Both the CPLA and the AFP are illegal loggers

Martin Montana
Chadli Molintas Command
New People's Army
Ilocos-Cordillera Region
July 25, 2004

The recent armed clash between the CPLA and AFP elements last July 10 in Luna, Apayao over illegal logging is a turf war. The charges and counter-charges between them are vain attempts to cover up their dual involvement in illegal logging and extortion in Apayao. They are the bandit groups who are fighting over Apayao. The CPLA was trying to extort P10 million from Furniture Group, Inc. (FGI) and the 17th IB was trying to run away with 70 truckloads of logs when the encounter between them occurred. Due to non-payment by the FGI, the CPLA resorted to burning a logging truck and several bulldozers. The 17th IB retaliated by firing on the CPLA, killing two civilians and wounding eight men of the CPLA.

The Chadli Molintas Command vehemently denies any NPA involvement in those events as alleged by 5th ID Chief, Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Alcasid. The extortionists and illegal loggers in Apayao are none other than the CPLA and the AFP who sometimes masquerade as NPA to cover up their criminal activities and put the blame on the NPA. At the least, Alcasid�s allegation merely shows the failure of his intelligence and incapacity to stop massive illegal logging in Apayao. At the most, it shows that his men are the illegal loggers. Only the military has the audacity and the resources to command a huge number of trucks to haul illegal logs and get away with it in broad daylight.

The CPLA�s claim that they were trying to protect the ancestral land and forests of Apayao is likewise false and hypocritical. Reports from NPA units and organized masses show that the various factions of the CPLA have long been involved in illegal logging, marijuana planting, jueteng, and other criminal activities in the Cordillera to generate funds. The Mailed Molina faction continues to rake it huge profits from illegal logging in his hometown Bucloc and neighboring municipalities in south Abra. In the 1990s, CPLA squatters in Baguio have stolen logs in Baguio and in Itogon, Benguet to build their houses. The Balweg faction under Michael Suguiyao Jr is in cahoots with illegal loggers not only in Luna, but also in Pudtol, Conner, and Sta. Marcela in Apayao. All these operations are conducted right under the noses of the military. Now, the military is trying to take over the CPLA�s illegal logging operations in Apayao, which resulted in the armed clash.

Apayao is one of the poorest and most deprived, oppressed, exploited, and isolated provinces in our country. It has been one of the few remaining frontiers that can still boast of its hardwood forests, but not for long. Almost two decades of legal and illegal logging by corporate interests, warlords, the AFP, and CPLA are turning Apayao into a wasteland. The present economic crisis and dwindling resources of our country are pushing these groups into intense rivalry and bloody confrontation.

The revolutionary movement has repeatedly warned the government about the danger of the CPLA�s integration into the AFP instead of disarming and disbanding it. This has put more criminals in uniform and has increased crime. Both the CPLA and the AFP should cease their extortion and illegal logging activities and desist from smearing the NPA with their filth.