The National Democratic Front–North Eastern Mindanao Region along with the revolutionary forces in the region, strongly condemn the US-Duterte regime’s continuing crackdown of legal and democratic progressive organizations by arbitrarily filing trumped-up cases, killing and terrorizing its members.

The most recent is Duterte’s revival of the trumped-up charges filed under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government against the four former congressmen of the Makabayan bloc, former BayanMuna representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño, former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) secretary Rafael Mariano and current secretary of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Liza Maza on the last week of July. The attack against such personalities is a sign that there will be more arrests and killings of activists, mass leaders and defenders of human rights in the country who oppose the tyrannical rule of the US-Duterte regime.

Duterte’s current attack of legal and progressive organizations is no different from what was done under Marcos’ Martial Law. There is widespread illegal warrantless arrests and trumped-up charges of non-bailable offenses such as murder, kidnapping, coercion, arson and others.

After Duterte’s unilateral cancellation of the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were immediately declared as terrorists and legal progressive organizations were targeted for crackdown through Proclamation 374. Because of this, the widespread pursuit and arrests of progressive forces, without clear-cut charges, intensified in the country.

The US-Duterte regime is conniving with the Arroyo and Marcos families, both with bloody records of human rights violations, plunder and instigating state fascism and terrorism.

When Arroyo was president, she established the Inter Agency Legal Advisory Group (IALAG) in 2006, where public funds were used by the state to file trumped-up criminal cases against the legal progressive forces. Duterte revived this in 2017 under a new name, the Inter Agency Committee on Legal Action (IACLA). The Duterte-Arroyo-Marcos collusion will worsen the brutal attacks against progressive and democratic forces in the country.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines/Philippine National Police (AFP/PNP) have been maliciously and brutishly linking legal and democratic organizations with armed struggle to rationalize their crackdown.

In NEMR, the AFP/PNP/CAFGU forces are terrorizing members and even non-members of legitimate people’s organizations. More than thirty (30) people have been arrested and jailed based on trumped-up charges. More than a hundred (100) leaders and members of progressive organizations of the Lumad, farmers, workers, women and youth are facing trumped-up cases filed by the AFP/PNP. Not less than 10 cases of political killings in the region were committed by the AFP/PNP under the US-Duterte regime.

This is a psychological tactic of the regime to sow terror among the people. This attempts to silence, intimidate and force the people to accept his ambition of establishing a dictatorial rule.

Thus, the people must intensify and be more vigorous in their struggle against the rising fascist attacks of the Duterte-Arroyo-Marcos clique.

Oust and end the repressive and oppressive US-Duterte regime!

Ka Maria Malaya
Spokesperson
NDF-NEMR