· tions to the roots of the civil war in the country. ... duterte regime's reign of terror,...

ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

Vol XLIX No. 7

Apri l 7, 2018

www.phi l ippinerevolution. info

The Communist Party of the Philippines, as well as the NewPeople's Army, support the possibility of the resumption ofpeace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Phil-

ippines and the Government of the Philippines. This is in line with therevolutionary movement's policy of maintaining openness to hold talkswith any regime which is prepared to hold negotiations to seek solu-tions to the roots of the civil war in the country.

The CPP and the NPA fully sup-port the NDFP Negotiating Panel asrepresentative of the revolutionarymovement. The CPP upholds theNDFP position that there should beno preconditions in the resumptionof peace talks as stipulated in TheHague Joint Declaration of 1992,which both sides have agreed to up-hold. The Filipino people is hopingthat negotiations on the Compre-hensive Agreement on Socio-Eco-nomic Reforms will push through.

Both panels were set to discuss theagreement during the talks' fifthround before Duterte terminatedthe negotiations on November2017.

The NDFP also insists that thepreviously signed ComprehensiveAgreement on Respect for HumanRights and International Humanit-arian Law (CARHRIHL) be imple-mented. In line with the CARHRIHLand other agreements during thefirst round of the talks, the GRP

On the possiblepeacetalks resumption

36 AFP casualtiesin SMR

IN THE RUN-UP to the 49thfounding anniversary of the NewPeople's Army (NPA), Red fight-ers from the Southern MindanaoRegion (SMR) delivered blowsagainst the intensified military-terrorism of the Duterte regimein the region. The Armed Forcesof the Philippines suffered notless than 36 casualties from suc-cessful harassment, demolition,and ambush operations launchedby the NPA in various provincesin the region from February untilMarch 2018.

On March 22, AFP troopswere hit thrice in a series of at-tritive actions in North Cotabato,Davao del Norte and CompostelaValley, killing eight soldiers andwounding at least five others.The seven-vehicle convoy of the19th IB operating troops washarassed by Red fighters underthe Mt. Apo Subregional Com-mand in Brgy. Manobo, Magpettown while troops of the 56th IBwere ambushed in Sitio Nasil-aban, Brgy. Palma Gil in Talain-god. On the same day, the NPAambushed 71st IB agents on-board six motorcycles in Brgy.Magangit. The 71st IB unit wasresponsible for the series of illeg-al arrests, detention and extra-judicial killing of civilians in Com-postela Valley, including the ar-rest, torture and attemptedburning of bodies of a minor and

EDITORIAL

...continued on p. 3

Engl ish Edition

April 7 , 2018 ANG BAYAN2

economic reforms being pushed inthe the peace negotiations.

The revolutionary movement isalso aware of Duterte's worseningsubservience to US imperialism, theAFP's master, which is also his mainmachinery for terrorism. He payslipservice to an independent foreignpolicy only to beg alms from Chinato fund his grandiose infrastructurescheme in exchange for some of thecountry's sovereign territories.

The regime marches on in thepath of establishing a fascist dic-tatorship to monopolize politicalpower and extend its term. Ex-trajudicial killings continue, bothunder his "war against drugs" andall-out war against the revolution-ary movement. Under Oplan Kapa-yapaan, the AFP continues its ram-page in the countryside. Its troopsoccupy, bomb and impose blockadeson entire communities. Widespreaddeceit and intimidation is used toterrify the people to force them tomasquerade as "NPA surrender-rees." This is most atrocious inMindanao under martial law.

In this light and to augment thepeace talks, the people need to in-tensify their struggle against theUS-Duterte regime's terrorism,tyranny and oppression. They needto mount bigger protest actions toadvance their democratic rights--land, jobs, living wages, housing,education and other basic services.

The Filipino people shouldstrengthen their call to end martiallaw in Mindanao. They should holdDuterte and the AFP responsible forMarawi's destruction, and for thethousands who were killed and thehundreds who are still missing andfeared to have died. They shouldalso hold Duterte and the AFP ac-countable for the the long list ofbrutal and merciless crimes it hascommitted against the Filipinopeople. In the face of the fascistDuterte regime's reign of terror,the NPA is left with no choice but tocarry out the people's war to de-fend the people.Ang Bayan is publ ished fortnightly by the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of the Phi l ippines

should immediately issue a presid-ential amnesty proclamation andensure the release of all politicalprisoners.

The possibility of resuming ne-gotiations comes after Duterte'sabout-face on his declaration ofterminating the talks (ProclamationNo. 360) and his succeeding declar-ation of the CPP and NPA as terror-ists (Proclamation No. 374).

For now, Duterte has shown noconcrete measures for the people toreduce their resistance against hishated regime and call for his ouster.Without a substantive effort to im-

plement previous agreements andseriously negotiate the CASER, theDuterte regime's revival of thepeace talks is a mere falcity used toprettify his regime amid itsworsening political crisis.

The revolutionary movement isaware that while it is engaged inthe negotiations, Duterte's bureac-rat-capitalist corruption and crimesprevail. He openly favors big foreigncapitalists and their local compra-dor partners. He persistently ma-nipulates state processes to favorhis family, cronies and supporters inawarding public contracts under hisBuild-Build-Build program.

His regime continues with anti-people

neoliberalpolicies. Since

his TRAIN Lawwas implemented

early this year, pricesof petroleumproducts, food andbasic services have

all gone up. Both theBuild-Build-Build program and

TRAIN are contrary to the socio-

Editorial: On the possible peacetalksresumption 1

36 AFP casualties in SMR 2

NPA grows steadily 4

Lumads against Duterte 5

Marawi residents demand 6

Massacre of Palestinian protesters 7

Drones: intervention and destruction 7

AFP kills 4 civilians 8

AFP blocks IFFM 9

Vol XLIX No. 7 | Apri l 7, 2018

Contents

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ANG BAYAN April 7 , 2018 3

a civilian last yearCompostela Valley. On March

20, three 46th IB troopers werewounded following a demolition op-eration in Lawasan, Pantukan bythe ComVal-Davao Gulf Sub-Re-gional Command. Three 66th IBsoldiers were also killed in anotherdemolition operation by the ComV-al-Davao East Coast Sub-RegionalCommand in Sitio Taytayan, Brgy.Andap, New Bataan on March 18.

Davao del Sur. On March 5, op-erating troops of the 102nd DivisionReconnaissance Company and the39th IB were ambushed by Redfighters belonging to Mt. Apo Sub-regional Command in Sitio Landig,Brgy. Sibulan in Sta. Cruz, Davaodel Sur. The spin doctors of the10th ID tried to save face by deny-ing their seven casualties and in-stead claimed that only one soldierwas wounded.

Davao City. In Baguio District,Davao City, troops of the 3rd IBwere hit three times in attritive ac-tions by the 3rd Pulang BaganiCompany in Sitio Basicong and SityoUtan in Brgy. Tamugan from Febru-ary 23 to 26. In retaliation, enemytroops bombed nearby Lumad com-munities for two days, torched andransacked two houses of civilians.

Red fighters have also metedout revolutionary justice againstBarangay Intelligence Network(BIN) members and concurrentparamilitaries Toto Costan andDaden Diaz. Both were active intel-ligence agents of the AFP who werefanatic implementors of “counter-insurgency” tactics of profiling andtargeting mass leaders and localactivists and sowing discord amongcivilians. Costan and Diaz wereneutralized on February 22 in Brgy.Manuel Guianga, Baguio District.

North Cotabato. Three 19th IBtroopers were confirmed killed in a

demolition operation of Red fightersunder the Mt. Apo SubregionalCommand in Purok 8, Brgy. Green-hills in Pres. Roxas, North Cotabatoon February 24.

Davao del Norte. In Laak, Dav-ao del Norte, enemy troops of the60th IB were likewise harassed byRed fighters in Purok 1-A in Brgy.Kiokmay on February 11. On Febru-ary 9, Guerrilla Front 56 operativestriggered command-detonated ex-plosives against the 3rd IB soldierswhere five troops were killed in Si-tio Balaas, Barangay Gumitan, Mar-ilog district.

Negros Oriental. On March 21at around 4:00 a.m., the LeonardoPanaligan Command has meted outrevolutionary justice against ReneTorres, an intelligence agent of theAFP and PNP who actively spied onthe NPA since the 1990s. Hesecretly reported to the police andmilitary, especially to the 11th IBthat is stationed in barangaysMcKinley and Buenavista.

Kalinga. On March 11 ataround 8:00 in morning, Red fight-ers from the LejoCawilan Commandsuccessfullyraided adetach-ment of the50th IB inSityo Guesang,PoblacionSalegseg,Balbalan. PFCSamuel Neriwas killed inaction, and anunknownnumber ofsoldiers werewounded. The said de-tachment serves as theadvance command post of theAlpha Company of the 50th IBwhere the AFP uses civilians from

the Salegseg tribe as humanshields.Following the marching orders

of the US-Duterte regime, the 50thIB is currently occupying many tri-bal communities in Kalinga to pro-tect the interests of large corpora-tions poised to start massive miningoperations and contruct largepower plants in the province suchas the Cordillera Exploration Com-pany, Inc. (CEXCI)-Nickel Asia,Lepanto Consolidated Mining Com-pany, Freeport McMoran, Chevron,SanLorenzo Ruiz Builders, DPJ En-gineers and Consultants, andKalinga Hydro. The said projects inthe ancestral lands is the worstform of national oppression againstnational minorities in Kalinga andthe entire Cordillera.

Nueva Ecija. A sniper unit ofthe NPA-Nueva Ecija has launchedan attritive action against thetroops of the 84th IB operating inBarangay Piut, Caranglan on March23 at around 10:30 a.m. The Redfighters fired at the enemy troops’passing vehicle in Cagayan ValleyRoad. A soldier was killed in thesniping operation.

"36 AFP..." from page 1


NPA grows steadily

In its statement for the 49th founding anniversary of the NPA last March29, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philipines de-

clared that "[t]he New People's continues to grow steadily as it approachesits 50th founding anniversary."

The Central Committee of theParty described the current ranksof the NPA today as mainly com-posed of young Red fighters andcommanders from the peasantry,workers and urban intelligentsiawho infuse the armed movementwith revolutionary vigor, optimismand courage. In view of this, the“NPA's commitment and determina-tion to serve the people and carryforward the people's war to greaterheights is as strong as ever.”

The fascist US-Duterte regimehas failed to hinder the growth ofthe people’s army despite the brutalwar that it has launched against thepeople and its pronouncement thatit will defeat the NPA before theend of 2018.

As Duterte becomes more tyr-annical and contemptous of thepeople’s democratic rights andfreedom, many are left with nochoice but to fight back and launchvarious forms of resistance. Millionsare aroused and are realizing thejustness and the historical necessityof the revolutionary armed strugglethat will put an end to the Duterteregime and advance the overall re-volutionary cause.

55% growth. The overall num-ber of new NPA recruits in the pastone year and a half under the con-ceited Duterte's rule actually grewby 55% as compared with its growthin the past four years under theAquino regime (2012-2016).

There is an influx of young in-tellectuals from urban centers join-ing the NPA. Just like his idol-dic-tator, Ferdinand Marcos, Duterte isproving that he is indeed the num-ber one recruiter of the NPA.

In the past year, the NPA haslaunched not less than 1,000 tactic-al offensives and various types ofmilitary actions across the country.700 of these have been launched in

Mindanao alone under the fascistregime’s martial law. Thesedemonstrate and prove the de-termination of the NPA to fight theterror that the puppet and fascistregime has unleashed.

Meanwhile, Ka Oris , spokes-person of the National OperationsCommand (NOC), reported that the“NPA forces in Mindanao remainstrong amid the militaristic attemptof the fascist regime to crush it al-together with Moro defense forcesby deploying 70% of its armed forcein Mindanao alone. This has ironic-ally given way for other regions inLuzon and Visayas to grow and ex-pand.”

NPA units in Luzon and Visayashave been able to launch tacticaloffensives, particularly those oper-ating in the provinces of Kalinga,Abra, Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Quirino,Nueva Vizcaya, Laguna, Batangas,Quezon, Mindoro, Sorsogon, Ca-marines Norte, Camarines Sur,Eastern Samar, Western Samar,Leyte, Negros Occidental, Capiz,Iloilo and others.

Consequently, the enemy troopsare forced to respread its forcesacross the country.

“Widespread attritive actions,inflicting significant enemy casual-ties, sapping the enemy’s strengthand giving it difficulty to fulfill theplan of forming new battalions anddivisions complemented these tac-tical offenssives. Whatever tacticaldefeats the NPA suffered wereturned into lessons on advancingguerilla warfare, to face the en-emy’s intensified attacks using im-perialist high-tech military equip-ment," said Ka Oris.

He further said,”[d]espite aerialbombings, shelling, political killings,burning of schools and homes,threats and deception by the re-gime’s military minions, the people’s

army’s mass base increased by 10%nationwide, even in Mindanaowhere military brutality is mostsevere.”

“This has translated into moreguerrilla fronts, where the people’sarmy helped build and develop morepeople’s organs of political powerand revolutionary mass organiza-tions which were tempered by ad-vancing agrarian revolution, fight-ing for their ancestral lands and fortheir right to self-determination,the struggle against fascism andmilitarization, and resistance toimperialist plunder and widespreadenvironmental destruction by largescale mining and commercial plant-ations,” he added

Tasks. In connection with thepreparations of the revolutionaryforces for the forthcoming 50thfounding anniversary of our Party,the NOC ordered the NPA “to a-chieve in the fastest possible timethe most appropriate deployment offorces and most effective coordina-tion in intensifying guerrilla warfarein the whole archipelago.”

“We will increase andstrengthen several-fold the people’sarmy through active recruitment;training and development of Redcommanders and fighters and milit-ary cadres; improving commandstructures at all levels; increasingand upgrading weapons; furtherdeveloping our intelligence capabil-ities; forming people’s militias andcarrying out well-planned annihil-ative tactical offensives to punishthe enemies’ crimes, weaken themand confiscate their weapons.”

In conclusion, Ka Oris stressed,“use the occasion of the NPA’s cel-ebration today to strengthen ourunity in continuing and acceleratingthe momentum we have achievedthis past year. Let us furtherheighten our will, vigor and capacityto fight and reaffirm our determin-ation to carry out the tasks the CPPhas set out for us.

The NDF-Mindanao, regionalParty committees and NPA-com-mands in Northeastern Mindanoo,North Central Mindanao, Sorsogon,


Lumads against Duterte

To struggle for the advancement of the rights of the people to education,land and self-determination denotes wisdom and not ignorance. The

conscious neglect of the reactionary government to protect and uphold therights of the Lumad people, especially their right to their ancestral domain, isthe reason why many Lumads resolutely choose to tread the noble path of therevolution.

Ka Bick Mar, a political in-structor of the NPA, beliedDuterte’s statement that Lumadsare merely tricked by the NPA intojoining the revolutionary army. Inan interview with him by Ang Bayan,he said that, “as a Lumad, andbased on what I have experiencedand witnessed, Duterte’s accusa-tion is baseless. I, as a Lumad, vol-untarily joined the NPA because ofmy desire to organize my fellowLumads, and educate them aboutthe real societal situation.”

Ka Bick Mar, 23, is a Lumadfarmer. At an early age, he wasalready aware of the justness of thewar that is being waged by the re-volutionary movement. Before hisfather died, he told Ka Bick Marnever to severe ties with the move-ment, because if not for the move-ment, their environs would havelong been destroyed. At the age of18, he decided to join the NPA as afull-timer, and subsequently be-came a full member of the Party. Hecurrently leads a platoon of Redfighters as a political instructor. Hiswife is also a Lumad, a Red fighter,and concurrently a platoon medic.

According to Ka Pigan, a Redcommander of the NPA, “it is thereactionary government who de-ceives the Lumads as it allures localtribal leaders into serving the in-terests of big businesses over therights and interests of the people.It is also responsible for the forma-tion of paramilitary groups whorepress and terrorize Lumad com-munities who are actively defendingtheir right to ancestral domain andare strongly opposing the entry and

operation of destructive foreignmining projects. He said that theregime’s manner of governance is“worse than shit”, for it has donenothing but spread terror and de-cay in their communities.

Ka Pigan, 57, is also a Lumadfarmer. In 2000, he decided to jointhe NPA because of the continuousharassment of the reactionary gov-ernment’s Delamance paramilitariesagainst him and his family. Amidrepression, his revolutionary fervorremained steadfast. Recently thisyear, the US-Duterte regime listedhim as a terrorist. Among his fivechildren, one is also an NPA com-mander .

The fact that many youngLumads are joining the NPA cannotbe denied. Ka Oris, NPA spokesper-son, recently explained that “ma-jority of NPA fighters (in Mindanao)are Lumads, because the reaction-ary government continues to favorlarge mining and wide plantationconcessions of big corporations thatwill evict Lumads from their ances-tral lands. Thus, it is but natural forthem to fight and defend their an-cestral lands.”

Ka Bick Mar criticized Duterte’sstatement wherein he comparedNPA organizers to “serpents” whopurportedly destroy the “paradise”of Lumads. He said that “(we are)not serpents for we are speakingthe truth. The people feel and knowthis, that is why they continue tosupport us. If we are serpents andour intentions evil, the movementwould not be this strong today fornobody will join the NPA.”

Lumad NPA commanders and

Party cadres like like Ka Bick Marand Ka Pigan disprove Duterte’sclaim that the revolutionary move-ment is exploiting the “ignorance”of Lumads. For actually, manyLumads play crucial roles in variousNPA fronts, and CPP leadership.

They are efficient organizers forthey have strong influence overtheir former communities and fellowLumads. They are skilled command-ers for they are great fighters andhave mastery of the terrain. Theyare also competent political officialsfor they are good at propagatingParty studies and courses.

Majority of national minoritiesare farmers. Their ancestral landsare grabbed not only by landlordsbut also by big foreign mining, log-ging, and plantation corporations.

The NPA educates them aboutclass struggle. For them, it is clearthat the NPA represents the farm-ing and working class, and all otheroppressed sectors of society.

According to Ka Bick Mar, “theNPAs are the true Baganis of theLumad people for they defend notonly the interests of their fellowLumads but also of the Filipino ma-jority who are exploited.” Bagani isthe term for the traditional warriorsof various Lumad groups who de-fend their people against encroach-ers and those who threaten theirlives. They are considered heroes,similar to how Red fighters arehailed today.

Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Masbate, Panay, Negros and Kalinga also released their respective state-ments which can be accessed at the Philippine Revolution Web Central (philippinerevolution.info).


Marawi residents demand to take back their city

Up to 50,000, Marawi residents marched to the city’s Ground Zero andlaunched their protest “Let's go back to Ground Zero” on March 30 to

demand their right to return to their homes, call for a people’s consultation re-garding the rehabilitation of their community, and offer prayers for civilianswho died during the conflict. Serving as the main battle area in Marawi, GroundZero was severely devastated following the airstrikes launched by the AFP.

The protesters, however, werebarred from entering the formerwarzone by AFP troops who claimedthat there are still 50 undetonatedin the area.

According to Sultan AbdulHamidullah Atar, an organizer ofthe said activity, their protest alsoaimed to express their dismay overthe government’s neglect. Hestressed that the Duterte govern-ment is giving the residents "brokenpromises and false expectations."

Furthermore, he insisted thathindering the residents from re-turning to their homes is a grave vi-olation of their legitimate right.

"It is high time residents seetheir homes, salvage what is left oftheir belongings, and rebuild theirhouses and city,” added AidaIbrahim of Tindeg Ranao, an organ-ization of displaced Moro families.

Meanwhile, Ranaw Multi-Sec-toral Movement slammed the Na-tional Economic Development Au-thority and Task Force BangonMarawi’s plan to convert their cityinto an ecozone under the guise ofrehabilitation.

Awarding of public contractswill be subject to the Swiss Chal-lenge scheme that allows foreign in-vestors and their local businesspartners to submit unsolicited pro-ject proposals. This scheme is full ofanomaly and was is only being im-plemented to favor Duterte’scronies and his foreign business al-

lies.

The group added that the rightsof the residents are disregarded inthe name of the bogus Marawi re-habilitation. The plan was madewithout consultation with the res-idents, and without concrete stepsfor the rehabilitation. Only onething is certain about the rehabilit-ation plan: that the people of Ma-rawi are out of its picture.

Almost 10 months have passedsince 400,000 residents wereevicted from their homes in Marawi.Majority of them have yet to returnto their homes. In a vain effort toconsole the residents, Duterte pre-viously promised that they can fi-nally return to their homes in Feb-ruary. Contrarily, DSWD datareveal that, 8,000 individuals arestill in evacuation centers. Further-more, reports by the local govern-ment indicate that about 1,200people have died, while hundredsare still missing and feared to havedied during the AFP’s indiscriminateairstrikes.

The AFP recently reported that24 barangays in the city are still ‘off-limits’ due to security issues. Thesebarangays are Bangolo Poblacion,Bubonga Lilod Madaya, Daguduban,Dansalan, Datu Naga, Datu saDansalan, Kapantaran, Lilod Madaya(Poblacion), Lumbac Marinaut, Lum-baca Madaya (Poblacion), MarinautEast, Marinaut West, MoncadoColony, Moncado Kadingilan,Norhaya Village, Raya Madaya I,Raya Madaya II, Sabala Manao,Sabala Manao Proper, Tolali, Tuca

Marinaut, Wawalayan Marinaut,Sangcay Dansalan, and SouthMadaya Proper. These barangaysare covered by the AFP's militaryreservation claim. The same area isalso targeted for the constructionof an ecozone for a foreign corpor-

ation.According to Drieza Lininding,

chairman of Moro Consensus Group,the proposal to construct the eco-zone and military camp does notserve the interest of Marawi resid-ents. He insisted that the Moropeople do not need a grandiose planto rebuild and rehabilitate theircity. What they need first and fore-most is to be able to return to theirhomes, with or without the supportof the government.

Because of the protest, thegovernment was forced to initiallyallow 7,000 residents on April 1 toreturn to Ground Zero for the firsttime since the start of the conflictto retrieve whatever belongingsthey have left in their homes. Dur-ing their visit, residents reiteratedtheir call to permanently return totheir homes. They documented thedamages caused by the conflict in-cluding their ravaged homes andproperties, and possible cases oflooting. They stressed that their callto uphold their rights and demandto rebuild Marawi will carry on.

Information controlOn the day of the protests, ele-

ments of 103rd Brigade attemptedto evict Davao Today journalist andNational Union of Journalists of thePhilippines (NUJP) member Ka-thyrine Cortez from entering Mara-wi to cover the residents protests.The soldiers even tried to drive heraway and attempted to confiscateher identification documents andcamera.

To justify the harassment, Col.Romeo Brawner, brigade spokesper-son, said that his troops’ reactionmight have been influenced by thefact that leftist and non-muslim or-ganizations attempted to infiltratethe ranks of the legitimate Maranaointernally displaced persons (IDPs)reportedly to agitate the peace-lov-ing rallyists to become aggressiveand even violent.

The NUJP slammed this repres-


US drones flying over thecountry's territory flagrantly viol-ates Philippine sovereignty.Their surveil-lance of thepeople's activitiesand directing the AFPand the PNP to at-tack and bombardcommunities in thename of the US'“war against terror”is outright intervention.

The US directs the AFPthrough the drones' ability togather real-time information fromthe air, as well as their ability tocarry out attacks.

In the country's history, USdrones are used in order to pin-point locations which PhilippineAir Force planes plan to strike.Apart from this, some dronescarry and drop bombs. For thepast 16 years, Mindanao civiliancommunities bore the brunt ofthese bombings.

The first use of drones in thecountry was recorded in March2002. The US Central IntelligenceAgency deployed Gnat drones inthe first months of the Joint Spe-cial Operations Task Force-Philip-pines' (JSOTF-P) operations. TheGnat drones were stationed atthe Edwin Andrews Air Base inZamboanga City, with the JSOTF-P positioned at nearby Camp Nav-arro. From 2002-2015, theJSOTF-P trained the AFP and thePNP as the US' instruments in itsForeign Internal Defense, better

known ascounterinsur-

gency operations, inthe country.

Gnat drones op-erate in combinationwith the PhilippineAir Force's OV-10

Broncos, which carrypayloads of 227-315 kilo

bombs. The old Broncos wereused by the US during the Viet-nam War, but were upgraded in2004 ($6 million) and 2010 ($19million) in order to be used incombination with drones.

In February 2, 2012, in com-bination with ScanEagle drones,two OV-10 Broncos dropped foursmart bombs in Barangay LanaoDakula in Parang, Jolo, Sulu. Theairstrike supposedly targeteddesignated terrorists Zulkilfi binHir (Marwan) and MuhammedAbdulla Ali (Muawiyah), but allvictims who died in the incidentwere all civilians.

Predator drones were amongthe next to be flown by the US.These are faster and bigger thanthe Gnats, and have payload ca-pacities. In an interview, US in-telligence officials admitted thatin September 2006, a barrage ofHellfire missiles was fired byPredator drones targeting a com-munity in Tawi-tawi. Umar Patek,accused by the US as the plannerof the Bali bombing in Indonesia,was supposedly in the area.

In accepting the six ScanEagle 2 drone systems last March 13, thepuppet Duterte regime prolongs the US' control of drones flying the

Philippine airspace for more than a decade.

sion and said that “implying the security forces' suspi-cions are enough reason for them to suppress journalistsfrom coverage and subject them to clearly unconstitu-tional acts like confiscation of their property and arbit-rary eviction, which not even martial law justifies” could

actually endanger their colleagues.According to residents, government troops barred

the media from covering the protest. Moreover, cell-phone signals were jammed to prevent protesters fromposting about the said event on social media websites.

Groups condemnthe massacre

of Palestinian protesters

THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE ofPeoples’ Struggle (ILPS) condemnedthe massacre of Palestinians by Is-raeli Defense Forces (IDF) killing notless than 29 and wounding morethan a thousand in a brutal dispersalof a peaceful demonstration in theGaza Strip last April 1 and 7. Hun-dreds of thousands of protesterswere hurt due to teargas inhalationand rubber bullet shots.

The protests are part of themonth and a half long commemora-tion of the 70th anniversary of AlNakba (day of catastrophe) whenPalestinians were evicted from theirland to pave the way for the estab-lishment of the state of Israel onMay 15, 1948. Around 750,000Palestinians were forced out of theirhomes. The descendants of the ori-ginal refugees would now numberaround seven million scattered inmany countries around the world.

The protests kicked off on April 1to commemorate Land Day to markthe killing, by the Israeli military onMarch 30, 1976, of six young unarmedPalestinians who opposed the afore-mentioned catastrophe. The protests,which was participated by hundreds ofthousands of Palestinians, set up bar-ricades and camps in front of the wallwhich was built by Israel and Egypt on2007 to confine the Palestinians with-in the small territory of Gaza.

Even the United Nations de-nounced the indiscriminate firing inIsrael and the use of excessive forceto disperse unarmed civilians. It ex-plained that the use of live rounds isillegal. Meanwhile, the ILPS con-demned the continuous imperialistsupport of the US to Israel and itsbrutal repression against the people ofPalestine.

Drones: a history ofintervention and destruction


Killings. Agudo Quillio, 52, aresident of Purok Gemilina, SitioLawaan, Barangay Kingking, Pan-tukan in Compostela Valley and thechairperson of Hugpong sa mgaMag-uuma sa Pantukan (HUMA-PAN) was shot dead by armed ele-ments under the 46th Infantry Bat-talion around 6:30 p.m. on March20. Quillio was preparing dinnerwhen three armed men forciblyentered their house. They immedi-ately shot him repeatedly in hischest causing his immediate death.

Quillio and his organizationHUMAPAN strongly oppose the op-eration of Canadian mining firm St.Augustine Gold and Copper Limitedand the $2-billion Kingking MiningProject in Pantukan. He was also anactive supporter of the ARB OneMovement, an organization ofagrarian reform beneficiaries in theregion which struggle for genuineagrarian reform and free land dis-tribution.

Suspected paramilitary mem-bers shot dead a Manobo fromBarangay Gupitan, Kapalong Davaodel Norte on March 22. The victimwas identified as Garito Malibato,

23 years old, and member of theLumad group Karadyawan. Garitohad been receiving several deaththreats from members of ALA-MARA, a paramilitary group led byUngging and Laris Masaloon, whichhas been attacking the Karadyawangroup and Lumad schools in Kapa-long town.

On March 21, a Moro business-man was shot dead while passing bythe Army’s 2nd Mechanized Bat-talion detachment on his way hometo Talayan, Maguindanao. The vic-tim was identified as NasrudinKadatuan. The military linkedKadatuan to the Bangsamoro Is-lāmic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) thatharassed the aforementioned milit-ary detachment, 8:30 in the eveningbefore Kadatuan drove by. TheBIFF also had a recent armed en-gagement in Barangay Lower Salvo,Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguinda-nao.

However, BIFF spokespersonAbu Misri Mama denied Kadatuanis a member of their group. Mamasaid Nasrudin is a civilian and thateven the military knows him. Resid-ents also belied the Philippine Na-

AFP kills 4 civilians tional Police’s spot report thatNasrudin was hit in a crossfire.They attested that it was the mil-itary who shot him in the back. Ac-cording to Moro human rights groupKawagib, Nasrudin’s case is part ofthe state forces continuing “war onterror” campaign against the Moropeople in Mindanao.

Illegal arrest and filing oftrumped-up charges. On March 29,members of the police and militaryarrested Ruby Lacadman, an or-ganizer of the urban poor groupKadamay, at her residence inBarangay Cacutud, Mabalacat City,Pampanga. Although the warrant ofarrest was addressed to a certainRuby Palabrica y Quitason, Lacad-man was accused and falselycharged with murder for pur-portedly having been involved in a2010 killing in Cadiz City, NegrosOccidental. The “Ruby Palabrica”that was addressed in the warrantis one of the 600 names that werelisted by the DOJ as members of theCPP and NPA.

Kadamay, however, deniedthese allegations. Elvie Adona,spokesperson of Kadamay-MetroClark, said that Lacadman has longbeen residing in Mabalacat and thather involvement in the criminalcharge filed against is impossible.Ruby valiantly opposed the plan ofHausland Corp., in connivance with

Over the past 2 weeks, four civilians were killed and 13 arrested by theterrorist US-Duterte regime’s police and military forces. Militarization

and indiscriminate bombings in the countryside continue, especially inMindanao.

However, of the reported casual-ties, Patek was not included.

This was followed by the USMarines experimenting with the Sil-ver Fox drone, when the 31st Mar-ine Expeditionary Unit arrived thenext month. Under the pretext ofmilitary exercises, the US launchedits war using the AFP and the PNPas its proxies. In the entire periodof JSOTF-P's operations, the UStrained and armed Philippineforces, provided them with ad-vanced surveillance assets includingdrones and satellites, and com-manded them in battles.

Despite the US and Philippine

governments' attempts at conceal-ing from the public the increasedpresence of drones in the country,these are exposed due to the in-creasing scope and intensifying de-struction caused by the bombard-ments. During the AFP siege ofZaboanga City in September 2013to attack the Moro National Libera-tion Front, Raptors and Falconswere among the drones used by theAFP to guide the bombings for morethan two weeks. The bombings res-ulted to the destruction of the cityand loss of homes around 120,000civilians.

American soldiers also con-

trolled the drones when its trainedAFP and PNP battalions besiegedMarawi in May 2017. After weeks ofdaily bombardments, the city wascrushed and the livelihoods of hun-dreds of thousands of residentswere destroyed.

The presence of drones arelikewise exposed because of acci-dental crashes. From 2002-2009,not less than five incidents of dronecrashes were reported. Many ofthese are attributed to the less-fa-vorable climate in the country.Some are the result of counterat-tacks launched by various armedMoro groups.


the local government of Mabalacat,to evict urban poor communities inareas targeted as sites for theconstruction and operation of res-idential subdivisions.

On April 2, elements of theDavao City police violently dis-persed striking Coca-Cola workersand subsequently arrested 10 uni-onists from the Kilusan ng Mang-gagawa Laban sa Coca-Cola(KIMACO), an affiliate of KilusangMayo Uno (KMU). The workersstaged the strike to demand thereinstatement of 72 members whowere dismissed by their agency lastmonth. Arrested were SustenesBantayan, chairperson of KIMACO-KMU, Ricardo Sales, Ryan Balera,Reynaldo Mane, Antonino Bay-awan, Ayan Dibalgui, Jesse Monti-cillo, Alvin Buccat, Ronnel Calacat,and Michael Olan-Olan. They werecharged with grave coercion anddisobedience and are currently de-tained at the Talomo police station.

On the same day at around2:00 p.m., elements of the 73rd IBand PNP Polomolok illegally arres-ted Mary Ann Mariano, 35, at Pur-ok Hechanova, Barangay Pobla-cion, Polomolok, South Cotabatotogether with her 3-month old in-fant and 7-year old child. Accord-ing to witnesses, Mariano was ar-rested without a warrant. Theywere brought to PNP Polomokwhere she was declared as a Redfighter surrenderee. The 73rd IBtagged her as member of the NPA-Front 71 of the Far SouthMindanao Region. Until now, thevictims remain under military cus-tody.

Adelaida 'Nanay Ede' Macus-ang, 59, a resident of Purok 3,Barangay Camansi, MontevistaCompostela Valley and an activemember of Montevista Farmers As-sociation (MONTEFARMA) wastaken by elements of the 25th IB inthe early morning of March 24. Ac-cording to her family, Nanay Edewas brought to the 25th IB’sheadquarters in Monkayo, Com-postela Valley. In MONTEFARMA’s

latest update to Karapatan-SMR,Nanay Ede was already brought toa nearby PNP station and wasfalsely charged with illegal posses-sion of explosives.

Intimidation and harassment.In a statement last April 2, Kar-apatan-Quezon condemned the in-creasing presence of the militaryand its continuous operation inSouth Quezon, Bondoc Peninsula.Recently, soldiers in full battle gearstationed at a church in the saidarea. Moreover, they distributedand displayed tarpaulins and read-ing materials that maliciously at-tacked progressive organizationsand leaders who staunchly defendpeople’s rights.

According to its March 14statement, a suspected AFP intelli-gence agent held three civilians atgunpoint in a bus terminal atCalauag, Quezon. The victims wereidentified as Julius Bataller, LarryAlleluya and Kennet Quizana whoare all members of progressive or-ganizations that are calling forjustice for the murder of Fe delosSantos, an elderly woman whohappens to be a mother of a knownNPA commander in the province.

On March 26 in TuguegaraoCity, suspected elements of thePNP and AFP distributed leafletswhich maliciously state that theNPA Sparu death-squads areroaming around and hiding in theAnakpawis office in Barangay SanGabriel. The leaflets also tags Isa-belo Adviento, regional coordinatorof Anakpawis, and all members ofthe aforementioned partylist asmembers of the NPA and “terror-ists.”

In Laguna, armed elements ofthe PNP, SAF, and SWAT encampedin a school across the FEMSA Sta.Rosa Plant three days after work-ers under the Liga na Pinalakas ngManggagawa sa Coca-Cola FEMSAPhilippines (LPMCCFP) launched astrike on March 20. To furtherthreaten the workers, the policedeployed some of its armed officersin the plant compound.

AFP blocks IFFM

ON THE FIRST day of the Inter-national Fact-Finding Mission(IFFM) to Defend Filipino Peas-ants' Land and Human RightsAgainst Militarism and Plunderin Mindanao last April 6, threeteams of delegates were intimid-ated and harassed by the milit-ary as soon as they arrived atDavao City, Laguindingan andButuan City airports. As theywere leaving the airports, themission teams were surroundedby suspected state agents whotook pictures and videos to in-timidate the delegates.

The convoy of the missiongroups were also arbitrarilystopped several times at differ-ent checkpoints by combinedelements of the PNP and ScoutRangers.

According to the KMP, thereare already 126 documented vic-tims of political killings as ofDecember 2017; 110 victims arefarmers and peasant leaders,mostly from Mindanao

In Compostela Valley alone,one of the target-areas of themission, the 46th IB incessantlymurders peasant leaders whoactively oppose the entry andoperation of destructive foreignconcessions in their communit-ies. According to the KMP, morethan 20 farmers and peasantleaders from Compostela Valleywere killed since 2016 includingJimmy Saypan who was killed inSeptember 2016, and elderlycouple Leonila Tapasan-Pesad-illa, and Ramon Pesadilla killed inMarch 2017. Saypan and thePesadillas were active in thecampaign against the entry andexploration of Agusan Petroleumand Mineral Corporation in theirtown in Ngan, Compostela cov-ering 2,400 hectares.

The IFFM was spearheadedby the Kilusang Magbubukid ngPilipinas, Mindanao for CivilLiberties, Tanggol Magsasaka,


Asian Peasant Coalition, PAN Asia Pacific, People's Co-alition for Food Sovereignty, Rural Missionaries of thePhilippines, International League of Peoples Strugglesand Youth for Food Sovereignty.

Lawyers, progressive lawmakers, the media, andpersonalities from the academe and church, and forn

other sectors also participated in the mission.The four-day mission kicked off on April 6 to look

into the alarming cases of peasant killings and otherhuman rights violations in Mindanao, particularly inSouthern Mindanao, Northern Mindanao and the Caragaregion.

· tions to the roots of the civil war in the country. ... duterte regime's reign of terror,...

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