News of Struggle
7 soldiers killed, 15 arms seized in NPA raid in Samar
Seven soldiers were killed and five were wounded after Red fighters of the New People�s Army (NPA) raided a Philippine Army detachment in Barangay Babaclayon, San Jose de Buan, Samar, at around 4:00 in the morning of February 12. The NPA was also able to seize 15 high-powered firearms.
The 12 soldiers manning the detachment were almost wiped out. Confiscated from them were eight M16s, seven M14s and one radio set.
Foreign company punished in Cebu
An NPA team peppered with bullets a vehicle loaded with three engineers of the TOA Construction along the perimeter of St. Jude Acres Subdivision in Barangay Bulacao, Pardo District, Cebu City around dusk on February 22. TOA Construction is a Japanese company. No one was killed or seriously wounded in the ambush.
In a statement by Comrade Silvino "Ka Bino" Clamucha, spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Central Visayas, the ambush was meant to relay to TOA Construction and to the government itself, the movement�s objection to the continuance of the construction of the multi-billion peso South Coastal Road and South Reclamation Project. Ka Bino said that TOA Construction had caused the unemployment of around 300 fisherfolk along the coasts of Barangay Aladka Mambaling, Inayawan and Basak in Cebu City and other parts of Talisay City. He also said that the NPA punished TOA Construction for being a huge menace to the environment.
NPA condemns Danding Cojuangco and henchmen
The CPP-NPA in Negros declared that the group of businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco and his candidates should not be supported and instead opposed. According to a statement issued by the revolutionary movement in the region, the campaign against Danding�s candidates will be waged through a combination of armed and unarmed, legal and illegal means. The CPP-NPA in Negros said that the campaign aims to eventually destroy the power of the rabidly reactionary Danding and his cohorts in the island. The statement was made in the face unequivocal threats of fraud by Danding and his parties, the United Negros Alliance, the Nationalist People�s Coalition and the Lapian ng Masang Pilipino in the forthcoming May 14 elections.
The movement also condemned the collaboration of Cojuangco and the RPA-ABB in protecting cooperatives that serve the financial interests of Danding in Negros.
Ka Roger to Gloria Arroyo - move fast to solve big crimes
Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal challenged the Macapagal-Arroyo regime to immediately and decisively resolve major crimes if it does not wish to be preempted by the acts of disruption and sabotage of its enemies who are unable to accept defeat and of those who have latched on to the new government with their own agenda.
Ka Roger issued this challenge while debunking accusations that the revolutionary movement was involved in the killing of Filemon "Popoy" Lagman on February 6. According to Ka Roger, the revolutionary movement, which has incomparably greater and more pressing priorities, had no urgent or grave reason to kill Lagman. Ka Roger said that the group that perpetrated the killing definitely had a different agenda and set of priorities.
He also stated that the killing of Lagman was part of the desire of some factions to foment trouble while the new government was positioning itself and the broad masses of the people were urgently demanding the implementation of justice and reforms for which they revolted in EDSA. Ka Roger also disclosed that alongside the Lagman murder, Estrada, top military and police leaders, Romulo Kintanar, Arturo Tabara, Nilo dela Cruz and others had plotted an assassination attempt on Comrade Jose Ma. Sison.
Ka Roger added that the Macapagal-Arroyo regime must immediately address and solve these cases, along with the gruesome bombings on December 30, the abduction of Bubby Dacer, and most of all, the plunder cases and other crimes of Estrada and his cronies. If not, he said, it would not be a remote possibility for the Macapagal-Arroyo government to suffer the same fate, or worse, than that of the ousted Estrada regime.
New plunder case against Estrada filed by 81 groups
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) led 81 people�s organizations in filing a case of plunder against ousted president Joseph Estrada on February 8. According to BAYAN, the illegal ownership by Estrada of P10 to P15 billion in savings deposited in several banks under various aliases will be used as evidence in trying the case.
Along with this, BAYAN called on the Macapagal-Arroyo regime to try Estrada�s cases so that he could be punished immediately in accordance with the people�s demand.
BAYAN also warned Ombudsman Aniano Disierto that the people were maintaining their vigilance so that justice would be served during Estrada�s prosecution, and that they would not hesitate to file an impeachment complaint against Desierto should he side with the ousted president.
In a related development, Barug Sugbu or the truth commission" was established in Cebu to investigate plunder, graft and corruption and human rights violation cases against Joseph Estrada. The investigation topped a six-point agenda being advanced by the commission.
Youth challenge Macapagal-Arroyo regime
Youth and student groups challenged the newly installed administration to address the youth agenda that the ousted US-Estrada regime had brazenly junked. In a statement by the umbrella organization Estrada Resign Youth Movement (ERYM), the youth said that it was the regime�s inaction towards issues affecting the youth and student sector that pushed hundreds of thousands of youth to take to the streets to oust Estrada.
According to the ERYM, the Macapagal- Arroyo regime should pay attention to the following points: (1) Opposition to tuition fee hikes and putting stop to all forms of tuition fee increases. (2) Advancement of student rights. (3) Increasing state subsidies for education. (4) Unconditional release of all youth political detainees. The youth demanded the repeal of the Education Act of 1982 which they said was at the root of all tuition fee increases. They likewise stressed that student councils and publications must be revived. They said that there were more than 300 pending cases of suppression in various schools.
Aside from their sectoral demands, the youth-student organization also challenged the Macapagal- Arroyo regime to release all political prisoners and immediately prosecute and punish deposed president Joseph Estrada.
DENR employees assail Cerilles
DENR Kalikasan and the Association of Contractual Employees of DENR led by COURAGE assailed the denial of DENR secretary and Estrada crony Antonio Cerilles that he made midnight appointments and issued Environmental Clearance Certificates (ECC) on the eve of Estrada�s ouster.
In a rally held for the second time, the employees disclosed that Cerilles had signed special orders reassigning his minions from the office of the secretary to Zamboanga del Sur and Ozamis and Pagadian cities, which are known bailiwicks of the Cerilleses, as well as ECCs and contracts favoring logging syndicates.
According to the rallyists, they will no longer allow themselves to be led by Cerilles, a henchman of Estrada. They also said that they would be watching Cerilles� every move until the new department secretary is seated, and that they would not allow the lessons of the struggle against both Cerilles and Estrada to be forgotten.
Crony�s fishpond torn down by Infanta barriofolk
More than 1,500 barriofolk of Infanta, Quezon, tore down on February 7 a 15-hectare illegal fishpond owned by Macario "Boy" Asistio, former mayor of Caloocan and close friend of Joseph Estrada.
Using shovels, crowbars and pieces of wood, the residents of Infanta destroyed Asistio�s dike to show their opposition to the fishpond which has caused the unemployment of many local residents. When the dike was first constructed, Asistio�s minions ruthlessly destroyed mangroves in an abandoned fishpond in Barangay Binulasan without permission from the DENR and the barriofolk.
Workers at the fishpond and the authorities were rendered helpless when the people arrived aboard tricycles, trucks and other vehicles to destroy Asistio�s fishpond. According to their leaders, they did it to drive home the point that "no one can deny the people of Infanta a free source of livelihood". The people also condemned Malaca�ang�s silence on the issue.
Assassination plot against Ka Joma bared
Comrade Jose Ma. "Ka Joma" Sison, founding chair of the Party and chief political consultant of the NDFP, bared a new assassination plot against him. According to information gathered for the past few years, he said, the plan, tactics and operatives being used for this plot point to former PNP chief and loyal Estrada henchman Panfilo Lacson, along with PNP intelligence chief General Yarcia, revolutionary renegade Romulo Kintanar and gangsters Arturo Tabara and Nilo dela Cruz of the RPA-ABB as masterminds, with Joseph Estrada himself at the helm.
In a statement released on February 3, Ka Joma confirmed Col. Reynaldo Berroya�s revelation on January 31 that Estrada and Lacson were planning to have him killed. The plan was hatched as early as May 2000 and was immediately discovered by the NDFP because of the culprits� careless surveillance style.
Ka Joma demanded that Estrada immediately cancel his order to Kintanar and the latter�s men. He also called on the operatives who were ordered to execute the plan to disengage themselves from it because Estrada would definitely not be able to deliver on his promises after the operation. Ka Joma also expressed hopes that the current administration would be able to take action and thwart this serious threat against his life.
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