1November - December 2007

LIBERALIBERALIBERALIBERALIBERATIONTIONTIONTIONTIONINTERNATIONAL

Publication of the International Information Office of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines

November - December 2007

The Central Committee of theCommunist Party of the Philippines(CPP-CC) called on the entire

membership and all revolutionary forces to"prepare the celebration of the 40thanniversary of the Party in the coming yearby accelerating advances in an all-roundway."

In a statement marking the 39th anniversaryof the CPP on December 26, the CentralCommittee directed all cadres and members“to do our best to carry out the fightingtasks of our beloved Party and makesignificant all-round advances in thePhilippine revolution in the coming year.”

“The Arroyo regime, especially the fakepresident and her top military henchmen,keep on bragging that they can destroy orcause the strategic defeat of the CPP, theNew People’s Army and all otherrevolutionary forces before 2010,” said theCPP-CC. “Instead, they are growing instrength and advancing because of theever worsening crisis of the world capitalistsystem and the domestic ruling system, theArroyo regime’s detested policies ofnational betrayal, class exploitation,corruption and state terrorism and theceaseless ideological, political andorganizational work of the Party.”

The CPP-CC directed the New People’sArmy (NPA) to “accelerate tacticaloffensives against the enemy in order toseize more weapons for building more unitsof the people’s army and for strengtheningthe various levels of command from theguerrilla front to the provincial and regionalcommands and, further on, to the nationaloperational command. We must be able toannihilate more units of the enemy forcesin order to gain strength and experience for

CPP gears up for 40th

Founding AnniversaryCPP Information Bureau destroying even more of these until we can

seize nationwide political power.”

It anticipates the armed revolutionarymovement to grow in strength and “be in aposition to deliver more deadly blows tothe lameduck regime amidst the farworsened crisis of the ruling system.”

The CPP leadership foresees the furtherworsening of the political crisis rocking theArroyo regime. “The socioeconomic crisisunder the Arroyo regime is worseningrapidly and generating social unrest. Thebroad masses are reeling from thepressures of the crisis and the rising ratesof exploitation.”

“The Filipino people have all the reason tocarry out the new-democratic revolutionthrough protracted people’s war... they canavail themselves of the crisis conditions ofthe ruling system for building theirrevolutionary strength and advancing fromone stage of the revolutionary struggle toanother,” the CPP-CC explained.

It predicted the further disintegration of theArroyo regime as “a conflict of businessand political interests is growing betweenthe closest relatives and cronies of the fakepresident, on the one hand, and some ofher allies within the ruling coalition ofKAMPI, Lakas-NUCD and NationalistPeople’s Coalition, on the other hand.”

photo from: www.casareal.esand amadeo.blog.com

UNICEF exposesArroyo’s “dirty war”

page 3

German police attackTurkish migrant workers

page 7

By Ed Ladera

Exhibiting a shocking ignorance of thewidely condemned human rightsrecord of the Arroyo government,

Spanish King Juan Carlos I grievouslyoffended countless human rights victimsand their families by heaping praise andhonors on Mrs. Gloria Arroyo during hervisit to Spain in early December 2007.

The Spanish King ignored or wasapparently ignorant of the report of UNSpecial Rapporteur on ExtrajudicialKillings, Prof. Philip Alston, which wasalready widely circulated and commentedon long before the Arroyo visit to Spain.The Alston report declared that the Arroyoregime’s counter-insurgency program wasthe major reason for the sharp rise in casesof extrajudicial killings, enforceddisappearances and other gross humanrights violations in the Philippines.

After his visit to the Philippines in February2007, Prof. Alston already issued a pressstatement, declaring that the military and

Rewarding a fascist vassal:Spain’s Juan Carlos I praises Gloria

Arroyo human rights record

CPP 40th, page 2, col 2 ...

Spanish King, page 2, col 1 ...

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It also noted that the Armed Forces of thePhilippines is “more factionalized than everbefore. Majority of the officers and enlistedpersonnel are contemptuous of the Arroyoregime and the pro-Arroyo officers at thetop of the chain of command.”

The CPP-CC cited the Trillanes takeover ofthe Manila Peninsula Hotel last November29 as “praiseworthy for denouncing thecrimes of the Arroyo regime.” It, however,“did not take into account the people’sclamor for change under the principle ofcivilian supremacy and the necessarysequence of mass mobilization and militarywithdrawal of support from the regime.”

... CPP 40th, from page 1, col 3

IN THIS ISSUE:LIBERALIBERALIBERALIBERALIBERATIONTIONTIONTIONTIONINTERNATIONAL

October - December 2007

CPP gears up for 40th Founding Anniversary . . . . . . . . . . . 1Rewarding a fascist vassal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1UNICEF report exposes Arroyo’s dirty counter-revolutionary war 3NPA score significant victories in 2007, more and biggervictories eyed in 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4NDFP Human Rights mission to UN takes up disappearances,peace talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5GREECE: Hundreds of thousands join nationwide strike . . . . 5INDIA: Anti-displacement movement gains strength as staterepression heigtens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Gerard Raemaekers: Internationalist friend of the Filipino people . 7German police attack Turkish migrant workers . . . . . . . . . . . . 7CPP tribute to Comrade Monico M. Atienza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The response of the Arroyo regime to theManila Peninsula standoff shows that it is“prepared to go into a bloodbath in orderto keep itself in power,” said the CPP-CC.“It is therefore necessary for the broadrange of opposition forces to engage inmass mobilizations that can discourage theuse of armed force by the regime, as in theoverthrow of Marcos and Estrada in 1986and 2001.”

The CPP-CC said that the Arroyo regimehas even made it easier for the NPA in ruralareas by deploying more troops in thenational capital region and other urbanareas. “The NPA will face less obstacles inlaunching tactical offensives in thecountryside.”

“The Arroyo regime is extremely isolated.It is ripe for ouster by the broad masses ofthe people and a broad united front of anti-Arroyo forces,” said the CPP-CC. It pointedout that the toiling masses and the middlesocial strata are the most determined inousting Arroyo as “a great deal ofvacillation is setting in among the anti-Arroyo reactionary parties, because someof their leaders have started to set theirsights on the 2010 elections.”

If the Arroyo regime can manage to stay inpower up to 2010, however, said the CPP-CC, it will only succeed in “pushing thepeople to rely increasingly on people’s warfor changing the entire ruling system.”

The National Democratic Frontof the Philippines (NDFP) is an

alliance of revolutionaryorganizations with roots in the

various sectors and regions of thePhilippines. Its goal is to build a

society that enjoys nationalsovereignty, genuine democracy,

social justice, progress and peace.It seeks to unite with all forceswilling to achieve these goals.

NDFP InternationalInformation Office

Postbus 19195 | 3501 DD UtrechtThe Netherlands

Email: ndf@casema.nlwww.ndfp.net

L IBERAL IBERAL IBERAL IBERAL IBERAT IONT IONT IONT IONT IONINTERNINTERNINTERNINTERNINTERNAAAAAT IONT IONT IONT IONT IONALALALALAL

BOARD OF EDITORSRoselle Valerio

Ed LaderaIsah Antonio

Jose Emilio Jacinto IIIN. Timmerman-Francisco

Bagani Dong-Ilay

Liberation Internationalis a publication of the NDFP

International Information Office

... Spanish King, page 1, col 2

police forces under Arroyo were “in a stateof almost complete denial” regardingextrajudicial killings and other human rightsviolations which are “convincinglyattributed to them”. In his final report, Prof.Alston declared that the Inter-AgencyLegal Action Group (IALAG) headed byNational Security Adviser NorbertoGonzales, and established by decree ofMrs. Arroyo, should be dissolved for itsnotorious role in perpetrating thenumerous extrajudicial killings.

Human rights watchdog Alliance for theAdvancement of People’s Rights(Karapatan) has documented almost 900such murders since the start of the Arroyoregime in 2001, mainly directed againstthose opposing her regime’s policies. Closeto 200 involuntary disappearances andhundreds more of frustrated extrajudicialkillings have been documented byKarapatan. The regime’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya Iand II, has caused the evacuation andeconomic displacement of more than amillion people in the rural and urban areasthroughout the country.

The Spanish King praised Mrs. Arroyo forbeing “at the forefront of liberties and thedefense of human rights with the abolitionof the death penalty, a gesture which gaveus satisfaction and was applauded by theinternational community”. He even addedthat the Philippines was “opening the wayto democracy in Asia”.

The Royal University of Alcala alsoawarded Mrs. Arroyo with the Medal ofGold.

The Spanish King has ignored not only theAlston Report, he disregarded as well thereports of Amnesty International andHuman Rights Watch in 2007, the verdictof the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal SecondSession on the Philippines of 25 March

2007, and the stinging condemnation byDr. Sam Kobia, the General Secretary of theWorld Council of Church, of the grosshuman rights violations perpetrated by theArroyo regime and its military, police andparamilitary forces against the Filipinopeople.

The praise and honor given to Mrs. Arroyoby the Spanish King also goes against theview of the Filipino people. According tothe latest surveys, Filipinos consider Mrs.Arroyo as the most corrupt president inPhilippine history, even worse than thedictator Ferdinand Marcos. Her pro-imperialist and ultra-reactionary policies,subserviently following US PresidentGeorge W. Bush’s “war on terror” havecaused intolerable misery and suffering onthe Filipino people.

Asked for comment, Luis G. Jalandoni, chiefpeace negotiator of the NationalDemocratic Front of the Philippines,expressed confidence that “the Spanishpeople and progressive Spanishorganizations — especially human rightsadvocates — do not share the shockinglymisplaced praise and honor given by theSpanish King to Mrs. Arroyo.”

3November - December 2007

HOMEFRONT

By Jose Emilio Jacinto III

A United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) report released on 27November 2007 has exposed the

situation of Filipino children victimized bythe dirty “counterinsurgency” war of theArroyo regime and its Armed Forces of thePhilippines’ (AFP). The UNICEF report,entitled Uncounted Lives: Children,Women and Conflict in the Philippinespresents documentation on the plight ofabout 200,000 Filipino children affected bythe AFP’s dirty war against the Philippinerevolutionary movement led by theCommunist Party of the Philippines.

The UNICEF report cites the findings of theChildren’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) andthink-tank Ibon Foundation, which hasdocumented 800 incidents of human rightsviolations involving 215,233 victimizedchildren from 2001 to July 2006. The reportcited the cases of 58 children killed byelements of the AFP and another 58 whosurvived attempts on their lives. Some 40children were maimed and 17 children weresubjected to different forms of torture andhumiliation, it noted. It stated that 215,060children were forced to evacuate as a resultof military operations conducted by thesecurity forces of the Arroyo regime.

It was also reported that 10 children havebecome victims of enforced disappearanceor have become “desaparecidos”. Fivechildren were victims of sexual harassmentand three were victims of rape by themilitary, 51 were victims of illegal searchand seizure, 63 were victims of coercion,69 were victims of illegal arrest anddetention, 40 were victims of physicalassault and injury and 196 were victims ofthreats and intimidation. The CRC also saidthat there were 106 orphaned children whowitnessed the killing of their parents orrelatives.

The CRC is a non-government institutionserving children and families who arevictims of state violence in the Philippines.

Dr. Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF countryrepresentative to the Philippines, has calledon the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to protect children from the effectsof armed conflict and violence.

Reacting to the UNICEF report, CPPspokesperson Gregorio Rosal welcomedthe report and said in a statement: “In theAFP’s vicious and heartless war against

the people especially inpeasant communities, there ishardly any discriminationbetween armed guerrillas andunarmed civilians. Worse, inits desperation to suppresswhole communities engagedin agrarian struggles andsuspected of supporting thearmed revolution, the fascistarmed forces do not hesitateto direct their armed might andterror against children, womenand the elderly.”

The CPP spokesperson alsocategorically dismissed AFPclaims about the existence of“child warriors” in the NewPeople’s Army (NPA). Hestressed that applicants andrecruits have to be at least 18years old: “a ruling strictlyfollowed among the ranks inall units of the NPA”. Hecondemned the AFP forrecently parading before themass media two twelve year-old children from CentralLuzon as alleged “NPA child warriors” anddemanded that the AFP immediately releasethe two victimized children to their families.He also urged independent human rightsand children’s welfare organizations to aidthe two children in their ordeal.

Similarly, Fidel V. Agcaoili, Chairperson ofthe National Democratic Front of thePhilippines (NDFP) Monitoring Committee,urged the Office of the SpecialRepresentative of the UN Secretary Generalon Children Affected by Armed Conflict(SRSG-CAAC) in New York to investigatecases of abduction and illegal arrests ofchildren and minors perpetrated by theArroyo regime.

In a letter addressed to the UN office,Agcaoili on 29 November cited the specificcases of Edfu de la Cruz (12 years old atthe time of arrest) and Levi Mabanan (9years old at the time of arrest), who wereboth arrested by the military in 2000 anddetained at the Department of SocialWelfare and Development (DSWD); threeunnamed children (for security reasons)aged 4, 8 and 10 who were arrested in 2004in the province of Kalinga; Lynlyn Labitag(12 years old) who was illegally arrested in

UNICEF report exposes Arroyo’sdirty counter-revolutionary war

2006; and “Nena” (8 years old) who wasillegally arrested in October 2007.

In the case of “Nena”, the military evenforced her guardians to give up hercustody as an alleged “abandoned” childand turned her over to military agent MyrnaRomero for “safekeeping”. Lynlyn Labitagwas illegally arrested by the military anddetained at the DSWD to force her father,a suspected NPA member, to surrender.

Agcaoili urged the UN mission toinvestigate these incidents “as anothercategory in the violations of children’srights by the government of the Republicof the Philippines (GRP) in the armedconflict situation in the Philippines”.

Parents of the 9-year old girl GrecilBuya Galacio in a press conference

April 2007. Grecil was shot at the backof her head by elements of the AFP on

31 March 2007 who then accused her &her family of being guerrilla fighters of

the NPA.To date, the Arroyogovernment refuses to identify the

perpetrators and has instead steppedup military attacks against rural villages

around the country. photo fromArkibong Bayan

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HOMEFRONT

CPP Information Bureau

On the ocassion of the 39thanniversary of its re-establishment,the Communist Party of the

Philippines (CPP) said the New People’sArmy (NPA) “achieved significant militaryvictories the past year, portending moreand bigger successes in response to theParty’s anniversary call to accelerateadvances in 2008".

“Based on our summary of still very partialreports received from the field, clearly therevolutionary forces have gainedsignificant victories in waging guerrillawarfare. Foremost is the defeat of themilitary campaigns launched by the ArmedForces of the Philippines (AFP) this yearto date,” said CPP spokesperson Gregorio“Ka Roger” Rosal.

Citing reports published in Ang Bayan, theCPP’s news organ, Rosal said the NPA wasable to launch at least 95 “big and small”tactical offensives nationwide this year.There are at least 200 more unreportedtactical offensives launched by the NPAespecially in Mindanao. In these militaryinitiatives, the NPA was able to seize atleast 327 weapons consisting mostly high-powered rifles, tens of thousands ofrounds of ammunition, and various militaryand communication equipment. “Theseweapons are enough to arm at least threenew companies of Red fighters.”

Rosal said, “We still have to account formore victories in the tactical offensives ofthe NPA in many guerilla fronts, especiallyin Mindanao, where there have beenhundreds of successful NPA tacticaloffensives the last three years, 400 of whichwere launched in 2006 wherebygovernment armed forces suffered 330casualties and lost 300 weapons to theNPA.”

Among the significant NPA victories thisyear, Rosal particularly cited the raid at theDavao Penal Colony on April 7 that yielded108 assorted firearms “without the NPAfiring a single shot.” He also cited thedowning of a Philippine Air Force HueyHelicopter last December 14 by the NPA inTanay, Rizal which killed four soldiers andwounded nine others.

“At least 204 government military, policeand paramilitary forces were killed and morethan 149 other enemy forces were woundedin these armed encounters. Ninegovernment soldiers and CAFGU elementswere also captured in the field, held as

prisoners-of-warand subsequentlyreleased onh u m a n i t a r i a ngrounds,” addedRosal.

“Revolu t ionarypunishment wasalso meted outagainst certainelements of AFP-directed deathsquads that arebehind the extra-judicial killingsmasterminded byArroyo’s nationalsecurity officials,” said Rosal. “Thesemeasures were carried out by the NPA afterpainstaking investigations and judiciousobservance of due process,” said Rosal.

“Most significant, the NPA was able todefeat division-level, brigade-size militarycampaigns of suppression launched inseveral guerrilla fronts since January. In theIlocos-Cordillera Region, the attacking AFPtroops were the ones who sufferedcasualties, numbering at least 33 fromJanuary to April. In the NortheastMindanao Region, the 58th IB lost theequivalent of a company due to casualtiesand also due to demoralized troops thatwent on AWOL,” revealed Rosal.

“Morale has been noticeably very lowamong junior officers and rank and filesoldiers of the AFP, principally becausethey could not defeat an NPA thatundeniably enjoys deep and widespreadsupport among the peasant masses andother advantages such as the element ofsurprise, mastery of terrain and others,”Rosal pointed out. “Moreover, the AFP isbadly demoralized because of thecorruption, fascism and terrorism of theArroyo regime and its top military andsecurity officials.”

Rosal laughed off claims made recently byPhilippine Army chief Lt. Gen. AlexanderYano that the AFP can put an end to therevolutionary movement in “39 weeks”,alluding to the 39th anniversary of the CPPcelebrated on 26 December.

Rosal challenged General Yano to surrenderall his medals and accept dishonarabledischarge by October 2008 as he willcertainly be proven wrong when his “39-week timetable” expires.

“How can the deeply factionalized,demoralized and inutile government armedforces expect to defeat a solid, highlyspirited and battle-capable adversary in theNPA,” asked Rosal. “How can the fascistreactionaries expect to defeat the NPAwhen they are waging a brutal and barbaricwar that only incites more and more peopleto hate the AFP and the regime that itserves. With the worsening poverty,oppression and sufferings the masses ofthe people have been going through underthe rotten, puppet regime, more and moreof them are taking up arms and joining theNPA.”

“The AFP could not even concentrate thebulk of its fighting force on more than 10%of all NPA guerrilla fronts. They aredesperately stepping up the recruitment ofparamilitary forces, but with decreasingsuccesses and increasing misgivings,especially as many CAFGU members arereportedly being suspected of supportingthe NPA,” said Rosal. He cited the incidentwhere five CAFGU elements weremassacred on June 28 by elements of the29th IB in Las Nieves, Agusan del Sur, afterthey were accused of assisting the NPA inthe raid of the 23rd IB detachment the daybefore.

“The New People’s Army aims to achievebigger victories in the coming year in linewith the CPP leadership’s call to accelerateadvances,” said Rosal. “We anticipate thatthe NPA will be able to launch bigger andmore frequent tactical offensives startingthe first quarter of 2008.”

“All units of the NPA are challenged tosurpass all victories of the past years,” saidRosal. [Ang Bayan]

NPA score significant victories in 2007,more and bigger victories eyed in 2008

5November - December 2007

By Ed Ladera

An official mission from the NationalDemocratic Front of the Philippines(NDFP) Human Rights Committee

(HRC) recently met with various officialsof the United Nations in Geneva,Switzerland, concerning the enforceddisappearances of peace advocates andpolitical activists in the Philippines and thestatus of the peace negotiations betweenthe Manila government and the NDFP.

Danilo Borjal, member of the NDFP-HRC,headed the official mission to the UnitedNations. The NDFP-HRC mission heldsubstantial discussions with the UNWorking Group on Enforced or InvoluntaryDisappearances (WGEID) and with variousofficers of the UN Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights about theenforced disappearance of NDFPconsultants, staff and their companions,the deteriorating human rights situation inthe Philippines and the peace negotiationsbetween the NDFP and the Government ofthe Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

While in Geneva, the mission also hadfruitful discussions with Dr. SyméonAntoulas, Diplomatic Adviser of theInternational Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) and Edith Baeriswyl, ICRC head ofoperations for East Asia, Southeast Asiaand the Pacific.

They had a meeting on 21 November withUN WGEID Chairperson Santiago Corcueraof Mexico, and members Joel AdebayoAdekanye of Nigeria, Saied RajaieKhorasani of the Islamic Republic of Iranand Darko Göttlicher of Croatia, to followup on the numerous cases of involuntarydisappearances of NDFP personnel andtheir companions. Taken up during thediscussions were the cases of NDFPConsultants Leo Velasco, Cesar Batralo,Rogelio Calubad and Prudencio Calubid,NDFP staff members Federico Intise,Leopoldo Ancheta, Celina Palma and PhilipLimjoco, and their companions who werealso abducted and have since beendisappeared, Gabriel Calubad, Nelly Intise,Gloria Soco and Ariel Beloy.

Citing Mr. Corcuera, Borjal said that thecases would be taken up during the 83rdsession of the UN WGEID. Any responsemade by the GRP about these cases,according to Mr. Corcuera, would beincluded in that session’s report. Borjalsaid that the NDFP shall receive a copy ofthe UN WGEID’s 83rd session report.

The NDFP-HRC mission also brought theUN officials up-to-date on the ongoingpeace negotiations between the NDFP andthe GRP and the people’s movement in thePhilippines for national and socialliberation. Borjal said they turned overdocuments to Mr. Corcuera, including theNDFP’s Declaration of Undertaking toApply the Geneva Conventions of 1949and Protocol I, which has been depositedwith the Swiss Federal Council in July 1996.

“Our mission to Geneva was veryproductive,” Borjal said. “The various UNofficials we met were sympathetic to theissues we raised.” They also met with Mr.Safir Syed of the Office of the SpecialRapporteur on Torture Dr. Manfred Nowak,

and brought up the torture and continueddetention for almost three years of 63-year-old NDFP Consultant Ms. Angelina Ipong.Mr. Syed said they are aware of her caseand are following it up. They also met withan assistant of Martin Scheinin, the SpecialRapporteur on the Promotion andProtection of Human Rights whileCountering Terrorism, who has sharplycriticized the Arroyo regime’s Anti-Terrorism Act for gross violations ofinternational human rights standards.

Borjal said they also followed-up onrequests for the Special Rapporteurs toinvestigate human rights violations in the

NDFP Human Rights mission to UNtakes up disappearances, peace talks

INTERNATIONAL FRONT

In an unprecedented participation of thepeople for decades, hundreds ofthousands of workers in Greece

launched a nationwide general strike on 12December against the anti-worker policy ofthe Greek government and the capitalists.The workers demonstrated massively andmilitantly across the country to oppose thepolicies of the government to diminish thebasic rights and benefits gained by theworkers through hard struggle, especiallythe right to job security.

The pro-capitalist and reformist tradeunions tried to use every trick in the bookto undermine the struggle of the workersand compromise with the capitalists. Butthey failed. Even attacks on the militantlabor unions did not deter the workers andtheir supporters from launching the generalstrike.

GREECE: Hundreds of thousandsjoin nationwide strike

Almost every factory, shop and otherplaces of business were closed. Men,women, youth — the entire working people— flooded the streets and avenues indozens of cities nationwide. The turnoutof people in the demonstrations in Athensand Thessaloniki, the two major cities inGreece, was huge.

The people know that as the crisis ofcapitalism intensifies, their exploitation andoppression by capitalism will also intensifywith the anti-worker and anti-people forcestrying to reverse the benefits and rightswon by the people. The united actions ofthe workers, the left forces and theirsupporters showed that the workingpeople would fight and fight militantly toprotect their rights, improve their situationand defeat their class enemies.

By Isah Antonio

NDFP mission, page 6, col 1 ...

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INTERNATIONAL FRONTINDIA: Anti-displacement movement strengthens

as state repression heightensBy Roselle Valerio

The second anniversary of the policeshooting which killed 14 people inKalinga Nagar in Orissa state, turned

into a show of strength for the people’smovement against displacement andforcible acquisition of agricultural andforest lands in India. Numerousorganizations from different parts of Orissaas well as in West Bengal, Jharkand,Chhatisgarh, Bihar and elsewhere came outin protest and vowed to continue the battleagainst landgrabbing by multinational

corporations and their local compradorcohorts.

Thousands of tribal people from KalingaNagar were joined by thousands othersopposing mining projects and so-calledSpecial Economic Zones in Orissa whichhave caused the physical and economicdisplacement of hundreds of thousands oftribals and peasants in the area. Theydemanded the scrapping of the SEZ Actand the shut-down of the Posco steel plant,the Vedanta refinery project, Mittal steelproject and mining projects in theKhandadhar region, among others.

On 02 January 2006, 14 tribal people werekilled and numerous others were injuredwhen police fired at those opposing theTata steel project in Kalinga Nagar.

At the All-India “grand rally” marking theanniversary, the rallyists pledged theirsupport and solidarity to all massmovements across India which opposesdisplacement, SEZs, anti-peopleindustrialization and pro-imperialistpolicies. They pointed out that so-calledindustrial projects in the last 40 years in

India have caused the displacement andloss of livelihood of hundreds ofthousands, and the ecological destructionof large swaths of agricultural and forestlands. Tens of thousands of people inOrissa who were displaced by mining andother industrial projects over the years arenow in abject poverty and are forced towork as cheap and casual labor.

The grand rally also warned against manynon-government organizations andforeign-funded organizations which seemto mobilize the people, for instance inmicro-credit operations, but in fact intendto divert them from the militant massmovement. The rallyists stressed that theseNGOs are forces of compromise and agentsof imperialism which need to becontinuously exposed and isolated.

Meanwhile, state repression against theanti-displacement movement isheightening. According to a declarationissued by the Revolutionary DemocraticFront, “paramilitary and police armed to theteeth hound villagers and tribals who arefighting for their very survival; when theyrefuse to let their land and livelihood beingsold to the foreign capital and the local bigcapital for a pittance. And there isdeafening silence against these unlawful,criminal acts of the state, on the part of thejudiciary not to say the civil society.”

In early November 2007, West Bengal statepolice and armed goons unleashed a reignof terror against the peasantry inNandigram who were protesting againstthe landgrabbing operations of theIndonesian Salem Group. The armedfascists marched into the area killing thosewho resisted, looted and destroyed thehomes of activists and raped severalpeasant women. A similar fascist attackagainst peasants and tribals in Orissa stateoccurred in late November.

On December 19, 2007, the editor ofPeople’s March Govindan Kutty wasarrested and put in jail by the Kerala police.He was subjected to long and harshinterrogation for a whole day. The policelater filed false charges against him and inprotest against this, the 65-year old Kuttyhas gone on a hunger strike.

People’s March is an independentpublication which supports progressivemovements in India, Nepal and othercountries, and upholds the cause ofnational liberation, democracy, socialjustice and development againstimperialism and all reaction. It has been inexistence for seven years and dulyregistered with the appropriate agencies ofthe Indian government.

Philippines. Citing a UN human rightsofficer, he said that “the GRP has not giventhe approval for the UN SpecialRapporteur’s visit. The Arroyo governmenthas been trying to give some pretext topostpone the visit”.

Less than a week after the NDFP-HRC visitto the UN in Geneva, NDFP ConsultantElizabeth Principe, wife of NDFPConsultant Leo Velasco, was abducted andtortured by military and police agents on28 November 2007 in Manila. It was onlyon 1 December 2007, after the NDFP haddenounced Principe’s abduction, that shewas surfaced. She had been blindfolded,handcuffed and for 72 hours her ears wereinundated with sounds. She was heldincommunicado and denied visits by familyand counsel.

Also on 28 November, NDFP ConsultantEmeterio Antalan and his staff. EdgardoV.Friginal were arrested by military and policeagents in Talavera town, province of NuevaEcija. They were tortured and are until nowdetained.

The NDFP has denounced the arrest,torture and continued detention ofElizabeth Principe, Emeterio Antalan andEdgardo Friginal as gross violations of theJoint Agreement on Safety and ImmunityGuarantees (JASIG) signed and approvedby the Government of the Republic of thePhilippines (GRP) and the NDFP in 1995and has demanded their immediate andunconditional release.

last 22 December, many friends andsupporters were present to show theirsolidarity. ATIF spokespersons and theirlegal counsel said that the attacks were notthe first time that German authorities triedto stop the operations of ATIF anddemonize it. They also said that whathappened was not an isolated case as theyreferred to the 28 August unjust arrest anddetention of NDFP Chief PoliticalConsultant Professor Jose Ma. Sison, andthe raids on the homes of several Filipinopolitical refugees in the Netherlands. Theyalso cited several police actions intendedto demonize progressive organizations,anti-globalization formations and leftgroups not only inside Germany but alsoin several other countries in Europe.

With the banner call, “Stop the repression,solidarity with ATIF”, and “Long liveinternational solidarity”, the all-roundedcampaign to resist the attacks onprogressive Turkish migrant workers isbeing launched in several cities in Germany.Supporters from outside Germany are alsoplanning solidarity actions.

In a statement, the International League ofPeoples’ Struggle (ILPS), a global anti-imperialist movement, called upon theprogressive and democratic public “to takea stand against this unjust and illegitimatemeasure of the German state against thedemocratic and progressive movement.”

... NDFP mission, page 5, col 3

... German police, page 7, col 2

7November - December 2007

INTERNATIONAL FRONT

By Ed Ladera

On Christmas Day 2007, GerardRaemaekers, friend and supporterof the Filipino people, died

suddenly at his home in Utrecht, TheNetherlands.

Gerard came to the Philippines as a youngDutch volunteer in December 1970. He hadrefused to join the Netherlands army andopted to serve instead in developmentprograms in the Third World.

He chose the depressed region of Antiquein central Philippines. He studied andlearned the local Kiniray-a dialect. He livedin a simple hut with poor students whosestudies he generously supported. Heworked among the poor peasants, helpingto build their cooperatives.

For about a year and a half he worked withgreat enthusiasm. Then a tragic eventhappened in 1972. He got ill withmeningitis, fell into a coma for six weeks,and had to be transported back to TheNetherlands. As his friends stood aroundhim, wondering if his illness had affectedhis mind, he spoke out, “Guys, I amperfectly all right!” Then they knew his

mind was okay. But a majorpart of his lower body wasparalyzed and he had to dohis traveling by wheelchair.

The National DemocraticFront of the Philippines(NDFP) conveyed its deepestheartfelt condolences to hislife partner and soul-mate ofalmost 32 years, Ms.AnneMieke Bökkerink. TheNDFP stated, in a letterpersonally delivered to Ms.Bökkerink by NDFPrepresentatives, LuisJalandoni and Coni Ledesma,that his sudden death came as a shock.They said that the Filipino people have losta great dear friend and a firm and consistentsupporter of their struggle againstexploitation and oppression, and fornational and social liberation.

After his tragic illness and his greatrecovery, Gerard continued to support theFilipino people’s cause. He was a familiarface at forums, demonstrations, and otheractivities for the Filipino people inAmsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and other

GERARD RAEMAEKERS: Internationalistfriend of the Filipino people(14 January 1947 – 25 December 2007)

Dutch cities. He did not hesitate to travelon his wheelchair to the train station, takethe train and go to the venue of the massaction.

He was one of the founders of a Philippinesolidarity organization in the Dutch city ofTilburg and remained an active member formany years. For years he transmitted amonthly contribution to the Filipinopeople’s cause through the revolutionarymovement. He continued to send financialhelp to development projects in Antique.

He had an indomitable spirit and a positiveoutlook on life, despite his physicallimitations. He said, “I don’t think of thethings that I cannot do. I think of the thingsI can do!”

Gerard was imbued with an internationalistspirit. He loved and supported the Filipinopeople, but he also supported the justcause of other oppressed peoples, such asthe Palestinian people. Every Saturday hewent to the Utrecht market to participatein demonstrations for Palestine. He wasalso active in the struggle against thedestruction of the environment.

Gerard’s fighting spirit and dedication tothe cause of the Filipino people and otherstruggling peoples will be a source ofinspiration to those who struggle for socialjustice, development and progress.

Mabuhay ang diwa ng paglilingkod sasambayanang Pilipino ng mahal nakaibigang Gerard Raemaekers! Long livethe spirit of service to the Filipino peopleof our dear friend Gerard Raemaekers!

Mabuhay ang diwa ni Gerard Raemaekersna matatag na lumaban para sakatarungan sa mundo! Long live the spiritof Gerard Raemaekers who militantlyfought for justice in the world!

German police attackTurkish migrant workers

By Jose Emilio Jacinto III

Progressive organizations of Turkishmigrant workers in Germany arelaunching an international campaign

to protest the Gestapo-like raids on 5December 2007 carried out by the Germanpolice against several community centersof ATIF and houses of its members in eightdifferent cities. ATIF is a federation ofTurkish workers unions in Germany.

During the simultaneous raids, Germanpolice arrested members of ATIF anddetained them for several hours at thepolice station. Personal files, documentsand computers were also seized from theTurkish migrant workers.

The arrests and raids were directed by theFederal Attorney General of Karlsruhe whohave accused those arrested of beingmembers of the Communist Party ofTurkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML), aclandestine revolutionary organization

fighting for the social liberation of Turkey.Despite being banned in Turkey, TKP/MLis not banned in Germany. Nothing amongthe files and documents seized linked thosearrested to the TKP/ML.

ATIF and its mother federation ATIK(Confederation of Turkish Workers inEurope), and many other progressiveorganizations and individuals in Germanyand Europe have condemned the arrestsand attacks on the migrant workers. Inseveral public statements, theorganizations explained that the arrests andraids have nothing to do with anti-terrorismas the Federal Attorney General claims, butare meant to harass, intimidate andpersecute militant migrant workersorganizations fighting for their economic,democratic and political rights.

During the launching of the campaign toresist the attacks against ATIF held in Köln

German police, page 6, col 2 ...

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The Communist Party of thePhilippines and the wholerevolutionary movement bestow the

highest tribute upon Comrade Monico “KaTogs” Atienza, who passed away lastDecember 5, 2007 at the age of 60 afteralmost a year of struggling against a graveailment. He served the revolutionarymovement as a true, courageous,enthusiastic and efficient revolutionarycommunist and contributed greatly to theadvancement of the Philippine proletarianrevolution.

Ka Togs participated in the reestablishmentof the Communist Party of the Philippineson December 26, 1968 under the guidanceof Marxism-Leninism-Mao ZedongThought. He was elected member of thefirst Central Committee of the Party. Beforethis, Ka Togs was among those who ledand thoroughly promoted the FirstRectification Movement inside and outsidethe Party since 1967. He also rigorouslysupported the Second RectificationMovement launched by the Party in 1992.

He was only a high school student at theFar Eastern University (FEU) when KaTogs became aware of the deep socialproblems and the need for a proletarianrevolution to attain fundamental change inthe social system of the Philippines. Hejoined the Kabataang Makabayan (PatrioticYouth-KM) in FEU and headed its studentgovernment. Ka Togs was a member of thedelegation of students who visited thePeople’s Republic of China to observe andstudy the experiences and developmentgained from China’s national democraticand socialist revolution.

Ka Togs then went to the University of thePhilippines in 1965 and became a memberof the Student Cultural Association of UP(SCAUP), an organization that undertookserious study of the conditions of thecountry and Marxism-Leninism, andaroused, organized and mobilized thestudents. Ka Togs later became a leader ofSCAUP.

Ka Togs was diligent in reading andstudying history, writings on Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought andrevolutionary writings on the Philippines,China, Vietnam and other countries andworld proletarian and people’s movements.

Ka Togs was a member of the first Partygroup of the KM and served as its generalsecretary from 1968-1970. He led the rapidexpansion of the branches in differentschools and communities in Metro Manilaand in the whole country. Theperseverance of Ka Togs and thousands

of activists of KM, and the formation ofnumerous national-democratic massorganizations inside and outside ofcolleges and universities, prepared for thesurge of the First Quarter Storm (FQS) in1970 and the expansion of the revolutio-nary movement nationwide.

He headed the National Department forOrganization of the CPP when it wasfounded in 1968 until his arrest in 1974. Hewas in charge of the strengthening of theorganization and the cadre force of theParty. He led the establishment andpropagation of the schools for nationaldemocracy which garnered severalthousands of activists who were productsof the FQS. The courses and exercises fromthese schools consolidated the activists,raised their revolutionary consciousnessand served as a wellspring of cadres for thelegal democratic movement and the armedstruggle.

Ka Togs, together with his wife, their sonand other comrades, was arrested by theenemy in 1974. Ka Togs suffered severeand brutal torture at the hands of theexecutioners of the Marcos dictatorship.They electrocuted the different parts of hisbody and burned his private parts. He wasinjected with “truth serum” in a desperateattempt to extract information. He wasdeprived of sleep while they played a tapesupposedly of his wife and son crying fromtorture. Despite all the brutality of theenemy, it failed to crush Ka Tog’sdetermination and spirit.

Even in detention, Ka Togs maintained hismilitant and fighting spirit. He wasunceasing in encouraging other politicaldetainees to stand up and fight. He wasamong the very first political detainees tostage a hunger strike at the enemy campBagong Diwa in Bicutan in 1976. Thusfurther earning the ire of the enemy. Hesuffered more torture and was held in anisolation cell. The brutal torture of themilitary left a deep and severe damage inthe body and mind of Ka Togs.

After a decade of detention, Ka Togs’revolutionary determination remainedsteadfast. He was released from detentionin 1980. He went back to the universitywhile recuperating from the physical andmental torture he experienced at the handsof the enemy. He got his masteral courseand doctorate on Philippine Studies andlater became professor of the Departmentof Filipino and Philippine Literature of theUniversity of the Philippines.

Through his research Ka Togs contributedvastly to the history of the Philippine

revolution and development of the nationallanguage. His masteral thesis “NationalDemocratic Movement: The Measures andActivities of the National Language” is animportant contribution and influence of therevolutionary movement in thedevelopment of the national language. KaTogs also wrote and translated into Pilipinoseveral articles, dissertations, prose andpoetry on revolution, history, science andtechnology, languages and grammar.

In recognition of his expertise on thenational language, Ka Togs was awardedthe Santiago Fonacier Professorial Chair onLanguage and the National Book Award inLinguistics. He was often consulted on theuse of Pilipino as a language.

He effectively used the classroom andstudents to propagate patriotic,democratic, progressive and revolutionaryideas. He served as adviser to countlessyouth activists organizing and mobilizingthe youth and students. His small officewas always open for “consultations” withthe activists. He unselfishly shared hismeagre salary as a professor with activistsin need.

Ka Togs helped in the establishment andadministration of Partido ng Bayan(People’s Party or PnB) and became itsDeputy Secretary for Organization. In 1987,PnB leaders and members became targetsof killings by the military. Ka Togs andother members of PnB were ambushed andhe was seriously wounded while two of hiscompanions died. Ka Togs survived theassassination attempt but more damagewas done to his body.

In December 2006, Ka Togs suffered a heartattack and went into a coma. Comrades,activists, friends and many others whoadmired and loved him visited and tookturns caring for him in his almost one yearof being in a coma.

In his passing, the Communist Party of thePhilippines and the revolutionarymovement wholeheartedly value the manygreat contributions of Comrade Monico M.Atienza in establishing and strengtheningthe Party and the revolutionary movementand in advancing the revolutionarystruggle of the Filipino people.

These contributions are deeply engravedin the history of the Party and Philippinerevolution. These contributions havebrought forth and will continue to bringmany advances and victories.

Tribute to ComradeMonico M. Atienza

By the Communist Party of the Philippines

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