LOOK WHO'S TALKING!
The warlords of Abra, the PNP, and the 503rd Brigade should rethink their priorities after Typhoon PepengDiego Wadagan
Spokesperson
Agustin Begnalen Command
12 October 2009
The warlords of Abra, the PNP and the 503rd Brigade, particularly the 41st IB, have time and again accused the revolutionary movement of taking advantage of the people's miseries to advance revolutionary agenda. They have also accused the revolutionary movement of extorting funds from small-scale miners in the province. Look who's talking!
Though one of the least damaged provinces in the aftermath of typhoon Pepeng, rough estimates place the total damages in the province to have reached P200 million, and caused the death of an individual. Had Pepeng poured as much rainfall as it did to the Southern Provinces of Cordillera and Central Luzon, Abra surely would have experienced greater damages. The province is prone to such devastation due to large-scale logging operations by the Cellophil Resources Corporation in the past, illegal logging condoned and operated by warlords like the Luna Family, large-scale mining by the Lepanto Mining in upstream Abra River, and unregulated small-scale mining aggravated by operations of groups led by local warlords.
The Arroyo Regime is hell-bent in selling the people's patrimony and ancestral lands of indigenous people's to large-scale mining corporations. The Provincial Government of Abra led by Gov. Takit Bersamin and Congresswoman Cecile Luna are in the forefront of these efforts, together with the PNP and the 503rd Brigade, and the gangster Mailed Molina as "Civil Relations Officer" of Sulfotara Mining Corporation. It will be recalled that the Governor and the Congresswoman have been very vocal in their pro-mining policy and have been hyper-active in inviting mining companies to operate in the province. And it will be recalled that DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro himself confirmed that Abra is included in the priority of Internal Security Operations (ISO, or counter-insurgency operations) because of large mineral deposits and the operations of small-scale mining "controlled by the NPA rebels." Governor Takit Bersamin should rethink his pro-large scale mining policy and junk his current economic program that highly relies on large-scale mining; the Governor should dissociate himself from the mindless, self-serving, and gangster activities of the Luna's that include collecting grease money from mining companies; operating illegal logging in Central, North and Western Abra; monopoly of contracts for infra-structure projects; and arming of fraternities and virtually using CAFGU companies, and PNP/AFP units as private armed groups. Greed and ill-decisions may lead Abra into unthinkable natural calamities in the future.
Government line agencies should stop acting as facilitators in the entry of mining companies. Environmental Compliance Certificates and Free and Prior Informed Consent (ECC and FPIC) should not be mere formalities subject to grease money negotiations especially in areas without strong local opposition to mining projects. Reforestation Projects and Minahang Bayan schemes should not be used merely as a tactic to deceive the people in thinking they have control over their natural resources, only to find out later that by going into such contracts with the government, they have rescinded their right to ancestral land and have turned over their land and resources to the reactionary government and eventually to mining and other big business interests. And ancestral land delineation and land titling should not be mere requisites to ensure there are no land or boundary conflicts so that mining applications can be approved without hindrances. The people should see beyond these devious tactics, assert their rights to the people's patrimony and ancestral land and resources, and frustrate these deceitful tactics.
True, there are individuals in the AFP and PNP who have sincerely devoted their service in rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts; we commend the lowly rank-and-file soldiers who gave their lives to rescue their fellow oppressed and exploited countrymen. But the AFP and PNP are institutions that can never fully serve the people, as these are instruments of big business and landlords who are in power. In Abra, the AFP and PNP are instruments of warlords and of big mining companies.
At the height of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng, instead of being on the alert for calamity emergencies, 41st IB troopers conducted combat operations in small-scale mining areas in Lacub towards Mataragan, Malibcong; an old woman who cooked food and left the fire burning so as to warm herself after coming from the rain to get some vegetables came back to empty pots and muddy floor of her hut, marked with combat shoes. Lately, the 41st IB is claiming to have found an abandoned NPA camp and concocted a report that included the retrieval of a computer, Dream Satellite, guns, among others. In Baay-Licuan, 41st IB soldiers and CAFGU elements have been collecting sacks of mineral ore from each portal ("abot" or "usok") and are using the ball mills of small-scale miners without paying dues to the poor miners.
Contrary to the reported claims of the 50th IB that NPA rebels are rushing down the hills to join the frenzy for relief goods, the New People's Army are conducting their own relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas where Red Political Power and influence exists. Together with the revolutionary masses, shelters are repaired, slides are cleared, crops that can be saved are harvested, farmlands and irrigation systems are rehabilitated, and medical services are undertaken.
Now really, look who's talking?!
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