News
Martyred Red commander honored in Western Mindanao
OVER 1,000 people militantly marched on November 5 in Pilar, Misamis Occidental to carry the remains of Mario Bagondol (Ka Orlan) to his final resting place.
Ka Orlan, one of the leading Red commanders of the New People's Army (NPA) and a Party cadre in the Western Mindanao region, died on October 28, a day after he was wounded in battle in Barangay Datagan, Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte.
In a statement, NPA regional spokesperson Ismael Marte said that aside from friends and members of Ka Orlan's family, among those who joined the march were supporters of the revolutionary movement. Some of them carried placards and streamers assailing the US-Arroyo regime.
Prior to this, the National Democratic Front in Western Mindanao (NDF-WMR) paid tribute to Ka Orlan. In a statement on October 30, NDF-WMR spokesperson Ka Adan Sindapan said that Ka Orlan died while abiding by the Communist Party's call to intensify the armed revolution nationwide in response to the unprecedented crisis of the ruling system.
The bravery and discipline that Ka Orlan displayed while alive is admirable, said Sindapan. From being an ordinary fighter, he became one of the finest Red commanders tested in many battles and who led many victories amid the circuitous and difficult road of waging armed revolution in Western Mindanao.
Sindapan belittled the AFP's boasts with regard to Ka Orlan's loss. Such boasting has a hollow ring, he said, since the reactionary state continues to rot away and the fascist soldiers defending it are likewise rotten and demoralized. It is the system's rottenness, said Sindapan, that pushes many poor and oppressed people to take the road of revolutionary armed resistance.
Subanen minorities oppose mining operations in Zamboanga del Norte
SUBANEN minorities expressed their opposition to the operations of Toronto Ventures, Inc. in Mount Canatuan in Tabayo, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte. TVI is a Canadian-owned mining company.
In an open letter last October, Jose "Boy" Anoy, timuay (tribal leader) of the Subanen in Siocon, said that in its gold exploration efforts, the TVI has desecrated the peak of Mount Canatuan, which the Subanen consider sacred.
The Subanen assailed TVI for responding to their protest actions with violence with the help of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit. Consequently, a number of Subanen tribespeople as well as other residents of Siocon have either been killed or injured.
The Subanen are concerned that if TVI's intrusion is not prevented, they would suffer the same fate as other national minority groups who have been driven off their land due to open-pit mining, logging, mega dams and other projects more beneficial to big business.
NDF-EV condemns "Leyte Landing" celebration
NATIONAL Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas (NDF-EV) spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas condemned the celebration of the "Leyte Landing" on October 20.
The "Leyte Landing," which refers to the arrival in the island in 1944 of American troops led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, is commemorated yearly because it supposedly signaled the Filipino people's liberation by the Americans from the hands of the Japanese.
In a statement, Fr. Salas denounced the commemoration as an insult to the Filipino people as it suggests that they owe a debt of gratitude to US imperialism for their national sovereignty. He further belied that the "Leyte Landing" was proof of friendship between the US and the Philippines. He recalled that it was invading American troops who killed at least 50,000 Samare�os to suppress the anticolonial uprising in the island in the early part of the 20th century.
Fr. Salas also assailed the Leyte Landing organizers for disrespecting the poor old veterans who did the actual fighting against the Japanese invaders when MacArthur left the Philippines. He said that the old veterans were simply rounded up for display during the celebration, but were not even invited to the official banquet. Only representatives of US imperialism, the Arroyo regime, and the ruling classes of big comprador-bourgeois and big landlords feasted during the banquet.
Strike paralyzes Central Azucarera de Tarlac
OPERATIONS at the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) have been paralyzed since November 6 when workers led by the CAT Labor Union (CATLU), together with hundreds of peasants from Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and their families launched protest actions. The strikers' barricades in front of CAT's two gates have prevented the entry of trucks laden with sugarcane from the towns of Tarlac, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija. CAT, which is located in San Miguel town and owned by the Cojuangco family, is the largest sugar refinery in Luzon.
CATLU is demanding a `100 increase in the daily wage and a `30,000 CBA signing bonus for every worker. The United Luisita Workers' Union, on the other hand, opposes the layoff of 327 of its members, the reduced workdays, and the extremely low wages of farm workers (who receive a mere `9.50 per day).
The protest actions were supported by Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Tarlac-Kilusang Mayo Uno (NMT-KMU), Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Tarlac-KMP, BAYAN-Tarlac, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA), League of Filipino Students and Anakbayan.
2 Maoist parties in India merge
THE Communist Party of India (Maoist) or CPI(M) was formed on September 21 with the merger of the two largest Maoist organizations in the country�the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (People's War) or CPI (ML)(PW) and the Maoist Communist Center of India or MCCI. The "unified PLGA" (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) was also formed from the merger of the People's Guerrilla Army of the CPI(ML)(PW) and the PLGA of the MCCI.
Guerrilla fighters and activists from both the party and mass organizations were in attendence during the merger, which was carried out inside a guerrilla zone in India.
In its declaration, the newly formed party said that the merger was "in response to the wishes and aspirations of the working class, peasantry and all oppressed masses of the country for a genuine proletarian party that can lead them towards revolutionary change for the establishment of a new democratic society which can advance towards socialism and communism."
The CPI(M) continues to oppose right and "left" deviations, particularly revisionism. It will strive to unify all groups and individuals who are genuinely Maoist but remain outside the merger party.
The CPI(M) released five founding documents: "Hold High the Bright Red Banner of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism," "Strategy and Tactics of the Indian Revolution," "Political Resolution on the International and Domestic Situation" and the party program and constitution.
Aside from expounding on its stand and views on important issues concerning India, the CPI(M) declared its continuing support for people's wars led by Maoist parties in the Philippines, Peru, Turkey and other countries, besides supporting all people's struggles against imperialism and reaction.
90 demonstrators massacred in Thailand
OVER 90 demonstrators were killed after some 1,000 military troops attacked a peaceful rally of about 3,000 Muslims in Tak Bai district, Narathiwat province, southern Thailand on October 25. Six demonstrators were immediately killed in the violent assault. Up to 1,300 were arrested, bound to each other and crammed into tarp-covered trucks. After the trucks journeyed six hours, 85 of those arrested were found lifeless due to asphyxiation and convulsions while others were crushed to death. Sixty demonstrators remain missing to date.
The demonstration was launched to oppose the growing repression of Muslims in Thailand by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government in the name of the "anti-terrorist campaign."
Human rights groups have reported 17 activists and human rights advocates killed or missing in Thailand under the Thaksin regime. One of them is Somchai Neelaphaijit, a human rights lawyer who defended five Muslim men accused of having links with "Muslim extremists." He has not been surfaced since his abduction in early 2004.
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