority bloc that lastedonly a few hours, the impeach-ment resolution gathered 188signatures or more than a thirdof the 285 congresspersonsenough to transmit the com-plaint forthwith from the LowerHouse to the Senate.

The next day, the Senate wasimmediately convened as an im-peachment court. It set the firstday of Corona's trial on January16th.

Corona was Arroyo's chief ofstaff when she was vice presi-dent. When he became an asso-ciate justice of the SupremeCourt, most of his decisions fa-vored the Arroyo regime's ille-

gal, antipeople and repressivemeasures. He was appointedchief justice just days before Ar-royo stepped down as president,despite a constitutional provi-sion barring presidents from ap-pointing anyone to a govern-

Under Malacaang's baton, Congress fast-tracked the im-peachment of Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona on De-cember 12.

ment post 60 days before theend of their term.

As chief justice, Coronasided with the legal maneuversof the Arroyo family. Moststriking of these was theSupreme Court decision allow-ing Arroyo and her husband totravel abroad ostensibly formedical treatment. The Su-preme Court decision overruled

a Department of Justice orderfor the Arroyos to remain inthe country to face an ongoinginvestigation of crimes involv-ing Gloria Arroyo. This decisionwas rendered moot whencharges were finally filedagainst Arroyo and an arrestwarrant issued against her.

Holding Arroyo account-

able. The seven representativesbelonging to the Makabayan al-liance (Bayan Muna, Anakpawis,Gabriela Women's Party, ACTTeachers Party List and Ka-bataan Partylist) supportedCorona's impeachment. Said

Bayan Muna Rep. TeodoroCasio, Corona must be held ac-countable for a long list of de-cisions that are antipeople andfavorable to his patron Arroyo.Corona's impeachment is partand parcel of the struggle to

hold Arroyo accountable for hercrimes against the people.

Corona has also beencharged with betraying thepublic trust by voting in favorof repressive policies such asExecutive Order 464 and Presi-dential Proclamation 1017. EO464 was an Arroyo order barringmembers of the executivebranch from attending Congres-

sional and Senate investiga-tions. Presidential Proclamation1017 was Arroyo's declarationof a State of Emergency in2006.

Corona was also against air-ing the wiretapped conversa-tion of Arroyo and former COM-ELEC Commissioner Virgilio Gar-cillano in public. He also de-

fended Romulo Neri's refusal toattend Senate hearings on theNBN-ZTE anomaly.

Not a few of the Aquinoregime's allies have been disen-chanted with the railroading ofCorona's impeachment. Amongthem are Rep. Rodolfo Biazon ofMuntinlupa and Rep. Hermilan-do Mandanas of Batangas whowas forced to resign as chair-

man of the powerful Ways andMeans Committee for his refusalto sign the impeachment reso-lution.

Meanwhile, contrary toAquino's wishes, Corona hasrefused to resign. He de-clared this on December 14before a gathering of hissupporters from variouscourts in Metro Manila.

Corona describes hisdefense as a struggleagainst what he callsAquino's creeping dicta-torship whose aim is tomake the Supreme Courthis rubber stamp. ~

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4

356 political prisonersgo on hunger strike

ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

All of the 356 political prisoners held in various detention fa-cilities nationwide staged a hunger strike from December 3to December 10, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights. The coordinated hunger strike was held at theNational Bilibid Prison, Camp Crame, Camp Bagong Diwa, Cebu,Calbayog, Tagum, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal and other detentioncenters in the country.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) welcomed theDepartment of Justice's decision to file charges of kidnappingand serious illegal detention against Gen. Jovito Palparan on

December 16, but noted that the move was a much belated one.

General Palparan was charged in connection with the 2006 abduc-tion of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeo andSherlyn Cadapam and peasant activist Manuel Merino. The victimshave not been surfaced to date.

Charged with General Pal-paran were Lt. Col. Felipe Ano-tado Jr., M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario

and S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio. TheMalolos Regional Trial CourtBranch 14 issued an arrest war-

rant on December 20 for Gener-al Palparan, a day after he at-tempted to leave the country.

Although charging General

Palparan and holding him ac-countable for abducting Em-peo et al is a positive develop-ment, it is a small matter con-sidering the long list of brutalacts committed by the butchergeneral and other key officialsof the Arroyo regime. They must

The hunger strike, the thirdto be conducted by political de-

tainees this year was held todemand the immediate and un-conditional release of all politi-cal prisoners.

In Southern Tagalog, the re-gion's 30 political detaineeshad their heads shaved beforeembarking on their hungerstrike.

In Tagum, Davao del Norte,the 16 political prisoners being

held at the Mankilan detentioncenter began their fast earlier,

on November 27. They won thesympathy of the 500 regular in-mates incarcerated at the samefacility who joined them in theirfast.

In solidarity with the po-litical prisoners, various pro-gressive musicians, theaterartists and ex-detaineesstaged anew the multimediapresentation Poldet: Panata

sa Kalayaan ng mga DetenidoPulitikal (The Political De-tainees' Ode to Freedom) onDecember 10.

Meanwhile, with the help ofsupporters, political prisonersAlan Jazmines and EduardoSarmiento held an exhibit oftheir paintings at the SiningKamalig Gallery at Gateway Mallin Cubao, Quezon City. The ex-hibit called Painting Freedomfeatured works showing variousscenes inside prison and ex-pressing their thoughts, griev-ances and hopes.

Jazmines and Sarmiento areboth NDFP consultants in thepeace talks who were arrestedby the military, in violation ofthe provisions of the JASIG.

Both Jazmines and Sarmien-to consider painting as part oftheir struggle, especially whilethey are deprived of the oppor-tunity to pursue their revolu-tionary tasks. Their series of

works is entitled Piitan, Loobat Labas. (Prison, Within andWithout) The exhibit runs fromDecember 18 to December 30.

Friends and relatives of po-litical prisoners detained at thePNP Custodial Center in CampCrame also picketed the deten-tion facility on December 3 tosupport demands for their re-

lease. ~

Palparan-style terrorism persistsunder Aquino

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5

FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE

ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

be charged with widespread vio-lations of human rights and hu-manitarian law.

The CPP pointed out thatunder Oplan Bayanihan, the AFPcontinues to resort to the sameterror tactics utilizedby General Palparan.The AFP's so-calledcivil-military opera-tions involve, amongothers the imposi-tion of curfews, foodblockades and restric-tions on people'smovements.

Extrajudi-

cial killings, abductions and il-legal arrests also go on unabat-ed.

The same sentiments wereexpressed by some 2,500 per-sons who gathered on Decem-

ber 10 at the foot ofMendiola Brudge tocommemorate the63rd anniversaryof InternationalHuman RightsDay. They assailedthe continuinghuman rights vio-

lations under

the Aquino regime and the ter-ror being sown under OplanBayanihan. They also slammedthe series of demolitions of ur-ban poor communities. Similarrallies were held in the cities ofDavao, Iloilo, Bacolod, Ca-gayan de Oro and Cotabato. Fil-ipinos led by BAYAN-USA alsorallied at Times Square in NewYork City.

The rally at Mendiola formedpart of a five-day protest to oc-cupy Mendiola that was begunon December 6 by youth groups.The protest action, which was

to take the form of a campoutwas repeatedly and violentlydispersed by the police to pre-vent the students from comingnear Malacaang. On December7, the police arrested four stu-dents but were compelled to re-lease them the day after when UPofficials and other progressivegroups condemned the arrests.

Tensions eased on December

8 to 10, enabling the studentsto set up camp near Mendiola.They were joined by studentsfrom Southern Tagalog, theKilusang Mayo Uno, MigranteInternational and peasants fromHacienda Luisita. ~

Peasant activist slainin Mindoro

Suspected elements of the 80th IB killedGuillermo Castillo, 46, in Sitio Tuguilan,

Barangay Tayamaan, Mamburao, OccidentalMindoro on December 13. Castillo, a member ofa local farmers' organization in Mamburao wasshot in front of his wife in his house by a man

wearing a ski mask. He is the brother of Eulo-gio Eli Castillo, one of the Morong 43health workers illegally arrested and detainedin February 2010.

The Castillo family had long been under mil-itary surveillance. Guillermo Castillo is the 66thvictim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquinoregime. ~

10-day rampage by 702nd

Bde in Nueva Ecijaand Aurora

Elements of the 48th, 81st and 56th IB andthe 72nd Division Reconnaissance Company

under the 702nd Bde wrought havoc on thelives of residents of Gabaldon, Bongabon andLaur towns in Nueva Ecija and areas along theNueva Ecija-Aurora border on November 25-De-cember 5.

In Sitio Baong, Barangay Labi, Bongabon,the masses were forced to stop their wood-gathering activities out of fear after the mili-tary forbade them from going up the mountains.Wood-gathering is their only source of income.

Failing to find any Red fighters in the area, themilitary burned three of the woodmen's huts andstole the masses' food, clothes and blankets. ~

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6 ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

CPP declares 6-day ceasefire

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines(CPP) and its Military Commission ordered all units and com-

mands of the New People's Army (NPA) and people's militia to im-plement a ceasefire from 12:00 a.m. of December 24 to 11:59 p.m.of December 26 and from 12 a.m. of December 31 to 11:59 p.m.of January 2, 2012.

The ceasefire has beencalled to express solidarity withthe Filipino people's traditionalcelebration of the Christmasand New Year holidays. It willalso provide opportunity forcomrades and the masses tocommemorate the 43rd found-ing anniversary of the CPP on

December 26.The ceasefire is particularly

significant in that it paves the wayfor Red fighters and other revolu-tionary forces in calamity-strickenareas to mobilize the masses andhelp in their rehabilitation.

On the aforesaid periods, allunits and commands of the NPAand people's militia will cease

and desist from launching of-

fensive operations againstarmed units and personnel ofthe Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP), Philippine NationalPolice (PNP) and paramilitaryforces of the Government of thePhilippines (GPH).

Officers and personnel of theAFP and PNP who do not have

serious crimes against the peo-ple will be allowed to enter ter-ritories of the people'a demo-cratic government to visit rela-tives and friends.

During the unilateral cease-fire, all units and commands ofthe NPA and people's militiashould assume a defensive pos-ture on both the tactical and

strategic levels.

They must remain vigilantagainst any attempt by thearmed commands and units ofthe GPH to attack the territoryof the people's democratic gov-ernment, put it under surveil-lance or subject it to offensive

operations. They must go on ac-tive defense only when there isclear and present danger.

All units and commands ofthe NPA and people's militia arealso reminded of the fact thatdespite an earlier ceasefire dec-laration by the Government ofthe Philippines, the armed unitsof the military and police con-tinue their surveillance and

other operations to control thepeople in accordance with theOplan Bayanihan war of sup-pression. All revolutionaryforces are enjoined to be onmaximum alert against hostileenemy acts and report them tothe appropriate NPA commandand to the leadership of the CPPand the National Democratic

Front of the Philippines. ~

CPP condoles with victimsof typhoon Sendong

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extended its con-dolences to the estimated hundred thousand people of Mindanao

and the Visayas afflicted by typhoon Sendong which struck theirareas on December 17-18. In a statement dated December 18, theCPP also slammed officials of the Aquino regime for blaming thepeople for allegedly failing to heed storm warnings. Close to athousand people were killed and more than 400 remain missing, asof the latest tally. Most of those killed drowned in rampaging floodwaters that hit the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. More than30 people likewise perished in Negros Oriental.

Also struck by the stormwere the rural, urban andcoastal areas of Northern Min-danao, including the Surigaoand Agusan provinces as well asthe Zamboanga and Lanaoprovinces, Bukidnon and Davaodel Norte, Davao Oriental andCompostela Valley and the is-lands of Siargao, Dinagat and

Camiguin. The cities of Du-maguete, Valencia and Tanjay inNegros Oriental were also inun-dated.

Sendong's casualties farsurpassed those of typhoonOndoy, showing poor disaster-preparedness on the part ofgovernment despite lessonsfrom previous calamities. Said

the CPP, the government can-not cover up its own negli-gence by heaping blame onthe people.

Typhoon Sendong's tragicaftermath is the result of thewidspread denudation of moun-

tains and severe siltation ofrivers, all leading to flashfloods. The situation demandsrenewed calls for an immediatestop to the environmentally de-structive activities of real es-tate developers and huge plan-tations, mining and loggingcompanies.

The CPP added that con-cerned regional commands ofthe New People's Army maydeclare a temporary cessationof tactical offensives in orderto concentrate efforts on mo-bilizing the masses in rehabil-itating themselves from thelosses incurred in this hugedisaster. ~

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VICTORIOUS NPA OFFENSIVES

ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

Ambush in Antique,harassment

in Leyte

The New People's Army (NPA) launched anambush in Antique and a harassment op-eration in Leyte in the second week of De-

cember.The Red fighters under the Napoleon Tu-

magtang Command (NPA-Southern Front-Panay) seized three high-powered firearms inan ambush on military and paramilitary forces

in Sitio Igbaklag, Barangay Aningalan, SanRemigio, Antique on December 9.According to initial reports, a seven-man

unit from the Philippine Army 12th IB CadreBattalion was conducting clearing operationsin the mountainous areas of San Remigio whenthey were ambushed. Confiscated by the NPAwere an M14, an M16, a carbine and rounds ofammunition. Also seized was the enemy's com-munications radio.

Killed were Cpl. Absalom Labitan, com-

mander of the 12th IB detachment in BarangayAningalan and two elements of the CivilianArmed Auxiliary (CAA).

Meanwhile, Red fighters under the Mt.Amandewin Command (NPA-Leyte) rained bul-lets on operating troops from the 78th IB inBurauen town, Leyte in the morning of Decem-ber 11. The harassment action against the mil-itary was launched along the boundary ofBarangay Villa Aurora and Barangay Roxas, ac-cording to a report from the Efren MartiresCommand (NPA-Eastern Visayas). It was part ofthe people's army's support for the struggle ofBarangay Roxas villagers against military oper-ations that have been endangering them anddisrupting their livelihood.

The villagers had already complained to theBurauen town mayor about the militarizationof their areas which was begun by the 4th Spe-cial Forces Company at the end of Novemberand continued by the 78th

IB, but no action hadbeen taken.

The harassment ac-tion belied claims bythe AFP that there wereno longer any armedrevolutionay forces inLeyte. ~

Successful antifeudalstruggles

in Cagayan Valley

Asuccessful region-wide campaign was heldin Cagayan Valley to alleviate the difficul-ties of people who had been affected by a

series of calamities. The successes were achievedby the people acting in concert to assert theirdemands. Through this, they were able to im-prove their income and attain some measure ofrelief.

On October 2, peasants confronted local mer-chant-usurers in Lasam, Cagayan to demand thatthey be granted a reprieve from paying theirdebts since their crops had been damaged by aseries of typhoons.

The confrontation-dialogue culminated in asigned agreement witnessed by representativesof the Lasam local government, merchants fromLasam, members of Kagimongan and Anakpawis-Cagayan and representatives of Alyansa DagitiMannalon ti Ili Ti Piat, Rizal, Sto. Nio ken

Lasam, along with about 500 farmers. Theyagreed on the following:

The peasants will have a reprieve from payinginterest for the second cropping of 2009, the firstand second croppings of 2010 and the first andsecond croppings of 2011 because of the damagewrought by typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng and Juan.The palay they planted during the first croppingof 2011 also failed to flower because of the rainand cold brought about by typhoon Mina. The

farmers will pay the principal, however. But thosewho suffered 50% or more damage to their cropsor products will be exempted. They will start pay-ing back their debts once they recover.

As for how much interest to pay, they agreedthat only 16% will be imposed per cropping ondebts in kind such as fertilizer and pesticides,while `15 for every `1,000.00 cash loan will becharged per cropping. The practice of chargingcompounded interest will be stopped.

The confrontation-dialogue was part of a re-

gion-wide Calamity Demand campaign.Merchants will be allowed a profit of only

`1.00 per kilo of rice or corn, with the pricebased on the prevailing market price at the time.In particular, corn should be sold for only `11.50per kilo in Isabela and `10.50 per kilo in Lasamtown.

In classifying products, only two categories

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8 ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

will be allowed during the maincroppingdry and fresh weight.During the rainy season, howev-er, there may be several classifi-cations of palay and corn, de-pending on the variety. Mer-

chants from other areas shouldnot be prevented from comingin to buy the farmers' products,especially if they offer higherprices.

The farmers conscientiouslyprepared for the confrontation.They embarked on a widespreadcampaign to inform and explainto others from as far as Rizal,

Sto. Nio and other areas ofLasam what their demandswere. They distributed flyersand leaflets with the help ofother farmers. They also madeplacards and banners, some ofwhich they set afloat in the riv-er on improvised rafts. Theyheld small mass actions in sev-eral warehouses to make themerchants aware of their griev-

ances and invite them to attendthe confrontation-dialogue. Aday before the dialogue, theyspoke over the radio to presenttheir demands, explain theirstruggle and invite even morepeople to attend the activity.

During the dialogue, thefarmers also demanded the im-plementation of a 2004 agree-ment which the merchantsfailed to comply with. Theyagreed, among others, thatsacks should be provided forfree by the merchants and notbe charged against the pricepaid for their produce. Farmproduce should also be weighedfirst before holes are punched inthe sacks to collect samples forclassification. Hauling produce

towards the highway (fromAbariongan Uneg, Intic, Sicalaoup to Centro Lasam) should alsobe free of charge. There shouldbe a stop to the practice of re-quiring collateral (in the formof land titles, carabaos or hous-

es) and confiscating these fromfarmers or filing cases in courtagainst them when they defaulton their debts.

The campaign for relief andrehabilitation after the storms

includes efforts to ensure thatfarmers who are victims ofcalamities do receive the appro-priate supplies and funds fromgovernment agencies. Up to4,223 families from Isabela andNueva Vizcaya benefited fromthis campaign.

Other mass actions in Ca-

gayan Valley. In the last quar-

ter of 2011, farmers from Isabe-la launched continuing mass ac-tions through their provincialorganizations such as the Dang-gayan dagiti Mannalon ti Isabe-la (DAGAMI) and AMADA(Alyansa dagiti Mannalon aMaapaidaman ti Daga or Al-liance of Peasants Deprived ofLand). They conducted the fol-lowing:

Bungkalan or collective-ly tilling land. Farmers fromAlicia, Isabela gathered on No-vember 10 to reclaim and tilllands that had been seized by ausurer and barricaded by the

court sheriff and anex-policeman. Prior to

this, theyput uppos te r s

all over the Alicia town centerto support the bungkalancampaign.

Caravan for peace and

agrarian reform. Farmerslaunched a caravan on Septem-

ber 10 to call for peace and astop to the widespread seizureof farmers' lands. Peasants fromCordon, San Mateo and Alicia,Isabela as well as church work-ers joined the caravan. A Peas-ant-Lawyers-Church Forum forGenuine Agrarian Reform heldon September 13 was attendedby attorneys and church people

supportive of the peasantmovement.Participation in big mobi-

lizations. Farmers from thetowns of Dupax, Bagabag andSolano in Nueva Vizcaya;Nagtipunan, Maddela and Sagu-day in Quirino; and Cordon, SanMateo, Echague, Jones and Ali-cia in Isabela launched a cara-van on October 15. They gath-

ered in Cordon and marched to-wards Santiago City, Isabela'scapital where they held a pick-et-rally. After this, they joinedthe caravan and campout/rallyin Tuguegarao City, the capitalof Cagayan province. Even if atyphoon had just passed andthe peasants were hard up, al-most 400 farmers were able to

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9ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

make it to this activity.Close to a hundred farmers joined the Peasants'

Week mobilization from Octover 15-22 in Mendiolafrom various towns in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya andQuirino. During the mass action, the farmers ac-costed three intelligence agents who wanted to dis-rupt the activity and intimidate the peasants. The

farmers took the agents' firearms and cellphones.

Women's mass action. On October 28, almost700 women activists were able to launch a march-rally in the center of Santiago. Most of the par-ticipants who joined the commemoration of theInternational Day of Rural Women were membersof GABRIELA chapters in the province. New andimpressive women leaders from the semiproletari-

at also joined the activity. ~

NDF-Cagayan assails Dy dynasty

The National Democratic Front in Cagayan strongly assailed a decision by the SangguniangPanlalawigan ng Cagayan to purchase weapons worth `30 million. Said NDF-Cagayan

spokesperson Salvador del Pueblo, the weapons will be used for Gov. Faustino Bodjie Dy III'sprivate army and other repressive forces to bolster the rule of his political dynasty over Isa-

bela.

To cover up the formation of a privatearmy, Dy outrageously claimed that theweapons were needed to protect key installa-tions and offices in Isabela. In fact, thefirearms were acquired to realize the Aquinoregime's plans of stepping up surveillance andrepressive operations against Filipinos op-posed to the current regime's oppressive prac-tices.

The weapons will be used to arm so-called force multipliers in the cities andcountrysidefor instance, the Police Auxil-iary Forces in the barrios and the Public Or-der and Safety Units in the towns. All thesewill be used by the Dy dynasty to suppressthe people, prepare for the next election

against its political enemies and reinforceits repressive rule.

Del Pueblo said that arms purchases can-not solve the problems of hunger, lack of de-cent housing, health services and other needs,especially with the onslaught of typhoonsPedring and Quiel on the people. Many farmerssuffered damage to their crops, houses,schools, bridges and other infrastructure as a

result of calamities. Thousands of overseas Fil-ipino workers from the Middle East had losttheir jobs and are in need of training and cap-ital to start anew. These are the things thatare more deserving of funding, and not thebeefing up of private armies, Del Pueblo con-cluded.

Strikes paralyze US,Canadian ports

Activists of the Occupy movement succeeded in halting theoperations of more than ten major ports in the US and Cana-dian West Coast on December 12 despite intense suppression

by the police and the government's attempts to divide the protest-ers' ranks.

The coordinated strike was led by more than 12 groups of Oc-cupy Wall Street (OWS) based in the US West Coast with strong

backing from dock workers and teamsters. The strike was accom-panied by other forms of protest like blockades, pickets, marchesand rallies launched by more than 40 groups supporting the Occu-py movements in the US, Canada and Tokyo, Japan.

The strike was launched to condemn the police's continuing vi-olent attacks on activists and the demolition of more than 60camps of the Occupy movement across the country.

The port of Oakland, California was paralyzed for 24 hours

when more than 10,000 pro-

testers blocked its terminalgates. Port operations were al-so paralyzed for half a day inPortland, Oregon; Longview,Seattle; Houston, Texas; andVancouver, Canada. There waspartial paralysis for two tothree hours in the ports inLong Beach, Los Angeles andSan Diego, California. In An-chorage, Alaska, dock worker

activists staged a rally.The ports in Los Angeles,

Long Beach and Oakland areamong the five busiest ports inthe US while that in Vancouveris the biggest port in Canadaand the entire West Coast ofNorth America. ~

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ANG BAYAN December 21, 2011

Iran downs US' mostmodern drone

The armed forces of Iran downed theUS' most advanced unmanned aerial

vehicle (or drone) in Kashmar, easternIran on December 4. The drone was be-ing used by the US to conduct aerialsurveillance on Iran.

The downed drone is an RQ-170Sentinel, known as a stealth drone be-cause it is difficult to detect by radar.It has practically no metal parts and

uses a special kind of paint that makesit invisible to radar. It is effective insurveilling targets that are as much as50,000 feet away because it utilizeshigh-tech sensors, video cameras andthe like. Its wings are designed tomimic bat's wings for flexibility andmaneuverability through narrow pathsduring low altitude flights.

The US was doubly embarrassedwhen Iranian authorities disclosed

that they were able to capture thedrone via electronic ambush or byoverriding the US' electronic controlover it. The Iranians were thus able toget hold of the drone without inflict-ing too much damage.

The Central Intelligence Agencystill refuses to acknowledge responsi-bility despite US Pres. Barack Obama'sformal appeal to Iran to return thedowned drone. Iran has refused to doso, and has instead filed a complaintwith the United Nations, accusing theUS of launching provocative and clan-destine actions that violate interna-tional law.

The US has stepped up its aerialsurveillance of the country since itbranded Iran in 2003 of being part ofthe axis of evil.

This is the third time Iran has

downed a US drone this year. The firstwas in January and the second in July.

Workers picket DOLE officevs contractualization

MEMBERS of the Kilusang Mayo Uno picketed themain office of the Department of Labor and Employ-ment in Manila on December 16 to assail the agencyslatest order bolstering widespread contractualizationin the country. Contrary to the DOLE's claims that DO2008-A Series of 2011 would put a stop to contrac-tualization, the new order merely identifies legiti-mate contractors and sub-contractors and is clearlya scheme by DOLE and the Aquino regime to makecontractualization palatable.

The KMU said that the latest DOLE order is in ac-cordance with the Aquino regime's antiworker policy.

Contractualization has become more widespread thisyear after the Supreme Court issued a decision up-holding a scheme by the Philippine Airlines manage-ment to terminate its workers and hire contractualsinstead.

In a related development, the KMU called on thegovernment to give justice and grant compensationto five workers of SM who were seriously injured inan accident on December 15 in Davao City. The work-ers were repairing a part of the SM building when thecanopy they were standing on collapsed. The KMU

fears that they would suffer the same fate as theworkers who died in an accident at the Eton Proper-ties construction site in January. Eton Propertiescontinues to refuse to pay damages to the families ofthe victims on the pretext that the casualties werenot regular employees of the company.

Most of the workers of the Henry Sy-owned SM arecontractual. Sy is one of the Aquino regime's closestcronies.

Meanwhile, overseas Filipino workers (OFW) led by

Migrante International declared December 18 ZeroRemittance Day (ZRD).The local economy relies on OFW remittances to

keep afloat. Thus, any disruption in their flow is sureto have an effect on the operations of big business-men, banks and even the reactionary government.

Migrante said depriving the Aquino regime oftheir remittances for a day was a form of protestagainst the government's disregard for their situationabroad. ZRD is also the migrants' reaction to theregime's inutility to come to the aid of endangered

workers, such as the migrant who was executed inChina on December 8.