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This issue’shighlights...

Farmers defy HLI deci-sion P AGE 4

Sorsogon NPA metesblows on 49th IB

PAGE 7

ILPS: A decadeof triumphs andstruggles P AGE 13

Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng PilipinasPinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo ANG

English EditionVol. XLII No. 14

July 21, 2011www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

The Filipino people have gained nothing butmore suffering, more grinding poverty andmore oppression after a year under the in-

creasingly repressive US-Aquino regime. Theybear the brunt of an ever worsening crisis be-cause Aquino treads the same antipeople and pro-imperialist path taken by the previous regimes.

The people were quickly disappointed with theAquino regime's lack of resolve to prosecute, tryand punish Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts forplunder and fascist crimes. There is no differencebetween Gloria-style cronyism and the manyquestionable appointments and anomalous tran-sactions entered into by the Aquino regime withthe so-called “Kamag-anak, Kaklase, Kaibigan atKabarilan Inc.” (relatives,classmates, friends and shoot-ing buddies).

The people's anger atAquino's regime is spreadinglike wildfire due to poli-cies that have furthercondemned them to alife of pover-ty and starva-tion. He allows the for-eign oil monopolies to keep on

raising the prices of petroleumproducts in the local market. Noless than Malacañang has paved theway for higher expressway toll fees, train fares, electricity andwater rates, and charges forhealth and education.On the otherhand, Aquinohas blockedmoves toraise wagesdespite theserious ero-

Unite against the US-Aquino regime!sion of the real incomes of ordinary folk.

Hacienda Luisita and other vast estates con-tinue to be deprived of genuine land reform. TheCojuangco-Aquino family has undertaken a seriesof maneuvers to deceive, divide, terrorize andsuppress the struggling peasants and farm work-

ers. Aquino was gladdened by a Supreme Court or-der calling for another referendum on the “stockdistribution option” (SDO) contrary to demandsfrom hacienda farmers for land distribution. Hewas also pleased by another Supreme Court deci-sion upholding his uncle Eduardo “Danding” Co-

juangco's claim over the “coco levy funds” whichwere exacted from the blood and sweat of co-conut farmers under martial law.

Despite the crisis wrought by imperialist“globalization” in the

past two decades,Aquino persists in

pursuing its policies.He has pushed for thefurther liberalizationof trade and invest-ment, the privatiza-tion of remainingstate assets and the

enhancement of the

roles of private andforeign capitalistinterests in build-

ing public infrastruc-ture. Urban poorshanties are violentlydemolished to give

way to the in-terests of bigc o m p r a d o rc o m p a n i e s .Health and ed-ucation budg-

ets are slashed

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Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committeeof the Communist Party of the Philippines

Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino,Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray andEnglish editions.

It is available for downloading atthe Philippine Revolution Web Central located at:

www.philippinerevolution.org . Ang Bayan welcomes contributions

in the form of articles and news.Readers are likewise enjoined to sendin their comments and suggestions forthe betterment of our publication. Youcan reach us by email at:

[email protected]

Vol. XLII No. 14 July 21, 2011

ContentsEditoryal: Unite against theAquino regime 1State of the Youth 3Farmers defy HLI decision 4Weekly killings 5Demolition in Davao 5Abuses in Abra 6NPA metes blows on 49th IB 7Palawan offensives 7Samar military actions 8NDFP pays tribute to bishop 8Sumagaysay’s pipe dream 9Leyte TOs 10Landgrabbing in ST 11Exploitation in ST vegetable farms 12ILPS victories 13

ANG

2 ANG BAYAN July 21, 2011

even as public schools and med-ical facilities are in a decrepitstate.

Aquino has remained sub-servient to International Mone-tary Fund (IMF) policies. As be-fore, he continues to allot more

than half of the state's re-sources to service the country'sgargantuan debt, which haslargely failed to benefit thepeople. He continues to imple-ment policies that perpetuatean economy oriented towardsexporting semi-processedgoods, an economy dependenton foreign debt and invest-ments. He has proffered nolong-term solution to the graveproblem of unemployment. Hefacilitates plunder by foreignmining companies. His regimecontinually refuses to draft aprogram for building the foun-dations of local industry and aself-reliant economy.

Aquino feeds the peoplenothing but lies. The Pantawid

Pamilyang Pilipino Program or4Ps is the biggest illusion beingpeddled by Aquino. He wouldhave the people believe that bydoling out a few thousand pesosevery year to the “poorest of thepoor,” he could uplift them frompoverty without resolving basicsocio-economuc problems suchas landlessness, unemploymentand extremely low wages.

Aquino's 4Ps is merely partof Oplan Bayanihan which is inturn patterned after the USCounterinsurgency Guide. 4Pshas a simple objective: to veerthe people away from the path

of revolutionary resistance bymaking them hope that theirlives will improve. The programis implemented in tandem withwhat AFP psywar officials call “peace and development” oper-ations in order to obscure themilitary's brutality especially inthe countryside.

Aquino keeps on mouthinghuman rights rhetoric but has

done nothing significant to ad-vance them. Not a single fascistcriminal responsible for morethan a thousand extrajudicial killings under the Arroyo regimehas been punished. Gen. JovitoPalparan who was behind some

of the past decade's most brutal crimes such as the abduction,rape and torture of UP studentsKaren Empeño and SherlynCadapan and the involuntarydisappearance of activistsManuel Merino, Raymond Mana-lo and Jonas Burgos remainsscot-free.

The AFP has received not somuch as a reprimand for itscountless crimes under OplanBantay Laya from 2001 to 2010.Thus, the military continueswithout letup with its terroristcampaign during its triad opera-tions consisting of simultaneouspsywar, intelligence and combatoperations. During “communityorganizing for peace and devel-opment” operations or COPD,

the military imposes curfews,controls the population's move-ments and enforces food block-ades. The AFP tramples on hu-man rights on a daily basis. Thefirst year of the Aquino regimesaw an average of one activistkilled per week.

The military continually re-fuses to recognize and respectthe Comprehensive Agreement

on Respect for Human Rightsand International HumanitarianLaw (CARHRIHL). In the pastseveral months, it has also re-lentlessly violated the JointAgreement on Safety and Immu-nity Guarantees (JASIG) by ar-resting and detaining represen-tatives and consultants of theNational Democratic Front of thePhilippines (NDFP) in the peacenegotiations. Seventeen NDFPconsultants are still in deten-tion despite Aquino's signatureon an agreement in January2011 to release them. More than300 political prisoners still lan-guish in jail.

On the other hand, Aquino

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3ANG BAYAN July 21, 2011

continues to reconcile withthe Marcoses. His openness toconsider the dictator Marcos a“hero” is a grave insult to theFilipino people and a reversal of their judgment when theyoverthrew Marcos during the

EDSA Uprising of 1986.Like the Marcos dictator-ship and succeeding regimes,Aquino has demonstrated hisshameless puppetry to US impe-rialism. He defends the VisitingForces Agreement, the Mutual Defense Treaty amd other un-equal treaties between thePhilippines and the US. Around700 American troops belongingto the Joint Special OperationsTask Force (JSOTF)-Philippinescontinue to be stationed atCamp Navarro in ZamboangaCity. US warships continue todock in Philippine ports, bring-ing in thousands of Americantroops.

Following US directives,Aquino has been drumming up

the Spratly Islands issue in or-der to foment diplomatic andmilitary tensions in the SouthChina Sea. The US wants to cre-ate a situation where its mili-tary forces could intervene inthe name of “extending assis-tance” to the Philippines. It isthe US' strategic objective todeter China's rise as a power asit views the latter as a growing

threat to US worldwide hegemo-ny.

The US-Aquino regime is thecurrent reactionary administra-tor of the ruling semicolonial and semifeudal system. The Fil-ipino people have nothing tohope for under Aquino's rule.Aquino will only lead the toilingmasses, the petty bourgeoisieand the national bourgeoisie torelentless and ever worseningcrisis.

In their desire for national and democratic change, thepeople have no other recoursethan to wage mass strugglesand advance the armed revolu-tion. Aquino's enforcement of

antipeople and pro-imperialistpolicies spur the people to in-tensify their struggles. It will not be long before these strug-gles culminate in the rising of millions of people againstAquino's puppet and reactionaryrule.

Guerrilla warfare is being ad-vanced nationwide in order toovercome weaknesses, surpassprevious victories and achievethe requisites for advancing

people's war towards thestrategic stalemate. Amid ad-vancing mass struggles, theNew People's Army must beready to recruit thousandsmore Red fighters. It mustcontinually launch tactical of-

fensives that it is capable of winning in order to weaken theenemy, accumulate moreweapons and inspire the peopleto advance their own massstruggles.

The Aquino regime is fast be-coming isolated from the peopledespite being in power for onlya year because of its antipeople,pro-imperialist and repressivepolicies. Soon, Aquino's rule will be consumed by the fires of theFilipino people's struggles. ~

State of the Youth Address

Y outh-student groups launched coordinated protest actionson July 19 dubbed “State of the Youth Address” (SOYA) to

demand from Benigno Aquino III a sufficient budget for stateuniversities and colleges (SUC). They assailed the continuedreductions in the budgets for SUCs, saying the dwindling allo-cations have led to a deterioration in the quality of educationin the country.

Hundreds of youth-student organizations joined the na-tionwide protest action. The activity was also supported bythe 112-member Philippine Association of State Universitiesand Colleges (PASUC), Kabataan Partylist and Pres. AlfredoPascual of the University of the Philippines.

In the National Capital Re-

gion, the protest action wasmarked by student walkouts,candle-lighting ceremoniesand “planking” where rallyistslay on the street face down.

Meanwhile, in Iloilo City,some 2,500 students walked outof their classrooms and marchedto the Iloilo Provincial Capitol forthe SOYA. Among those who walkedout were students of Western Visayas

College of Science and Technology,University of the Philippines in theVisayas and West Visayas State Univer-sity. Students in Baguio, La Union,Sorsogon, Cotabato, Cebu, Davao andCagayan de Oro also walked out of their classes. ~

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endum was called in an attemptto derail the hacienda workers'growing resistance. The referen-dum was marked by rampantbribery and terrorism by armedgoons in the Cojuangco-Aquinoclan's employ in order to manip-

ulate the voting and make it ap-pear that the farmers favoredthe SDO. The farmers denouncedthe referendum and the result-ing compromise deal offered bythe Cojuangco-Aquino clan.

The Cojuangco-Aquino familyhas actually never had any in-tention of distributing the6,453 hectares of productive ha-cienda lands despite statementsto this effect by the landlordpresident. It used the highestcourt in the country to legalizethe clan's continuing claim overthe land that has never beentheirs to begin with.

In the 1950s, the funds usedby the Cojuangcos to purchaseHacienda Luisita which was thenowned by Spanish businessmen

were sourced from the Govern-ment Service Insurance Systemand loans from a number of USbanks, all of which were guaran-teed by the Philippine govern-ment. The government then al-lowed the use of GSIS funds andagreed to guarantee the Co-

juangcos' US bank loans on thecondition that the land wouldbe distributed to the farmers

and farm workers after 25 years.The Cojuangcos did not

keep their end of the bar-gain. Through a combinationof legalistic manipulationsand outright deception, theyclaimed the land as theirown and suppressed the re-

sistance of the land's real owners.

Various peasant groupsand sectors have condemnedthe Supreme Court decision.Different protest actionshave already been launchedby the farmers and farmworkers in Hacienda Luisitato assert their right to theland. ~

Farmers of Hacienda Luisitadefy Supreme Court decision

Despite prohibitions from the Cojuangco-Aquino family, morethan 200 farm workers of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) tilled a500-hectare lot that had been fenced off and claimed by

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and its businesspartner Luisita Industrial Park Corp. The activity was conductedwithin the disputed sugarcane plantation in Barangay Balete, Tar-lac City.

The collective farming activ-ity which was joined even bybarangay officials was an organ-ized protest action against thepro-landlord Supreme Court de-

cision on July 5. Although it re-scinded the Stock DistributionOption (SDO), the decision alsoordered the conduct of anotherreferendum where farmers will be asked whether they preferthe SDO or land distribution.

The farmers and farm workerswere able to till more than twohectares in a day, using bolosand a few hand tractors.

They had earlier declaredtheir rejection of the court deci-sion and their boycott of anyreferendum that would be calledas a result.

The hacienda workers knowfull well that the Supreme Courtdecision favors the Cojuangco-Aquino family. With a vote of 6-4, the court upheld an earlier

decision by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC)in 2005 to revoke the SDO. Butit also disregarded the decades-long struggle of the farmers and

farm workers for land.The Cojuangco-Aquino familyhad already used referenda inthe past to renege on their ob-ligation to distribute the ha-cienda lands. They first usedthis tactic in 1989, under Cora-zon Cojuangco-Aquino's regime.

Because Corazon Aquinothen prided in saying thatagrarian reform was a corner-stone of her regime, she ex-panded its scope. But she ex-empted Hacienda Luisita tokeep it in her family's hands andsubjected it to the SDO scheme.Instead of land, the farmerswere given worthless shares of stock.

In August 2010, a new refer-

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FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE

One killing a week under theAquino regime

T he Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) campaign of extrajudicial killings goes on unabated under the Aquino regime. Inthe regime's first year, there was practically one activist killed

every week by the state's armed agents. This underscores the hol-lowness of the regime's declarations of advancing human rights.

The human rights watch-dog KARAPATAN recorded48 extrajudicial killingsin Aquino's first year.Among the victims wereactivists from the peas-antry, workers, national minorities, governmentemployees, businessmenand urban poor as well asenvironmental advo-cates. Abductions, tor-ture, arbitrary arrests, il-

legal detention and other mil-itary atrocities

have also beenperpetratedrelentlesslythroughoutthe country.

The Aquinoregime hasl i k e w i s eshowed no in-

tention of pun-ishing the fas-

cists responsible for the morethan 1,000 extrajudicial killingsand other crimes under the Ar-royo regime. Despite two suc-cessive orders from the Supreme

Court to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to surface theactivists it had abducted,Aquino has not taken any stepsto hold accountable the AFP of-ficers and personnel who perpe-trated and masterminded thesecrimes.

In June, the Supreme Courtordered in back to back deci-sions the surfacing of JonasBurgos, Karen Empeño, SherlynCadapan and Manuel Merino.The court took note of the evi-dence showing that the abduc-tion of Burgos in April 2007 andEmpeño, Cadapan and Merino inFebruary 2006 were the handi-work of AFP personnel. ~

Demolition in Davao City

TEN residents of Barangay Soliman, Agdao District,Davao City were injured during the demolition of their community on July 1. Among the victims wasa 12-year old child.

Tanggol Bayi, a group of women human rightsadvocates strongly condemned the violent demoli-tion, which occurred just ten days after another ur-ban poor coomunity was demolished in Tigatto,Buhangin District in the same city.

More than 200 families would have lost theirhomes in Barangay Soliman had the demolitionbeen completed. They would have had nowhere togo since Davao City had just been devastated by se-vere flooding a few days before.

Not all the houses were demolished because of Mayor Sara Duterte's arrival at the scene to con-front Court Sheriff Abe Andres who was implement-ing the demolition. The mayor has earlier asked the

court sheriff to postpone the demolition for a fewhours and wait for her arrival to avoid bloodshed.When the court sheriff ignored Duterte's request,the mayor hit him. This incident grabbed the mediaand the public's attention. Duterte was criticized byseveral quarters, many of whom failed to take no-tice of the violence inflicted on the urban poor res-idents. ~

3 farmers beaten upby 801st DRC

MILITARY abuses continue without let-up in the countryside. Three farmerswere beaten up by soldiers conductingoperations in May and on June 11 in avillage in Basey, Samar.

On June 4, Jessie Odel, 35, sufferedfractures and severe bruises all over hisbody after being beaten up by soldiersfrom the 19th IB in Sitio Biga,Barangay Mabini after he could not pro-vide any information on the where-abouts of the New People's Army.

On May 26, soldiers from the 801stDivision Reconnaissance Company(DRC) arrested and mauled “Jerry,” 30.

The day before, the same militaryunit also arrested and beat up a farmer

named “Dacoy,” 30, in Sitio Bagti,Barangay Mabini.All of the victims were warned

against reporting on their plight. Odel was told by the soldiers that they wouldpay his hospitalization expenses only if he keeps silent about the torture hesuffered. ~

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FASCIST STATE ON A RAMPAGE

Military abusesin Tubo, Abra

Grave human rights abuses were part and parcel of the 41stIB's military operations from March to April in BarangayAlangtin, Tubo, Abra and in May in Barangay Baclingayon, al-

so in the town of Tubo.In Baclingayon, soldiers ille-

gally arrested Sayan PimmangenMacaiba on May 24 at around6:15 a.m. Macaiba, a resident of Belwang, Sadanga, MountainProvince had gone to Baclinga-yon with a companion who was

also from Belwang to buy acarabao. While trekking the Bel-wang-Baclingayon Trail on theirway back, they met a section of the 41st IB Recon Platoon Al-pha Coy led by 2Lt. Aries M.Tagayun in Kadawilan. Macaiba'scompanion was able to runaway.

The military demanded theownership documents for thecarabao, but Macaiba could notproduce them. The soldiersseized the carbine and .45 pis-tol he was carrying, and shotthe side of Macaiba's foot threetimes, leaving a hole in one of his slippers. He was made towear a poncho and was broughtalong with his carabao to Bacli-ngayan. The soldiers gagged

him to prevent him from talk-ing.The carabao was transferred

to the custody of barangay offi-cials. Macaiba was kept awayfrom view. At around 11 p.m.,he was brought to the towncenter and transferred to policecustody. The military chargedhim with illegal possession of firearms. Bail was set at`80,000. Macaiba is out on bail but still faces trumped-upcharges.

On May 22-29, the militarypositioned two 105 mm how-itzers in Barangay Kili, Tubo.

On May 22, Manuel Bagsao, avillage resident was detained for

several hours by the 41st IB atthe power house of BarangayKili's Micro Hydro Power genera-tor. He was freed only when thebarriofolk went to the militaryto demand Bagsao's release.

Lt. Col. Noli Anquillano,

50th IB chief also threatenedthe father of Ka Andy, a Redfighter to force the old man topoint to his son's whereabouts.

In Sitio Beew, Alangtintown, Colonel Anquillano's menstationed a mortar launcher infront of the village church andfired it several times. They alsostayed for a month in civilianfacilities such as the dap-ay (the elders' meeting place) andthe barangay hall, aside fromthe residents' houses.

The soldiers controlled thepeople's movements, listingdown the names of everyoneleaving the barrio, their desti-nation and their date and timeof return.

They arbitrarily mauled a

number of civilians. A soldier hitWail, a 30-year old villagerwhen the trooper disliked theway Wail had answered his ques-

tions. The elders fined the sol-dier for his disrespect.

Suspected NPA supporterswere harassed in Beew. Fourhouseholds in particular caught

the soldiers' ire because theywere suspected of hosting NPAguerrillas. These were the homesof Lorenzo and Rita Cayandag;Benedicto “Bakday” Oloan;Tessie Bakilog; and Totoy Pali-no. The military took pictures of Palino's daughter Jennifer whowas accused of being an NPAcourier. Oloan's dog was alsosuspected of being an NPA

hunting dog.Troops from the 50th IB tore

down enclosures that fenced inthe farmers' carabaos, thus al-lowing the animals to enterfarms and trample on the crops.Several carabaos also fell off cliffs and were maimed or killed.The soldiers never even both-ered to repair the fences theyhad torn down.

The military burned forestedand mountainous areas wherethey believed the NPA was stay-ing. The fire gutted a large area,prompting the villagers to im-pose a fine on the soldiers. Theywere too late, however, as thetroopers had already left.

Their most serious violationinvolved the abduction of Mar-

tin “Baldo” Chupchupen, a resi-dent of Mainit, Bontoc, Moun-tain Province. Chupchupen hadcome from Mainit to buy a

carabao in Alangtin and thusdidn't know that there wasan ongoing military opera-tion. He met the 50th IBtroops while hiking alongMt. Layaban. The soldiers ar-rested him and brought himto their headquarters inManabo, Abra. Chupchupen'sfellow villagers who lookedfor him at the 50th IB campwere told that he had al-ready been released. In fact,the military has not surfacedhim to date. ~

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CORRESPONDENCE REPORTS

NPA in Sorsogon metes blows on 49th IB

NPA seizes 23 firearmsin anti-mining offensivesin Palawan

Palaweños are cheering at the successive victories of the NewPeople's Arny (NPA) against destructive mining operations inthe province. The Red fighters were able to seize 23 firearms

from six tactical offensives launched by the Zacarias SarsidilloCommand (NPA-Palawan) from June to July.

In a statement, NPA-Palawan

spokesperson Ka Samuel Ca-ballero said the NPA was able toseize mining equipment on June

2 from Orebucks Mineral Traders,

a chromite mining company inBarangay Paly, Taytay town. TheRed fighters were also able to

cart off 11 firearms of variouscaliber consisting of a babyM16, two Ingram machine pis-tols, two KG9 machine pistols,two shotguns, two .45 pistolsand a .38 revolver. They alsoseized three grenades, six com-munication radios, a sniperscope and ammunition of vari-ous caliber.

Also in Taytay town, an NPAunit meted punishment on theabusive Bantay Lawa SecurityGroup on June 27 in Danao

Lake, Barangay Poblacion forserving as an instrument in seiz-ing the lands and burning downthe farms of peasants in thearea. The guerrillas confiscateda “Street Sweeper” shotgun,four .45 pistols and an ICOM ra-dio.

The NPA-Palawan also at-tacked on June 26 the securityguards of Ipilan Nickel Corpora-tion in Barangay Ipilan, Españo-la town. Seized were a shotgun,a 9 mm pistol and six communi-cation radios. That same day,the guerrillas seized from secu-rity personnel of Macro Asia a

Operating troops of the 49th IB have sufferedseveral casualties in Sorsogon. Red fighters

of the New People's Army (NPA) got wind of their presence every time they were on the attackand mounted ambushes against the militaryforces.

On July 4, an NPA unit then stationed atBarangay Togawe, Gubat town was informed thata team from the 49th IB was headed on foot to-wards the Red fighters' location. The guerrillasimmediately planned an ambush. They detonatedexplosives along the approaching soldiers' pathbefore opening fire. Four of the enemy troopers

were reported killed.The day after, the military vented its ire on

innocent civilians. At around 9:30 a.m., sol-diers seized Rosabelle Mangampo, a 32-yearold housewife and her children, 2-year old Mark

Jay and 1-year old Mark Anthony, and hernephew Ricky Calayo, 23. They were brought to

the Gubat municipal hall, and were allowed togo home only at around 2 p.m. after the To-gawe village chief followed them up and de-manded their release.

Earlier, the 49th IB had already attempted toencircle an NPA unit that was temporarily sta-tioned in Barangay San Ramon, Barcelona town inthe afternoon of June 30. The NPA got wind of the plan and seized the initiative by detonatingexplosives and raining automatic fire on thetroopers. At least three of the soldiers were killed

and five were wounded.That night, the military launched hot pursuit

operations in Barangay San Ramon and confiscat-ed the cellphones of villagers Rosanna and Rose-marie Estiller. ~

“Palawan...,” continued at page 8

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8

VICTORIOUS NPA OFFENSIVES

ANG BAYAN July 21, 2011

shotgun and a .38 re-volver. Macro Asiamines nickel in Bara-

ngay Pulot 3, also inEspañola.Meanwhile, an NPA

squad disarmed theabusive criminal pri-vate army of Abet Pa-cia in Barangay SanJose, Taytay on June6, seizing a carbine,two shotguns, a .45pistol and a pair of

night vision goggles.Said Caballero, the

Palaweños are pleasedwith these offensiveslaunched by their peo-ple's army. They havelong been complainingabout the destructionof their environmentdue to the operationsof mining companiesand the terrorism be-ing perpetrated bytheir armed guards, es-pecially against chil-dren and youth.

In spite of this, thelocal government hasturned a deaf ear tothese grievances andhas even conspired

with the mining com-panies. ~

NPA harassment operation in Samar

A SOLDIER was killed and three other troopers were wounded in a ha-rassment operation launched by a unit of the New People's Army JorgeBolito Command on May 29 in Sitio Biga, Barangay Mabini, Basey,Samar. The casualties belonged to a 35-man troop under the elite801st Division Reconnaissance Company which was then in the thickof military operations. The NPA suffered no casualties. The attack wasa punitive measure against the 801st DRC which was involved in sev-eral cases of physical assault on villagers during its military operationsin Basey.

Medical services delivered in Samar

UP to 120 patients from several villages of Pinabacdao, Samar benefit-

ed from various medical services provided by Red fighters of the NewPeople's Army (NPA) and local medics last June. The patients receivedmedical checkups, underwent minor operations and tooth extractionsand availed of other health services.

The interbarrio clinic was launched after a medical training con-ducted by the NPA Jovito Ragay Command in Calbiga, Samar from May23-June 10. Fifteen guerrillas and ten members of local mass organi-zations joined the training, which was conducted to raise the partici-pants' competence on health-related matters and their ability to con-tribute to the advance of people's war through medical work.

Brains behind fascist crimes punished in Batangas

THE New People's Army implemented the death sentence meted by thepeople's court on P/Supt. Rodney Ramirez after he was found guilty of masterminding the killing of two mass leaders in Southern Tagalog.The death penalty was enforced by the Eduardo Dagli Command on themorning of June 12 in Barangay Butong Bayan, Taal, Batangas.

An investigation revealed that Ramirez ordered the killing of massleaders Sabina “Nanay Sabeng” Mendoza Arriola in Santa Rosa, Lagunaon March 23, 2009 and Kenneth Reyes in Lemery, Batangas on April

11.

Bishop Purugganan, people's servant

The National Democratic Front of the Philip-pines hailed Most Rev. Miguel Purugganan,Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Ilagan,

Isabela who died on July 8. The NDF extended itsheartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues,friends and the many people he helped.

Bishop Purugganan was one of sevenCatholic bishops who courageously denouncedmartial law and the Marcos dictatorship. He setup the Basic Christian Communities CommunityOrganizing (BCC-CO) nationwide and organizedand mobilized the oppressed and exploited tostand up for their rights, collectively advance

their interests and fight for their fundamental national and democratic aspirations. He servedas BCC-CO chair for many years.

He had no qualms in taking in as staff or-ganizers even those on the wanted list of theMarcos dictatorship and were branded enemiesof the state. He helped and defended staff whowere arrested and detained by the military.Even before he became a bishop, he was knownto be a just and caring person. Said the NDFP,the people whose lives he touched will neverforget his exemplary spirit of service to thepeople. ~

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9

rigation water for farmlands.Due to the mining company's

operations and exploration ac-tivities, thousands of peoplehave been evicted from their

homes in the villages of Camin-dangan, Manlocahoc, Cabadia-ngan and San Jose in SipalayCity and in Barrio Camalandaanin Cauayan town.

Even before this tactical of-fensive in southern Negros, thepolice and military had alreadybeen caught by surprise by thesuccessive military actions of guerrilla units under theLeonardo Panaligan Commandin Central Negros. (See related article in AB's July 7, 2011 is-

sue)Meanwhile, in Northern Ne-

gros, 62nd IB chief Lt. Col. Ed-uardo Gubat was also takenaback by a series of NPA attacks.On the night of June 8, the NPARoselyn Pelle Command opened

fire on 62nd IB troops stationedat Sitio Magkalape, BarangayTabun-ac in Toboso, Negros Oc-cidental. Two soldiers werekilled and an undeterminednumber were wounded. The dayafter, another NPA unit harassedsoldiers posted in an uplandarea of Sitio Gabon-gabon alongthe border of Barangay Tabun-acand Barangay Pantao, Calatrava.

On June 12, the NPA am-bushed a column of the PNP Re-gional Mobile Group (RMG) inSitio Banag, Libertad in Es-calante City. Six RMG elementswere killed.

Meanwhile, a soldier fromthe 11th IB was wounded in anencounter between the militaryand an NPA unit in Sitio Lag-asan, Barangay Tacpao, Guihul-ngan, Negros Oriental on July 4.

These failures caused the re-moval of Col. Francisco Patrimo-nio from his post as 303rdBrigade chief on June 20. The3rd Scout Ranger Company wasalso transferred back to Negrosfrom Samar. ~



Colonel Sumagaysayis dreaming if he real-ly believes that theNPA in Negros is onthe verge of col-lapse. Accord-ing to his lat-est pack of lies,the AFP hasbeen able to moni-tor the NPA's latestactivities because ithas planted “deep penetrationagents” (DPA) or “insiders”within the revolutionarymovement. He added thatthe revolutionary move-

ment in the island is cur-rently conducting a purgecalled “Oplan Panghila-mon” against theseimaginary DPAs.

The NPA is gainingstrength, and not weak-ening in the island. In fact, theNPA was able to launch 21 coor-dinated tactical offensives fromJune 5 to July 6. In a press

statement, Ka Juanito Magba-nua, spokesperson of the Apoli-nario Gatmaitan Command of the NPA in Negros said sevensoldiers were killed and 15 werewounded in these gunbattles.The NPA was also able to seizesix high-powered firearms, andpunish military assets.

The latest NPA tactical of-fensive was an attack on a fishfarm owned by a nephew of Ne-gros Occidental governor AlfredoMarañon in Barangay Bulanon,Sagay town on June 16. TwoM14s, an M16, a shotgun and a.22 pistol were seized in thisraid.

The Negrenses hailed the at-

tack on the antipeopleand pro-capitalist gover-

nor. Marañon is behindthe mining operations in themountainous areas and coast-

al areas of Sagayand Cadiz towns.He systematicallyevicted 8,000people living

within theNorthern Ne-gros ForestReserve inorder toconvert thearea into

p a s t u r e -land.The NPA

had earlier raid-ed the com-

pound of Phi-lex Gold Mining

Corp. in Barangay Nabulao,Sipalay City in Negros Occiden-tal on July 6. Red fighters underthe NPA Armando Sumayang

Command in Southwestern Ne-gros Front disarmed its armedguards and destroyed three ve-hicles and two barracks. Theyseized four shotguns, a .357 re-volver and three communicationradios.

NPA-Southwestern Negrosspokesperson Ka Andrea Guer-rerro said that Philex MiningCorp. is responsible for destroy-ing the lives, livelihood, healthand environment of the people.It dumps toxic waste into theMantubay stream and theBacuyangan and Sipalay riverswhich has resulted in fish killsalong the coastal areas of Sipalay and the depletion of ir-

Colonel Sumagaysay's pipedream

T he New People's Army (NPA) has been earning brilliant victo-ries in Negros, contrary to virtually daily claims by Col. JonasSumagaysay of the 3rd ID that the NPA is on a losing course.

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ten victimized by the military.On March 8, a unit under the

Mount Amandewin Commandambushed a platoon under the

78th IB at around 4 p.m. inSitio Mati, Barangay Antipolo,Albuera. Six 78th IB trooperswere killed after a 40-minutegunbattle, paralyzing the major-ity of the platoon.

The day after, March 9, asmaller NPA unit came back tothe demoralized soldiers. Ataround 6 a.m., the Red fightersharassed them, adding another

five to the list of enemy casual-ties.

On March 13, at around 10a.m., the NPA mounted an am-bush on another platoon underthe 78th IB in Sitio Buwak,Barangay Tinag-an, Albuera.Seven enemy troopers werekilled in the gunbatle, whichlasted more than an hour.

Because of their successivedefeats, the demoralized andextremely confused soldiers hada misencounter on March 18,leading to the deaths of threemore troopers. ~

people must recognize OplanBayanihan's deceptiveness and

pretensions at being a programfor peace and development. In-stead of treading the wickedroad to war of Oplan Bayanihan,the NDF-EV called on theCatholic Church and other sec-tors to support the peace nego-tiations between the Aquinogovernment and the NDFP andthe struggle for a just and en-during peace. They must alsosupport the struggle to attain

justice for victims of humanrights violations. The peacetalks' current agenda is to comeup with solutions to socio-eco-nomic problems, which areamong the root causes of thecivil war in the country. ~

Series of offensives in Leyteagainst the 78th IB

Twenty-one (21) soldiers of the 78th IB were killed when theywere confronted head-on by tactical offensives launched byRed fighters under the Mt. Amandewin Command of the New

People's Army in Leyte (MAC-NPA-Leyte). Leyteños applauded theseNPA victories which have raised the morale and fighting capabilityof the people's army, according to belated reports from the EfrenMartires Command (EMC-NPA-Eastern Visayas).

These reports give the lie toclaims by Col. John Bonafos,

802nd Brigade chief that the78th IB suffered only one casu-alty.

In fact, said EMC spokesper-son Ka Karlos Manuel, asidefrom the 18 troopers killed by

the NPA in three tac-tical o f -fen-

sives, the enemy suffered threemore casualties in a misen-

counter among confused anddemoralized soldiers of the 78thIB. On the NPA side, four Redfighters were slightly woundedin these firefights.

On March 2, the newly de-ployed 78th IB immediatelylaunched military operations inLeyte. Nonetheless, the Redfighters were able to prepare forthe enemy offensive because of their familiarity with the area's

steep mountains and thestrong support of

the peasantswho were of-

Expose the 8th ID'spretensionsP

roof of the 8th ID's repre-hensible character is its ex-ploitation of the bishops of

the Catholic Church to push animmoral, unjust and allout warthrough Oplan Bayanihan.

In a statement, Fr. SantiagoSalas, spokesperson of the Na-tional Democratic Front-EasternVisayas (NDF-EV) assailed ArnedForces chief of staff Gen. Eduar-do Oban and 8th ID chief Gen.Mario Chan for gloating thatthey had gained the support of the church, the local govern-ment and other sectors forOplan Bayanihan. The NDF-EV

called on the Catholic Churchand other sectors to be critical and cautious to prevent themfrom falling into the military'strap and be taken in by itsbloody campaign against thepeople of Eastern Visayas.Through Oplan Bayanihan, themilitary projects itself like awolf in sheep's clothing, saidSalas. This must be thoroughlyexposed not only in EasternVisayas but throughout thePhilippines.

The NDF-EV enjoined all sec-tors to expose and oppose OplanBayanihan. Salas said that the

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Landlords and real estate de-velopers use various reactionarylaws and policies to seize land.Land-use conversion (LUC) iswidespread in the region. Thisinvolves landlords shifting fromagriculture to other ways of uti-lizing their land in order toavoid having their property sub-

jected to agrarian reform.Farmlands are transformed

into residential subdivisions, in-dustrial enclaves, commercial centers and so-called eco-

tourism projects such as golf courses, leisure and ecological farms, and theme and natureparks. In some cases, ex-isting laws on land own-ership arebrazenly manip-ulated to deceive andswindle farmers.In other partsof the region, can-

cellations of certifi-cates of land own-ership awards(CLOA), certificatesof land title (CLT)and emancipationpatents (EP) are rampant.These are all provisions of ex-isting agrarian reform laws.

Thousands of hectareshave also been taken over bymining companies and “devel-opment projects” such asmegadams. Some examples arethe exploration activities of

Mindoro Resources Ltd. on24,000 hectares of land inBatangas, the impending con-struction of the Laiban Damwhich will swallow up 28,000hectares along the Rizal andQuezon border, and the conductof off-shore mining by PitkinPetroleum Ltd. Mining Corp. on645,000 hectares of land andsea in Mindoro.

The transformation of agri-cultural land to corporate farmsis also growing. The corporate

farms are dubbed as agro-eco-logical and agro-industrial in

Landgrabbing and landmonopoly in SouthernTagalog

Four-hundred thousand (400,000) hectares of agricultural landare currently embroiled in landgrabbing cases in the SouthernTagalog region. They cover 76 towns and 168 barangays.

Among the landgrabbers are 67 landlords and 49 real estate corpo-rations. More than 150,000 people are being threatened with evic-tion in 50 of these cases.

nature, all in the name of shift-ing to more large-scale, produc-tive and systematic land use.The striking examples are plan-tations in Quezon and Palawanprovinces that grow industrial crops like jathropha and cassava

for bio-fuel, and moringga formedical and nutritional uses.In the region's mountainous

areas, the Integrated Social Forestry (ISF) and Community-Based Forest Management Pro-grams (CBFMP) are being imple-mented. These programs havecaused the displacement of farmers who depend on growingfood crops for a living. This iscommon in Batangas and evenmore common in Palawan andMindoro where there are moreexpansive forestlands.

Landgrabbing cases bring tothe fore the monopoly control over land in Southern Tagalog.The biggest landlords, com-prador bourgeoisie and land de-velopers lord it over the region,

among them the Ayalas, Sys,Tans, Zobels, Roxases, Puyats,Lopezes, Yulos, Reyeses andMurrays.

Also in the region are thebiggest real estate corporations

such as Ayala LandInc., SM Development

C o r p o r a t i o n ,M a n i l aS o u t h -

coast De-velopmentC o r p o r a -

tion, Land-Co, Fil-Es-

tate, San Cris-tobal Real tyCo r p o r a t i o n ,

Laguna Estate Devel-opment Corporation,

Guevent Industrial Devel-opment Corporation, Green Cir-cle Properties, Crown Asia,Kuok-Philippines Property, Inc.,Moldex and Cathay Land, Inc.,whose owners are capitalized byor are in the same circles as thepreviously mentioned landlords.

It is not only in Southern

Excerpted from a report prepared by the Southern Tagalog Regional Peasant Secretariat. To be featured in the next issue: Peasant Offensives as a response of the struggling people of the region.

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vegetable farmer only uses oneto two hectares, he pays up to`20,000 per hectare in rent an-nually. In the quintosan system,which is widespread in Laguna,farmers pay a fixed rental of `2,000 for every ¼ hectare,whether or not they have a suc-cessful harvest. Middlemen who

buy the farmers' produce short-change the peasants during har-vest time.

Middle peasants face hard-ships during the planting sea-son because the smallest invest-ment needed to produce onevegetable variety in a hectare of land is `30,000. Some areforced to approach “5-6” loansharks who charge 20% interestdaily, just to be able to plant.

Seeds and fertilizer are soldto the farmers at exorbitantprices. For instance, in one areain Quezon, two sacks of fertiliz-er cost `1,100 while a bottle of pesticide costs `560. Plows arerented out for ̀ 300 per day. Thegovernment has not been of anyhelp in relieving the peasants'burdens since it only gives outone packet of seeds per farmer.Pests, typhoons and othercalamities are also factors thatcontribute to reduced incomes.Sometimes, farmers end up

earning nothing at all.Farm workers receive very

low wages. The average wageis that set by the Regional Wage Board of Southern

Tagalog which is only `200-250 daily. Farmers' are paidonly `1 per kilo of cargo forthe use of their horses inhauling. Vegetable pickersand farm workers who haul produce are likewise paid ona per kilo basis. ~

Laguna has the biggest veg-etable production in the region,producing up to 86,091 tons in2006. Quezon is also one of theregion's biggest vegetable pro-ducers. It has the advantage of having a climate favorable tovegetable growing in Mt. Bana-haw and fine soil in Sariaya,Lucban and Candelaria towns.

Feudal exploitation of farmers. Vegetable productionin the region is small-scale anddispersed. Farming implementsused in planting, cultivatingand harvesting are backward.

Becausemost farmersin ST are

landless,

they are forced to rent land fromlandlords.

Various forms of usury andunfair trade practices by mer-chants are prevalent in the re-gion. Landlords, although notsignificant in number, control about 100 hectares. They renttheir land out to poor peasants.Even government agencies suchas the Department of Labor andEmployment (DOLE) and theProject Development AssistanceCenter (PDAC) have private cor-porate farms whose land is like-wise being rented out instead of being made available for free.DOLE has 36 hectares and PDAC11.5 hectares. No less than theDepartment of Agriculture rentsout land to farmers who have topay 20% annual interest.

Land rent exacts a hugeportion from the farmers' in-comes. Even if the average

Exploitation in vegetablefarms of Southern Tagalog

Vegetable farming is one of the sources of income of peasantsin Southern Tagalog (ST) and other parts of the country. Veg-etable production has been expanding, particularly in Quezon

and Laguna, erstwhile known for their coconut plantations.

Tagalog where massive landgrabbing is takingplace. In various areas of the country, local land-lords and foreign corporations compete in corner-ing the most favorable and most fertile land fortheir benefit. Spurring this development is the re-

actionary state's policy of hewing to “imperialistglobalization” and trade and investment liberal-ization. The policy gives them free rein to plun-der the country's natural resources to the detri-ment of the local economy and the people. ~

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anti-imperialist united frontpolicy. It has succeeded in frus-trating the attempts of a fewpseudo-Maoist sectarians to un-dermine the unity of the Leagueand swerve it towards the anar-chist or Trotskyite path.

The League stands today asthe foremost global formation of mass organizations comprehen-sively covering all major con-cerns and issues in the people’sstruggle for national and social liberation. Guided by the inter-national united front policy, itcan initiate or join mass cam-paigns or occasional activitiesof mass mobilization and broadinternational conferences. Itbrings together and coordinatesmass organizations according tocommon interests and purposes.At the same time, it joins andsupports the initiatives of its

ILPS: A decade of struggleand triumph

Ten years have passed since the International League of Peo-ple's Struggle (ILPS) launched its first international assemblyin The Netherlands. The ILPS was formed to serve as a broad

anti-imperialist and democratic alliance of mass formations andmass movements. Its objective was to expose and oppose inhumanpolicies and acts of the multinational companies, reactionary gov-ernments and international institutions such as the IMF, WorldBank, WTO and military alliances.

The ILPS facilitated the uni-ty, cooperation and coordina-tion of democratic and anti-im-perialist organizations such astrade unions and organizationsof women, youth, peasants,teachers, health workers, jour-nalists, writers, scientists, tech-nologists, lawyers and otherprofessionals, as well as popularmovements and campaigns.

The ILPS has launched threeinternational assemblies. Itsfourth assembly was held in thePhilippines on July 7-9.

The League has been out-standing in providing political education on major internation-al concerns and issues. It hasachieved a high level of unityand militancy due to rigorousstudy and by holding fast to

Vegetable production in Southern TagalogT

he expansion of vegetable farms inSouthern Tagalog has not been spurred bythe peasants' conversion to high-value

cash crops. In a study by the Southern Taga-log Regional Peasant Secretariat, the growinghectarage of land planted to vegetables na-tionwide is the result of massive tree-cuttingin the forests. There are also cases in South-ern Tagalog where the depletion of coconutlands in Quezon province paved the way forthe emergence of widespread vegetable farm-ing.

Because agricultural production in thecountry remains backward, small-scale anddispersed, farmers gamble on vegetable plant-ing for a quicker return on their investment.

But poverty in the countryside has obvi-ously not been resolved by the shift to veg-

etable farming and planting other high-valuecash crops. The age-old problems of the peas-antry persist such as the lack of capital andgovernment subsidies, high costs of produc-tion vis a vis the very low prices commandedby agricultural products during harvest time,and the lack of storage, harvest and process-

ing facilities.The importation of cheap agricultural prod-

ucts from other countries has also had a hugeimpact. The resulting oversupply of vegetablesdepresses the prices of local products, eventu-ally killing the industry.

It cannot likewise be denied that landless-ness among the peasantry due to the inutilityof the agrarian reform program being imple-mented by the government remains the funda-mental problem of poor peasants in the coun-tryside.

In 2000, there were 585,000 hectaresplanted to vegetables nationwide. In the sameyear, up to 4.5 million tons of vegetables wereproduced, comprising 30% of total agricultur-al production and 9-10% of the total sales of agricultural products throughout the country.

Vegetables are mainly produced inprovinces with cool climates such as Benguet,Mountain Province, Northern Mindanao andthe upland areas of Cebu. Vegetable produc-tion is also widespread in lowland areas likethe Ilocos provinces, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pan-gasinan, Laguna and Quezon. ~

“ILPS...,” continued at page 14

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14 ANG BAYAN J l 21 2011

m e m b e r -organizations.

One of the first campaignslaunched by the League's mem-ber-organizations was the strug-gle against the policy of neolib-eral globalization and the US“war against terror.” In February2003, they joined millions of people to condemn the war of aggression against Iraq andsupport the Iraqi people's strug-gle.

They joined protest actionsagainst imperialist plunder dur-ing summits of the imperialistleaders and during meetings of such imperialist-controlled in-stitutions as the IMF, WB, WTOand the World Economic Forum.They initiated campaigns in Asiaand Africa against the Millenni-um Development Goals as a formof shedding crocodile tears andglossing over the problem of im-perialist plunder. They launchedcampaigns to demand the re-

lease of political prison-ers, such as ILPS vicechairperson Memik Horuz

and the ILPS AuditorIrene Fernandez.

When the

I L P SG e n e r a l Consultant

Jose MariaSison was

branded aterrorist bythe US andDutch govern-ments and theE u r o p e a n

Union, theLeague set up DEFEND Commit-

tees to uphold his rights.The ILPS organized the Mum-

bai Resistance 2004 to opposethe reformist line of the MumbaiWorld Social Forum that sameyear. In 2005, it joined actionsand conferences opposing theUS war of aggression and calledfor the immediate release of po-litical detainees. The ILPS ac-tively defended officers andmembers who were being perse-cuted by reactionary govern-

ments.Along with other interna-

tional campaigns, ILPS member-organizations are also active inprotests in their own countriesand spheres. Among the issuesaddressed were human rights vi-olations in the Philippines,Turkey, India and Brazil. Mem-ber-organizations were also ac-tive in local issues in Nepal,Palestine and Turkey, amongothers. In 2008, the Leagueheld the First International Con-

Excerpted from Jose Maria Sison’s message and report entitled “Celebrate the Achievements of the League, Resolveto Further Advance the Struggle.” Comrade Sison chairs the ILPS International Coordinating Committee. TheLeague has just concluded its Fourth International Conference held in San Mateo, Rizal on July 7-9. The confer-ence was attended by more than 500 delegates from 350 mass organizations from more than 40 countries.

ference on Migrant Workers andRefugees.

That same year, the ILPS re-activated RESIST as an interna-tional campaign against neolib-eral globalization and war. It or-ganized a conference attended

by prominent economic expertsfrom The Natherlands, Indone-sia, the US, South Africa and thePhilippines. It advocated andput forward anti-imperialist andpropeople analyses in variousinternational conferences.

In the current year, theLeague also called for, joined orsupported campaigns againstthe US and NATO military at-tacks on Libya, for the freedomof Julian Assange and the de-fense of other victims of politi-cal persecution. It actively ad-vances the commemoration of International Women's Day, thebuilding of peasant solidarity inAsia and the solidarity of peo-ples victimized by calamitiesand disasters wrought by impe-

rialist plunder.These are but a few of thecampaigns, protest actions andinternational conferences joinedor initiated by the ILPS and itsmember-organizations in thepast decade.

The League stands today asthe global formation of demo-cratic and anti-imperialist massorganizations. Its mass strength

is in the millions and its mem-ber-organizations are able tocarry out campaigns in theirown spheres while actively par-ticipating in international cam-paigns organized by its center.Through the united front policyand by directly organizing themasses, the League has beenable to augment and amplify itsown organized mass strengthand take advantage of contra-dictions among the imperialists.and reactionaries. ~

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