News
Ambush mounted in Calbayog City
A New People�s Army (NPA) squad ambushed a truck with military men aboard in Calbayog City on June 4. A soldier from the 63rd IB based in Urdaneta Village, Lavezares, Northern Samar died on the spot. The ambush took place at around 7 p.m. in Tinambacan District, 30 kilometers from the center of Calbayog City.
2 soldiers killed in encounter in Quezon
Two soldiers were killed in an encounter between the NPA and a composite military force on June 6. The fighting occurred in Barangay Ilayang Bagumbongan, Pagbilao, Quezon. It was around 1 p.m. when the clash took place between the NPA and joint forces of the 76th IB, 4th Intelligence Security Unit, 4th Military Intelligence Group and the 417th PNP Mobile Group led by Lt. Jarold Jale.
Cop wounded in Bohol clash
A policeman was wounded in an encounter between the NPA and a team of policemen on patrol in Barangay Garcia, San Miguel, Bohol on June 3. The fighting began at around 5 p.m. and lasted for nearly an hour.
Despotic ex-mayor punished by NPA in Camarines Sur
The NPA punished on May 28 Leoncio Gan, 64, former mayor of Goa, Camarines Sur. The NPA ambushed Gan�s vehicle as it approached the Goa Central School. Gan had long been on the list of those who should be meted punishment for being a despotic warlord and for incurring many blood debts to the revolutionary movement and the people. Gan was mayor from 1988 to 1998 and was notorious for being a rabid counterrevolutionary.
Thwart US military intervention � NPA- Far South Mindanao
Dencio Madrigal, spokesperson of the Valentin Palamine Command (VPC) of the NPA in Far South Mindanao, asserted that the revolutionary movement in the region was ready to thwart the entry of US military troops in the area. In a statement, Madrigal also roundly condemned the terrorist attacks in Cotabato City in April that killed 15 persons and wounded more than a hundred others. Madrigal said that the government was now exploiting the alarming situation in the region to pave the way for prolonging US military intervention and its extension in the region. On May 9, Malaca�ang also issued Memorandum Order No. 61 mandating the deployment of more military troops to Mindanao. Along with stating its readiness, the VPC also called on the people of Far South Mindanao to block US military intervention in the region.
3 cops wounded in NPA ambush in Sarangani
Three policemen were wounded when an NPA team ambushed elements of the PNP 1206th Provincial Mobile Group on patrol on April 16 in Maasim, Sarangani. The ambush occurred at around 6:30 a.m.
Integration of 254 CPLA members into AFP assailed by NPA-Cordillera
"The Macapagal-Arroyo regime is coddling a terrorist band!" This was the strongly worded statement of Ka Martin Montana, spokesperson of the NPA-Cordillera�s Chadli Molintas Command (CMC), on the formal integration of 264 members of the Cordillera People�s Liberation Army (CPLA) into the AFP in May. He said that the CPLA had committed major transgressions against the revolution and the people due to its long record of crimes such as the murders of militant Igorot leaders. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes confirmed the integration on May 24 and the start of their formal training on June 1. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the integration on September 1, 2001. Another 1,200 CPLA elements will be formed into six CAFGU companies and deployed to the six Cordillera provinces to fight the NPA.
The CMC also belied rumors being spread by the CPLA that the latter was seeking to negotiate with the NPA. The CMC said that it considers the CPLA a terrorist group and its leaders counterrevolutionary renegades and criminal mercenaries. The CMC confirmed that a number of CPLA members had rejoined the NPA because they could no longer stomach the former�s criminal activities.
8 skeletal remains unearthed in North Cotabato
Eight skeletal remains were exhumed by residents of Sitio Natipakan, Barangay Latagan, Matalam, North Cotabato on May 22 after almost 18 years of searching. The eight remains belonged to victims of summary execution or salvaging by fascist troops. Their families identifi ed them as Esperidion Tableyo, Diosdado Sarsi, Domingo Granatos, Cristituto Tanyan, Jimmy Lobitos, Norman Villavito, Jericho Cabanias and Mitchie Elejo, all civilians salvaged by the former PC-INP, Civilian Home Defense Forces and the AFP. The victims were killed on July 14, 1984 after an encounter between the NPA and the military in the barangay.
CARP in Mindanao inutile vs. commercialization of agriculture
No less than the supposed benefi ciaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Mindanao have disclosed that since its inception, CARP has been inutile in the face of the widespread commercialization of agriculture in Mindanao. The beneficiaries disclosed during the Mindanao Caucus on Commercial Farms held on June 7 that commercialization has drowned out the implementation of CARP through the rampant land-use conversion of agricultural lands since 1988, including lands already distributed under CARP. For commercial plantations to include lands that should already have been distributed to farmers under CARP, plantation owners use various means to subject such lands to land-use conversion, transform farmers into mere farm workers, incorporate farmers into "cooperatives" that would serve as the plantation�s contractual partners and draft production profit sharing contracts.
This severely exploits the farmers and puts them at an extreme disadvantage. As farm workers, it becomes easier to eject them from the plantation. Through such methods, some 20,000 farm workers in banana plantations in Mindanao have lost their jobs due to the commercialization of farms that they thought they already owned.
National Day of Protest - People fiercely oppose PPA
"GMA kalampagin, PPA tanggalin!" (Rattle GMA, abolish PPA) This was the theme of mass actions in Metro Manila on June 5 that signalled the National Day of Protest against the purchased power adjustment (PPA). The mass action was led by the People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates (POWER) coalition and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN).
At around 9 a.m., thousands gathered at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City to commence the protests by launching a motorcade. The latter traveled through EDSA; Sangandaan, Caloocan City; Malate, Sta. Mesa and Sampaloc, Manila; and ended at the Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City. Doctors and other employees of the Philippine Heart Center joined the mass action by conducting a noise barrage at the hospital entrance.
From the Welcome Rotonda, the demonstrators marched towards Mendiola Bridge in Manila to confront Macapagal-Arroyo on the seven-centavo hike in the PPA from April to May. Prior to this, they criticized the planned privatization of the National Transmission Corporation, the company that supervises the transmission of electricity generated by NAPOCOR.
Said POWER spokesperson Lolita Donato, "The problem with President Arroyo is that she refuses to admit that her supposed solution � privatization � is a big failure and has only hardened monopoly control on the (power)industry."
BAYAN spokesperson Renato Reyes also said that the public�s militancy has so far exposed the scandalous PPA and the disaster wrought by the privatization policy being enforced by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime. "The next step is to carry on (with) the protests in order to fi nally cut off the PPA from our bills and establish a pro-Filipino power industry free from monopolies and foreign interests." Reyes added that BAYAN would continue holding mass actions against the PPA until Macapagal-Arroyo�s State of the Nation Address in July.
At the Mendiola Bridge, POWER and BAYAN signalled the start of a synchronized noise barrage.
All day, protest centers were open, where people trooped to have their Meralco bills stamped "Paid Under Protest". The protests peaked from around 9 to 10 p.m. when various communities around Metro Manila voluntarily turned off their lights to manifest their fierce objection to the PPA.
The nationwide mass action against the PPA was also joined by people from Baguio City, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Legazpi City, Iloilo City, Davao City and other urban centers.
Number of strikes rise 11% in first 5 months
The number of strikes rose by 11% nationwide from January to May while the number of workers joining such actions rose by 180%. More than 53,000 workers are also threatening to walk out from 292 enterprises because of pending labor issues. The number of strike notices filed with the Department of Labor and Employment also rose by 22% in the same period. Meanwhile, thousands of workers are in danger of losing their jobs due to the threatened closure of 521 commercial enterprises allegedly because of financial difficulties.
P21B stolen by legislators � Rep. Andaya
Almost 20% or P21 billion out of the P104 billion procurement budget ended up being used in anomalies and corruption by legislators, government offi cials and contractors last year. Congressional appropriations committee chair Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. recently made this disclosure.
Included in the procurement budget is the pork barrel of senators and congressmen. Each senator has P200 million for the Priority Development Assistance Fund (formerly called the Countrywide Development Fund) while each congressman has P65 million. Each congressman also receives a minimum of P35 million for the public works fund. Almost 60% of the budget for farm-to-market roads also ends up in corruption.
The P21 billion that Andaya said was stolen is bigger that the P16.8 billion budget allotted by government for public universities and colleges and the P11.8 billion for the entire Department of Health.
NATO expanding towards Eastern Europe
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accepted Russia on May 14 as a supposed partner in its fight against terrorism, arms control and international crisis management. A day after, NATO was already preparing for its expansion into Russia�s neighboring countries.
The US is using NATO as a stepping stone to expand its influence over Eastern Europe and convince other countries in the region to participate in the war the US is preparing against countries it has categorized as "terrorist". Among its plans are to strengthen and position its forward stationed and deployed forces, forward deterrence forces and forward combat and expeditionary forces in various countries where the US has economic and political interests. These countries will also serve as the US� clients in the sale of war materiel. It is estimated that US defense corporations Lockheed Martin and Boeing will be able to sell $8-10 billion worth of warplanes and $35 billion worth of weapons.
Meanwhile, 18 out 150 US troops have arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia to train Georgian officers and soldiers the way it does in the Philippines in the form of Balikatan. The US will also supply arms, ammunition and communications, medical and construction equipment to the country. At present, there is a growing armed struggle waged by the people of Georgia.
NATO is set to convene a special meeting in November in Prague, Czech Republic along with 10 other countries in Eastern Europe that want to join the organization. There are 17 other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia planning to join the alliance.
Israeli troops launch repeated attacks on Palestinian cities and towns
Israeli troops reattacked the city of Ramallah and encircled the Palestinian Authority headquarters on June 10. They ransacked the city and arrested 60 suspected militants. The Israelis once more withdrew to the city�s outskirts on June 12 but continued to lay siege to it. In an earlier attack on June 6, the Israelis set explosives to demolish two buildings in the city, supposedly to avenge a suicide bombing by a Palestinian the day before. On June 9, the Israelis entered Gaza City and arrested the leader of Islamic Jihad at the Gaza Strip.
On May 31, the Israelis attacked the city of Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp. About 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers (APC) attacked Balata as Yasser Arafat conducted a dialogue with leaders of various countries on a comprehensive law towards the framing of the Palestinian constitution.
The Israelis arrested 400 Palestinians, including a prominent leader of Nablus, members of Fatah (an affiliate of the Palestinian Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat), eight peace activists, a writer from the Petra News Agency of Jordan and women students from Nablus. The Israelis demolished two houses where bombs were allegedly found.
Prior to this, Israeli troops attacked the city of Hebron on May 30. The troops were aboard three tanks, 20 APC and 20 jeeps. Israeli troops conducted raids on houses in the city practically every night, looking for militia, weapons and bombs.
This was followed by a renewed attack on June 4 on the city of Qalqilya where the Israelis set up checkpoints and arrested seven suspected militants in the nearby town of El Bireh. Israelis also reattacked the towns of Jenin and Bethlehem on June 5. They strafed Jenin using 30 tanks and Apache helicopters and arrested Palestinians here and in Bethlehem.
In the past weeks, the Israelis have been conducting almost daily attacks on Palestinian cities, towns and communities to arrest suspected militants and oppress the Palestinians.
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