PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

NPA-Samar assails 8th Infantry Division for demonization campaign
May 2, 2004

The Arnulfo Ortiz Command (AOC) in Samar province today accused Gen. Glenn Rabonza and the 8th Infantry Division of a demonization campaign against the NPA and the revolutionary movement. "Gen. Rabonza is dispatching his psywar experts and criminal hirelings to paint or to paste slogans vilifying the NPA as `YAWA' (evil) and `DEMONYO' (demon)," said Ka Vicente Magbuhat, AOC spokesperson. "These can be seen in strategic positions along the Maharlika Highway, and thus in practically the entire region."

Magbuhat added that this is part of the Arroyo regime's counterrevolutionary dual tactics during the election period that aim to spread fear among the people and to restrain reactionary politicians from negotiating for their permit-to-campaign (PTC) from the revolutionary government.

The AOC spokesperson said these however are all efforts in futility because the people know the truth that it is the NPA that defends their interests, not the military. "Without the NPA, the people have nothing," Magbuhat asserted. "The NPA is the genuine army of the people and receives their wholehearted support, which is why it continues to grow and become ever stronger."

He also said the politicians work out their PTCs anyway because they recognize the existence of revolutionary power in much of the Eastern Visayan countryside even as reactionary power continues to hold sway.

Magbuhat stated the military went on a black propaganda offensive after the NPA's daring March 17 raid on the "Alpha" Company of the 34th IB in San Jose de Buan, Samar. He explained that the military desperately wants to create the impression that such NPA tactical offensives are "terroristic," even though nobody believes the charge because the NPA abides by human rights and international humanitarian law.

The AOC spokesperson said that it is not the NPA but the military and the big warlords with their private armies that want a reign of terror in Samar during the election period. "The military and the goons of the big warlords in Samar are in cahoots," he declared. "In fact, the hideouts of these guns for hire are near the Army detachments." But both can neither protect the big politicians nor stop the NPA from enforcing the PTC policy, Magbuhat stressed.

According to him, the current reactionary elections and the black propaganda against the NPA only displays the depths of desperation of the ruling system and the military. "In exposing and opposing the reactionary elections and the black propaganda of the military, the NPA becomes even stronger and earns the people's admiration and support," Magbuhat said.

He warned Gen. Rabonza and the 8th Infantry Division that "the Arnulfo Ortiz Command will intensify tactical offensives, especially against the most abusive and bloodthirsty military units. The NPA will also break up and disarm the private armies in Samar as well as punish the politicos who are their masters and who have committed crimes against the people."

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