Tribute to Red fighter Ka Maricris Lina and denunciation of the Arroyo regime's continuing abuse of youth and children

Efren Martires Command
New People's Army-Eastern Visayas

Press Statement
December 5, 2005

� The Efren Martires Command-New People's Army-Eastern Visayas condoles with the bereaved family of Red fighter Ka Maricris Lina and salutes her as a revolutionary martyr. Ka Maricris Lina died last Nov. 4 in Baybay, Leyte. The 18-year-old Red fighter was seriously wounded when her unit under the Mt. Amandewin Command in Leyte clashed with fascist troops of the 43rd IB PA at one p.m. of Nov. 2. A four-member NPA medical team cared for her and tried to bring her to safety but was prevented by continuing enemy operations until she eventually died of her wound.

The EMC honors the heroic sacrifice of the young Red fighter and strongly denounces the 43rd IB and 8th Infantry Division for maligning her and the NPA. Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio of the 43rd IB and Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos of the 8th ID shed crocodile tears over her death and falsely claim that she was a minor and was furthermore abandoned by her comrades. These are nothing but plain lies and hypocrisies of fascist propaganda to denigrate a fine Red fighter and to portray the NPA as preying on innocent minors and children.

Ka Maricris Lina met the NPA's minimum age of recruitment for being at least 18 years old. At an earlier age, she had wanted to be a Red fighter, just like many in the barrios who have a high regard for the NPA and would like to fight for a better future for the youth and the people. It was the military who victimized her in 2001 when she was falsely accused of being an NPA fighter and briefly detained before managing to escape. In fact, she was turned away as a regular combatant by the Mt. Amandewin Command in 2001 because she was only 14 when she expressed her desire to join the NPA. But when she turned 18 last June, she was warmly welcomed as a regular combatant by the Mt. Amandewin Command and served the people until her untimely demise.

The Arroyo government and its military do not give a hoot for the likes of Ka Maricris Lina and the Filipino youth and children, but from year to year worsen their abuse, exploitation and deprivation. The EMC invites the many who are indignant at the high rate of malnutrition and ill-education among the children of Eastern Visayas to take a critical look at the conjoined monsters of the Arroyo government and the military. In the midst of crisis and the people's suffering, the Arroyo government is committing most of the national budget for next year to foreign debt servitude and dirty political maneuvers to remain in power. What little is left to spend will mainly go to the corrupt and fascist military, at the expense of budget cuts for health and education, among other social services. The Filipino youth thus see no prospects for a better tomorrow because of the Arroyo government's ascendant despotism, sellout to foreign interests, and gluttony for the spoils of power. That is why in Eastern Visayas, so many youth and children are forced to stop schooling early and are driven into child labor, drug addiction, or prostitution.

Furthermore, the military is a hideous ogre when it comes to trampling on the rights of children and the people. This year, many youth and children were among the thousands of evacuees who were forced to flee their villages in Samar and Leyte because of the military's deliberate attacks on civilian communities. In Baybay alone, at the same time when Ka Maricris Lina died, there were more than 500 evacuees because of military operations that did not even respect the people's traditional observation of All Souls Day. Many youth and children are thus witnesses or victims of the military's rampant human rights violations. The dismal socio-economic conditions coupled with military atrocities convince many of the youth that the only way for a brighter future is by participating and fighting in the people's war. Today, the throngs of youth who enlist in the New People's Army upon meeting the requirements for recruitment as Red fighters prove that Ka Maricris Lina did not die in vain and that her struggle will be carried on by her contemporaries.