Ang Bayan January 21, 2013 issue

7/29/2019 Ang Bayan January 21, 2013 issue

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

English EditionVol. XLIV No. 2

January 21, 2013www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

The Filipino people are fed up with Aquino'slies and false promises of change which theyhave been hearing for the past three years.

As time passes, his "righteous path" and "cleangovernance" shibboleths repeated ad nauseum arebeing exposed as empty slogans. His "kayo angboss ko" (you are my boss) is pure blarney. Obvi-ously, Aquino's real bosses are his friends in big

business, foreign capitalists and the US govern-ment and military.

It is plain to see that the solution to poverty,hunger and the exploitation and oppression of thetoiling masses and the petty bourgeoisie lies nei-ther in Aquino nor in his florid but empty speeches.No matter how much gimmickry, spectacle or talesabout the "good news" Aquino resorts to, he cannever conceal the real conditions of the people.

He is grasping at thin pieces of straw,

which represent his manipulated"popularity." In truth, thetoiling masses have hadenough of him. Nei-ther could

Intensify political strugglesand the national-democratic

propaganda movementAquino inveigle the middle strata in the face ofmounting violations of human rights, his extremeservility to the US, abuse of political power, cor-ruption and crime. Fully aware of all this, Aquinohas been intensifying the campaign of suppressionagainst the people's democratic struggles.

The people must confront Aquino's remainingthree years in power with stepped-up political

struggles. They must hold the Aquino regime ac-countable for its transgressions and crimesagainst the people. They must muster their powerby organizing and through collective action.

Conditions are exceedingly favorable for mas-sively arousing and mobilizing the people on thebasis of resisting incessant oil price hikes, addedtaxes, wage freezes, deteriorating and more cost-ly health and education services, widespread dem-olitions of urban poor communities, lack of decent

housing, the foreign plunder of the country's min-

In this issue...

Victims oftyphoon Pablobarricaded 4

Criminality andCorruption 7

Slaying of threeKurdishactivists,condemned 12


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2 ANG BAYAN January 21, 2013

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 contributions

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Readers are likewise enjoined to send

in their comments and suggestions forthe betterment of our publication. You

can reach us by email at:

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Vol. XLIV No. 2 January 21, 2013

Contents

: Intensify political

struggles in the cities

Victims of typhoon Pablo barricade highway

Youth rally vs Cybercrime Law

PISTON transport-caravan

Indemnification of martial law victims

US warship runs aground in Tubattaha Reef

US drone found off Masbate coast

Criminality and corruption under Aquino

Activists rounded up in series of arrests

AFP violations of synchronized ceasefire

Ang Bayanvideo

Soldier, cop arrested in ComVal

NPA-Negros military action

Acosta temporarily released

3 Kurdish women activists murdered

US passes repressive law

US, France intervene in CAR

ANG

eral resources, repression andhuman rights abuses, landgrab-bing, the neglect of calamity vic-tims, the surrender of the na-tion's sovereignty and kowtow-ing to the US' every command.

The Filipino people musttrain their anger on the Aquinoregime, demand retribution,shake it to its very foundationsand work for its early demise.The intensification of politicalstruggles in the cities will like-wise contribute to strengthen-ing the armed struggle in thecountryside.

THE Party and the revolutionaryforces must lead the instensifi-cation of the people's politicalmovements and struggles.Strengthening the mass move-ment in the cities is among themost important political requi-sites for bringing the people'swar to the threshold of the stra-tegic stalemate.

Let us use the commemora-tion of the 43rd anniversary ofthe First Quarter Storm of 1970to recall the lessons of strength-ening the revolutionary and

democratic mass movement inthe cities.

Just as the three-monthsurge in the mass movement in1970 played a role in buildingthe foundations of the people's

war, strengthening andadvancingt h e

m a s sm o v e -ment inthe yearsahead is oneof the keys toensuring thatthe target ofachieving a leapin the people's war to ahigher stage within the currentdecade is met.

Hundreds of thousands weremobilized from January toMarch 1970 in gigantic protestactions that thundered fromMetro Manila towards other ur-

ban centers nationwide. Thiswas the result of years of arous-ing the people, conducting per-severing propaganda and edu-cation work and organizingamong the ranks of workers, se-

mi-proletariat, youth-students,women, professionals, churchpeople and other sectors ofsociety.

The ruling Marcos regimewas severely isolated and

shaken until itcould no longerrule in the old

way. Fascistt e r r o r

r e i g n e dwith thei m p o s i -tion ofm a r t i a l

law in1972.

B u t t h i sfailed to crush the fledgling rev-olutionary movement. Instead,

the people's war gainedstrength as thousands of activ-ists went to the countryside.They gave momentum to thetask of expanding the armedstruggle in the rural areas. Theyreached out to and organizedhundreds of thousands and evenmillions of people. The revolu-tionary movement could not

have achieved its current ex-panse and strength if not for thesignificant contributions of theproducts of the First QuarterStorm of 1970.

It is fine to revisit the les-sons from such an importantpart of Philippine revolutionaryhistory because they serve toguide us in our current efforts to

create a new and brilliant chap-ter in advancing people's war.

A strong and surging urbanmass movement is the people'sweapon in resisting oppressionand exploitation. It is the way toarouse and mobilize them andtake the ruling clique and the en-


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3ANG BAYAN January 21, 2013

tire ruling system to task. Party-led forces must arouse the peo-ple and muster their revolution-ary mood. The urban democraticmass movement must bestrengthened in order to makeloud and clear the people's clam-or for revolutionary change andto form various types of allian-ces.

There is no dearth of out-standing issues that should beaddressed by the mass move-ment. The crucial task for themass movement is to put forwardcritical analysis and lay out thecorrect line of struggle to rally

the people against the ruling re-actionary clique and system.

At the same time, we musttirelessly reach out to the massesand form schools or study circlesin factories, campuses or com-munities to discuss the programfor national-democratic change.

Identifying and laying downthe correct line of action will

rouse and mobilize the people intheir millions and pave the wayfor organizing and uniting themto fight for their national anddemocratic aspirations. Thus,

they can train their anger notonly against the ruling regimebut against the rotten rulingsystem that it represents anddefends.

The role played by theyouth-student sector in invigor-ating the people's democraticstruggles is undeniable. Theymust mobilize massively not on-ly to address their issues oncampus, but even the issues andproblems of the toiling masses inthe cities and countryside. Theymust take action en masse andgo to factories and communitiesand bring these issues to their

schools and in the streets.The organized strength of

the masses of workers must bebuilt anew. The reactionary gov-ernment has launched brutal at-tacks against their unions andtheir basic rights. We must un-dertake the various ways of or-ganizing workersinto unions orvarious forms of associa-

tionsin order to give primacyto their cries for higherwages, job securityand better work-ing conditions.

The good and advanced ele-ments that emerge fromstrengthening the mass move-ment must be gleaned andbrought together in revolution-ary mass organizations, which

must be boldly expanded andcontinuously broadened andstrengthened through politicaleducation and mass campaignsand struggles.

The revolutionary mass or-ganizations are the source ofParty members and fighters ofthe New People's Army. A pow-erful mass movement serves asa wellspring of activists, prole-tarian revolutionaries and Redfighters.

The Party is sharply identify-ing, analyzing and resolving theproblems that have been stop-ping or holding back the contin-uous advance of the democraticmass movement in recent years.The revolutionary forces are de-terminedly persevering in ex-

posing the ruling Aquino regime,intensifying political strugglesand thoroughly advancing thenational-democratic propagan-da movement. ~


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The victims, most of whomwere farmers, farm workers andLumad came all the way fromthe towns of Monkayo, Nabun-

turan, Compostela and Monte-vista in Compostela Valley; themunicipalities of Baganga andCateel in Davao Oriental; andTrento in Agusan del Sur. Theywalked for close to ten hours inthe heat and rain just to be ableto air their grievances to con-cerned authorities.

The barricade blocked the

highway linking Davao City toCompostela Valley, Agusan delSur, Agusan del Norte, Surigaodel Sur, Surigao del Norte andDavao Oriental. Hundreds of ve-hicles were forced to stop. Thepolice and military tried to in-timidate the barricaders, sayingthat their protest action was il-legal because it had no permit.But this did not work due to thesheer number of protesters.

DSWD secretary Corazon"Dinky" Soliman and Com-postela Valley Gov. Artu-ro Uy were thus forcedto face the rallyists.They tried to convincethe protesters to dis-mantle the barricade,but likewise failed.

By 9:30 p.m., atruck carrying 1,900packets of reliefgoods and 100sacks of rice arrived at thebarricade. Soliman sent a lettersaying that 10,000 sacks of rice

would be arriving in two days.Only then did the protesters re-move the barricade.

According to Barog Kata-

whan, the newly established or-ganization of typhoon victims,hardly any help has come tothem, especially to families liv-ing in remote areas. Meagersupplies are distributed only tovictims who have family or greencards issued by the DSWD.

In a statement, Barog Kata-whan demanded that relief

goods that have poured in fromlocal and international agenciesbe immediately distributed tothe millions of victims of ty-phoon Pablo. They called for aninvestigation on the DSWD'sanomalous practices such ashoarding and favoring familiesliving nearby. The victims alsowant punishment for politicians

who have been us-ing relief

funds andgoods tocourt votes

in the com-ing elec-

tions. Barog Katawhan con-demned the measures taken bycommercial plantations whicharbitrarily revoked contractswith local growers. Growers arefarmers contracted by commer-cial plantations to plant com-mercial products such as bananaon their land. Despite havingbenefited from the wealth of theland and the people's labor fordecades, the plantations did noteven bother to offer financialassistance to the growers andtheir workers. Barog Katawhansaid that the plantation ownersmust cancel the debts owed to

them by the growers.The coconut farmers, on the

other hand, said that the Philip-pine Coconut Authority must re-lease funds to them as a tempo-rary solution to the widespreaddestruction of coconut trees andto enable them to start anew.

In addition, the victims de-manded the immediate imple-

mentation of genuine land re-form in the calamity-strickentowns and the cancellation of alldebts owed by peasants andfarm workers to merchants,landlords and usurers.

They also demanded the im-mediate denial of applicationsfor IFMA (Integrated ForestManagement Agreement) which

is nothing but a front for large-scale logging, and payment ofdamages by big logging compa-nies responsible for denudingthe forests in the two provinces.They also called for an unequiv-ocal moratorium on large-scalemining in the area.

Before the barricade, a fluvi-al candle-lighting ceremony was

held by progressive organiza-tions in Davao and BALSA (Buligsa)-Southern Mindanano onJanuary 15. They commemorat-ed the 40th day of typhoonPablo and remembered the morethan 1,000 people who werekilled in the storm. ~

5,000 victims of typhoonPablo barricade ComValhighway

More than 5,000 victims of typhoon Pablo barricaded thehighway at Montevista, Compostela Valley to assail theAquino regime's neglect of their communities. They con-

demned the very sluggish and selective distribution by governmentagencies of food and other relief goods and services.


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SELDA demands indemnification

for martial law victims

Two decades have passed, but victims of human rights violationsunder martial law have yet to receive the indemnification or-

dered by a Hawaii court.

PISTON

conducts

successful

transportcaravan

Drivers and operatorsof UV Express (FX)

launched a transport car-avan on January 10 to op-pose plans to phase-outtheir vehicles starting

this year.PISTON Party and

ALSA-UV led the cara-van from the QuezonMemorial Circle to Men-diola, Manila. More than50 FX vans and jeepneysjo ined the caravan. Theprotesters had earlierfiled a petition before

the Supreme Court tostop the governmentfrom proceeding withthe plan. PISTON Partychair George San Mateosaid that they stronglyoppose the memorandumcircular issued by theLand Transportation Of-fice ordering the phase-out this year of UV Ex-press vehicles that areat least 13 years old be-cause this would leavemany drivers jobless.

Many small operatorswill also be out of busi-ness because foreignersand big automobile com-panies will end up con-trolling the sale of newer

and more expensive FXmodels.

PISTON and ALSA-UValso threatened to launcha transport strike shouldthe planned phaseoutpush through. ~

Youth rally against Cybercrime Law

Youth and students launched a protest action on January 15 tooppose the implementation of RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Pre-

vention Law

They timed their protestwith a Supreme Court sessionto hear petitions against theCybercrime Law. They firmlyoppose the law because it sup-presses freedom of expressionon the internet. It will merelybecome an instrument of gov-ernment to silence its critics.Even ordinary people may be-

come victims of this law be-cause of its expanded provi-sions such as that on e-libeland invasion of individual pri-

vacy over the internet.Other progressive groups

joined the protest, including"hacktivists" who are also ac-tively against the CybercrimeLaw.

Meanwhile, students in Bi-col, Cebu, Pangasinan, Caviteand Negros launched simultane-ous mass actions to protest the

law. Other youth protests areslated in the following weeks be-cause of continuing SupremeCourt hearings on the law. ~

The Samahan ng Ex-Detain-ees Laban sa Detensyon atAresto (SELDA) has called onCongress to automaticallyrecognize up to 10,000 victims

of human rights violations whowon a class suit filed in Hawaiiagainst the Marcoses in 1992.The Hawaii court ordered thepayment of $1.2 billion in dam-ages to the victims. SELDA ap-pealed to the Congressionalcommittee in charge of draft-ing the final version of the lawon compensation.

One of the obstacles to thelaw's finalization is the Senateversion which requires the vic-tims to prove their status as vic-tims. This requirement disre-gards the efforts of the victimsand their families to obtain jus-tice. They will be compelled to

relive the difficult and painfulprocess of proving that theirrights were trampled on duringmartial law.

Another obstacle is a propo-

sition by Sen. Joker Arroyo andRep. Walden Bello not to includethose who advanced armedstruggle and had their rights vi-olated (such as those who be-came victims of extrajudicialkilling). This likewise disregardsthe right of the Filipino peopleto resist a tyrannical regimethrough various means.

The compensation will comefrom a portion of the Marcoses'ill-gotten wealth worth `10 bil-lion returned by Swiss authori-ties to the Philippine govern-ment. The current regime iskeen on using the amount for itsown interests. ~


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Presence

of US drone

in Masbate

slammed

The Communist Party ofthe Philippines (CPP) as-

sailed the reported presenceoff the coast of Masbate ofan Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) or drone owned by theUS. The drone was found byfishermen on January 6. The

CPP said the drone was beingused for counterinsurgencypurposes, such as spying onthe revolutionary movement.The Party also lambasted theAquino regime for allowingthe US to engage in intelli-gence operations in the Phil-ippines, which is a clear vio-lation of the country's sover-

eignty.The US drone, which is aBQM-74E Chukar III modelcrashed off the coast of SitioTacdugan, San Jacinto inMasbate. The same was con-firmed by the US embassy,which said that the downedvehicle was a US Naval sur-veillance drone used in mili-

tary trainings.The CPP pointed out thatthis was not the first inci-dent that a drone was usedin the country. On February2, 2012, a US "smart bomb,"a kind of drone armed with abomb, was used in a combatoperation in Parang, Joloagainst suspected terror-ists.

Also in Masbate in 2009,a number of police and mili-tary officers in the provincewitnessed the launch of a USdrone on the island. Thedrone, however, was dam-aged and eventually crashed.

The USS Guardian had noauthorization to enter Tubba-taha. It ignored even thewarnings over the radio of theTubbataha Park Rangers.When it ran aground, Ameri-can soldiers trained their high-powered weapons at the ran-gers who approached the USwarship and barred them fromcoming near the ship or board-ing it.

The CPP said that the USSGuardian's unauthorized entryat Tubbataha shows the USmilitary's overweening arro-gance. Supported by its puppetBenigno Aquino III, US war-ships haughtily roam all overPhilippine territory withoutany regard at all for the coun-try's sovereignty.

The USS Guardian is a

minesweeper with a crew ofabout 90. It had just comefrom Subic and was on its wayto conduct patrol operationsnear Palawan where US war-ships often sail within Philip-pine territory.

In 2012, at least 80 USwarships docked at Subic, Ma-nila and other areas in the

Philippines and joined "militaryexercises" and patrol opera-tions at the South China Sea.In conjunction with this, theUS military has also been givenfree rein to fly surveillancedrones in Philippine airspace.

US military presence isbound to expand and intensifyalong with its intervention inthe war of suppression againstthe Filipino people. In Decem-ber, the Mutual Defense Board(a body created under the1951 Mutual Defense Treaty)and the Strategic Defense Dia-logue held another meeting.The SSD meeting, the third in2012, was attended by high-ranking US military and securi-ty officials, including US Pacif-ic commander Adm. SamuelJames Locklear. The meetingresolved, among others, to al-low even more dockings by USships in the Philippines.

The meeting also discussedtighter relations between theUS and the Philippine NationalPolice through the Security En-

gagement Board, which wasformed by the US and Philip-pine governments in 2006. TheUS has been using the SEB todeepen its intervention in thePhilippines on the pretext ofcooperation in defeating "non-traditional threats." US inter-vention is bound to intensify inthe name of purportedly ad-

dressing piracy, cyber securityand calamities. An agreementhad also been forged earlierbetween the New York PoliceDepartment (NYPD) and PNPfor the NYPD to set up a satel-lite office in the Philippines. ~

US warship runs agroundat Tubbataha Reef

The CPP joined the widespread condemnation of the entry ofthe US warship USS Guardian to the Tubbataha Reefs Natu-ral Park on January 17. The USS Guardian ran aground at the

carefully maintained coral reefs in the area. Tubbataha Reef whichis found at the Sulu Sea is a protected area and considered a WorldHeritage Park by UNESCO since 1993. Marine vessels are prohibit-ed from entering the area.


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the military and police. It is nodifferent from the vast and or-ganized jueteng operation giv-ing payola to former presidentJoseph Estrada. The expos ofthe jueteng payola was one ofthe factors that enraged thepeople and led to the ouster ofhis government. Jueteng per-sisted during Gloria Arroyo'stime in Malacaang through herconnections with Central Luzonjueteng lord Bong Pineda and hiswife Lilia Pineda.

The rub-out operationagainst Vic Siman's group couldnot have been implemented

without the knowledge or bless-ings of the ruling regime. Con-trary to an earlier statement byExecutive Sec. Paquito Ochoa, aclose friend of Aquino and headof the Presidential Anti-Orga-nized Crime Commission (PA-OCC), the PAOCC approved theoperation targeting Simancalled Case Operation Plan or

"COPLAN Armado." The admis-sion was made by Supt. GlennDumlao, commander of the Re-gional Public Safety Battalion inCalabarzon and supervisor of"COPLAN Armado." PAOCC offi-cials likewise admitted to pro-viding "COPLAN Armado"`100,000, allegedly for intelli-gence operations.

Marantan reported directlyto Police Director James Melad,head of the PNP-Calabarzon.

Dumlao andMelad are

both no-t o r i -

Atimonan rub-out

Criminality and corruptionunder Aquino

The killing of jueteng lord Victorino Siman and his 12 compan-ions at a police-military checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon onJanuary 6 was the result of a rub-out, not a shoot-out. Subse-

quent investigations revealed that most of the victims were shot inthe head. The rub-out was part of escalating rivalries between twosyndicates over the control and expansion of jueteng territory inSouthern Tagalog (ST).

The incident brings to thefore once more the existence ofa vast politico-criminal network

permeating all levels of govern-ment. It involves high-rankingmilitary and police officers andcivilian bureaucrats and is runby whoever is in power. Whatev-er the Aquino regime claims, itcan no longer deny that criminalsyndicates are alive and well un-der its rule and are managed bythe president's relatives and

closest friends and officials.The syndicates that came toblows in Atimonan have longbeen involved in jueteng, an ille-gal numbers game. Siman be-longed to the group of CharingMagbuhos (an ally of juetenglord Macario "Bong" Pineda),until he had a falling out with hisboss in 2010. Siman ran his

group in partnership with anumber of politicians and mili-tary and police officers, includ-ing Supt. Alfred Consumino, act-ing chief of the HeadquartersSupport Group of Region 4-B,who was among those killed inthe incident.

A three-month plan led bySupt. Hansel Marantan, chief ofthe Regional Special OperationsGroup (RSOG) and deputy intel-ligence chief of the Police Re-gional Office-A culminated in anambush on Siman. Marantan isthe brother and business part-ner of Cenen Dinglasan, a fiercerival of Siman in Laguna. Dingla-

san is also the operator of theSmall Town Lottery (STL) in anumber of towns in Laguna,

which serves as a front for jue-teng operations. Marantan isnotorious for his protectionracket that links jueteng opera-tions and carnapping. Since2005, he has been involved infour other rub-out cases thatkilled 34 suspected criminals.

The rivalry between the twogroups heightened with the

death of another jueteng opera-tor and the transfer of six of hiscollectors to Vic Siman's group.Last November, all six of Si-man's men were killed in a rub-out operation also led by Maran-tan in Calamba, Laguna.

Dinglasan and Marantan aremerely part of a national jue-teng operation deeply embedded

in the bureaucracy, police andmilitary. This operation regular-ly gives hundreds of millions ofpesos to key Malacaang offi-cials and highlyplaced offi-cers in


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ous for being former underlingsof ex-PNP chief Panfilo Lacson,now a senator and close ally ofthe Aquino regime. Both havebeen involved in previous rub-out cases. Melad was one of thepolice officers involved in thekilling of 11 members of the Ku-ratong Baleleng criminal syndi-cate in 1995 and the subsequentrub-out of witnesses. Dumlaowas involved in the abductionand murder of publicist BubbyDacer and his driver EmmanuelCorbito at the instigation ofLacson, who was then PNP chiefunder Estrada. Despite such a

record, Dumlao was reinstatedin the PNP and appointed com-mander of the Calabarzon PublicSafety Battalion after he andLacson surfaced in 2011 aftermonths in hiding.

"COPLAN Armado" was im-plemented with the participa-tion of 25 soldiers from the FirstSpecial Forces Battalion of the

AFP Southern Luzon Command.The people are fully aware

that criminal syndicates in ca-hoots with political power are

rampant in the country, butAquino himself has said thatwiping them out is not part ofhis administration's priorities.

Aquino feigned ignorancewhen former Archbishop OscarCruz divulged in 2010 that for-mer DILG Undersecretary RicoS. Puno and former PNP chiefGen. Jesus Verzosa were Aqui-no's collectors of jueteng payo-la. They were used by Aquino toorganize the jueteng and othercriminal networks and make ar-rangements regarding the cen-tralization of payola for the newoccupant of Malacaang. Puno

has been a close friend andshooting buddy of Aquino, evenlong before the latter becamepresident. Despite the scandalsthat Puno has been embroiled in,Aquino has not removed himfrom his government and evenhas plans of appointing him tothe Department of Agriculture.

The Aquino regime assigned

the National Bureau of Investiga-tion to handle this latest contro-versy involving the jueteng crimi-nal syndicate. The regime has

been making calculated moves,ensuring that it is in control ofthe course of the investigation,that Malacaang is not incrimi-nated and that the entire contro-versy does not get any bigger.

With this complex mix of po-litico-criminal syndicates, pro-tection rackets and the patron-age system pervading the entirereactionary government all theway to the very top of the civil-ian, police and military hier-archy, there can be no seriousresolution forthcoming. In fact,jueteng will even flourish all themore with the approaching elec-

tions this 2013. A huge percent-age of the campaign kitties isfunded by jueteng operationsand payola from other criminalsyndicates.

On the part of the revolu-tionary movement, it firmlystands against jueteng opera-tions and other forms of gam-bling. It adopts a comprehen-

sive and sustained approach tocombating all kinds of gambling,linking it to painstaking masswork and military work. ~

Up to 28 activists have been rounded upsince December. The human rights watch-dog KARAPATAN said the activists were all

arrested on the basis of trumped-up criminal char-ges. The activists in custody all aface similar caseswhere they are accused of being Red fighters in-volved in various NPA actions.

The latest incident involved the arrest onJanuary 4 by the PNP-Cagayan of VirgilioCorpuz, PISTON Party coordinator for Re-

gion 2. Corpuz has been slapped with atrumped-up murder charge in connec-tion with an NPA ambush in Tinoc, Ifu-gao in April 2012. He is also a memberof Katinnulong Dagiti Umili iti Amianan(Kaduami), a progressive organizationthat has long been assisting communities

victimized by massive landgrabbing and poverty.Also among those illegally arrested are Randi

Vegas and Raul Composano of COURAGE; AnecitaRojo, mother of the BAYAN-Negros secretary-gen-eral; 19 members of Tribu Bukidnon in Negros Oc-

cidental; three farmers from Mu-lanay, Quezon; Oligario Sebas of

28 activists nabbed in series of arrests


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Negros Oriental; and ReneBoy Abiva of ACT TeachersPartylist.

In the face of these ar-rests, KARAPATAN timed aprotest action with the first

meeting of the Inter-agencyCommittee (IAC) superbodyon January 8. The Aquino re-gime formed the IAC ostensi-bly to investigate cases of ex-trajudicial killing (EJK),forced disappearance andother human rights violations.It is no different from TaskForce Usig organized by the

Arroyo regime, whose onlyaim was to show that thestate was taking action evenas it did nothing but absolveitself of responsibility forgrave cases of human rightsviolations.

Attorneys from the Na-tional Union of People's Law-yers assailed the IAC's ex-

pansion of the definition ofEJK. The IAC now includeskillings by "non-state actors"in the definition in a bid toportray legitimate military ac-tions by the New People's Ar-my as EJK, including punitiveactions done in accordancewith the revolutionary systemof justice. In addition, a kill-ing may now be termed as EJKbased on the circumstancessurrounding it and the meth-ods used.

This is contrary to the def-inition of EJK as a humanrights violation committed bythe state and its institutionsresponsible for protecting thepeople's lives and their rights

under international law.The NUPL attorneys also

assailed the growing numberof illegal arrests of civiliansand the filing of trumped-upcriminal cases against theminvolving the revolutionarymovement. ~

Latest ceasefire violationsby the AFP

The following are additions to reports earlier published by Ang

Bayan on the AFP's violations of the synchronized ceasefirefrom December 20, 2012 to January 15. They are based on re-

ports submitted by NDF chapters and Party committees in SouthernMindanao, Northcentral Mindanao and Southern Tagalog.

1 Elements of theAFP 10th Special Forces accom-panied by CAFGU forces at-tacked a platoon under the NPAHerminio Alfonso Command(Guerrilla Front 53) in Upper Ti-wayan, Barangay Badyangun,Arakan, North Cotabato. TheNPA unit was then preparing fora mass meeting to discuss theland problem in the area.

1 A platoon underthe 8th IB conducted militaryoperations in St. Peter and pa-trolled Kulaman and Busdi, all in

Malaybalay City.9 Elements of the

67th IB arrested and detainedcivilian Pablito Gubaton, purokchairman of Sitio Bangas, Ba-rangay Mainit, Cateel,Davao Oriental. Hewas released aftereight hours of inter-rogation. Gubaton

was accused of ac-cepting food aid fromthe New People's Ar-my.

2 Troop-ers from the 8th IB-CAFGU set up acheckpoint in Halapi-tan, San Fernando,Bukidnon.

3Nine soldiers fromthe 8th IB set up acheckpoint on abridge in BarangayAlanib, Lantapan,Bukidnon. Theyfrisked all passersby

and inspected all cargo.2 Reinforcement

troops from the 8th IB aboardfour six-by-six trucks enteredSt. Peter, Malaybalay City andpatrolled the sub-villages in fouradjacent barangays.

2 The 58th IBand CAFGU set up a checkpointin Palo, Balason, Gingoog City.They were in ambush position bythe roadside, training theirweapons at the people passingby. They inspected the bags ofall travellers.

2 Policemen ex-torted money from motoristspassing by the checkpoint theyhad set up along the highway inKinoguitan, Misamis Oriental.On the same day, 8th IB andCAFGU elements also set up a

checkpoint in Can-ayan,Malaybalay City. Theyinvestigated all passing

motorists and passen-gers. They also set up acheckpoint in BarangaySilae, Malaybalay City.

2Troops from the 8th IBaboard two six-by-sixtrucks entered St. Pe-ter, Malaybalay Citywith two howitzers.

Some of the troops pa-trolled the sitios of St.Peter and the nearbyvillage of Busdi.

Military operationsthat began on Novem-ber 28 are still going onin Barangay Cawayan


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and Victory, Lantapan, Bu-kidnon. Soldiers occupiedthe barangay hall in themiddle of several houses inBarangay Victory. Thirteensoldiers camped out at thebasketball court in Baran-gay Cawayan and occupieda vegetable warehouse.While encamped in the twovillages, the soldiers gam-bled, went on drinkingsprees and extorted pro-duce from the farmers.

All throughout theceasefire, battalion-size op-erations were conducted in

Rizal town in Laguna. Mili-tary operations conductedby combined forces of the1st Special Forces Battalionand the 202nd Infantry Bri-gade also went on unabatedin San Pablo City, particu-larly in the villages of SanAntonio, Santisimo, San Mi-guel, San Bartolome and

Santa Monica. Combat op-erations were launched inthe nearby towns of Victo-ria and Pagsanjan.

In Quezon, the SpecialWarfare Group (SWAG)launched military opera-tions in Real town. Teamsunder the 201st InfantryBrigade also launched oper-

ations in several villages ofGuinayangan, Calauag andTagkawayan towns. Thesesame municipalities werealso covered by operationslaunched by the Bicol-based49th IB. Meanwhile, ele-ments of the 201st InfantryBrigade launched opera-tions in Sta. Elena in Cama-

rines Norte. The 76th IBbased in the villages of Ba-gong Silang, Casispalan,Busignon and Kabatuhanlaunched combat operationsin Tagkawayan until the endof December. ~

Every Ang Bayan video re-lease can be viewed first at thewww.philippinerevolution.netwebsite. From here, the videomay be viewed and downloadedto computers, tablets or cell-phones. The videos are alsopropagated through DVDs orUSB drives. In the countryside,there are mass viewings ofAngBayanvideos by Party branchesand NPA units. AB videos mayalso be viewed on late-modelcellphones.

Because they are easier topropagate, there are times whenthe Ang Bayanvideo arrives be-fore the actual publication, es-pecially in the guerrilla zones.On these occasions, the Ang

Bayan video serves as a "pre-view" and a bigger push to guer-rilla publishing houses to imme-diately reproduce the publica-tion.

Ang Bayan's readers havelong been requesting for videosas a supplementary form of rev-olutionary news. Videos helpviewers visualize the informa-

tion contained in the Partynewspaper, especially for thosewho do not have regular accessto television or the internet.T h r o u g hthe ABv i d e o ,v i e w e r sare shownimages of

events, places, personalities andother news subjects. The mostfavorite views on ABvideos areimages of NPA Red fighters andeven of various other revolu-tionary mass organizations.

Ang Bayancalls on all Partycommittees and NPA units tocontribute video footages andother images that can be used in

future productions of AB video.

i S P v

Sine Proletaryo issued onJanuary 16 Taganito, a seven-minute video featuring the vic-torious operation of the PulangDiwata Command of the New

People's Army in October 2011against destructive mining inSurigao del Sur. The video wasreleased by Sine Proletaryo tohail the major victories of therevolutionary movement inMindanao in the past decade.

Taganitois the second shortvideo produced by Sine Prole-taryo in recent months. Last No-

vember, it released Mga Bata saRebolusyonin collaboration withIsnayp Multimedia of Bicol. MgaBata sa Rebolusyon is a ten-

minute video featuringthe declaration of theNational DemocraticFront of the Philippineson the rights and welfareof children. ~

Ang Bayan video

Since May 2012, video productions based on Ang Bayanissueshave been coming out. Summaries ofAng Bayan'scontents arepresented in news form through eight- to ten-minute videos.


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The two prisoners are beingtreated well, in accordance withthe international rules of war.

The checkpoint was set up tostop the entry of undesirable el-

ements in the area and to coun-ter the 60th Special OperationsTeam which was conducting op-erations at the time. The 60thIB has a bloody record. It is re-sponsible for the killing of farm-er Totong Mabinsa of BarangayDatu, Laak and the forced re-cruitment and surrender of

peasants.Prior to this, elements of the

67th and 72nd IB attacked agroup of NPA political officersfrom the Front 15 Operations

Command soliciting relief goodsand other assistance for victimsof typhoon Pablo. The raid oc-curred at around 7 a.m. in SitioLimot, Barangay Binondo, Ba-ganga, Davao Oriental. Warnedabout the impending attack, thecomrades were able to fightback and maneuver their way

Acosta granted

temporary release

Poet-political detainee Ericson Acostawas granted temporary release on Jan-

uary 18 to enable him to seek treatment atthe National Kidney and Transplant Insti-

tute (NKTI) in Quezon City. From his jail cellin Calbayog City, he was accompanied bylawyers and officers of the Public Attorney'sOffice and paralegals from KARAPATAN. Hewas also escorted by personnel of the Bu-reau of Jail Management and Penology.Acosta is suffering from nephritis, or in-flammation of the kidneys.

In a related development, Alan Jazmineswas granted a three-hour furlough on Janu-

ary 5 to attend his mother's wake at theLoyola Memorial Chapels on CommonwealthAvenue, Quezon City. Jazmines is an NDFPpeace talks consultant. He has been de-tained for almost two years. His motherCristina Valera Jazmines died on January 1at the age of 92. ~

out, but left behind two rifles atthe scene of battle.

The calamity-stricken resi-dents of Baganga, Manay, Matiand Lupon in Davao Oriental are

being victimized twice over bythe brigade-size operations ofthe 67th and 28th IB. The sol-diers barred the residents of thesub-villages of Tigbawan, Limot,Mantapay and Bagangan in Ba-rangay Binondo, Baganga andresidents of sitios 72 and Ta-ngaan in Barangay Manurigao,New Bataan from entering and

leaving their communities.Meanwhile, the People's

Democratic Government contin-ues to implement its medium-term program to rehabilitatedamaged farms and other sour-ces of livelihood of the masses inthe areas struck by typhoonPablo. ~

NPA arrests soldier,policeman in ComVal

T

he New People's Army (NPA) arrested a soldier and a police-man in Compostela Valley at around 8 a.m. of January 17. Pfc.

Jesreel Colanggo and SPO1 Ruel Pasion were captured at acheckpoint set up by the NPA Guerrilla Front 34 Operations Com-mand in Barangay Mangloy in Laak town. The NPA confiscated a cal.45 pistol from them.

NPA armed action in Negros

Despite the enemy's superiority in terms of number,quality of arms and training, a platoon of the New

People's Army was able to defeat a composite force ofScout Rangers and 11th IB elements in Sitio Mapaho-paho, San Agustin, Isabela, Negros Occidental on De-

cember 13. The Leonardo Panaligan Command-CentralNegros reported that three soldiers were killed, twowent missing and four were wounded in this gunbattle.The NPA was also able to seize three high-powered ri-fles (one of which was damaged during the fighting)and other military equipment.

The tactical offensive is a big slap in the face forCol. Francisco Patrimonio, chief of the 302nd Brigadewho led the soldiers who arrested Oligario Sebas, an in-nocent civilian, on December 25 in Barangay Tubod,

Manjuyod, Negros Oriental.Patrimonio's objective was to collect the `5.5 mil-

lion bounty for the arrest of a Filemon Mendres, alleg-edly a high-ranking NPA official. He did so by falselyclaiming that Sebas is Mendres. Colonel Patrimoniowanted to make waves through the December 13 en-counter to ensure his promotion this year. ~


12/13


Uzun was arrested by theFrench as a favor to the Turkishgovernment.

In late 2012, the Turkishgovernment was forced to ne-gotiate with the PKK. This wasafter the PKK intensified itsarmed offensives against theTurkish armed forces after al-most a decade of avoidingarmed encounters. The Turkishgovernment nonetheless con-tinued its attacks and repres-sion of Kurdish communitiesbelieved to be PKK bases orsupporters. Just last month,Turkish forces conducted al-

most daily aerial bombard-ments in northern Kurdistan(near the Iranian border).

The Kurdish people comprisethe biggest ethnic group in theworld without their own state.They are scattered near theboundaries of four coun-triesTurkey, Syria, Iran andIraqin the region known as

Kurdistan. In Turkey, 20% of thepopulation are Kurds who aredenied many rights, includingthe use of their own language.~

Thousands condemn slayingof 3 Kurdish women activists

U

p to 50,000 Kurds poured out into the streets of Diyarbakir,Turkey on January 17 to attend the funeral procession ofthree Kurdish women who were killed in Paris, France. The

Kurds condemned the murders of Sakine Cansiz, one of the foundersof the revolutionary Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); Finan Dogan, arepresentative of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNC) based inBelgium; and Leyla Soylemez, a youth activist who represented theKNC in France.

The three women all sus-tained gunshot wounds to thehead while they were inside theKurdistan Information Center inParis on January 9. The Frenchpolice are treating the killings asan ordinary crime but the Kurdsstrongly believe that the mur-ders were perpetrated by theTurkish armed forces. The PKKlikewise believes that the Frenchgovernment, which has beenslammed by Turkey for allegedly

doing nothing in the face of thevarious activities launched byKurdish activists in France, is al-so involved. In France, up to15,000 Kurds rallied to condemnthe political killings.

The three women wereknown for their advocacy of theKurdish people's national strug-gle. Cansiz was granted political

refugee status in 1998. Beforethis, she was imprisoned for 12years in Turkey and suffered se-vere torture.

Gultan Kisanak, leader of aKurdish political party vehe-mently denied that the killingswere the result of factionalstruggles within the PKK. Hesaid that France must be held

responsible for the killings,adding that French operativeswere surely involved. PKK lead-er Abdullah Ocalan has beenserving a life sentence since1999 in a prison located in anisland near the Turkish capital

of Istanbul.The PKK is a Kurdish armed

revolutionary group based innorthern Turkey. It is strugglingfor the national self-determina-tion of the Kurdish people. Likethe CPP, the PKK is on the USlist of "terrorist organizations."

Before the killings, Frenchpolice arrested KNC executivecommittee member Adem Uzunon October 6, 2011, in Paris.Uzun was then in the country to

attend a conference called bythe French government to dis-cuss the situation of Kurdsbased in Syria.

The KNC is an alliance ofKurdish organ-izations strug-gling for na-tional self-de-termination. It

is one of theorganizationscalling forpeace talks be-tween the PKKand the Turk-ish govern-ment. Uzun, inparticular, wasone of the offi-

cials involvedin negotiationsheld from2009-2011 inOslo, Norway.The KNC be-lieves that

Sakine Cansiz, 58


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13ANG BAYAN January 21 2013

The FISA Amendmentswere initiated by former Pres.George Bush Jr. after the at-tacks in New York on Septem-ber 11, 2001. Months after,Bush secretly ordered the Na-tional Security Agency (NSA)to spy on American citizens.The resulting widespread sur-veillance was done withoutcourt orders.

Among the items coveredby surveillance are telephonecalls to other countries, emailand other types of communi-

cation. Such surveillance isconducted on even the slight-est suspicion that the targetis involved in terrorist activi-ties. Activists who opposegovernments sup-ported by theUS are vul-nerable to thelaw's provi-

sions, as are in-d i v i d u a l sa n dg r o u p ssuspected

by the US of being terrorist.In a related development,

Obama signed anew the Na-tional Defense AuthorizationAct of 2013 in the first weekof January. The law allowsthe indefinite detention with-out charges of anyone, in-cluding American citizens. Italso calls for the maintenanceof prison facilities at the USmilitary base in GuantanamoBay, Cuba despite Obama'spromise during his first day inoffice to close it down within

a year.The law also allots $633

billion for US military opera-tions worldwide and $88.5billion for contingency opera-tions in the continuing war in

Afghanistan. There is al-so a $10.5 billion alloca-tion for the Special Oper-ations Command (USSO-

COM) in prepara-tion for new acts of

US intervention invarious parts ofthe globe. ~

US, France

intervene in CAR

Using humanitarian inter-vention as a pretext, the

US and France sent troops tothe Central African Republic(CAR) to interfere in the coun-try's internal affairs. US andFrench troops have long beenconducting military operationsin the country amid offensivesby rebel forces out to over-throw the government of Pres.Francois Bozize.

The CAR is one of manycountries in Central Africawhere a hundred AmericanSpecial Forces have been ac-tive, ostensibly fighting mem-bers of the Lord's ResistanceArmy (LRA). The LRA is one ofthe organizations given theterrorist tag by the US govern-ment. It is led by Joseph Kony,

and is believed to be based inthe CAR.Upon Obama's orders, an

additional 50-strong standbysecurity force has been sent tothe CAR allegedly to assist thepeople. US Embassy personnelas well as other Americans inBangui, the CAR's capital havebeen sent home. Six-hundredFrench troops have been de-ployed to the former Frenchcolony ostensibly to protect1,200 French residents.

The CAR, with a populationof 4.5 million, is one of theworld's poorest countries. Ithas a backward economy butits rich natural resources arecoveted by imperialist coun-tries like the US and France.

Among its natural resour-ces are diamonds, gold, urani-um, logs and oil. A uraniummine in the southern part ofthe Central African Republicis run by Areva, a French com-pany. ~

US passes repressive laws

US Pres. Barack Obama extended in December a law allow-ing the US government to spy on American citizens andUS residents even without a court order. Extended for

five years, the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)Amendments Act is a law that has met strong opposition fromcivil rights advocacy groups. The law relaxes the requisites forsurveilling individuals suspected of having links with "foreignterrorists."

Ang Bayan January 21, 2013 issue

Documents

Transcript of Ang Bayan January 21, 2013 issue