NEWS
Successful ambush launched in Davao del Norte
Seven Philippine Army soldiers were killed and six wounded in an ambush by the New People's Army (NPA) on February 6 in Sitio Basak, Barangay Sto. Ni�o, Talaingod, Davao del Norte on patrolling troops from the 72nd IB. In a statement, Merardo Arce Command (NPA-Southern Mindanao) spokesperson Rigoberto Sanchez said that the offensive was conducted by the 1st Pulang Bagani Company. He said that the ambush was launched to punish the US-Macagapal-Arroyo regime for unleashing its war machinery in the countryside.
The MAC commended the Red fighters who conducted the ambush for demonstrating exceptional combat skills and courage and for enjoying broad mass support especially from the national minorities. The MAC said that the ambush was also undertaken to punish the military for its forcible use of minorities in the counterrevolutionary war. Talaingod is part of the ancestral lands of the Ata-Manobo.
Seized from the ambush was an M60 light machine gun, an M14, four M16s, three M203 grenade launchers, a .45 caliber pistol, three communication radios, one global positioning system and 20 military packs.
Shamed, the AFP has been trying to cover up its defeat by saying that the offensive was not an ambush but a simple encounter.
6 soldiers killed, 8 wounded in clashes with NPA
Two elements of the 24th IB were killed and five wounded in an encounter in Sitio Kararited, Barangay Cabauatan, Botolan, Zambales in the afternoon of February 7.
On January 18 in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, the NPA ambushed Philippine Army troops who were on their way back from a military operation. Two soldiers were killed in the firefight.
Meanwhile, the NPA Sergio Lobina Command in Samar reported seizing two M16 rifles in an ambush launched on December 30 in the town of Catarman, Northern Samar against 63rd IB troops. Two soldiers were killed and three others, including a lieutenant, were wounded in the ambush.
200 youths from Metro Manila join NPA in 2002
Up to 200 youth activists from the cities joined the New People's Army in 2002. In a statement, Comrade Dino Kalayaan of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM)-National Capital Region said that this was a sign of the renewed growth in the number of youths going to the countryside to join the armed struggle. According to the KM, this was also spurred by the youth's intensifying discontent over the antipeople and pro-imperialist policies of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
Oil prices raised 4 times
Oil companies raised prices of petroleum products in the Philippines four times in as many weeks from January to February. Caltex, Shell, Petron and other companies upped their prices on January 3, January 18, January 24 and February 3.
Overall, the biggest companies raised their prices by up to P1.60 per liter. Meanwhile, the prices of petroleum products are expected to rise anew by 80 centavos per liter in the third week of February.
In this regard, the Pagkakaisa ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) expressed its opposition to the oil price hike and renewed its petition for a one peso increase in jeepney fares.
Fight against mining operations to intensify
National minorities, peasants, environmentalists and church people in Tampakan, South Cotabato continue to launch protest actions against the destructive operations of the Tampakan Mining Resource Corp. (TMC). The protest actions are led by the Tampakan People's Crusade for Environmental Protection (TAPCEP).
The government granted TMC a Financial Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) in 2000 to conduct mining operations in the Sultan Kudarat-South Cotabato-Davao del Sur tri-boundary, which largely comprises the ancestral lands of the B'laan tribe. Studies show that there is a 6.7 billion ounce gold deposit and a 7.8 million ton copper deposit in the area � one of the world's richest mineral deposits.
First to be granted a permit to mine the area was the Australian firm Western Mining Corp. (WMC). But it allegedly withdrew and sold its FTAA to TMC due to the people's strong opposition to its operations. TAPCEP recently discovered that TMC is actually a dummy of WMC.
The people fiercely oppose the mining operations because of the various ailments that have resulted from them and the pollution that has caused fish kills and destroyed crops.
Plans to tax migrant domestic helpers withdrawn
The Hongkong government shelved in the second week of January its plans to impose new taxes and cut wages of domestic helpers in the face of continued and growing protest actions.
Prior to this, some 3,000 domestic helpers from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka rallied on January 12 in Victoria Park. From here, they marched towards government offices shouting the slogans "No to levy! No to wage cut!"
The following day, in the Philippines, relatives and friends of the domestic helpers picketed the Chinese embassy in Manila in support of the struggle. They were joined by Migrante members.
Filipinos in Hongkong led by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body and the United Filipinos in Hongkong staged successive mass actions in December and the New Year to resist planned salary cuts.
Ceasefire declared in Nepal
The Nepali government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) declared a joint ceasefire on January 29.
According to CPN (M) leader Prachanda, the revolutionary forces agreed to the demand for a ceasefire after the government withdrew the "terrorist" label on the CPN, the rewards offered for their arrest and the Interpol arrest warrants for CPN leaders.
On the other hand, the Nepalese prime minister expressed support for a proposal to transfer power to an elected government.
The CPN has reconstituted its negotiating team. This is the second time the CPN is holding talks with the government. The first was in August 2001. The negotiations bogged down on the revolutionary movement's main demand to abolish the constitutional monarchy. Armed struggle broke out once more in November 2001.
Before the ceasefire declaration, two high-ranking officials of the Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) were killed in an ambush by CPN fighters on January 26.
Inspector General Krishna Mohan Shrestha and Assistant Inspector Surya Bahadur were killed in Lalitpur, outside the Nepali capital of Kathmandu.
Shresthna, commander in chief of the APF, was the highest ranking police official killed since 1996.
Pakistanis anxious over racism in the U.S.
Hundreds of Pakistani-American youths hurriedly left for Canada in the last week of January. Thousands of others are waiting in Buffalo, New York, near the US-Canadian border, to have their documents processed for travel to Canada or other countries. They have been avoiding the newest round of repression being implemented by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
According to new policies issued in December 2002, Pakistanis are required to register with the INS and report to it from time to time after the Pakistani people were included in the US State Department's watchlist of nationalities.
There is widespread anxiety among Muslims in the US that they could be arrested and suppressed any time because of the "racial profiling" enforced by the Bush government. Racial profiling is a one-sided move by the US to keep watch over and suppress nationals allegedly involved in terrorism.
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