· machinery for corruption and fascism 3 aggressive liberalization 4 makabayan bolts out of...

ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

Engl i sh Edi ti on

Vol . XLVI I I N o. 1 8

September 2 1 , 2 01 7

www. phi l i ppi nerevol uti on. i nfo

What better day to unite the Filipino people against threats of a fas-cist dictatorship by Rodrigo Duterte than today when 45 years agoMarcos imposed martial law and founded his dictatorship?

Today, tens of thousands are setto converge in the streets of the na-tional capital and other parts of thecountry to manifest the Filipinopeople's growing unity against polit-ical persecution, armed suppressionand fascist crimes under the rulingDuterte regime.

On this occasion, the Filipinopeople are united in demandingjustice for all the fascist crimes, cor-ruption and puppetry under the 14-year martial law of the US-Marcos

dictatorship. They want Marcos andall his cohorts and cronies to pay forthe crimes they have yet to accountfor. They are determined to stop theMarcoses from returning toMalacañang.

After 45 years, the Filipinopeople have not forgotten the bloodyrecord, corruption and rottenness ofMarcos' martial law. This collectivememory has been passed on to theFilipino youth who are now one indeclaring "Never Again!." They are

"1 1 firearms. . . , " continued on page 3

NPA confiscates11 firearms inBukidnonTHE NEW PEOPLE'S Army(NPA)-MT. Kitanglad Subre-gional Command of North Cent-ral Mindanao successfully dis-armed Bukidnon big time usurerEstelito Marabe. Marabe waswith his guards when Redfighters confronted him inBarangay Tugaya, Valencia Cityon September 9, at 8:30 a.m.The NPA seized one M4 rifle, acal. 45 pistol, and VHF radiofrom him. The operation was theNPA’s response to complaintsregarding his usurious practicesagainst SUMIFRU workers. Ma-rabe owns the Asian Hills Bankwhich he uses for usury in theguise of microfinancing.

On August 25, a unit of theNPA-Eastern-Misamis Oriental-Northeastern Bukidnon Subre-gional Command also disarmedDatu Keke Ansihagan at SitioTalangitog, Brgy. Eureka, Gin-goog City. The NPA seized fromhim nine firearms (two shot-guns, one each carbine, Ingramand KG9, and four cal.45 pis-tols). A rifle scope, six handheldradios, ammunition and othermilitary equipment were alsoconfiscated.

Ansihagan was employed byGingoog Mayor Marie Guingonato facilitate the entry of thegovernment’s anti-Lumad pro-jects such as the NationalGreening Program (NGP) intoancestral lands using the Certi-ficate of Ancestral Domain Title.Because of him, falcatta (treesused for paper pulp) plantations

EDITORIAL

Marcos dictatorshipyesterday, rising Dutertedictatorship today

September 21 , 2017 ANG BAYAN2

dict Duterte and express their col-lective anger.

Duterte threatens to use armedforce to suppress the demonstra-tions and impede the growth of amovement demanding an end to hisfascist rule. He concocts scenariosof "turmoil in the streets" to dis-suade people from joining rallies.He manufactures fake stories of the"NPA joining rallies" to justify anationwide martial law declaration.

Duterte is in a frenzy to mono-polize political power and silence allthose opposing his programs andpolicies. Through bribery andthreats, he now has complete con-trol of the AFP, PNP and the lowerhouse of congress. He wants theSupreme Court, the Comelec and allbarangays to bow to his will. Hethreatens anyone who refuses tomarch to his beat.

Duterte is pushing to establisha fascist dictatorship in the face ofhis political isolation, desperationto accelerate all-out liberalizationof the economy and implement in-frastructure projects worth hun-dreds of billions of pesos which hiscompany of bureaucrat capitalistsand bourgeois compradors aredrooling over. He is rushing the ap-proval of his 2018 war chest andcorruption budget as well as newtax packages promised to foreigncreditor banks.

Duterte has, in fact, less thanfive years to satiate the militaryofficials, the bureaucrat capitalistsand bourgeois compradors. Unless,of course, he succeeds in his plan toextend his term by at least eightmore years by amending the con-stitution in the guise of "federal-ism."

In relentlessly pursuing histriple war, fascist repression, cor-ruption and anti-people and pro-imperialist programs and policies,Duterte is inciting the people tostrengthen and broaden their res-istance with maximum energy.

Editorial: Marcos dictatorship yesterday,rising Duterte dictatorship today 111 firearms confiscated in Bukidnon 1Machinery for corruption and fascism 3Aggressive liberalization 4Makabayan bolts out ofsupermajority 4Megarailway: anti-development 5Revolutionary defense ofancestral land 6The Lumads' defense 7Extrajudicial killings rise 7Ka Marcos Aggalao, Cordillera hero 8Ramon Ang and SMC ravage Batangas 9Protests towards September 21 10Rohingya's forcible evacuation 11

Vol . XLVI I I N o. 1 8 | September 2 1 , 2 01 7

determined to fight the Duterte re-gime's threats to impose martiallaw nationwide and his six-monthMindanao martial law.

Today's rally shows the determ-ination of the Filipino people to op-pose Duterte's plan to replicate hisidol Marcos, install himself as a fas-cist dictator and use absolutepower to control the entire statemachinery and resources for him-self and his clique.

The victims of Duterte's triplefascist war are set to join the ral-lies. In just a year, hundreds ofthousands have been directly vic-timized by the Oplan Tokhang"war against drugs", the all-outwar under Oplan Kapayapaan andthe AFP siege of Marawi and thewar to suppress the armed Morouprising.

Duterte's victims are now themost determined to hinder the vilefascist plot to put the entire coun-try under martial law and intensifythe campaigns of death and de-struction. They are set to be joined

by broad sections of Philippine so-ciety, by various political partiesand groups, churches, communitiesand so on.

Serving as backbone of the widerange of forces rising up againstfascism, corruption and puppetry ofthe Duterte regime are the nationaldemocratic forces. The broadmasses of workers, peasants, youthand students, urban poor and otheroppressed sectors are all determ-ined to resist Duterte's tyranny andhold him accountable for all thecrimes, blood debt and oppressionagainst the people.

Duterte trembles in fear at theprospect of street demonstrationssnowballing into a broad movementdemanding his ouster from power.The anticipated large demonstra-tions today will surely inspire moredemonstrations in the comingweeks and months. Duterte's hun-dreds of thousands of victims de-mand their grievances be heard.Assemblies must be mounted frombarangay halls to coliseums to in-

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Contents

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ANG BAYAN September 21 , 2017 3

Since last year, Duterte hastightened his control over severalbranches, institutions and agenciesof the government through corrup-tion and threats. He blatantlyoffered special favors to the milit-ary and police, including the ap-pointment of retired generals andmilitary and police officers in hiscabinet and other branches of ci-vilian bureaucracy.

One of his first Executive Orders(EO), EO 3, provides increasing the

combat pay and

have been laid out in almost20,000 hectares of ancestral land,affecting 300 Lumad families. Heis active in terrorizing, deceivingand blocking Lumads from farmingin their land.

Meanwhile, NPA-GuerrillaFront 18, Southern Mindanao, re-leased SPO2 George CañeteRupinta on September 15 in Maco,Compostela Valley. He was turnedover to his family and to Exodus forJustice and Peace, an organizationacting as third party mediator.

Rupinta, who has been in po-lice service for 28 years, was ar-rested at a checkpoint by theNPA's 6th Pulang Bagani Companyon June 9 at Barangay Tagugpo,Lupon, Davao Oriental.

"1 1 firearms. . . , " continued from page 1

Machinery for corruption and fascism

Rodrigo Duterte of the GRP once again threatened to impose nationwidemartial law in the midst of broadening ranks of people protesting his re-

gime. Once imposed, the declaration will finally complete the set-up of themachinery for a fascist dictatorship he has always been pushing to ensure theperpetuation and possible extension of his tyranny.

incentives for the Armed Forces ofthe Philippines (AFP) and PhilippineNational Police (PNP). He also re-peatedly guaranteed them legal pro-tection to cement their loyalty.

Like Marcos, Duterte speciallyfavored his key security officials.Through EO 7, he empowered Sec-retary of National Defense DelfinLorenzana by appointing him chair-person of the Security, Justice andPeace Cluster in his cabinet. Loren-zana is the Enrile of Marcos whoserves as the primary channel of USimperialist dictates.

He also gives special privilegesto current AFP chief Eduardo Año.Even as he has yet to end his termin the AFP, he has already beenappointed as secretary of the De-partment of the Interior and LocalGovernment with the ParticipativeGovernance Cluster under his of-fice. Duterte's EO 18 is outrightbribery, giving the AFP chief thepower to approve contracts for theprocurement of equipment withoutpublic bidding.

Duterte accorded himself theadded privilege when he releasedEO 34 which gave him the authorityto approve procurements not ex-ceeding P500 million without goingthrough public bidding.

Within the House of Represent-atives, he built and preserved his"supermajority" through blackmailand corruption, to ratify his orders,and to amend laws. Duterte uses thepower of the national budget tobribe the house representatives withshares of the hundred-billion pesoinfrastructure program.

Through his “supermajority,” thedeclaration and extension ofMindanao Martial law and tax reformwere hastily approved. The fascistNational ID system was also rapidlysigned. They are also preparing the

passage of a Mandatory ROTC bill,amendments to the Anti-TerrorismLaw and Anti-Cybercrime Act.

Meanwhile, the proposed 'FakeNews' Bill in the Senate criminalizesthe spreading of any news deemedas maligning the image of an indi-vidual or the regime. To tightencontrol of the flow of information,the PNP has denied the massmedia’s access to spot reports es-pecially in relation to the killings inthe name of the “war on drugs.”

The local barangay and Sang-guniang Kabataan elections wereagain suspended to ensure hiscontrol of the local government.Using public funds, the governmentis allotting almost P 1.4 billion toform Kilusang Pagbabago, MASA-MASID and Community Mobiliza-tion Project as machinery for pro-paganda, surveillance and repres-sion of the people. The budget forOplan Kapayapaan and War onDrugs is almost P313 billion.

Duterte is also rushing tochange the constitution for feder-alism to enable him to monopolizepolitical power. His minions guar-antee the revision of the constitu-tion in 2019, and to enable him toperpetuate his power until 2025.

To secure the immediate ac-complishment of his plans, he iseliminating his critics one by one.He wants to oust the Chief Justiceof the Supreme Court and isthreatening to impeach theCOMELEC chairman and the Om-budsman.

He favored the release ofJinggoy Estrada and soon of Ramon'Bong' Revilla. It is reported thatthey will be used as witnessesagainst those involved in corrup-tion cases of the past administra-tion to silence the politicians in theopposition and divide the anti-Duterte forces.

Duterte promised protection toall the bureaucrat capitalists whosupport him like what he promisedthe police and the military.


Duterte regime pushes foraggressive liberalization

The US-Duterte’s pro-foreign capitalist and neoliberal bentof its economic policies has always been clear since the

beginning. Its policies are designed to perpetuate the semico-lonial and semifeudal economy which relies on foreign capitaland oriented towards foreign needs.

Its main program, “Build, Build,Build”, relies on foreign loans and isdesigned to profit big compradorsand foreign companies. This year,the regime accelerated preparationsfor these companies’ unhamperedplunder of the nation’s wealth, re-sources and cheap labor.

In partnership with Gloria Ma-capagal-Arroyo, known champion ofneoliberalism, Duterte pushed forthe successive passage of laws andmeasures to completely open up thelocal economy to foreign ownershipand plunder. These effectively sub-verted constitutional provisionsagainst foreign economic ownership.In this regard, the Duterte regime isunprecedented in its puppetry toforeign monopoly capital.

Before the year ends, the regimeis set to release its shortened for-eign investment negative list (FINL),

an enumeration ofbusinesses and pro-fessions banned toforeigners. In theframework of moreaggressive liberal-ization, the NEDA plans to delistfinancial institutions and compan-ies, education, telecommunication,mass media, forestry, sections ofthe health sector and others.

In particular, the regime plansto fully open to foreign capital theconstruction sector and the steelindustry—fields heavily involved inits Build, Build, Build program. In-stead of putting up the steel factor-ies to serve as base for building acomprehensive economy, it will cer-tify foreign steel factories and treatthem as local companies to the det-riment of Filipino production. At thesame time, the regime will allow

foreign companies to fully supplymaterials, parts and other com-modities to state-owned andcontrolled national and localcompanies, corporations andagencies. These include the mostprofitable projects, such as theconstruction of bridges, roads,airports and rails.

The regime will also fully openthe public service sector, along-side its full privatization. In pre-paration, Congress amended thisSeptember the Public Service Act,where the ban on full foreignownership was deliberately de-leted, a provision mirrored in thereactionary constitution. Thus,foreign companies or individualscan fully own the construction,operation and distribution of pub-lic services. At the same time, thedefinition of a public utility waschanged to any individual, com-pany or service that provides thepublic with electricity, water andsewerage services. Transportationand telecommunications were de-leted from the list of public utilit-ies. Other services will need con-gressional approval before beingdeemed a public utility.

Prior to this, the regime suc-cessively enacted three orders toextend its commitments to theWorld Trade Organization inlowering and removal of importtariffs. This included the loweringof tariffs on agricultural productsand continued rice importation ofup to 800,000 metric tons. It alsoextended the zero-taxes on im-

Makabayan bolts out of the supermajorityMAKABAYAN FORMALLY WITHDREW on September 14 from the "superma-jority" or the alliance of various parties inside Congress supporting RodrigoDuterte. The Makabayan Bloc became part of this formation in support ofDuterte's earlier promises that he will push forward the demands of thepeople.

In more than a year, Makabayan gave Duterte the opportunity to fulfilhis promises to the people.

In its press release, seven progressive congressmen declared the with-drawal from the majority coalition because "the Duterte administration isalready blatantly exposed as a fascist, pro-imperialist and anti-people re-gime."

Makabayan pointed out that within a year, nearly 13,000 among the im-poverished have been summarily executed under the "anti-drug war" cam-paign of the Duterte regime.

Makabayan’s withdrawal is putting into action its responsibility andprinciples, as pro-people and progressive lawmakers, to uphold the interestsof the marginalized and oppressed sectors of society. Within and outside ofcongress, the group promised to rigorously oppose the fascist US-Duterteregime and hold it responsible for the widespread human rights violationsand further oppression of the Filipino people.


The anti-people and anti-developmentMegarailway

Since Duterte rose to power, he has always bragged about his dream ofestablishing a Megarailway, the train system that will connect major cit-

ies of Luzon and Mindanao. Its main components are the North South RailwayProject (NRSP), Mindanao Rail System and the Clark-Subic Rail.

There is nothing new in theseprojects. The NSRP was delayedduring the Arroyo regime due tocorruption issues while theMindanao Rail System and theClark-Subic Rail were among thoselisted in the Aquino regime’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.The Duterte regime changed noth-ing in its designs and objectives.These projects remain anti-people,anti-national and anti-development.These will bring nothing but wide-spread dislocation of hundreds ofthousands of people and will burythe country in debt while favoredcompradors and foreign companiesgain millions from their constructionand operations.

Under the NSRP alone, morethan 600,000 houses are set to bedemolished in the next two years.According to the National HousingAuthority, around 15,000 familieswill be affected fromManila to Batangas,25,000 if extended tothe Quezon Provinceand 500,000 if up toBicol. Only 50,000housing units are al-located to residentsexpected to be dis-located. Not includedin this figure arerenters and otherfamily members livingin the same house.

The majority of residents fromCaloocan and Malolos who havebeen relocated to far-flung areas in2008 have returned to live along therailways due to lack of jobs in relo-cation areas. They number 40,000families.

Foreign capital, couched as of-ficial development assistance whichare essentially loans, from Japanand China will fund the NSRP.Around P400 billion have been ear-marked for the project. The railwaywill connect with the Subic-ClarkCargo Rail.

In Mindanao, a few compradors,foreign capitalists and landlords areset to profit from the regime’sMindanao Railway System. Com-panies such as the San Miguel Cor-poration, Metro Pacific InvestmentsCorporation, Ayala Corporation andMegawide Construction Corporationare competing to corner the con-

tract to operate the rails. The pro-gram’s first phase is the railwaythat will connect the towns ofTagum, Digos and Davao City. It isset to cover 340 hectares of agri-cultural land along the MaharlikaHighway. Thousands of peasantsare set to lose their lands.

These projects are part of theregime’s hyped-up 75 major pro-jects. The majority of these projectshave previously been listed underthe Aquino regime’s PPP program.

Thus is the future of Duterte-nomics: widespread dislocation,land grabbing and demolition ofhomes of millions nationwide. Thepeople are set to shoulder the addi-tional ODA payments and interest,profit guarantees of private oper-ators and additional taxes. The re-gime has complete disregard for thepeople’s needs, and has even re-duced funds for social services.

The government has not evenallocated funds for housing. TheNHA only got a measly P2 billion for2018, far from the billions neededto build houses for the homeless

which number 5.5 mil-lion. Thus, the ranks ofthe urban poor andlandless are expectedto swell under theDuterte regime.

No matter howmuch the regime’s eco-nomic managers pack-age and prettify itsDutertenomics and itsBBB program, it offersnothing new and will notbenefit the people.

passage of a Mandatory ROTC bill,amendments to the Anti-TerrorismLaw and Anti-Cybercrime Act.

Meanwhile, the proposed 'FakeNews' Bill in the Senate criminalizesthe spreading of any news deemedas maligning the image of an indi-vidual or the regime. To tightencontrol of the flow of information,the PNP has denied the massmedia’s access to spot reports es-pecially in relation to the killings inthe name of the “war on drugs.”

The local barangay and Sang-guniang Kabataan elections wereagain suspended to ensure hiscontrol of the local government.Using public funds, the governmentis allotting almost P 1.4 billion toform Kilusang Pagbabago, MASA-MASID and Community Mobiliza-tion Project as machinery for pro-paganda, surveillance and repres-sion of the people. The budget forOplan Kapayapaan and War onDrugs is almost P313 billion.

Duterte is also rushing tochange the constitution for feder-alism to enable him to monopolizepolitical power. His minions guar-antee the revision of the constitu-tion in 2019, and to enable him toperpetuate his power until 2025.

To secure the immediate ac-complishment of his plans, he iseliminating his critics one by one.He wants to oust the Chief Justiceof the Supreme Court and isthreatening to impeach theCOMELEC chairman and the Om-budsman.

He favored the release ofJinggoy Estrada and soon of Ramon'Bong' Revilla. It is reported thatthey will be used as witnessesagainst those involved in corrup-tion cases of the past administra-tion to silence the politicians in theopposition and divide the anti-Duterte forces.

Duterte promised protection toall the bureaucrat capitalists whosupport him like what he promisedthe police and the military.

ports of capital equipment, spareparts, electronics such as cellphones and other gadgets.

At the same time, the regime isalso pushing for the passage of theNational Land Use Act (NLUA)where the state will recategorizeland use, including agricultural and

public lands. In the past, the NEDAused this proposal to oppose thenDAR Secretary Rafael Mariano’sproposal to impose a ban on con-version of agricultural lands. Un-der the NLUA, there will be nomoratorium and conversion will beallowed for non-prime agricultural

lands for housing, energy and oth-er projects. The NLUA will also banfarming of public lands declared asforests, a measure similar to theNational Greening Program whichallows the planting of commercialtrees in wide swaths of publiclands.


Revolutionary defense of the ancestral land

The Revolutionary Organization of Lumads (ROL) vows greater unity inwaging armed struggle in the face of the ruling state’s intensifying at-

tacks against their ancestral lands. At the same time, the Lumads are unitedin advancing further their revolutionary tradition and culture in the face ofrepression. The ROL is an allied organization of the National DemocraticFront of the Philippines.

Under the US-Duterte regime’sOplan Kapayapaan counterinsur-gency campaign and its Mindanaomartial law, attacks against Lumadcommunities are relentless. Dutertegave his military and police freerein to “flatten the hills” and bombLumad schools, and denigrated theLumads' just struggle by claimingthat the revolutionary movement istaking advantage of their situation.Killings and harassment of theirleaders, as well as those suspectedof being NPA supporters, persist.Militarization and bombings of theircommunities are also incessant.

Some Lumads, whom the AFPhave incited and formed intoparamilitary groups, take part inthese brutalities. Some members ofthese groups, known as Alamara,Magahat, Bagani Force, BlackFighter, NIPAR and others, are alsofamily relatives of those in the ROLwhom the military employs to sup-press their fellow Lumads. Underthe "IP-centric approach" of OplanBayanihan and Oplan Kapayapaan,the military organizes armed Lumadgroups in order to drive away theirfellow Lumads who are defendingthe ancestral domain against theentry of logging and mining com-panies.

Faced with this situation, theROL resolved to intensify armedstruggle during the Conference ofResistance of revolutionary datusheld last December 2016. The saidconference also resolved to recog-nize the NPA as the only armyfighting for the welfare of theLumads; oppose the recruitmentand proliferation of paramilitarygroups; undertake all efforts todrive away the AFP from the ances-tral domain; raise their militance

and fight encroachment in theirlands by foreigners and the localruling classes; and broaden theunity among all tribes.

In line with these resolutions,the communities enhanced theirdefense systems. They resolved toutilize indigenous weapons such astraps and punji sticks around thecommunities, and shotguns whichthe Lumads usually use. These areaugmented with modern weapons.Military trainings are conducted forsquad or platoon-sized militias. In amunicipality of the people’s demo-cratic government, militia member-ship has reached up to one bat-talion.

The Lumads are likewise devel-oping their sentry schedule to guardthe communities as well as the com-munal farms most especially duringharvest season. The residents’alertness has been heightened, andeven the communities’ physical setupadapted to war conditions. A com-mittee has been formed to regularlyassess the security.

Revolutionary traditionThe Lumads have a valiant re-

volutionary tradition in fighting thearrogation of their ancestral do-main. They have a rich history ofstruggle and defense of their inher-ited lands against the plunder byforeign corporations and bourgeoiscompradors. Using arrows andsome firearms, they were able todrive out the foreign companies andthe AFP. It was decided that thepangayaw (tribal war) traditionallylaunched against an enemy tribe,will be solely directed against theAFP.

The Lumads espouse armedstruggle directed against the AFP.

Their policy differs in confrontingLumad paramilitary groups. TheROL’s first measure is to draw themto the revolution through relationsof their families and acquaintanceswho are ROL members. The ROL andNPA have already recovered severalcommunities under the paramilita-ries through this method. Manyformer paramilitaries were revivedto serve the revolution.

The development of communalfarms is also a big help in winningback the support of those who wererecruited into paramilitary groups.Each community allots parcels ofland to produce supplementarytaro, cassava, and sweet potato forthe families. Some paramilitarieswho were once coerced into stealingtheir harvest and destroying theircrops have declared their wish toparticipate in the communal farms.

Likewise, they collectively striveto prevent the recruitment andmembership of communities intoparamilitaries. Neighboring com-munities organized under the ROLoffer livestock to the said com-munity, from chickens to horses, aspeace offerings.

Another factor in winning backthose who enlisted into paramilit-aries are the NPA’s military actions.For example, a few days following aharassment operation by the NPAagainst an AFP detachment, a re-cruiter for the Alamara sent sur-render feelers.

In consonance with developingLumad households as communitieswaging war in defense of their an-cestral lands, the ROL likewisecontinuously conscripts personnelto become regular Red fighters. Inone guerrilla front, they con-sciously recruit new Red fightersfrom ROL membership. They un-derstand that in strengthening theNPA, the communities’ primaryforce in the armed defense of theirancestral lands is likewisestrengthened.


The Lumads' defenseDESPITE CONTINUOUS OPERATIONS by the AFP and its paramilitarygroups, the ROL in Mindanao launched the Conference of Resistance lastDecember 24-26, 2016. The assembly adopted the theme Assembly of De-fense for Genuine Peace and Occupation of the Ancestral Land.

Around 200 revolutionary datus from different towns attended theconference. They represent Manobo communities from revolutionarycommittees in their areas, as well as other communities being organizedby the ROL.

The two-day conference was filled with exchanges of the differentcommunities’ experiences in their struggles, indigenous culturalpresentations, review of the condition of Lumads and the history of theirrevolutionary struggle, propositions on the revolutionization of tradi-tions and activities, and declaration of their unity in armed struggle. Onthe third day, the successful conference was celebrated alongside thecommemoration of the Party’s 48th anniversary.

The datus who attended readily agreed to participate in theconference, even with just one week's notice, as they understood therelevance of the event. Many hiked through forest and mountain trails

to reach the venue. One delegation from a particularcommittee trekked forthree days from the

neighboring municipality.Other members of their tribes

came along to join in the Party an-niversary’s celebration.

The activity started and ended withtraditional prayers from different Lumad

groups. In particular, the Lumads calledfor courage of their revered powerful

spirit of war. Before parting ways, the con-ference made an animal offering and with its

blood, imprinted their marks on a large clothbearing their declaration of unity.

Extrajudicial kill ings rise

The fascist military accelerated its spree of illegal arrests and civiliankillings since Duterte issued his offer of monetary reward for every

“rebel” presented by soldiers. Afterwhich, an apparent pattern hasemerged of the AFP-reported fake encounters to make it appear that thecivilians they killed are actually Red fighters.

Bicol. More than 10 civilianshave been killed and three almostkilled in the first half of this yearwithin the region. The latest amongthese is the killing of VincentJaylord Vereces Pequiro, 15, whowas innocently watching a basket-ball game in Brgy. Libertad, Caway-an, Masbate when he was gunned

down by troops of the 3rd PlatoonAlpha Company, 2nd IB in Septem-ber 16. Reymart Versaga, 23, waswounded in the next volley of gun-fire. Both victims were residents ofBarangay Libertad.

According to many witnesses,the soldiers were getting drunk atthe barangay hall near the plaza

when one of their guns accidentallyfired and wounded one of the sol-diers. The drunk military's imme-diate reaction was to fire at theyoung Vincent followed by heavyfiring at the direction of the bas-ketball court. The next day, themilitary reported that they had anencounter with the NPA and Pe-quiro was one of the Red fighterskilled.

Earlier, Alvin Oplida, 26, resid-ent of Barangay Maalo, Juban,Sorsogon, was gunned down onSeptember 13. Oplida was waitingfor passengers for his commutermotorcycle (habal-habal) when fourmen aboard two motorcycles shothim.

Salvador "Buddy" Atienza,councilman of Barangay TreceMartirez, Casiguran, Sorsogon wasshot dead by men aboard a motor-cycle on September 12. He wasdriving his passenger tricycle at Si-tio Cagdagat, Brgy. Boton when hewas shot by the gunmen. He died atthe hospital. Atienza has long beenreceiving threats from the 31st IBwho accused him as an NPA sup-porter.

Isabela. Operating troops ofthe 86th IB abducted and killedbrothers Ilyong and Roy Mendoza,45 and 50 years old, while theywere hunting for food in the moun-tains of Sitio Lumalog, BarangayCadsalan in San Mariano on August28, at 4:30 a.m. Three children whowere with them have not been seenup to the present and are fearedkilled by the military. The Mend-ozas, poor peasants from nearbyBarangay Ballao, Benito Soliven,frequently hunted for food in thesaid forest.

The military presented the deadbrothers as Red fighters who werekilled in an encounter. No en-counter happened at that time andplace, according to the NPA unit inthe area.


Marcos Aggalao, Cordillera hero

Marcos Aggalao, 74 , passed away on September13, at 8:32 a.m. at the Intensive Care Unit of

Kalinga Provincial Hospital after more than ayear of imprisonment on false charges ofmurder and frustrated murder. Therevolutionary masses and human rights advoc-ates condemned the Duterte regime’s delay torelease him despite the court’s dismissal of hiscases.

Aggalao was illegally arrestedby troops of the 50th IB in hishouse at Sitio Dalyagan, BarangayGawaan, Balbalan, Kalinga onSeptember 11, 2016. He was de-tained at the Kalinga Provincial Jaildespite his advanced age and thefact that he was suffering from highblood pressure, ulcer and showingsymptoms of dementia. Thisoccurred while the reciprocalceasefires of the NDFP and GRP

werestill in effect. He was hospital-ized on July 7 due to a stroke thatparalyzed half his body. He had tobe cared for by his fellow inmateswho spoon-fed him and helped himwith his personal needs.

He suffered a another stroke onAugust 29, and was placed underhospital arrest. His case had been

dismissed in the Kalinga court butother trumped-up cases were sub-sequently filed in Baguio City.

Despite the calls of the NDFP,human rights defenders, and eventhough his family and friends hadpaid for his bail, the Duterte re-gime stubbornly refused to releasehim.

Pangasinan. Military agentskilled Anakpawis leader Lito Sagur-it, 40, at Sitio Mindanao, Brgy.Pampang, San Carlos City on Au-gust 30. He was gunned down afterpassengers alighted from the tri-cycle he was driving.

Earlier, two treasure huntersand their helpers were torturedand killed by the PNP-Pangasinanin San Nicolas. Marcelo Perico, 46,and Crisologo Alambra, 60 andcouple Arthuro Galvez and ThelmaAlbano were abducted by the po-lice on August 24. The next day,the PNP released fake news abouta so-called encounter and presen-

ted the

corpses which with torture marks.Leyte. A local peasant and

member of Mag-uuma nga Nagkahi-usa, a local peasant which is basedin Albuera, was seriously woundedafter soldiiers shot him lastSeptember 5. The victim was identi-fied as Jason Montalla, 33, marriedand resident of Barangay Calanlin.

Manila. Piya Malayao of San-dugo Alliance of Moro and Indigen-ous Peoples was harassed bythreatening phone calls on Septem-ber 13. Joan Jayme of KATRIBUlikewise received threatening textmessages.

Ilocos Sur. Seventeen activistsand human rights workers fromNCR and Baguio City were slappedwith false charges of frustrated

murder on August 17 inconnection with the fakeencounter on August 4 in

Barangay Mabileg, Sigay.On August 29, three ci-

vilians were separately “vis-ited” by groups of the 81st IB in

Ilocos Sur. Councilman LeonardoSabado in Marozo, Narvacan; Ro-gelio Vilog in Subadi Sur, Burgos;

and Jonolito Blaza in Lucbuban,Salcedo were “visited.” They wereforced to sign documents allegedlyto clear their names. Sabado andBlaza refused to sign while Vilogwas forced to sign after soldiersthreatened his family.

Blaza is an Anakbayan and Tim-puyog ti Mannalon ti Karayan Buayamember. The military accused him ofbeing a member of the NPA unit thatcarried out an armed action againstPhillip Morris in Sigay.

On August 20, the 24th IB har-assed Shirley Ann Angiwot, provin-cial coordinator of KabataanPartylist in Abra and ArchbishopSergio Utleg of the Roman CatholicArchdiocese of Tuguegarao to forcethem to cancel their planned med-ical mission in Boliney, Abra.

The military acccused Angiwotof being an NPA member and spreadrumors that NPA fighters would jointhe said activity. Because of this, thechurch was forced to cancel theplanned medical mission.

Meanwhile, another activist,Tyran Yesan, was threatened by themilitary.


Ramon Ang and SMC ravageBatangas

Immediately after the violent demolition at the Manggahan Floodway andarrest of some urban poor defending their homes, state agents again

wreaked havoc in Batangas in the service of big bourgeois comprador RamonAng. Ang, chairman of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and its subsidiaries, isinvolved in the violent arrogation of lands within and outside the NationalCapital Region. He is one of the most influential bourgeois compradors whoenjoy close relations with the US-Duterte regime and is involved in manyprojects under the regime’s "Build, Build, Build" program.

Among SMC’s latest brutalitiesare the successive killings by milit-ary elements of peasant leadersopposing the former’s plannedmining operations in Batangas.Gunmen aboard a Toyota Vios am-bushed Lito Cassala, leader of thepeasant association of Baha-Talibayog, while on his way hometo Balayan on June 3. After the in-cident, the said vehicle drove dir-ectly to the National Power Cor-poration plant in the municipalityof Calaca, where the camp of the731st Combat Group and 202ndIBde is located.

This was followed by themurder of Engracio delos Reyes, 61,on September 2, 9:30 p.m., while hewas eating supper inside his housein Brgy. Baha, Calatagan. DelosReyes, vice president of Samahanng Maliliiit na Mangingisda at Mag-sasaka sa Calatagan (SMMMC), wasgunned down by two men whosneaked into his house. The twopeasant leaders were at the fore-front of the opposition to Ang’s

landgrabbing for the cement minesof his company Asturias ChemicalIndustries in Calatagan.

At present, troops of the 730thCG PAF and 202nd IBde PA serve ashired guards of Asturias in Cal-atagan. The local government hasnot implemented any significantmeasure against the soldiers' illegalencampment among civilian homes.

The NPA-Batangas (EduardoDagli Command or EDC) stronglycondemned the successive slayingsin Baha and Talibayog. According toApolinario Matienza of EDC, “Thepeople of Baha and Talibayog haveknown no peace since Asturias,owned by bourgeois comprador Ra-mon Ang, grabbed more or less 808hectares of land to give way to itsmining project."

Asturias Mining will take overlands of those who have almostcompleted paying their amortiza-tions since 1990 under the shamgovernment land reform program.In this project, 107 peasant famil-ies will lose their land and homes in

Baha and Talibayog. The projectwill also affect farmers and fisherfolk in 2000 hectares of public landin the sea coast. Fisher folk’s liveli-hood will be destroyed due to themine’s pollution of the environmentand the seas. Aside from the ce-ment mine, Asturias plans to set upan industrial park and tourist resortin the area.

In 1995, Ceferino Ascuesecretly sold more than 8,000 hec-tares of land to Asturias Industrieswhich is under SMC. This pushedthrough even when peasants hadalready paid for more than 500hectares of this. To facilitate thesale, the record of ownership of thepeasants mysteriously “disap-peared” from the office of the Re-gister of Deeds in Batangas.

Since July 1997, Asturias In-dustries carried out one maneuverafter another to give a legal screenfor its land grabbing. It was able toget a Mineral Production SharingAgreement (MPSA) and Environ-mental Compliance Certificate(ECC) from the Department of Nat-ural Resources for 2,336.8 hectareswhich included barangays fromBaha and Talibayog to the nearbybarangays of Hukay, Carlosa,Paraiso, Biga, Luya and Encar-nacion. The Department of AgrarianReform (DAR) Region IV Office as-

The Cordillera Peoples Alliancehonored Aggalao and called him a"true hero of the people." He was apeace-pact holder of the Salegsegtribe, and part of the massive cam-paign against the Chico River Damproject during the time of the US-Marcos dictatorship.

In a statement, the Lejo Cawil-an Command held the US-Duterteregime responsible for Aggalao’sdeath. According to Ka Tipon Gil-ayab, spokesperson of LCC, "the re-actionary government cold-

bloodedly shrugged its shoulders onKa Marcos’ medical needs until hedied. The reactionary governmentdenied Ka Marcos of his basic rightsand did not give even the slightestconsideration to his advanced ageand poor health. Ka Marcos was oneof the detainees whom the GRP andNDFP agreed to release during thepeace negotiations because of hissenior age and his serious medicalsituation but this was not imple-mented by the GRP until the latterultimately terminated the talks.

Again, the LCC calls for the imme-diate release of all political prison-ers especially the seniors and theill."

The LCC also accorded highesthonors to Kasamang Marcos Ag-galao, who did not surrender hisprinciples and desire for a freecountry. When he was arrested bythe military, Aggalao had long beenretired from the New People’s Army.

Aggalao was known as Ka Mon-roe when he was a Red Fighter inthe 1980s.


Successive protests againstthe US-Duterte regime

Consecutive protests by the toiling masses against the US-Duterte regimewere launched by various groups these past two weeks, including the na-

tional minorities of Manilakbayan. They opposed the unending extrajudicialkillings of civilians under the regime’s triple war, pro-foreign economic policiesand the threat of fascist rule in the whole nation.

September 8. The MovementAgainst Tyranny launched a “BlackFriday Protest” against the brutalkillings of minors under the “waragainst drugs” and all-out war. Theprotest started at 5:00 p.m. at thegate of Miriam College along Ka-tipunan Avenue, Quezon City. Theydemanded justice for victims KianDelos Santos and Carl Angelo Arna-iz, as well as Obillo Bay-ao who waskilled by a CAFGU member.

Delegates from Women Assert-ing and Resisting (WAR) for Peace,with members from Asia and thePacific who were holding a forum onThailand, participated in theprotest. Sandugo members marchedfrom the University of the Philip-pines towards Miriam College tojoin the protest.

September 11. Thousandsjoined the protest led by CARMMA,SELDA and Sandugo in front of theLibingan ng mga Bayani where theMarcos family was commemoratingthe 100th birth anniversary of dic-tator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. Theywere blocked by the police at thecemetery’s entrance.

According to Sandugo Co-chair-person Jerome Succor Abba, theLumad national minorities will neverforget the killings and landgrabbing

of their ancestral lands by the Mar-cos dictatorship. Likewise, BayanMuna denounced the US-Duterteregime in allowing the burial ofMarcos in the said cemetery.

According to Bonifacio Ilagan,CARMMA spokesperson, the US-Duterte regime’s reversal of historyis a grave transgression against thepeople. Its policy of imposing mar-tial law in Mindanao and threat ofimposing martial law all over thearchipelago is no different fromMarcos’.

At the end of the program, theyset afire a banner with depictions ofthe faces of Marcos and Duterte.

September 15. National demo-cratic organizations, together with

the delegation from Sandugo,marched towards the US Embassycarrying a large banner printedwith “US Imperialist No. 1 Terror-ist” in commemoration of the 26thyear of ousting the US militarybases in the Philippines. The policeblocked their way and attempted todisperse the rally before reachingthe embassy.

September 16. Patriotic law-yers under the National Union ofPeople’s Lawyers launched a con-ference in celebration of the organ-ization’s 10th year anniversary. Theconference discussed the wide-spread killings of civilians andmembers of progressive organiza-tions, and the patriotic lawyers’determination to continue servingthe Filipino people.

sisted the maneuver by declaringthat the agricultural use of the landcould not be verified, instead it wasmineralized, and the 818 titles thathave been distributed by the DAR tothe beneficiaries who have com-pleted their amortizations should benullified.

Although the Provincial AgrarianReform Adjudicator declared onSeptember 1998 that Ascue’s sale of

the land to Asturias was illegal andthe latter’s title must be voided, thesame agency suddenly reversed itsdecision in 2005 at the height of theimpeachment campaign againstGloria Arroyo. Doing away with thepeasants’ rights became part of Ar-royo’s package deal to get the sup-port of the Nationalist People's Co-alition (NPC). This was immediatelyupheld by the Supreme Court’s de-

cision against the farmers. NPC wasthen controlled by EduardoCojuangco who is Ramon Ang’s co-owner of SMC.

This is just one example of thebarefaced subservience of the bur-eaucracy and the military to the in-terests of big bourgeois compradorsagainst the lives and livelihood ofthe people, to the point of allowingthe distortion of their own laws.


Rohingya's forcible evacuation by MyanmarMORE THAN 430,000 Rohingyas have been forced to evacuate to neighboring Bangladesh from Myanmar's RakhineState since October 2016 to escape Myanmars' campaigns of persecution. The government has been using ArakanRohingya Salvation Army’s (ARSA)’s attacks on 24 police station and the 552nd Light headquarters InfantryBattalion in Rakhine Stae to “retaliate” against the Rohingyans.

According to the United Nations (UN), thousands have died of hunger, drowning and illness while attemptingto escape.

The UN stated that the military and police were involved in mass killings and gang rapes in the NorthernRakhine State. The UN and other human rights groups consider the violence as genocide of Rohingya Muslims andtheir condition as one of the worst.

As a race, Rohingyas do not have the right to identity under Myanmar's laws. Because of this, they are not re-gistered as Myanmar. They are considered stateless and illegal immigrants despite having lived for centuries in thecountry. They are prohibited from travelling outside Rakhine District, they have no right to public education andcannot work in government. They are even denied their identity as Rohingyans and are called Bengalis.

This month alone, the burning of more than 2,625 houses in Kotanbauk, Myinlut, Kyikanpyin and 2 hospitalwards in Maungtaw have been blamed by the military on ARSA. But this is the opposite to the statement of JamalHossain, "Our house was torched by the military... We tried to flee towards the mountain but they shot dead mytwo children along with their mother. I managed to escape with my other kids. The military came with 200 peopleto the village and started fires... All the houses in my village are already destroyed. If we go back there and thearmy sees us, they will shoot us."

September 18. Karapatan-Sor-sogon held a picket-protest in frontof the Gubat Municipal Council tocondemn the killing of civilian Sor-soganons.

In NCR, another picket washeld by Manilakbayan delegatesoutside the offices of the Depart-ment of Energy, Aboitiz andConsunji (DMCI) to oppose energyprojects that destroy their landsand livelihood.

In particular, they held the DOEresponsible for its collusion with thecompanies Aboitiz and DMCI intheir nonstop plunder and mining ofthe national minorities’ ancestrallands which result in widespread

violations of human rights.September 19. Karapatan,

Sandugo and Kadamay marched to-wards the office of the Departmentof Justice to censure DOJ Sec. Vi-taliano Aguirre for his inaction inthe face of the continuing killings ofinnocent civilians, widespread viol-ations of human rights, and the fil-ing of trumped up charges againstactivists.

In the afternoon, Kadamaystaged a protest at Mendiola bring-ing along with them a large Duterteeffigy and placards condemning thecontinuing civilian killings underOplan Tokhang and OplanKapayapaan, demolitions, imposi-

tion of martial law in Mindanao andattempts to impose this all over thePhilippines.

Before ending the program,they burned the effigy as a symbolof the urban poor’s anger.

September 20. PISTON held avigil and lit candles at the foot ofMendiola bridge.

Meanwhile, Manilakbayan del-egates continued to make universityvisits in Metro Manila to hold foraand discussions on the state of thenational minorities. They werewarmly received and supported bystudents of the University of Sto.Tomas, Ateneo de Manila and De LaSalle University.

· machinery for corruption and fascism 3 aggressive liberalization 4 makabayan bolts out of...

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