News
5 enemy forces killed in Misamis Occidental firefight
Two soldiers and three CAFGU elements were killed when Red fighters under the New People's Army Misamis Occidental Front Operational Command (MOFOC) encountered elements of the Alpha Coy of the Philippine Army's 5th IB and the 34th Military Intelligence Company in Barangay Manalac, Sapang Dalaga on October 2.
The guerrillas, who first sighted the approaching soldiers, immediately maneuvered and fired on them.
In a statement on October 4, CPP-NPA Western Mindanao spokesperson Ismael Marte said that the number of casualties inflicted by the NPA on the enemy demonstrates the Red commanders and fighters' high morale and firm unity even in the face of defensive situations and attacks by a larger number of enemy forces. Marte also refuted a report from the 101st Bde to the media claiming that 12 Red fighters were slain in the fighting.
5 SOT troops killed in ambushes in Albay and Isabela
Five troops belonging to Special Operations Teams (SOT) of the Philippine Army were killed in two separate ambushes by the NPA in Albay and Isabela in the last week of September.
In Albay, four SOT elements under the 31st IB were killed in an ambush by the New People's Army (NPA) in Barangay Oma-oma, Ligao City on September 28. They were on a "barangay immersion" activity — part of the SOT's counter-insurgency operations in the barrio — when Red fighters ambushed them at around 3:30 p.m. The sergeant that headed the the SOT as well as three other soldiers were killed. The Red fighters seized seven M16 rifles, ammunition and other military equipment from the soldiers.
Earlier, a soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in an NPA sniping operation against an SOT of the 502nd Bde in Isabela on September 23. The soldiers were on a military operation in Barangay Villa Bello, Jones when the Red fighters attacked.
Government employees protest denial of benefits
Government employees are up in arms against the leadership and management of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for having squandered their hard-earned savings. Since May, the institution has temporarily stopped extending loans and providing benefits and pensions to GSIS members due to bankruptcy.
At first, the GSIS management claimed that an ongoing restructuring of their system was the reason for the delay in extending loans and giving out pensions. Lately, it admitted that the GSIS lacks the funds because of the alleged failure of other government departments to remit funds for the benefits and pensions of their employees.
Government employees are demanding that benefits be provided immediately, that previous lending processes be immediately restored, that the collection of higher contributions be stopped, that the GSIS leadership be investigated and charged, and that employees be represented in the institution's board of directors.
Monument for revolutionary martyrs to be erected in Iloilo
A monument for the martyrs and heroes of the struggle against the US-Marcos dictatorship will be erected at the Plaza Libertad in Iloilo City. It will serve as a memorial to up to 300 men and women from the workers', peasants', students' and other sectors' ranks who gave up their lives in the struggle against the fascist dictatorship.
Around a hundred relatives and friends of the martyrs, including members of human rights organizations, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the monument on September 21, the 31st anniversary of the declaration of martial law.
The project was initiated by the Panay Alliance-KARAPATAN, the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya and the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace.
Guingona, Legarda bolt administration party
Sen. Loren Legarda, Lakas party vice president for the Visayas and Vice President Teofisto Guingona, the party president, bolted their party one after the other on October 1 and 2. Both of them cited the incompatibility of their principles and stand with the Arroyo regime's existing policies.
Guingona has long been opposed to the Arroyo regime's puppet, fascist and antipeople policies. With his departure from the Lakas party, he may now openly criticize the regime. He has, in fact, criticized Arroyo's regime for its failure to carry out the promised reforms when a popular uprising catapulted Arroyo to Malaca�ang.
The two party leaders left amid Arroyo's preparations to run for president in 2004, contrary to her pledge on December 30, 2002.
The departure of the two leaders is a positive step in the overall indictment of the Arroyo regime. Based on their positive stand on issues, it would be better for Guingona and Legarda not to join any opposition party that is as rotten, opportunist and antipeople as the one that they had left behind.
It would be better for the two leaders to link up with the progressive and democratic forces who are at the forefront of the principled struggle on meaningful issues against the ruling regime and system.
The CPP anticipates that more Lakas members will follow Guingona and Legarda's example of fearlessly criticizing and exposing cases of corruption, puppetry, militarism and other antipeople measures involving Malaca�ang.
Arroyo, first-class US citizen--Ambassador Ricciardone
Because of President Arroyo's all-out puppetry to the US, she may now be regarded as a citizen of that country. This is exactly what US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said in front of the Foreign Correspondents' Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) on October 1. Acoording to the ambassador, Arroyo is "a first-class citizen of the US�".
2 soldiers who defected from the AFP face the media
The two soldiers who bolted the AFP last August were formally presented to the media on October 5. PFC Boboy Abduhasad and Cpl. Edward Quirante of the 29th IB attended a press conference called by NDF-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge Madlos, to refute AFP claims that they had been killed by the NPA.
Abduhasad and Quirante deserted last August 7 in San Luis, Agusan del Sur and surrendered nine high-powered rifles to the NPA. They brought with them the CAFGU squad that they led.
Reyes, Corpus have new positions
The two officials who were recently forced to resign due to involvement in cases of fascism and corruption have been given promotions.
President Arroyo appointed former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism and Gen. Victor Corpus chief of the AFP Civil Relations Service.
The regime has already scuttled the investigation into the cases involving Reyes. Corpus, meanwhile, was very happy with his new position, saying it fits his experience as a psywar expert against the revolutionary movement.
1 million swell ranks of the poor in US
More than a million people in the US have joined the ranks of the poor, according to its Bureau of Census on September 26. Based on its definition of poverty, the poverty incidence has increased from 32.9 million to 34.6 million from 2001 to 2002. Likewise, the poverty rate has also risen from 11.7% to 12.1% in the same period. Meanwhile, the earnings of the average family have fallen by 1.1% since 2001.
The growing unemployment rate in the past two years has contributed to the rising poverty incidence and the decline in the income of the American people.
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