Civilians and not the NPA suffer the brunt of Arroyo government offensives in Leyte

The Arroyo government and its military are contemptible for terrorizing civilians in claiming to crush the NPA in Leyte, NPA-Eastern Visayas said today in a statement. "Oplan Bantay Laya 2 is far from destroying the NPA in Leyte or elsewhere," said Ka Karlos Manuel, spokesperson of the Efren Martires Regional Operations Command. "The 8th Infantry Division and the 19th IB make false claims about NPA losses and exagggerate further by adding civilians to the equation in the battalion's recent accomplishment report. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero and Lt. Col. Henry Bumiltac, commanders respectively of the 8th ID and 19th IB, in fact virtually admit to committing war crimes because the 19th IB actively targeted civilian organizations such as legal peasant groups Kahugpungan Mag-uuma sa San Isidro (KAMAS) and Samahang Mag-uuma sa Calubian (SAMACA). The 19th IB also puts civilians in harm's way by claiming the setting up of 88 Bantay Bayan organizations in Leyte for military purposes."

The EMROC spokesperson pointed out that the Geneva Conventions forbids targeting or harming civilians in an armed conflict. "It is part of the terror tactics of Oplan Bantay Laya 2 for the 19th IB to attack KAMAS and SAMACA, which are publicly known as involved in the parliamentary struggle for genuine agrarian reform and other peasant rights. The so-called Bantay Bayan also puts at risk many civilians who are forced to join it, because the military knowingly promotes it as a cover for its intelligence network."

Ka Karlos Manuel also said that the military mainly targets civilians in Leyte because it failed to destroy even a single NPA unit. "The 19th IB inflates the importance of the handful of captured or surrendered alleged NPA elements because the NPA units in Leyte are still intact, active and rapidly expanding. This is because the NPA enjoys popular support, which the military tries in vain to take away but only strengthens when it terrorizes the civilian populace."

The spokesperson of the NPA's regional command concluded that the NPA is making bigger strides this year even as Oplan Bantay Laya 2 is faltering and the Arroyo government is beset with crisis. "From more than 10 guerrilla fronts today, the NPA in Eastern Visayas aims to establish one or more guerrilla front in each congressional district including those in Leyte and Biliran. The NPA's fighting capabilities continue to rise through widespread and intensive guerrilla warfare amidst the people's mounting hatred of the current regime. The Arroyo regime is sowing the seeds of its own destruction through its unjust war in Oplan Bantay Laya 2 and its corruption and subservience to foreign interests. These lead the people even faster to the path of revolutionary struggle for fundamental changes."#




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