Reports from Correspondents:
Intensifying operations in Oriental Mindoro condemned

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The people of Oriental Mindoro, especially the peasant masses, are currently being terrorized and ravaged by intense militarization under the US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime.

Since the first week of May, three battalions of the Philippine Army (including Scout Rangers) and PNP Special Forces stormed Mindoro and conducted operations, augmenting the enemy forces already deployed in the island. The objective of their military operations is to scour the countryside in pursuit of New People's Army (NPA) forces. But these operations can only wreak havoc on the peasant masses and minorities in the province. In this regard, the Lucio De Guzman Command (LDGC) of the Oriental Mindoro NPA has issued a statement condemning the intense militarization of the island. The command also called on the people to be firm and raise the level of their struggle in the face of such a challenge.

The LDGC said that "the ruling class is apprehensive due to the small victories won by the revolutionary movement during these past months in the political and military fields, that have resulted in the expansion and deepening of the revolutionary mass base." The operations also comprise the enemy's reaction to tactical offensives launched by the NPA, the movement's punitive actions against Ret. Maj. Cesar Platon and Rep. Marcial Punzalan. Jr., and its implementation of the policy requiring access fees from reactionary candidates in the past elections. Immediately after the May 14 polls, Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the intensification of military offensives in guerrilla fronts where such revolutionary measures were undertaken.

The LDGC added that aside from this, the AFP and PNP wanted to recover from their embarassment over Army Maj. Noel Buan's having been held prisoner for a long time and his orderly release on humanitarian grounds.

Currently targetting Mindoro is Habol Tamaraw or Campaign Plan 01-2001 of the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM). It is an extension of Oplan Makabayan in Southern Tagalog. Since May 7, two Army battalions (16th & 74th IB), two companies of Scout Rangers (2nd & 18th SRC) and one company of Special Forces (6th SFC) have augmented the enemy's armed forces in Mindoro. Apart from combat operations, these troops also conduct intelligence operations and perpetrate widespread human rights violations.

The LDGC is highly confident that the people's army and the revolutionary masses will frustrate the current intense military operations in Oriental Mindoro. The command bases its conviction on the fact that the revolutionary forces had thwarted large-scale military and psychological operations from 1987-2000 (Oplan Saliksik I & II, January-March 1988; Oplan Upland Linis, October 1988; PNP Experiment, 1991-92; and other subsequent large-scale military and psychological operations in 1999-2000 spearheaded by Task Force Mindoro and Task Force Seagull).

The LDGC said that the armed forces of the enemy are very much overextended and are running out of resources even as they concentrate on only a few areas. "As they concentrate their military operations on Romanbul (Roxas, Mansalay, Bulalacao - AB), which they might do before the torrential rains of June, it is certain that other towns and areas in the province's countryside will become relatively open for our mass base expansion and for selective military actions by the People's Army." The continuous reduction of the enemy's troop deployment in other areas is a growing disadvantage for them. "Even in areas where they concentrate their military operations, there are instances when we are able to strike at isolated and weak sections of the enemy." On the other hand, the NPA knows the countryside's terrain by heart. Most importantly, the LDGC's confidence is founded on the firm support of the people, "because on our side resides the just and pro-people basis of the struggle of the oppressed and exploited classes to thoroughly change their situation and that of the entire society."

As the reactionary army desperately tries to destroy the tight links between the masses and the NPA, said the LDGC, it does not hesitate to wreak havoc on the exploited and oppressed people. The fascist troops will ruin their livelihood, sow disorder in their communities and trample on their rights.

In the face of all this, the LDGC called on the people of the province to stand firm on their principles and remain steadfast. The LDGC enjoined the people to stand ready to confront the new directive of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime to annihilate the NPA.

June 2001
English Edition

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