News
AMBUS, RAID LAUNCHED IN SAMAR
Two successful tactical offensives were launched by the New People�s Army (NPA) in Samar last July 28. The Red fighters ambushed a jeepload of soldiers from the 801st Bde of Philippine Army in Brgy. Urdaneta, Lavezares, Northern Samar. Lt. Gabriel Rosales and two other soldiers were killed in the ambush.
Meanwhile, 200 meters from the ambush site, another guerrilla team raided the 1st PNP Provincial Mobile Force headquarters. Two policemen were reportedly killed and others were wounded. There was no casualty among the Red fighters. Confiscated from the enemy were one M60, two M14s, five M16s, two .45 pistols, a .38 revolver and other military equipment.
Due to extreme embarrassment, the national police leadership relieved Gen. Tuacula Ulama, PNP regional Director for Eastern Visayas.
TACTICAL OFFENSIVES, CONTINUE IN BICOL
Seven enemy troops were killed and three were wounded in successive NPA tactical offensives in Bicol from March to August. Twelve firearms of assorted caliber were confiscated by the Red fighters.
In Brgy. Caayunan, Basud, Camarines Norte, Juan dela Rosa, an AFP soldier, was killed in a sniping operation by the NPA last August 13.
On July 20, the NPA raided a 22nd IB PA detachment in Brgy. Rosario, Oas, Albay at approximately 11:00 a.m. Eight high caliber rifles and one M60 machine gun were seized by the NPA. PFC Manuel Baldoza was killed in the two-hour gunfight.
According to Silyab, Bicol�s mass newspaper, a CAFGU element was slain in a harassment operation initiated by a 14-man NPA unit against the 76th IB last March 12 in Pasacao, Camarines Sur.
Three other members of the PNP Regular Mobile Force Company of Tiwi, Albay were killed in an NPA ambush in Sitio Cristo, Tiwi, Albay last April 1. One RSAF member surrendered and two other policemen were wounded. Two M16s and a revolver were confiscated.
These tactical offensives followed on the heels of two consecutive ambushes in Sorsogon last March. An AFP trooper was killed and a policeman was severely wounded.
ENEMY BLEEDS FROM NPA OFFENSIVES
New People�s Army guerrillas caused the enemy to bleed in different tactical offensives in Luzon and Mindanao.
In Brgy. Calubcob I, San Juan, Batangas, a three-man NPA sparrow unit punished a member of a PNP Mobile Force Company last August 30. An M16 and a .45 were confiscated from SPO2 Santiago Bonilla.
Meanwhile, an AFP army lieutenant was killed when an NPA platoon ambushed troopers of the 54th IB PA in Sitio Bacalan, Brgy. Mainit, Mt. Province this August 24. The slain official was identified as 2Lt. Pericles Tirasol. Wounded in the ambush were Cpl. Enrique Bulong and Cpl. Arsenio Millano.
The police chief of Boston, Davao Oriental and three other PNP troops were also killed in an ambush last July. Five policemen were wounded. The troops were aboard a jeep when they were ambushed by Red Fighters.
Last April 15, the NPA also punished a notorious rubber plantation administrator named �Bobby� in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. This elated the masses of Labako, Km. 6, Nato, Esperanza, who have long been victimized by the target.
ILOCOS-CORDILLERA HOLDS REGIONAL CONFERENCE
The Ilocos-Cordillera region successfully held its joint Party conference. The Executive Committee of the Party�s Central Committee led the summing-up of revolutionary practice in the two erstwhile separate regions.
The conference focused on the Party�s ideological, political and organizational consolidation; on the continuing progress of the rectification movement; and the critical problems hindering the overall progress of the region. The orientation of the region�s main city was finalized. The delegates ratified a resolution defining the nature of the Cordillera People�s Democratic Front (CPDF) which unites all revolutionary forces in the region.
A three-year program was outlined by the newly elected leadership. The program reflects the direction of expansion and strengthening of the revolutionary movement in the region.
PEACE FORUM HELD IN MINDANAO
A Mindanao-wide Peace Forum led by comrades Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma, members of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel, was successfully held from May 24 to July 4. The Peace Forum launched in Mindanao�s main cities discussed the basic problems faced by the people of the island. In Butuan City, 600 participated in the consultations.
In related news, the Frank Navarro Command of the New People�s Army (NPA) in Northern Mindanao freed PFC Rito Noguerra of the 38th IB last May 9 in San Luis, Agusan del Sur. Noguerra was one of two soldiers arrested by the NPA last April 20 in Mahagsay, San Luis, while conducting a �counter-insurgency� operation.
According to Ang Kalihukan, Northern Mindanao�s revolutionary mass newspaper, Noguerra was formally turned over to the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the religious and officials of the local reactionary government. He was released pursuant to an order issued by the NDFP last May 1.
MASSACRE IN AURORA EXPOSED
It was a massacre, not an encounter: Thus concluded a fact-finding mission led by human rights groups which looked into the deaths of four youth in Brgy. Dikapanakian, Aurora last June 9.
The results of the investigation conducted by the Alliance for the Advancement of People�s Rights (Karapatan) belied claims made by Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado and AFP officials that the youth who belonged to a service unit of the NPA were killed in an encounter with troopers of the 56th and 70th IB.
Confirmed to have been brutally murdered were Cely A�onuevo, 14; Maritess Casamis, 16; Jimmy Baltazar, 18; and Ricardo Ilustre, 19. Wildredo Quibral was captured and temporarily released. Based on Quibral�s testimony and other evidence gathered, A�onuevo and Casamis were raped before they
ESTRADA SIGNS HUMAN RIGHTS ACCORD
Pres. Joseph Estrada signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. Estrada approved the accord through a memorandum issued last August 7. The agreement had already been signed by members of the negotiating panels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) last March 16 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Comrade Mariano Orosa, NDFP chair and principal in the peace talks, signed the agreement last April 10.
In a statement issued last August 11, NDFP panel chair Comrade Luis Jalandoni hailed Estrada�s approval of the agreement, challenging him to order its immediate implementation. The Estrada regime, said the NDFP, must take certain steps to prove to its seriousness to the Filipino people. These include the release of political prisoners; the indemnification of victims of human rights violations under the Marcos regime; the formation of a joint monitoring committee; the review and repeal of repressive laws, decrees and other executive orders and the review and revision of GRP policies, laws, programs, projects, campaigns and practices that cause or allow the forcible evacuation and reconcentration of civilians and the commission of other human rights violations.
| 
