News of struggle
NPA attacks cell site in Danao
Red fighters attacked a cell site of Smart Telecommunications in Barangay Looc, Danao City on April 21. In a letter, Hans Agricola, information official of the National Democratic Front said that a four-man team of the Jovito Plaza Brigade bombed the guardhouse of the cell site to punish Smart for its refusal to pay revolutionary taxes.
NPA raids Sta. Teresita Farm
NPA Red fighters launched a successful raid on Sta. Teresita Farm in Tagkawayan, Quezon on April 20. A squad-size NPA team confiscated three high-caliber firearms and two ICOM radios during the raid.
CAFGU punished
The NPA punished Ezequiel Pimentel, 44, in Maddela, Quirino on April 16. He was a notorious member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit and was guilty of many cases of abuse against the people.
Revolutionary justice meted out on abusive PNP-CPD official
The Melito Glor Command (MGC) of the NPASouthern Tagalog meted the death penalty on Chief Insp. Marcelo Velasco of the Central Police District of Quezon City on April 11. Velasco was punished in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, at around 7:00 pm.
In a statement, Tirso "Ka Bart" Alcantara, MGC spokesperson, said that the NPA punished Velasco for his long list of crimes and abuses against the people. He likewise said that the punishment was in response to complaints from many families in Tandang Sora victimized by Velasco. Among these crimes were the rape and mauling of a number of women. Velasco likewise hurled death threats against people around him, challenged his neighbors to fights and indiscriminately fired his gun. Velasco was also a landgrabber and a protector of drug syndicates.
In related news, the NPA also punished Surigao City police chief Senior Supt. Alberto Olario on April 23 in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte.
Three soldiers wounded in NPA ambush
Three soldiers were wounded in an ambush launched by the NPA in Cateel, Davao Oriental. The soldiers were on combat patrol when ambushed by the Red fighters in Barrio Aliwagwag on April 1.
Manero to be punished by the NPA
The NPA Magtanggol Roque Command declared in the fi rst week of April that it would arrest, try and punish
Norberto Manero, notorious anti-communist cultist who murdered Fr. Tulio Favali in 1985. In a statement, the NPA command said that it would not transfer custody of Manero to the police and military in case he is arrested. It added that it would arrest Manero and let the masses decide on his punishment. The statement was released after Manero was allowed to escape from prison on March 22.
Barangay captain punished
The NPA meted revolutionary justice on Rodrigo Jandayan, village chief of Barangay Tanod, Anda, Bohol on March 25.
According to Silvino Clamucha, National Democratic Front-Central Visayas spokesperson, Jandayan was punished with death because of his crimes against the revolutionary movement. Comrade Clamucha said that Jandayan served as a military spy. He also abused farmers and supporters of the revolutionary movement.
Notorious haciendero in Leyte punished
Red fighters scorched on March 24 a truck owned by Manuel Torres, a notorious haciendero in Ormoc, Leyte. This was after Torres stubbornly refused to pay revolutionary taxes.
The truck burned by the Reynaldo Jorial Command cost P350,000. It was put to the torch in a sugar farm owned by Torres in Sitio Sumangga, Barangay Campo Lopez. The guerrillas did not hurt the truck driver. Instead, he was told to get off the truck before the vehicle was set on fire.
BHB owns punishment of Imee Marcos friend
The NPA owned the October 19, 2000 ambush and punishment of Celsar Bendigo and his two goons in Barangay Wagie, Leyte. Bendigo was a businessman and a close friend of Rep. Imee Marcos.
In a statement, Ka Dadong Malaya, spokesperson of the BHB-Northern Leyte Mt. Andewin Command, said that Bendigo and his companions were punished because of their crimes against the peasants, including the eviction of more than 40 families from a 90-hectare piece of land, the execution of farmers and strafing of peasant communities.
The BHB seized from Bendigo�s vehicle a .45, a shotgun, 1,000 rounds of Armalite bullets and military equipment.
The BHB apologized for not immediately claiming responsibility and explaining the basis for the punitive action, causing innocent people to be blamed. Ka Dadong called on the police to stop persecuting suspected civilians. He also called on the victims of the Bendigos� abuses to file charges against the family.
NDFP refuses GRP call for "mutual ceasefire"
"The GRP-NDFP peace negotiations must first address the roots of civil war before ending armed conflict," said Comrade Jose Maria Sison, NDFP chief political consultant in a statement regarding the refusal of the revolutionary movement to an "indefinite nationwide mutual ceasefire" being demanded by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
According to Comrade Joma, any indefinite nationwide mutual ceasefire before there is any comprehensive agreement on social, economic and political reforms may be equated with the pacification or capitulation of the revolutionary movement.
"There is a very big difference between pacification and the struggle for a just and lasting peace by addressing the roots of civil war through peace negotiations," added Ka Joma. According to him, the GRP can succeed in getting the NDFP to consent to an indefinite nationwide mutual ceasefire if the GRP recognizes the political authority and territory of the people�s democratic government. But he said that he believes the GRP would not allow this.
In conclusion, Ka Joma stated that for now, it would suffice to have mutual ceasefires whose objectives, scope, timeframe and place are specified, such as during the safe and orderly release of prisoners of war, the carrying of casualties across battlefields, the launching of health and anti-epidemic campaigns by health workers from either side, and the celebration Christmas and the New Year.
NDFP peace panelists visit the Philippines
Comrades Luis Jalandoni, chief of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace panel, Antonio Zumel, NDFP panel senior adviser, and Coni Ledesma and Ruth de Leon, members of the NDF peace panel, arrived on April 8 from The Hague, The Netherlands to consult with comrades from various areas nationwide. The visit was part of the preparations for the scheduled peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the NDFP on April 27.
Included in the peace panel�s itinerary was a visit to political prisoners on April 19 and attendance in a peace conference held on April 18. The conference theme was "Solidarity for a Just and Lasting Peace". It was sponsored by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.
Aside from the members of the NDFP peace panel, the GRP peace panel and other personages and groups from within and outside the country attended the conference.
During the conference, the NDFP laid out its demands to the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, including the immediate release of all political prisoners and the dismantling of the labor contractualization policy. The NDFP also called for an increase in workers� wages.
"People�s Calvary" launched in Laguna
Around 250 farmers, fisherfolk, urban poor, church workers and other militant groups in Bay, Laguna launched the "Kalbaryo ng Mamamayan sa Panahon ni Gloria" (People�s Calvary during Gloria�s regime) caravan that began on April 12. The caravan headed for Manila from Calamba and returned to Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
During the caravan, various sectors from Southern Tagalog challenged both Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Jaime Cardinal Sin to side with peasants fighting for their right to land, river and sea resources, against the big comprador bourgeoisie and hacienderos who continue to amass wealth at the expense of impoverished peasants.
According to the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid ng Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK), families such as the Ayalas, Zobels, Roxases, Yulos, Locsins, Cojuangcos, Puyats and Sys are enriching themselves while farmers remain landless. Prices of their products are kept very low in the face of inflation, and farmers are pushed to the wall by anti-peasant policies such as globalization, the Fisheries Code, the Mining Act and the Agricultural Fisheries Modernization Act.
Militant anti-Estrada caravan launched
A caravan was militantly launched on April 3 by the broad united front including Bayan Muna, Council for Philippine Affairs (Copa) and other groups and organizations. The caravan aimed to protest the delay in the prosecution of ousted president Joseph Estrada.
Travelling from Manila to Baguio, the 400-strong caravan called for the immediate prosecution of Estrada. That same day, two petitions by Estrada were junked by the Supreme Court. The fi rst petition sought the recall of the court decision that installed Macapagal-Arroyo as president. The second petition sought immunity for Estrada from any criminal suit.
SOMO and SOPO violations
As a condition for the orderly release of prisoner of war Maj. Noel Buan, the GRP declared suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO) and suspension of offensive police operations (SOPO). These were also undertaken to ensure the safe withdrawal of the NPA custodial force.
According to a statement by Ka Bart on March 26, however, the AFP and PNP nonetheless blatantly violated their own SOMO and SOPO. Said Ka Bart: "The military and police had still not learned their lesson from the failed rescue operation in Gen. Nakar, Quezon that killed prisoner of war P/CInsp. Abelardo Martin."
On March 19 and 23, the PNP Special Action Force launched an operation and set up roving checkpoints in Roxas and Victoria towns in Oriental Mindoro. Military operations continued till the end of March in Roxas, Mansalay and Bulalacao.
In Batulao, Batangas, the Philippine Marines conducted combat and intelligence operations on March 19. The military and PNP also launched a joint operation in Lobo town on March 6. Military operations continue in Nasugbu.
Ka Bart also said that the 76th IB was active in Macalelon town and other areas of South Quezon from March 17-19. Meanwhile, the military has not ceased its operations in the towns of Lopez, Sariaya, Mauban and Unisan.
Because of the AFP and PNP�s flagrant violations of their own declared SOMO and SOPO especially in March, the CPP/NPA/NDFP demanded that the Macapagal-Arroyo regime ensure that:
a. All PNP-SAF forces in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro; in San Mariano, Roxas; and in San Antonio and Cagulong in Mansalay be confined to their barracks;
b. All RSAF checkpoints from Puerto Galera to Bulalacao be dismantled;
c. All elements of the AFP Military Intelligence Tactical Units (MITU) in Oriental Mindoro be confined to Calapan or Manila.
NPA punishes criminal candidates
In separate incidents, the New People�s Army punished six mayors and mayoralty candidates who committed crimes against the people and the revolutionary movement. The NPA-Ilocos Sur Alfredo Cesar Command (ACC) declared on April 20, 2001, that Teodoro Hernaez, mayor of Sta. Lucia, along with three of his police bodyguards, were punished by an NPA sparrow unit for being chronically antipeople and counterrevolutionary. The NPA confiscated from them an M14, a 9 mm and a .45.
In a correspondence report to AB, the ACC said that Hernaez�s punishment on the evening of April 18 accorded justice to the people of Sta. Lucia who had long been suffering under his rule. Said the ACC, Hernaez was a despotic landlord and warlord. He actively connived with local officials and the AFP and PNP to endanger, liquidate or push for the surrender of the NPA and the revolutionary people of Sta. Lucia. He suppressed the organizing and mobilization of peasants fighting for their rights.
The ACC said that the Hernaez family viciously exploitated their tenants. "They extorted up to 75% of the tenants� harvest as land rent. They extort huge profits through usurious loans and exact tribute from tenants in the form of vegetables, fruits and unpaid labor," the ACC explained. Aside from this, the Hernaez family underpriced the farmers� products and grabbed their lands.
The ACC added that Hernaez used his position as mayor to enrich himself, his family and his friends and to consolidate his political power. He took the lead in criminal activities and was a major protector of prostitution rings, drug dealers, jueteng operators and others.
In conclusion, the ACC said that although Hernaez may have been old, the people could no longer tolerate another day under his despicable and avaricious rule.
In a related development, the NPA punished Oscar Turralba, mayoralty candidate in La Paz, Agusan del Sur on April 21 at 11:45 a.m. Turralba was punished for his antipeople and counterrevolutionary activities.
Turralba was the second mayoralty candidate who was meted revolutionary justice by the NPA in Agusan. On April 17, at around 11:30 in the evening, the NPA punished Lope Asis, mayor of Bayugan, Agusan del Sur.
In a statement aired over the radio, the NPA-Northern Mindanao Nicolas Monteverde Command stated that Asis was punished for being a notorious druglord and gun smuggler.
In Bicol, revolutionary justice was meted out on three candidates for local government posts.
On April 20, at around 9:30 p.m., the Romulo Jallores Command of the NPA punished Dr. Florencio Mu�oz, Lakas-NUCD mayoralty candidate in Camalig, Albay. Mu�oz, who was mayor of Camalig for 25 years before his wife replaced him, was running for office once again. He was punished by the NPA because he rabidly supported an antipeople cement plant project in Palanog, Albay despite the people�s vehement opposition.
On April 19, a candidate for board member in Camarines Norte was punished with death because of his counterrevolutionary activities. Felix Frayna, another notorious anti-people candidate for mayor in Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon, was punished by the NPA on April 4.
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