AFP spins lies against NPA to hide widespread corruption
Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operational Command
New People's Army
October 11, 2004
True to its deceptive and manipulative character, the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the 404th Infantry Brigade, is peddling outright lies and misinformation to discredit the New People?s Army. In doing this, the military is trying to shift attention away from the issues of corruption and lack of credibility that are plaguing the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
On Saturday, the commander of the 404th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, Col. Rodolfo Obaniana, told the media that there is a leadership vacuum in the NPA and that one of the NPA?s key leaders in Compostela Valley, Ka Lando, has ?laid low? by becoming a miner and that he had failed to account for a certain amount of revolutionary taxes.
This is a lie, nothing but black propaganda being used against the revolutionary movement by a corrupt and desperate AFP that is facing charges of corruption within its ranks and is now trying to deflect attention from itself.
It is wishful thinking on the part of Obaniana to say that the NPA in Compostela Valley will be destroyed within six months and that the morale of the NPA in that province is low. In fact, Ka Lando and the Red fighters in that area have been most active in carrying out their tasks in the revolution.
The AFP is consistently spinning baseless propaganda in the hope of denigrating the impact of the NPA?s tactical offensives and the increasing strength of the revolutionary movement. History is witness to the AFP?s policy of taking liberties with the truth. It always bloats its enemies' casualty figures. It misleads the media by providing them inaccurate, if not outrightly false, information. It twists the truth to serve its propaganda motives and exaggerates its supposed achievements.
Obaniana, for example, claimed that nine Red fighters had been killed in a recent defensive action in Compostela valley. The truth is, only two had died in this incident. The Scout Rangers also tortured arrested Red Fighter Ka Jun-Jun Acog and forced him to become an unwilling guide in that military operation.
The AFP also claimed that Ka Jovan was forcibly taken by the NPA to stand trial before a revolutionary court supposedly for giving valuable information to the enemy. The truth is, Ka Jovan's rescue is in line with the policy and practice of the NPA to liberate comrades from the clutches of the fascist AFP torturers and from a reactionary judicial system.
Corruption in the AFP is widespread and endemic, as shown by the recent reports of generals having amassed ill-gotten wealth. In tandem with the US-Arroyo regime, it perpetuates war and conflict so that these military officials and their cohorts can get juicy contracts and huge military aid from the U.S. Its human-rights record is dismal, its elements running amok in the countryside.
The AFP cannot anymore fool the Filipino people. Its record speaks for itself.
(Sgd) RIGOBERTO F. SANCHEZ
Spokesman
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