News
12 SOLDIERS, CAFGU KILLED IN BOHOL AMBUSH
Eight Philippine Army soldiers and four CAFGU elements were killed in an ambush by New People's Army Red fighters in Sta. Catalina, Sagbayan, Bohol on March 2. Among those killed was 2Lt. Socrates Que, commander of the group. Three more soldiers were wounded in the ambush. Seized from the soldiers were 14 high-powered firearms.
The soldiers belonged to the 7th Special Forces Unit based in Sitio Kalubihan, Poblacion, Sagbayan. The unit is active in search and destroy operations in the mountains of Sagbayan and adjacent towns.
16 FIREARMS SEIZED IN CEBU RAID
Sixteen firearms, including seven M16s and a two-way base radio were seized by the New People's Army in a raid on the police station and municipal hall of Sogod, Cebu at around 8 a.m. on April 27. The Red fighters also intended to arrest Sogod mayor Thaddeus Durano, but he was not in his office. Durano, a notorious fascist and crony of the late dictator Marcos was responsible for the abduction and murder of Fr. Rudy Romano and Noli Ylagan in 1985 and other militant workers and peasants.
MACLI-ING KILLER PUNISHED BY NPA
Former Philippine Army major Leodegario Adalem was punished by the NPA's Josefino Corpuz Command on April 11 at 11 a.m. in front of the National Irrigation Administration provincial office in Tarlac City.
Adalem, who belonged to PMA Class 1975, was responsible for the April 24, 1980 murder of Macli-ing Dulag, an Ifugao tribal leader who fought Cellophil Resources and the Chico River Dam project.
According to Jose Agtalon, spokesperson of the Josefino Corpuz Command, Adalem also led a sindicate involved in illegal gambling, drug trafficking and gunrunning in Central Luzon.
Likewise punished by the NPA was Tomas Pangilinan, a National Bureau of Investigation agent and Adalem's partner in crime.
In a related incident, two soldiers of the Philippine Army's 70th IB were killed in an NPA ambush on March 15 in Baler, Aurora.
POLICEMEN AMBUSHED IN QUEZON
One policeman was killed and seven were wounded in an ambush by the NPA on April 16, around 2:30 p.m. in Barangay Magsikap, General Nakar, Quezon. Among the wounded were two officials identified as P/Insp. Jesse Batag and P/Insp. Dominic Bacay. The two teams of the Special Action Forces and the Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police were conducting a patrol when ambushed by the Red fighters.
MASSIVE TRANSPORT STRIKE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
A successful transport strike was launched by militant jeepney drivers on March 30 in different parts of the country. It was led by the Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) and the Kilusang Mayo Uno.
Patriotic drivers, workers and other progressive sectors and groups participated in the mass action. They firmly opposed the unending series of oil price hikes and the anti-people road users tax bill. The people also criticized Estrada's defense of the oil cartel and his refusal to heed the people's demand for the rollback of oil prices, the repeal of the deregulation law, the dismantling of the cartel and the nationalization of the oil industry.
The strike paralyzed transportation in Bulacan (90%); Pampanga (100%); Tarlac (95%); Bataan (100%); Laguna (Calamba, 95% and San Pablo City, 90%); Cavite (74%); Albay (99%); Sorsogon (100%); Camarines Sur (100%); Bacolod City (100%); Negros Occidental (98%); Negros Oriental (98%); Cebu (100%); Tagbilaran City (100%); Butuan City (90%); Cagayan de Oro City (90%); Davao City (98%); Kidapawan (100%); Cotabato (95%); Mati (98%); Tagum City (99%); Digos (100%); General Santos City (100%); and the major jeepney routes in Metro Manila (85%).
MAKIBAKA EXHORTS WOMEN TO JOIN PEOPLE'S WAR
"It is high time that women, especially those from the working class and the peasantry, join the New People's Army in their vast numbers." Thus called the Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA) in its observance of International Working Women's Day on March 8.
"We are not playthings nor mere objects of lust that have characterized Estrada's conduct towards womanhood," said MAKIBAKA. "Like our menfolk, women have the capability to bear arms to overthrow the reactionary government," the organization asserted. MAKIBAKA stated that in various parts of the archipelago, women are advancing and fighting through guerrilla warfare or in strikes, rallies, barricades and other forms of protest actions.
Today, according to MAKIBAKA, there is a growing number of women rallying to the call to oust Estrada or force him to resign. But it warned that by itself, the US-Estrada regime will not give up its power or listen to any such call. It can instead let loose more violent fascist attacks. On this basis, MAKIBAKA also called for the setting up in the urban areas of an underground movement with sufficient breadth and thoroughness in factories, communities, schools, private companies, government agencies, hospitals, churches and other places.
3 SOLDIERS KILLED IN CAGAYAN AMBUSH
Three 41st IB troopers were killed and another was wounded in an NPA ambush in Sitio Ilagan, Barangay Iluru, Rizal, Cagayan on March 20. The soldiers were aboard a jeep bound for the Rizal town center when ambushed by the Red fighters. Seized from the soldiers were their M16 rifles. The 41st IB owes many blood debts to the people and the revolutionary movement in the border areas of Apayao and Cagayan.
2 POLICEMEN DISARMED IN SAMAR
Four M16 rifles, a .45 cal. pistol, 12 short magazines and four sets of police uniforms were confiscated by the NPA without firing a single shot in a raid in Barangay Botong, Lapinig, Northern Samar in the first week of March.
Red fighters who posed as government soldiers surrounded the houses of PO1 Elias Labaca and PO1 Antonio Boses. The two policemen readily surrendered their firearms and other items to the NPA.
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