News of struggle
1 sergeant, 2 CAFGUs die in Compostela Valley ambush
A Philippine Army sergeant and two elements of the Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit were killed in an ambush by Red fighters in Barangay Anibungan, Maco, Compostela Valley on July 14. They belonged to a composite team of the 60th IB and were on combat patrol when ambushed.
1 soldier killed in NPA ambush in Agusan Sur
A soldier was killed and two others were wounded after their unit was ambushed by New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas in Barangay Kinambukagyang, San Luis, Agusan del Sur on July 18. The ambushed soldiers belonged to the Philippine Army's 36th IB assigned to protect Tecland Inc., which plans to set up an Acacia mangium plantation in the area despite opposition from the Banwaon tribespeople. The jungle to be cleared by Tecland Inc. is part of the Banwaon's ancestral land.
Punitive operations launched in Camarines Norte and Batangas
The NPA punished Smart Communications Inc. by bombing its cell site in Cabangbang, Daet, Camarines Norte on July 25.
Prior to this, the NPA also punished JG Summit Petro Chemicals on July 6 by burning two air-conditioned buses owned by the company. The punitive action was conducted in Barangay Sinloc, Batangas City. The Red fighters first told the passengers to get off the bus and stay at a distance before pouring gasoline on the vehicles and setting them on fire.
Both companies were punished for their refusal to abide by the revolutionary movement's policies on taxation.
Aetas in Pampanga push for pullout of abusive military unit
Aeta tribespeople staged several pickets at the Pampanga provincial capitol in the first two weeks of July to demand the pullout from their barangay of the abusive 24th IB. Led by the Central Luzon Aeta Association, residents of Barangay Nabuklod in Floridablanca condemned the military's abduction of two community leaders, Barangay Captain Angel Binuran and Barangay Councilman Nelson Mallari. The two leaders have been missing since the latter part of June.
The tribespeople complained about the soldiers' incessant harassment, searches, drinking bouts, discharge of firearms and abuse of women. Barangay Nabuklod, which lies along the Pampanga-Bataan-Zambales border, has been repeatedly targetted by military operations of the 24th IB since December 1999.
Protest actions launched on Macapagal-Arroyo's SONA
Up to 20,000 people from militant organizations joined protest actions against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23. Among those who participated were BAYAN, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Gabriela, Kadamay, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Promotion of Church People's Rights, Kairos Philippines, Plunder Watch, Courage, Migrante, Health Alliance for Democracy, UP-Cure, Ugat Lahi, Kilusang Agham, League of Concerned Professionals, Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, ProGay, Youth Movement for Justice and Meaningful Change, members of the erstwhile Estrada Resign Movement and delegations from Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon. Abolish! and other student organizations also organized a widespread boycott of the ROTC in order to join the rally.
Rallies were also launched in the cities of Baguio, Angeles, Lucena, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Cebu, Tagbilaran, Gen. Santos and Davao and in the province of Aklan.
The demonstrators demanded that Estrada be put on trial for plunder. They also opposed the policy of imperialist "globalization", deregulation and privatization that the Macapagal-Arroyo regime has merely perpetuated. They likewise assailed the continued rise in human rights violations and intensifying militarization in the countryside under the new regime. And they also pushed for the immediate implementation of the people's demands such as the P125 across-the-board increase in the daily wage of workers.
A "Gloria from the box" was prepared for the rally by Ugat Lahi, a progressive artists' group. From the box first emerged an effigy of Macapagal-Arroyo portraying her adherence to the interests of the ruling classes, big foreign and local businessmen and the military. The box also yielded an Estrada effigy that demonstrated the continuing need to demand the prosecution of his plunder case; a crocodile that symbolized imperialist "globalization" and profit-hungry privatization; a vulture portraying the refusal to grant the P125-increase in workers' wages and other immediate forms of relief in the people's livelihood; and a rabid dog that symbolized the continued violations of human rights and the absence of peace in the country.
The people swore in the three Bayan Muna representatives. They were unable to join in the opening of Congress because of the delayed issuance by the COMELEC of the decision regarding the legitimacy of groups that ran in the party list elections. In what was dubbed as the "People's Proclamation", Satur Ocampo, whose parents were peasants from Sta. Rita, Pampanga, clutched a bundle of palay to symbolize the peasant masses. Crispin Beltran of KMU held a hammer as a symbol of the masses of workers. And Liza Masa of Gabriela carried a purple banner as a symbol of the women's liberation movement.
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