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The Duterte tyrannical regime stole the recent midterm elections.Duterte employed strongman tactics and vast state powers and re-sources to ensure that the outcome of the elections will favor his am-

bition to control the congress and the entire government..

The midterm elections are beingfalsely touted as a show of over-whelming support for Duterte. Butit was far from being free or fair,especially as these were conductedunder conditions of martial law inMindanao, all-out war nationwideand the fake drug war. The resultsmerely reflected the extent towhich Duterte has succeeded to putthe entire ruling political systemunder his tyrannical sway.

He used the military and policeto intimidate, silence and under-mine support for his rivals and crit-ics. Before and during the cam-

paign, his clique has successivelyperpetrated the killing of numerousrival politicians.. He openly used thecourts, agencies and local govern-ments to brand progressive candi-dates and parties as “terrorists” inline with the “whole-of-nation” ap-proach against “insurgency.” Hespent billions of pesos of people'smoney to flood the media with pro-administration lies and drown thevoices of the opposition.

Most crucial of all, he used theCommission on Elections to carry outmassive cheating by hacking the re-

Shatter the illusionof democracyunder Duterte's tyranny

EDITORIAL NPA-Negros

seizes 8 firearms

"NPA-Negros...," continued on page 3"Shatter...," continued on page 2

THE NEW PEOPLE'S Army (NPA)successfully raided a detachmentof the Revolutionary ProletarianArmy-Alex Bongcayao Brigade(RPA-ABB) at Sitio Mambinay,Barangay Locotan, KabankalanCity in Negros Occidental lastMay 8 at around 1:00 a.m. TwoRPA elements were killed whilethree were wounded. The NPAseized a machinegun, a BrowningAutomatic Rifle, an M14, threeM16s, two pistols and bullets.

Since the RPA-ABB brokeaway from the NPA in 1993, ithas served as a force multiplierfor the AFP’s anti-revolutionarycampaign. At the same time, italso acted as a private army forbig comprador-landlors in Negroslike the Arroyos, Alvarezes, Zay-cos, Solas, Maranons, Benedicto-de la Cruzes and Eduardo Co-juangco.

The group started as an

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Editorial: Shatter the illusion of democracyunder Duterte's tyranny 1

NPA-Negros seizes 8 firearms 1

Las Navas residents expel soldiers 3

On Mangyans and Dumagats 3

#LabanBayan, protests vs. manipulation 3

Duterte consolidates power 4

Bogus Marawi rehabilitation 5

Other protests 5

Attack on Holcim workers' picket 6

US plans bigger trainings in PH 6

US-China trade war 6

sults of the automated vote countingand tallying system. On election day,around 1,000 vote counting ma-chines malfunctioned and countingwas delayed for seven hours. Votingfor overseas Filipinos was also prob-lematic. According to experts, therecent elections was the most un-successful so far, and the most dan-gerous in history.

By shutting out the political op-position from the Senate, Dutertehas now effectively put all branchesof government under his thumb. Hepreviously controlled the LowerHouse through his alliance withGloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Usingthis same alliance, alongside theMarcos millions, he is set to domi-nate anew the recently-electedCongress, as well as the local gov-ernments. Aside from this, he ap-pointed 12 out of 15 Supreme Courtjustices.

Duterte is further emboldenedby his illusory victory to go after hisrivals and critics with even moreruthlessness. He is determined tostep up persecution and suppres-

sion of both the conservative oppo-sition and the mass movementagainst his tyranny and prevent thedemocratic forces from building abroad front against his dictatorshipschemes.

Duterte's ambitious drive toestablish himself a dictator is drivenby his dread of being arrested,prosecuted and imprisoned for allthe crimes perpetuated by his bru-tal regime. His drive to monopolizepower will deepen the schismswithin the ruling class, even amonghis allies. The opposition is alreadypreparing for the next elections.Competition between military andpolice factions will heighten as theyjockey for favors and positions inthe civilian and military bureau-cracy.

Duterte's cheating and tyrannyhas created even more favorableconditions for the advancement ofthe legal mass movement. Themovement should persevere tobreak the illusion of democracy un-der Duterte's tyrannical rule. Itshould further expose his graveabuse of power, widespread killings,

protection of big drug lords, grossviolations of human rights, imposi-tion of onerous taxes, sell-out ofthe country's patrimony to China,subservience to the US military,corruption in government loans andcontracts, and other grave crimes.

They must broaden the struggleagainst Duterte's plan to amend oroverhaul the constitution to extendhis term and remove guarantees tohuman rights. Among the amend-ments proposed by Duterte is to al-low foreign big capitalists and theirlocal comprador cohorts to plunderthe country's remaining resourcesand squeeze further the Filipinoworking class for more profits.

Alongside, Duterte is sure topush for the passage of other billsthat would tighten his fascist con-trol over Philippine society. His pri-ority bills include the lowering ofthe minimum age of criminal re-sponsibility, death penalty andmandatory military training of mi-nors through the Reserved OfficersTraining Corps.

All democratic forces mustpainstakingly conduct propagandawork among the masses to exposeDuterte's tyranny. They must per-severe in organizing those who arefed up by Duterte's corrupt, crimi-nal and puppet reign. They muststrive to generate bigger and widermobilizations. They must double theefforts to unite anti-Duterte groupsand build the broadest unityagainst his tyranny. The key toousting the rotten, fascist andpuppet regime is through arousing,organizing and mobilizing the peo-ple.

These efforts should be com-plemented with the intensificationof armed struggle across thecountry. The state's securityforces who relentlessly commitabuses, killings and intimidationagainst millions in the countrysideshould be death with big and smallblows to show support to the peo-ple. As Duterte's brutal reigncontinues, the task to overthrowhim grows more urgent.

"Shatter...," from page 1

ANG BAYAN May 21 , 2019 3

armed component of the Rebolusy-onaryong Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipinas (RPMP) in 1994. TheRPMP was founded by revisionisttraitors like Arturo Tabara who re-fused to rectify errors in the 1990s.Meanwhile, the ABB was a guerillaunit based in Metro Manila and was

headed by Nilo dela Cruz. The RPAand ABB merged in 1997. Not longafter, RPA-ABB elements becamerabid counterrevolutionary elementsand formally surrendered to the US-Estrada regime in 2000. Since then,successive regimes have used thegroup as a model for localized

peace talks for capitulation. Theypretend to be revolutionaries but inreality, they are mercenaries, ban-dits and goons working for the rul-ing class of big compradors andlandlords. Among their most recentcrimes is the massacre of ninepeasants ni Sagay last year.

"NPA-Negros seizes...," from page 1

Las Navas residents expel encamping soldiers

LAST MAY 10, residents of Barangay San Miguel, Las Navassuccessfully expelled soldiers of the 20th IB who have oc-cupied their community for more than a year.

This came after the residents' evacuation and dialoguewith the local government of Las Navas, the 20th IB andthe Department of Interior and Local Government last May9.

On the same day, 60 residents marched from SanMiguel to downtown Las Navas. The soldiers attempted toblock the residents in Barangay San Jorge and forced themto sign a logbook which they refused to follow. The 20th IBhave maliciously tagged the farmers as supporters of theNew People's Army to justify its illegal occupation of thecommunity and harrassment of residents.

The soldiers also harassed the delegates of a nationalfact-finding mission conducted last May 20-22 by KatungodSinirangan Bisayas, Karapatan and Rural Missionaries ofthe Philippines.

#LabanBayan,

protests against

election manipulation

MORE THAN 2000 protested last May 17 in frontof the Philippine International Convention Cen-ter (PICC) where tallying for the 2019 midtermelections was undertaken. The youth, women,church people and various groups led by KontraDaya and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)collectively condemned the manipulation of andviolence during the elections.

On the evening of May 13, election day, therelease of initial vote tally by the Commission onElections (Comelec) was delayed for seven hours.At the same time, 1,665 SD cards also malfunc-tioned and had to to be replaced on the day it-self. Similarly, 961 vote counting machines mal-functioned and were unable to accept ballots.

Duterte's clique, the military and police bla-tantly intervened in the election that was con-ducted. Days before the election, progressiveparties and their members were attacked oneafter another and tagged as terorrists. The worstcases of harassment were perpetrated in Min-danao under martial law.

Similar protests were held in the cities ofQuezon, Baguio, Naga and Tacloban, and in theprovinces of La Union, Bohol and Iloilo. Beforethis, two protests were launched by nationaldemocratic groups in Metro Manila.

12TH MANGYAN DAY. Seven Mangyan tribesgathered in Calapan, Mindoro Oriental last May10 to celebrate Mangyan Day 2019. On its 12thyear, the tribes united under the theme"Mangyan, Unite for Ancestral Land, Environ-ment, Livelihood and Clean Elections!"

The Mangyans presented their struggles fortheir livelihood, ancestral land, and against mili-tarization and violence of armed state elementsagainst them. On May 9, the delegation fromBongabong were blocked by three police cars. Thecelebration culminated with a protest-caravan.

NDF-ST condemns bombings, forced

surrenders of Mangyans and Dumagats

THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC Front-Southern Tagalog ve-hemently condemned the relentless militarization ofMangyan communities in Mindoro and Dumagat communi-ties in Quezon.

AFP and PNP operations continue unabated in Quezonsince May 2018. These past months, the AFP even con-cocted fake encounters between its units and the New Peo-ple’s Army to justify its occupation and deployment of ad-ditional troops in Dumagat communities.

These actions have all been directed by the SouthernLuzon Command and implemented by the Regional TaskForce (RTC) to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. TheRTC is pushing for the implementation of so-called develop-ment projects including the Laiban Dam and Kaliwa Damwhich residents are opposing.

In Mindoro, Col. Marceliano Teofilo of the 203rd IBdeis directing a suppression campaign against Mangyans.Last May, the said unit conducted indiscriminate bombingsand strafing in Barangay Monteclaro, San Jose, OccidentalMindoro and Barangay Lisap, Bongabong, Oriental Min-doro. This resulted in the forcible evacuation of 1,000Mangyans.

May 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN4

vent progressive parties, particu-larly the Makabayan bloc, fromgaining their rightful number ofseats.

Only six representatives fromfour progressive parties will servein the next Congress after all theslander and attacks against them bythe military, police and Dutertehimself. Bayan Muna garnered thesecond highest number of votes andwill have three representatives.Among them is lear Euphemia Cul-lamat, a Lumad and a member ofKasalo-Caraga. Gabriela, ACTTeachers Party and KabataanPartylist will have one representa-tive each.

Due to the regime’s manipula-tion and fear-mongering, Anakpawiswas not able to gather the requirednumber of votes to win a seat inCongress.

Fifty one parties won 61 seatsin Congress under the party listsystem. Twenty nine of them haverepresentative who are eitherDuterte allies, former politicians or

big businessmen.ACT-CIS, Marino

and Duterte Youth aresome of the parties as-sociated with Duterte.ACT-CIS, which gar-nered the most numberof votes, is spear-headed by the Tulfoswho are known as rabidsupporters of Duterteand his brutal “anti-drug war.” They alsosupport his proposedamendments to thepernicious Human Se-curity Act.

The opposition won not even asingle seat. In the Senate, it onlytakes 13 votes to pass a bill. Amongthe newly elected senators areImee Marcos, daughter of dictatorFerdinand Marcos; Ronald delaRosa, police chief who spearheadedthe bloody “war against drugs” andChristopher Go, Duterte’s specialaide who spent 30 times more hisnet worth and openly used publicfunds for his campaign.

Aside from the three, other pro-Duterte winners are Pia Cayetano,Sonny Angara, Lito Lapid, FrancisTolentino, Aquilino Pimentel III,Ramon Revilla Jr and Cynthia Vill-lar. Nancy Binay and Grace Poe,who are neither Duterte’s party-mates nor considered as opposition,also won.

In the Lower House, 85 repre-sentatives fromDuterte’s politicalparty, the PDP-Laban,won. This number wasfollowed by 43 fromManuel Villar’s Na-cionalista Party (NP);36 from Eduardo Co-juangco’s NationalistPeople's Coalition(NPC) and 25 fromRonaldo Puno’s Na-tional Unity Party(NUP). The oppositionLiberal Party (LP) onlywon 18 seats. Otherwinning representa-

DUTERTE'S CONTROL OVER

THE ENTIRE STATE MACHINERY

OF CABINET MEMBERS ARE FORMER MILITARY OR POLICE

CONGRESSMEN ARE DUTERTE'S ALLIES

SENATORS ARE DUTERTE'S ALLIES

JUSTICES ARE DUTERTE'S APPOINTEES

Duterte consolidates power through elections

PICKET AGAINST CRPIP. Igorot minorities trooped in front of the National Economic and Development Regional Of-fice in Baguio City last May 7. The protest was held in conjuction with the conduct of a meeting between minoritiesaffected by the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project (CRPIP), representatives of the National Irrigation Administration(NIA) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

A few days later, NCIP Cordillera Director Ronald Calde ruled to temporarily stop the construction of the CRPIP inPinukpuk, Kalinga for failing to acquire Free, Prior and Informed Consent from affected residents. The constructionwas shifted to the Cagayan area.

Through violence, deceit and widespread cheating, Duterte managed toget 10 out of 12 of his candidates elected to the Senate in the recentelections. This brings the number of pro-Duterte senators to 19 or 3/4

of the Senate. There are only five opposition senators left, with one of them,Sen. Leila de Lima, languishing in jail.

tives came from Lakas, Asenso andvarious regional parties, includingSara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pag-babago. NP, NUP, Lakas, Asensoand most regional parties are PDP-Laban and together, they constitutethe majority in the Lower House.

In the provincial level, 41 out of81 governors are Duterte’s party-mates. Most local candidates werecompelled to support Duterte'sparty for fear of being arbitrarilyincluded in his narcolist. In manyplaces, Duterte supported two orthree candidates vying for the sameposition to ensure votes for hissenators.

Destroying the party list systemDuterte ordered his minions to

use create electoral parties to par-alyze the party list system and pre-

ANG BAYAN May 21 , 2019 5

SUPER 8 WORKERS' VICTORY. TheSamahang Manggagawa ng Super 8Retail System Incorporated suc-cessfully conducted a black shirtprotest and production slowdownlast May 8. This was launched incondemnation of the suspension of15 of their co-workers who refusedto work overtime on May 4. Thesuspended workers were reinstatedimmediately after a dialogue withthe management. They were alsoable to lay down their contentionagainst inhumane overtime work.

Meanwhile, relatives and co-workers of the Kentex 72 commem-orated the death anniversary of thevictims last May 12 in ValenzuelaCity. The Workers Rights and Ad-vocates Network called for justiceand demanded to hold the Kentexmanagement accountable.

In a related news, Kilos naManggagawa trooped to the Re-gional Wage Board office in the Na-tional Capital Region on May 20 af-ter employers submitted a Motion toDismiss the workers' petition forhigher wages in the region.

PROTEST AGAINST BACIWA.Consecutive protests and noisebarrages were held by union mem-bers of the Bacolod City Water Dis-trict (BACIWA) in front of their of-fice on the third week of May.

The union condemned the deci-sion of the BACIWA Board of Di-rectors to enter into a 25-year jointventure agreement with Prime Wa-ter, a private company. If theagreement materializes, Prime Wa-ter will own 80% of BACIWA andonly 20% will be left for the govern-ment.

According to the union, this willadversely affect 520 employees.Similarly, consumers will have toshoulder a 12% value added tax dueto its transfer to a private entity.

Bogus Marawi rehabilitation

Grabbing Maranao landsfor military-use

It has been almost two years since the US-Duterte regime evictedMaranaos from Marawi City. Until today, however, no family has been al-

lowed to return to the citycenter as this is currently being occupied by bothUS and Filipino soldiers. As time goes by, their return is becoming increas-ingly impossible.

Using a presidential decree is-sued in 1953 as a pretext, the AFPimmediately started the construc-tion of a 10-hectare military campright at the heart of the city.Guised as a headquarters of theAFP, the said facility will actuallybe used by the US for its specialoperations in the country.

The US has long used Marawias a base for its operations in Min-danao. In 2010, the US SpecialOperations Command’s (SOC) useof Camp Ranao, 103rd Bde’s head-quarters in Marawi, was exposedafter the killing of Gregan Car-deno made the news. Cardenowas then working inside thecamp as a translator for theLiaison Coordination Ele-ments (LCE). LCEs are asmall group of specialforces units that “advise”Filipino soldiers and areincorporated in AFP tac-tical commands.

Since the beginning,Marawi and the towns surroundingLanao Lake have always been ofcrucial interest to the US. Whenthe US occupied Mindanao in theearly 1900s, the US purposely in-vaded these Lanao towns and con-quered their chieftains. What aca-demics dub the Moro Rebellion(1899-1913) started in this area.The Moro Rebellion was the Moro’sarmed resistance against Ameri-can occupation and to defend their

society and ancestral land. Duringthe Battle of Bayan (now Bayang,Lanao del Sur), Maranaos valiantlyfought against the US encroachersusing indigenous weapons. TheMaranaos were conquered by UStroopers who used brutal tacticsand modern weapons. Despite thedownfall of Bayang, uprisings con-tinued in Bacolod and Taracawhere US forces sustained numer-ous casualties. The Americanseventually reached Marawi (for-merly Dansalan) and linked it toIligan.

The US first established a mil-itary camp in Bayang (Camp

Vickers) in 1902. CaptainJohn Pershing who wasconsidered an “expert” incounterinsurgency afterpurportedly pacifying theMaranaos was based here.

In reality, the so-calledpacification or cooperationof the chieftains of Lanao

with Pershing only came afterthe US' brutal and bloody attacksagainst the Maranaos.

In 1903, the US establishedCamp Keithley in Marawi, in honorof Fernando Keithley, an Americansoldier who was killed in an am-bush by Maranaos. Camp Keithley(also known as Camp Amai Pakpakwhich the AFP inherited) covers6,000 hectares of land in Marawiand the adjacent towns of Maran-tao, Piagapo and Saguiaran.

NATIONAL DAY OF HEALTH WORKERS. Last May 7, health workers from private and public hospitals gathered inManila to celebrate the National Day of Health Workers. The Alliance of Health Workers called for the implementationof a ₱16,000 national minimum wage for public employees, ₱750 daily wage for private employees and ₱30,000 entrypay for nurses. They also demanded an end to prevalent practice of contractualization in the sector.

May 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN6

CHILDREN NOT CRIMINALS.Members of human rights groupsand organizations protecting chil-dren's rights led by Salinlahi Al-liance for Childrens' Concerns pick-eted in front of the Senate of thePhilippines in Pasay City last May 20coinciding with a Senate session.They condemned the intent to passa bill lowering the minimum age ofcriminal responsibility.

YOUTH CONDEMNS ADDITIONALFEES IN COLLEGE. KabataanPartylist called for an investigation ofthe Commission on Higher Education's(CHED) approval of 141 other schoolfees to be collected from State Uni-versities and Colleges (SUCs). This iscontrary to the free education law inpublic tertiary education. Kabataansubmitted a resolution to review thecommercialization maneuver in Con-gress last May 12.

According to the group, theCHED is simply seeking ways to al-low collection of fees in SUCs, astuition fees continue to rise in pri-vate universities.

IGOROT LEADER RECEIVES RE-COGNITION IN KOREA. JoannaKintanar Carino was awarded with aGwangju Price for Human Rights inSouth Korea last May 18 in recogni-tion of her defense for humanrights. This is despite the Duterteregime's tagging of Carino as a ter-rorist last year.

May 18 Memorial Foundationhanded the award to Carino for herher longstanding advocacy. Carinofought the US-Marcos regime de-spite arrest and torture. She is alsoone of the founding members ofCordillera People's Alliance.

20 men attack Holcim workers' picket

UNIDENTIFIED MEN ATTACKED the picket of Holcim Philippines Inc.workers in front of the company plant in Davao City last May 1. Morethan 20 men wearing bonnet and yielding knives stormed the picket.They removed the streamers and placards of the Davao Holcim Em-ployees Workers Union.

Pickets were mounted byworkers since March 4, after 100were illegaly dismissed. The work-ers strongly believe that the Hol-cim management was behind theattack.

This May, First StrongholdCement Industries Inc., a sub-sidiary of San Miguel Corpora-tion (SMC), bought Holcim for$2.15 billion. SMC is run andowned by compradors RamonAng and Eduardo Cojuangco.

SMC is boosting its cement andconstruction business to benefitfrom Duterte's 'Build Build Build'program.

Holcim Philippines is formerlya subsidiary of LafargeHolcimLtd., a Swiss company. In the firstquarter of 2019, it had an incomeof P703.86 million which isgreater than the P699.89 millionit accumulated in 2018. Thecompany has four cement plantsand a cement grinding mill.

US plans to launch bigger

military trainings in 2020THE US PLANS to launch bigger military trainings in the country in2020. Particularly, it is targeting to double its participants—from 900this year to 1,700 next year—for the Salaknib training. Salaknib is con-ducted in preparation for the annual and much bigger Balikatan exer-cises.

US activities have increased from January to March this year. Ac-cording to the US Inspector General’s (IG) report regarding the Opera-tion Pacific Eagle-Philippines (OPE-P), the US conducted other militaryactivities in addition to military trainings and ship dockings. This includejet fighter flyovers in Philippine sovereign territory, deployment of aStryker Brigade to “assist” in AFP military operations, deployment ofspecial forces advisers for the “anti-terrorism” campaign and battletracking.

As in the previous year, the AFP completely relies on the US for ISR(intelligence, surveillance, reconnaisance). According to the IG report,the AFP “lacks the capacity” to gather and analyze intelligence data onits own. In 2018, the US spent $50 million to fly surveillance drones,and for base maintenance and data analysis.

Similarly, the US conducted 250 military activities in the country.In return, it sold to the AFP obsolete war materiél amounting to $35billion. During the first quarter of 2019, it sold materiél worth $5.8million to the AFP.

US-China trade war intensifies anew

TRADE NEGOTIATIONS between US and China was temporarily put on hold on May 10 after US presidente DonaldTrump announced the imposition of a 10%-25% tariff on Chinese goods worth $200 billion. Trump accused China ofreneging on previous agreements on intellectual property rights, lowering trade barriers and manipulating andcontrolling the value of the yuan Chinese currency, .

This was followed by Trump’s Huawei ban on May 18 prohibiting US companies to sell components to the Chinesecompany. Huawei manufactures cellphones and telecommunications equipment. Earlier, Trump accused the companyof espionage and declared it as a threat to national security.

ANG BAYAN May 21 , 2019 7

China retaliated through imposing 25% tarrifs on US goods worth $60 billion. It also threatened to stop importingUS natural gas and oil.

The US engaged China last year to pressure the country into opening its markets to more US imports. It alreadyimposed tariffs on US products twice in 2018 before negotiations started between the countries last January. Despitethe fresh wave of tariffs and sanctions, the negotiations shall continue.

The US imports around $540 billion Chinese products while it exports only $120 billion US goods to the country.