The NPA will defend the people against the fascist rampages

Press Statement
May 19, 2005
Karlos Manuel
Spokesperson
Efren Martires Command
New People's Army-Eastern Visayas

The twin killings last May 12 of progressive leaders Rev. Edison Lapuz and Alfredo Malinao emphasize the anguish of the people with the reign of state terrorism, now being enforced here by the 8th Infantry Division by order of the fascist butcher Gen. Jovito Palparan. In the midst of crisis, the military and the Arroyo regime are desperately resorting to the iron hand against the surging revolutionary movement and against the people whom they wish to terrify so they will not struggle for their nationalist and democratic interests. To the fascist demons, there is no crime they cannot do, no one they cannot kill, as they trample on human rights and international humanitarian law. The civilian government is inutile and uninterested in solving the crimes of Palparan. Even in the past, no one in the abusive military were ever prosecuted and punished by the reactionary government. Where else will the people turn to if not the revolutionary government in the countryside that genuinely serves their interests?

In the current situation, the New People's Army is always ready to defend the people against the fascist rampages. The Efren Martires Command (EMC) is ordering all NPA units in the region to faithfully implement the decisions of the people's court towards rendering revolutionary justice for the victims of military atrocities. There is a swelling number of those who are asking for revolutionary justice from the people's democratic government. The people's democratic government will hold the 8th Infantry Division accountable for the crimes it has committed. Those who are responsible for violating human rights and international humanitarian law will be formally accused, tried and punished if found guilty in the people's court.

The EMC is likewise ordering all NPA units to actively counter and defeat Palparan's military offensives. The NPA will always actively defend itself and protect the people and the entire revolutionary movement.

Moreover, the Efren Martires Command (EMC) calls on the Samare�os and Leyte�os to expose and oppose the worsening state terrorism. Let us demand justice for the victims of military abuses. Let us join the burgeoning legal protest movement and turn this into the material force towards ousting the fascist regime along with bringing down and punishing Palparan.

The EMC also calls on the rank and file in the military to observe the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and disobey the orders of Palparan that trample on human rights. Do not go along with the abuses against your friends, neighbors and fellow Waraynons merely because of blind obedience to orders. Have a high regard towards protecting the lives and safety of civilians in the time of civil war.

Palparan is the 11th general to be assigned to Eastern Visayas as the commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division since the division was deployed here in 1988. Like others before him, he swears to quell the New People's Army (NPA) at the soonest. The general fancies that his brand of "counter-insurgency campaign" will suppress the people's army.

But the NPA cannot be put down because it is advancing a just war and enjoys the broad support of the masses of the oppressed and exploited. The people's army has a high level of ideological and political consciousness, high morale and firm discipline, and is capable of launching successive tactical offensives against the military offensives. It will grow and become even stronger from the accumulated victories in battle. In due time, the NPA will have the capability for the general offensive towards the final seizure of political power throughout the country.

On the other hand, Palparan will be defeated because the war he is launching is unjust and unpopular. His "counter-insurgency campaign" does not serve the interest of the masses but the narrow interest of the ruling classes and US imperialism. Moreover, the morale of the reactionary army's rank and file is plummeting because of the grave corruption and factionalism within the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In the time to come, the once big and mighty AFP will diminish and weaken until it will be overwhelmed through revolutionary armed force.

Our region today is in turmoil because of Palparan's blind and reckless "counter-insurgency campaign." They principally attack civilians using various forms of trickery and threats, including abductions and extra-judicial executions. While the NPA is serious in observing the CARHRIHL signed by both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the NDF in 1998, Palparan is oblivious to it. He is not interested in implementing any international humanitarian law that protects civilians during civil war.

These events reflect the worsening terrorism of the state as it drops the mask of "democracy", and brings to the fore its real character in fascist and militarist rule. This is the desperate drive of the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to forestall the rising resistance of the people against her rule and to continue to cling to power. This is also part of the Bush "war on terror" that is actively promoted by the Arroyo government. It is since Arroyo supported the Bush "war on terror" that there has been the commensurate rise in military abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law.#

For confirmation::
Roy Santos, NDF-EV Media Liaison Officer
Cellphone No. 0918-3112138

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