Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-MaoismoANG

Heighten the struggleagainst the more viciousOplan Bayanihan

Vol XLVI I No. 21

November 7, 2016

www.cpp.ph

EDITORIAL

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is further intensify-ing its armed counterinsurgency operations under the US-de-signed Oplan Bayanihan. It is trampling outright on the spirit

of the mutual declaration of ceasefire and peace talks between theGRP and NDFP by continuing to deploy its armed units in hundreds ofrural barrios.

Officials of the AFP are zealotsof the counterinsurgency doctrinewhich their US advisers havedrilled into their brains. They havevirtually thrown out GRP PresidentDuterte's policy of friendship withthe revolutionary forces.

Over the past weeks, psywar,intelligence and suppression ope-rations against activists andmembers of open and secret massorganizations and local branchesof the Party have become more vi-cious. When village folk question

their operations, soldiers declare"only the NPA are on ceasefire"and "Duterte cannot stop us."

Hand in hand with armedcoercion, the AFP is carrying outoffensive indoctrination to deni-grate the NPA and the entire re-volutionary movement. The "waragainst drugs" is being used tocarry out propaganda activitesagainst the NPA and the revolu-tionary movement.

The people's anger is rapidlyrising against the AFP's operating

Anti-militarization

7,000-strong

protest in Masbate

AROUND 7,000 peasants in twoMasbate towns launched protestactions last October 14 and 25condemning the continued milita-rization in the province. On Octo-ber 25, around 3,000 peasantsdemonstrated in front of the Ca-wayan municipal hall, while some4,000 Masbateños protested in theDimasalang municipality on Octo-ber 14.

The action was led by BagongAlyansang Makabayan-Bicol, Mas-bate People's Organization (MA-PO) and Karapatan.

The protesters asserted thatsoldiers must get out of theircommunities and return to theirbarracks. Their presence violatestheir own declared ceasefire. Thesoldiers used census-gatheringand the anti-drug Oplan Tokhangas their cover. They bluntly decla-red that "Only the NPA has a cea-sefire. We don't!"

In the village residents' expe-rience, soldiers repeatedly visithomes of suspected NPA sup-porters. During the protest, Ana-lyn Sabares, a Cawayan resident,reported that AFP troops returnedto her house looking for her. Themilitary had visited her three timesin the past.

"We cannot dry our rice. Wecontinued on page 4

November 7 , 2016 ANG BAYAN2

Editorial: Heighten the struggle againstthe more vicious Oplan Bayanihan 1

7000-strong protest in Masbate 1

AFP- US pillar of rule in the Philippines 4

US intervention and subversion 6

US, keep out of the Scarborough issue 6

Natmins return to the US embassy 7

National Day of Protest 8

Activist-leader in Cavite killed 8

Remembering the October Revolution 9

Agrarian Reform Conference in ST 10

New decision on the coco levy 11

Advance the people's welfare 12

Vol . XLVI I No. 21 | November 7, 2016

ContentsANG

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will have no more reason not toterminate the ceasefire decla-ration. This will add to the failureof the Duterte regime to fulfill itspromise of releasing 432 politicalprisoners through an amnestyproclamation.

Large protest actions of thou-sands of people have been launchedin some towns. This should be emu-lated across the country. Legalorganizations covering towns,districts and provinces must actquickly to unite the people andorganize their collective action.

They can work with humanrights centers, church people, pro-gressive lawyers and paralegals andother sectors who ardently supportpeace talks. Organizations againstOplan Bayanihan must be built in allbarrios being occupied by thearmed troops of the AFP.

Protests against Oplan Bayani-han must be broadcast throughoutthe entire country and the entireworld. The atrocities in the barrioscommitted by AFP armed troopsand PNP combat troops must bequickly exposed. Immediatelyinform the mass media of their pre-sence by calling radio stations, re-cording videos or taking picturesand propagating these on theinternet. Progressive media mustact posthaste in order to quicklyexpose the havoc wrought by OplanBayanihan operations.

The protests against the AFP'sOplan Bayanihan must be replicatedacross the entire country. Thesemust be carried out in line withintensifying the mass struggles todefend and advance the democraticinterests of the people.

Strengthen the support of stu-dents, church people, friends in themass media and other urban forcesin the struggle to drive away thearmed soldiers from rural commu-nities.

Organize activities in schools,churches and offices in the cities togive the peasants an opportunity tospeak of their sufferings under mi-litary occupation.

troops because they flaunt theirarmed power, disturb peace andorder, disrupt the people's lives andlivelihood, intimidate, threaten andunleash violence. They cause fearand trauma to the residents, espe-cially the children.

Daily, the people's anger ragesagainst the AFP over its violation ofcivil rights and humanitarian law inthe areas they occupy. In the de-speration to force the peasant mas-ses to bow to their power, there areincreasing numbers of incidents ofillegal arrests and detention, mau-ling and other violations of civilrights.

Amid continued scouring ofbarrios by armed troops of the AFP,there is rising clamor by the peoplefor the Party to end its ceasefire de-claration so that they and their peo-ple's army will no longer have theirhands tied from defending their wel-fare and rights against the AFP'sarmed oppression.

The Filipino people should uniteto vigorously oppose the relentlessvirulence of Oplan Bayanihan, in

particular, the presence, occupationand operations of armed soldiers incivilian communities.

The demand to end Oplan Baya-nihan and remove all armedsuppression troops of the AFP fromthe center of civilian communitiesmust reverberate across thecountry.

Duterte must be asked to provehimself true to his policy declarationof friendship with the CPP-NPA-NDFP and order the AFP to end allcounterinsurgency operations toallow peace talks between the GRPand NDFP to proceed to resolve theroots of the civil war through nego-tiations.

Such an undertaking is alsoconsistent with his declaration foran independent foreign policy be-cause Oplan Bayanihan is part of USscheme to suppress the patrioticforces. Such will also form part ofDuterte's effort to finally end UScontrol of the AFP and put it underhis command.

If Duterte will not end or evensuspend Oplan Bayanihan, the CPP

ANG BAYAN November 7 , 2016 3

Organize and mobilize vo-lunteers who wish to help in thecampaigns against Oplan Bayanihan.Organize rallies or missions from thecity centers towards the barriosoccupied by the AFP in order to di-rectly unite with the struggle of thepeople to drive away the armedsoldiers from their barrios.

Even if the the NPA is notlaunching offensive operationsagainst the uniformed state armedforces in accordance with the cea-

sefire declaration of the CPP, itmaintains closest ties with the mas-ses to help them resolve their pro-blems and advance their struggles.

With the help of the NPA,Party branches, people's militiasand mass organizations are beingbuilt inside the guerrilla fronts.The NPA is busy helping the pea-sant masses advance their antifeu-dal struggles.

The NPA supports all-out thepeople's stand and efforts against

Oplan Bayanihan. The NPA extendsprotection to the barrio activistsand mass leaders who are beingtargeted by the AFP.

The NPA remains the strongestfort of the people's democratic po-wer. It continues to recruit andtrain new Red fighters andstrengthens its unity in preparationfor bigger struggles ahead to defeatOplan Bayanihan as well as theenemy's all other campaigns ofsuppression.

AFP, a pillar of USrule in thePhilippines

For the last seven decades, US imperialismmaintained its neocolonial rule in the Phi-

lippines. The US used its political, economic andcultural domination to prolong its rule.

But the US most important facetin preserving its domination is itscontinued military presence combi-ned with its use of the Armed Forcesof the Philippines (AFP) as its pillarof rule.

This role of the AFP as instru-ment of the US is becoming increa-singly evident upon the emergenceof an anti-US Duterte regime.

These past months, Duterte'scriticisms against US interferenceand military presence have comeone after another. Despite Duterte'sdeclaration of separation from mili-tary and economic ties with the US,one US official averred that theywill continue to work with the AFP,and not Duterte.

This statement shows the directUS link to the armed machinery ofthe Philippine government.

History of servitudeEven during the early part of US

colonialism, its military alreadyformed and armed Filipino merce-naries to suppress their fellow Fili-pinos. The former local troops ofthe Spanish colonialists from Ma-

cabebe,Pampangawerereorganizedby the US in1899 andintegrated intothe newly-formed PhilippineScouts that were pitched intobattles against the Filipino revolu-tionaries. The colonial governmentalso formed the Philippine Consta-bulary (PC) in 1901 as provincialpolice to control the population,and later to fight the revolutiona-ries. As expected, the brutality ofUS troops against the Filipino peo-ple were copied by the Macabebe,Philippine Scouts and PC againsttheir own people. The academy forPC officers established in 1905 inIntramuros was transferred to Ba-guio City in 1908. By 1936, thisacademy was opened to officers ofthe newly-created Philippine Armyand came to be known as the Phi-lippine Military Academy (PMA).

From 1935 to 1940, the USestablished, trained and led the

Philippine Army, Philippine Navyand the germinal Philippine AirForce. American general DouglasMacArthur, who was reactivatedfrom retirement, became thecommander of Filipino forces. Heheld this section of the Filipino mili-tary, sending them to war againstthe Japanese. He abandoned themwhen he deserted at the height ofthe war in 1941. After the SecondWorld War, the US used its trainedFilipino troops to pursue the Huk-bong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan. In1947, the Armed Forces of the Phi-lippines was formally establishedand some of its battalions were de-ployed in the US wars of aggressionagainst the people of Korea andVietnam.

November 7 , 2016 ANG BAYAN4

cannot move around nor work be-cause they [the soldiers] are there,"Sabares recounted.

She is worried that soldiersmight plant bombs and illegal drugsinside her house like they plantedammunition and revolutionary pa-pers at another house.

On October 23, 12 soldiers cameto her house asking the where-abouts of Red fighters. This pressedher family to relocate and live withanother relative in a nearby village.Many families have fled in fear. Re-sidents also report numerous illegalsearches of their homes.

According to MAPO, some 100soldiers are deployed in the village ofDimasalang, while around 60 are inCawayan. There are also soldiers incommunities in the municipality ofPalanas.

Meanwhile, the NPA-Masbate(Jose Rapsing Command or JRC)condemned the intensified milita-rization of the whole province.According to Ka Luz del Mar of theJRC, militarization intensified inTicao Island after the AFP de-ployed "Peace and DevelopmentTeams" (PDT) since the latter partof 2014.

The JRC identified seven Ticaotowns as militarized up to the pre-sent. Since October 6, soldiersoccupied three villages in Dimasa-lang town and six in Cawayan, allfocused with PDT operations. The9th IB, Alpha Coy of the 31st IB,and the 9th CMO Battalion are alldeployed in these towns.

The JRC added that the ope-rations and continued occupation ofthe military creates great fear andapprehension among the villagepeople. It's as if martial law reignsin these towns because the localofficials' functions have been takenover. In Cawayan, one civilian wasillegally arrested on October 22, hishouse searched and he was forcedto act as a guide in the militaryoperations. A peasant youth wasalso arrested on October 24 in Ba-rangay Cabungahan.

JUSMAG directionAfter declaring the Philippi-

nes' bogus independence in 1945,the US maintained tight controlof the Philippine armed forces. Itimposed a set of unequal militaryagreements, including the Milita-ry Bases Agreement (1946), theMilitary Assistance Agreement(MAA, 1947) and the Mutual De-fense Treaty (1951). Under theMAA, the Joint US Military Advi-sory Group (JUSMAG) wasformed from combined officersand men (starting at 300personnel under a major general)of the US Army, Navy, and AirForce that would decide theAFP's counterinsurgency plans,arms and equipment procure-ment, training, indoctrinationand orientation. The JUSMAGoffices functioned like a militarybase, not unlike the 22 other USmilitary bases.

All official expenses of the JU-SMAG are being undertaken by thePhilippine government, includingits offices and housing for itspersonnel and their families whoare now based inside the AFP Ge-neral Headquarters in Camp Agui-naldo.

JUSMAG advice to the AFPcomes directly from the US PacificCommand from courses to betaught PMA cadets, to trainings ofFilipino officers under the Inter-national Military Education andTraining. From 1950 to 1990, mo-re than 20,000 AFP officers weresent to US military camps andtrained in US doctrine, militarypractice and weaponry.

JUSMAG also determines theAFP's arms and equipment procu-rement, often of the US military'soutmoded stocks. From 2001 to2015, US military aid to the AFPreached $340M, the fourth largestUS military aid.

From 1986-1989 the US sentthe AFP almost 2,900 military ve-hicles, around 50 helicopters, mo-re than 1,650 radios and others.The AFP also received $183.4M

military aid from the US under theUS-Aquino regime from 2010-2015.

US counterinsurgencyoperations

The JUSMAG also oversees theimplementation of the US go-vernment's Foreign Internal De-fense (FID) in the Philippines. FIDoperations are also known ascounterinsurgency operations thatare mainly implemented by the USArmy Special Forces, with the as-sistance of Psychological Ope-rations and Civil Affairs forces intheir target countries.

These operations include di-recting AFP operations, trainingand arming them, and employinglarge-scale civil-military andintelli gence operations toenhance combat operations. The"triad" (combat-intel-psywar)operations and the "clear-hold"phases of the past AFPcounterinsurgency campaigns areclear examples of the US' FID-based strategies. Barangay zo-nings in the 1970s against Moropeople and the revolutionarymovement's bases are also de-signed from the US' hamlettingcampaign since the 1900s and inVietnam in 1962.

The US military also occasio-nally publishes Field Manuals asguide for various fields of counter-insurgency. In the 2010 Field Ma-nual for counterinsurgency, theUS Special Forces openly advo-cated the maximum preponde-rance of forces as supposedly themost effective way to minimiseviolence. It also cites large-scalesurveillance, censorship, mediacontrol, repression of trade unionsand political parties, illegalarrests and detention, and otherhuman rights violations, and theassociated psychological warfareto make these violations accepta-ble.

The FID also promotes thetraining of Civilian Self DefenseForces to further destroy the

"7000-strong protest. . , " from page 1

ANG BAYAN November 7 , 2016 5

US intervention and subversion

US: Keep off the Scarborough issue—CPP

THE COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines (CPP) warned the US military andgovernment off the issue of the Scarborough Shoal on October 29 even as itwelcomed the peaceful settlement of the matter through friendly nego-tiations between the GRP President Duterte and China Premier Xi Jinping.

SOON AFTER Pres. Rodrigo Duterte attacked US intervention in the Phi-lippines and declared an independent foreign policy, US State DepartmentAssistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel in aspeech last October 23 threatened him with “people power.” According tohim, “nobody has come out victorious against the US.”

In the same speech, he saidthat the US is willing to continue“cooperation” with the Philippinemilitary despite Duterte’s “confu-sing” statements. This is in linewith the retraction made by Del-fin Lorenzana, current De-partment of Defense secretary.

Prior to this, US State De-partment’s Assistant Secretaryfor Public Affairs John Kirby ou-trightly threatened subversion in

a speech he made in November 3.Kirby dismissed the existing go-vernment’s sovereignty when hesaid that the US does not need togo through Duterte to developrelations with the different go-vernment agencies, as well asindividual members of his cabi-net.

He said that the US can main-tain relations despite the“uncertainties” brought about by

people's unity. In the Philippines,the first CAFGU forces wereformed by the present Departmentof National Defense Delfin Lo-renzana in 1987 when he was de-ployed in Davao as commander ofthe 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion.During that time, he activelysupported paramilitary operationssuch as those by the Alsa Masa.

Likewise, the AFP's extrajudi-cial killings of activists and su-spected supporters of the revolu-tionary movement are based on theUS FID in El Salvador during the1970s and 1980s. In the AFP'scase, there have been 238 victimsof extrajudicial killings under OplanBayanihan by May 2015, and 270cases of survivors from the shoo-ting. On the other hand, there weremore than 1,100 victims of killingsunder Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2from 2001 till 2009.

Another example of JUSMAG-implemented FID is the operationof around 700 US troops of theJoint Special Operations TaskForce-Philippines that have beentraining battalions of AFP and PNPyearly in the guise of "Balikatan"exercises to use in their "anti-terrorist war."

Aside from troops of the Spe-cial Operations Command-Pacific,Central Intelligence Agencyagents have been involved inpursuit and combat against theAbu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah,and those they consider "terro-rists" in 2014. The JSOTF-P alsotrained and directed the PNP Spe-cial Action Force that killed alle-ged terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir(Marwan) in Mamasapano, Ma-guindanao in January 2015.

US power remains over the go-vernment's armed machinery aslong as the JUSMAG and other US-imposed unequal military treatiesexist. As long as the AFP does notdo away with its puppetorientation, its officers and menwill continue to be instrumentsagainst the democratic and anti-imperialist interests if the people.

"The settlement of theScarborough issue underscoreswhat can be achieved by assertingnational independence, buildingfriendly relations with neighboringcountries and opposing outsideinterference, especially war insti-gations by the US military," saidthe CPP.

Since 2012, the ChineseCoast Guard had barred Filipinosfrom fishing around ScarboroughShoal with the former assertingsole rights in the area. This wasthe situation after China re-sponded when the Philippinessent a warship to arrest Chinesefishermen, an act it consideredprovocative.

After Duterte's talk with Chinaand his declaration of an inde-pendent foreign policy, fishermenhave freely continued their liveli-hood at the Scarborough fishinggrounds. Last November 1, ele-ments of the Chinese Coast Guardand Filipino fishermen shared ameal at the shoal.

The CPP anticipates furthersuccess in the peaceful settle-ment of other conflicting mari-time claims, including thosearound the Kalayaan Islands, inline with the assertions of the Fi-lipino people.

The basic premise and mosturgent condition for the settle-ment of all conflicting claimsshould be the demilitarization ofthe South China Sea to allow allcountries to make use of the searoute for international trade. TheCPP demands the US military toend all naval patrols including so-called "freedom of navigationoperations" which has no otheraim but invite retaliation.

"The US has no standingwhatsoever to meddle in an areathat is part of Philippine maritimeterritory. It is US war-mongeringand naval build-up in accordancewith its US pivot that is at the rootof the outstanding security pro-blems in the South China Sea, theCPP added.

November 7 , 2016 ANG BAYAN6

Minorities return to the USembassy

On October 27, hundreds ofnational minorities, Moro

and other sectors marched to theUS embassy, to call for an inde-pendent foreign policy and theremoval of US troops fromthe country.

Unlike the October 19violent dispersal, the policeobserved the rallyists froma distance and were orde-red by their commander to remaincalm. The protest was part of a two-week lakbayan that started on Octo-ber 13.

Under the leadership of Sandugo,the alliance of national minorities,groups and sectors declared the lakba-yan's success. The firm unity of natio-nal minorities in their struggle for theright to self-determination related toan independent foreign policy had beenforged.

The historic lakbayan was conclu-ded by the first ever tribunal againstthe US government for their exploi-tation of the country from the colonialperiod to the present. The tribunalthat was held at the Bonifacio Shrinein Manila was led by three judges orwali: Bagobo Matanen Monico Cayog,Maranaw Sultan Macasalong Sariband Manobo Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay.

The US troops' crimes as pre-sented by the leaders were:

- Massacre at Bud Dajo and BudBagsak, where thousands of Moroswere killed

-1906, the US' scorched earthpolicy against the Lumad at DavaoGulf, in retaliation for the killing of anAmerican officer Edward Bolton

- the case of the Aytas in CentralLuzon who were displaced from theirancestral lands to give way to the USmilitary bases and fell victim to theviolence and brutality of US troops

- Killings and other human rightsviolations in Mindanao brought aboutby the presence of American troops

under the VFA and Mutual DefenseTreaty, particularly by the Joint Spe-cial Operations Task Force-Philippines

- land grabbing of Lumad andMoro ancestral lands by US companiesto give way to plantations, mines andillegal logging

"The tribunal called for the deathto imperialism!" announced Bigkay.Sandugo leaders vowed to continuetheir struggle against foreign control,as they did against the Spanish andAmerican colonialists.

"We will not allow the Philippinesto become a slave to whatever foreignpower. We must lay the foundationfor an independent foreign policy thathas pro-people economic policies onland reform and national industriali-zation," declared Piya Macliing Mala-yao, Sandugo spokesperson.

Before this, progressive organi-zations protested in front of the Poli-ce Regional Office 13, Butuan City todenounce the violent dispersal of themass actions of national minorities onOctober 19.

On October 24, a dialogue alsotranspired between Sandugo and De-partment of Environment and NaturalResources Secretary Gina Lopez, atthe Campus Maintenance Office of theUniversity of the Philippines-Diliman.During the talks, Lopez called Lt. Gen.Ricardo Visaya, AFP Chief of Staff, onthe phone to appraise him of theSandugo complaints on the continuingmilitarization and human rights vio-lations of the soldiers and paramilita-

the president’s strong pro-nouncements.

In addition to what hecalled “people-to-people”relations, Kirby reiteratedUS control over the country’ssecurity issues, and thecontinuing subservience ofthe Philippine military to theUS. In relation to this, USDefense Secretary AshtonCarter met with Lorenzana inHawaii in late September,along with other ASEAN de-fense secretaries.

This November, the USwithdrew its sale of 27,000armalites to the PhilippineNational Police citing dismalreports on its anti-drug warkillings. The US also threate-ned to withdraw its $32million military aid promisedto Duterte in July.

At the same time, the AFPis still preparing for a month-long military exercise bet-ween the US and Philippinesslated this November 16 inPalawan. A company fromthe Philippine Army SpecialOperations Command andmore than a dozen elementsfrom the US Special Ope-rations Forces are set toparticipate in the BalancePiston 16-4. US specialforces are still operating inMindanao, despite Dutertepronouncements that they“must go.”

Meanwhile, a 10-day mi-litary exercise (HumanitarianMine Action Assistance Trai-ning) between the US andPhilippine navies was justconcluded this October 26 inPalawan to train Philippinemarines on how to operate USNavy explosives. This is de-spite Duterte’s announce-ment that the militaryexercise held on the firstweek of October will be thelast joint exercise to be heldin the country.

ANG BAYAN November 7 , 2016 7

ry elements in their communities.The general denied the militari-

zation and gave the excuse that themilitary were in the Lumad commu-nities to "teach" them to live pea-cefully and improve their livelihood.According to Visaya, the killed Lu-mads were NPA members.

Kerlan Fanagel, chairman ofPasaka, Confederation of LumadOrganizations in Southern Minda-nao, belied this statement. Visa-ya's pronouncements were no diffe-rent from what they have beenhearing from the past regime, hesaid. Fanagel said, militarizationhas intensified coinciding with ope-ning up an additional 500,000hectares of ancestral land for mi-ning and 700,000 hectares for bio-fuel plantations.

Meanwhile, on October 27, Be-

nito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon of the NDFP visited theSandugo camp. The twoconsultants declared their supportfor the national minorities' standagainst foreign aggression. Theysaid that the NDFP will include thenational minority question in theagenda for the peace talks with theGRP.

That same day, Sandugo filed acase at the Ombudsman against thepolice involved in the October 19dispersal. They filed charges for theviolation of R.A. 7438 (right ofpersons arrested) and B.P. 880(right to peaceably assemble andpetition the government) againstManila Police District Deputy Di-rector for Operations Senior Supe-rintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, MPDSupt. Albert Barot, PO3 Franklin

Kho, and seven other police offi-cers. Several criminal cases werealso filed against them.

Among those who filed caseswere the women who were ranover by the police van—Piya Mala-yao, 27, Valeria Catubigan, 61,Nicole Soria, 18, and QueenilynGromeo, 16, and Raymark Su-malbag, 23, driver and Pistonmember, who was pulled out fromhis jeepney and mauled by thepolice. He was in and out of thehospital for his head injuries andwas only discharged on October 22.

The group also filed a case atthe GRP-Nominated Section of theJoint Secretariat of the GRP-NDFPJoint Monitoring Committee on theComprehensive Agreement on theRespect for Human Rights and anLaw.

Group holds National Women’s Day

of Protest

LED BY THE Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP),hundreds of women launched the 33rd Na-tional Women’s Day of Protest on October28.

The women marched to the US embassywith calls to remove US military troops in thecountry and develop an independent foreignpolicy.

“This day of national women’s protest, weregister in front of the US Embassy our callfor the immediate removal of US soldiers,bases and war materiel in our country. Allunequal treaties that stunted the growth ofour country must be ended. The Philippinescan! US, go home!” said Rep. Emmi De Jesus.

Arlene Brosas, GWP representative,stressed the social costs of continued USpresence in the country. She said this has re-sulted in a generation of abandoned childrenand innumerable women who are left vulne-rable and exploited by the military agree-ments. This has brought about prostitution inthe face of a weak economy that leaves manywomen unemployed.

The first national women’s day of protestwas held on October 28, 1983, when morethan 10,000 women led by Gabriela marchedto Mendiola to condemn the exploitation, re-pression, corruption and torture by the US-Marcos dictatorship.

Mass leader and activist murdered in Cavite

TRECE MARTIRES CITY, October 19, 10 p.m.: Merly Valgunaand Rodora Mallari were shot to death at close range by ahelmet-wearing man at the Bantayan sa Palengke protestcenter they were setting up inside the TMC Annex Market.Valguna and Mallari were then guarding the said center.

Valguna is president of the TMC Annex Association, theorganization fighting for the sellers’ rights to decent livelihood.Mallari is an active member of the said organization that is lea-ding the fight against the market’s imminent re-fencing andlock-down.

Patnubay de Guia, spokesperson of the National DemocraticFront-Southern Tagalog, strongly condemned the reprehensiblemurder. De Guia called upon the TMC Annex Market sellers andtheir advocates to continue intensifying the struggle for theirright to land and livelihood, and to attain justice for Valguna andMallari.

The sellers’ struggle started after the local governmentpassed the market’s management to the private YIC Group ofCompanies and CitiSquare in 2013. The sellers already hadoutstanding contracts for their right to lease the stalls and ha-ve been regularly paying market stall fees. When they refusedto sign the new contracts being forced on them, they becamesubject to attempted eviction and market demolition by themayor’s goons. Through all these, they continued to defendtheir rights by signing petitions, filing charges, holding dialo-gues, and linking arms to bodily block the demolition.

Meanwhile, other markets in Bacoor, Cavite also faceimminent closure. Earlier in 2011, a part of the Kadiwa Markethad been demolished to give way to an SM Hypermarketbranch, which deprived 1,500 sellers and 500 families of theirlivelihood.

November 7 , 2016 ANG BAYAN8

Remembering the 1917 October Revolution

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) declared last year thestart of a two-year commemoration of the centennial of the Russian

October Revolution's victory (See Ang Bayan, November 7, 2015.) The CPPencourages launching of seminars, publication and dissemination ofMarxist-Leninist-Maoist writings, creation of artworks, assemblies andcultural presentations on this subject.

Today marks the commencement of the one year commemoration ofthe Russian October Revolution that brought Russia (eventually known asthe USSR or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ) to the peak of socia-list development in the latter half of the 20th century. Althoughthe USSR disintegrated totally in 1991, the October Revolutioninspired victorious revolutions and continues to convey les-sons to all revolutionaries desiring liberation from imperia-lism and the creation of socialism in their own countries.

It was in October 25 (in the Ju-lian calendar used by Russia thenand equivalent to November 7 in theGregorian calendar used today),1917, when the Bolshevik Party(later to become the CommunistParty) under the leadership of Vla-dimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) decla-red the revolution's victory. Thiswas the result of three months ofpreparation and two days of armedclashes.

Revolutionary preparationsThe Bolshevik Party operated

above-ground after the tsar's de-feat by the bourgeois-democraticrevolution on February 27, 1917.The February Revolution gave birthto two separate centers of politicalpower, one at the national level, thebourgeoisie-controlled provisionalgovernment under Prime MinisterAleksandr Kerensky, and anothercomposed of the soviets (localworkers, soldiers and peasantscommittees), where the Party ledonly a few. Although the Kerenskygovernment preferred to continuethe tsar's policies, the Party did notcall for its immediate overthrow.Instead, it carried the line ofwinning the majority of the soviets,and through the soviets to alter thecomposition and policy of the go-vernment. The Party launched inde-fatigable propaganda and organi-zing work among the soviets, tradeunions and workers committees,

and amongsoldiers in thearmy and navy atthe front and rear. By June, most ofthe soviets' composition hadchanged in favor of the Bolsheviksand supported the Party's call.

Of the tsar's previous policiesthat the Kerensky governmentopted to continue, the involvementin the First World War was mosthated by the people. From June toJuly, massive demonstrations ofhundreds of thousands of sponta-neous and organized workers,soldiers and women were held inPetrograd—Russia's industrial cen-ter as well as the Bolshevik Party'scenter—to protest the war and callfor the transfer of power from theprovisional government to the so-viets.

The demonstrations were metwith state violence and many de-monstrators were killed. The go-vernment then turned to the revo-lutionary movement and issued anarrest warrant for Lenin and otherParty leaders for high treason andallegedly organizing an armed upri-sing. Thus, the Party resumedunderground operations. In the Ju-ly-August conference, it decidedthat the peaceful period had cometo an end, and armed revolutionwas the order of the day.

The seizure of powerOn October 10, 1917 the

Party's Central Committee decidedthat conditions were ripe for armeduprising. This was based on (1)international status of the RussianRevolution as evidenced by the re-volt in the German navy, the threatof conclusion of peace by the impe-rialists with the object of stranglingthe revolution in Russia, as well asthe decision of the bourgeoisie tosurrender Petrograd to theGermans, (2) the fact that the pro-letarian party has gained a majorityin the Soviets, taken in conjunctionwith the peasant revolt and theswing of popular confidence to-wards the Party, and (3) theobvious preparations being made bythe right for a second militaryaction.

The Party set up a Revolutio-nary Military Committee of the Pe-trograd Soviet, while thecounterrevolutionaries set up anOfficers League which reached 43shock battalions (special infantryassault units) aside from otherspecial battalions.

On October 18, two traitors tothe Party exposed the planneduprising so Kerensky transferredmore troops to Petrograd from thewar front and prepared to attackthe Bolshevik headquarters atSmolny on the eve of the SecondAll-Russian Congress of Soviets.

ANG BAYAN November 7 , 2016 9

Peasants hold conferenceon agrarian revolution in ST

Last year, a guerilla front in Southern Tagalog (ST) held a front-levelconference on agrarian revolution. More than a hundred peasants from

different barrios and towns attended. The conference was part of the re-gional effort to consolidate peasant organizations and advance the people’swar.

Preparations for the confe-rence took almost a year. Prior tothe activity, researches were ma-de, initial meetings and activitiesfor consolidation and expansionwere held. Most of the partici-pants were long-time members oflocal Party branches and chaptersof the Pambansang Katipunan ngmga Magbubukid (PKM or Natio-nal Peasant Association). Theylooked forward to sharing theirexperiences and drawing up newplans.

The conference tackled thenational peasant situation, as wellas their particular situation in theregion. The delegates looked backon previous victories before initialresearch results were presented.

In general, the 60-40 share sy-stem favoring the landlord prevailsin areas of the said front. There areareas where the 50-50 share sy-stem already exists. But under thisdivision, the peasant shouldersmost of the cost of production,which amounts to 17% of the netprofit while the landlord shouldersonly up to 5%. When computed,peasants’ profits amount to onlyP19/day. Under this arrangementwherein the landlord shoulders toolittle of the cost of production, thereal sharing system is actually setat 70-30.

During the previous years,successive typhoons worsened thepeasants’ plight. With productionat its lowest, leasing out land be-came prevalent, a situationlandlords and usurers exploited. Insome cases, interest rates reachedup to 350%. In cases where land isleased out to a landlord, sharing isset at 85-15 even where the 50-50system already prevails. Underthese circumstances, peasantscould never recover from theirdebts despite all their toil.

At the same time, the delegatesacknowledged the neglect of ideo-logical, political and organizationalwork during this period. These pre-vented their associations fromeffectively countering the heighte-ned landlord exploitation and pre-vious victories were thus not su-stained.

In this light, the delegates,together with the front’s redfighters and leading Party cadres,went through the PKM basic docu-ments, the Revolutionary Guide toLand Reform and Guide to theEstablishment of the People’s De-mocratic Government. These gui-des, alongside initial researches,will guide them in the restorationandreacti-vation of

On October 21, the Revolu-tionary Military Committee sentout the directive to all revolutio-nary units in the army, factories,plants and even the warshipsAurora and Zarya Svobody toprepare for the uprising duringthe opening of the second All-Russia Congress of Soviets.

While boasting at a meeting ofthe Petrograd Soviet, Leon Trots-ky, a Party member who stronglydisagreed with Bolshevik policies,exposed the planned date of theuprising. The Party reset the dateone day earlier, but Kerenskystarted the attack at dawn ofOctober 24 (November 6) at theParty's central organ RabochyPut's printing plant. This was re-pulsed by the workers' militia, theRed Guards. By 11 a.m., the Ra-bochy Put had printed out theParty's call for the overthrow ofthe provisional government. Untilevening, detachments of RedGuards and soldiers supportingthe revolution poured in toSmolny, and they were dispatchedto surround the Winter Palace,the tsar's former seat of rule,where the Kerensky governmentwas entrenched and defended bycadets and shock battalions.

By the morning of October 25(November 7), revolutionarytroops controlled the trainstation, post office, telegraphoffice, the ministries and thestate bank. In the evening, thewarship Aurora shelled theWinter Palace, after which, therevolutionary workers, soldiersand marines stormed the palaceand arrested the provisional go-vernment.

The Second All-RussianCongress of Soviets began atSmolny at 10:45 p.m., wheremajority of the elected wereBolsheviks. The congress pro-claimed that state power hadpassed into the hands of the so-viets. One sixth of the face of theearth had been liberated fromimperialism.

November 7 , 2016 ANG BAYAN10

Call on Duterte to addressthe people’s urgent needs

Despite the Duterte regime’s promises of change, it is undeniable that mea-sures to address the people’s poverty and hardship have been woefully

inadequate.

It has done nothing to decisivelyend contractualization. It continuesto deny the workers’ demand to rai-se wages. It claims to lack theneccesary funds to raise salaries ofgoverment employees, except forthe police and military. It permittedforeign companies and big compra-dors to raise prices of their productsand services. Worse, it allowedtechnocrats in its cabinet to draftanti-people schemes in the form ofadditional taxes.

The Duterte regime has donenothing to address the oil priceswhich has risen thrice since Octo-ber. Prices increased after the OPEC(Organization of Oil-ExportingCountries) announced its intentionto impose a moratorium on oil pro-duction to arrest the decline incrude oil prices. The cut back is yetto be implemented in November butoil companies have already beenusing this to justify successive

increases in gasoline, diesel, kero-sene and liquified petroleum gas(LPG) prices in the country.

Diesel and kerosene prices rosehighest on the second week ofOctober (P1.50/liter at P0.85/literrespectively) while LPG prices roseby P3.41/kilo this November. Thisyear alone, diesel and gasoline netprice increases reached up toP7.63/liter and P5.04/liter re-spectively.

Oil price increases will becomeeven more burdensome if Congresspasses the Department of Finance’sbill to impose excise taxes on petro-leum products like diesel, keroseneand LPG at P6/liter. Products likegasoline, aviation fuel and otherswill have their excise taxes raisedfrom P4/liter to P10/liter. This isover and above the 12% value-addedtaxes already levied on the saidproducts.

Meanwhile, the Duterte regime

their organizations.Among the resolutions the

conference reached was theestablishment of the PKM atthe municipal level, and theconcurrent fast and wide-spread creation of its chaptersin the front’s barrios. In orderto do this, they elected a mu-nicipal-level standing com-mittee which will coordinatetheir efforts.

As one delegate observed,“We have long been contentedwith organizing groups andorganizing committees at thebarrio level. These past years,our most advanced experiencehas been developing full-pledged mass associations.The resolution to set-up PKMat the municipal, district andprovincial level is a big stepforward and a learning pro-cess in how to manage the re-volutionary peasant move-ment.

Nine other resolutions we-re passed by the conference.These include the campaignagainst the 75-25 sharing sy-stem in favor of the peasantsfrom the current 60-40. Therewere also resolutions forcampaigns to increase farmworkers’ wages, lower usuriousrates and debt interests andraise farm gate prices.

In response to the call tostrenghten armed struggle,the delegates pledged to de-ploy three to five members perorganization to the New Peo-ple’s Army.

The PKM conferenceformally closed with speechesfrom its leaders. The activityleft each delegate thechallenge to consolidate theinitial efforts to establish Redpower in the countryside byupholding, supervising andstrengthening their organi-zation at all levels, advancingagrarian revolution andintensifying armed struggle.

New decision on coco levy slammed

THE KILUSANG MAGBUBUKID ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Coco Levy Funds Ibalik saAmin (CLAIM) strongly denounced the Supreme Court's reversal of its 2000 deci-sion ordering the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to return P25.45 million sharesthat form part of the government’s billion-peso coco levy fund, including theincome the shares earned since March 1986.

KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores said it’s as if the Supreme Court hasno shame in reversing its decision. The court’s decision states that the SMC wassupposedly not given a chance to "present, explain and prove" its claim on thesaid shares. Using "due process" as justification, the Supreme Court denied thesmall coconut farmers of their just and reasonable recovery of the funds.

The group asserts that SMC’s controlled shares are from the Coconut Indus-try Investment Fund-Oil Mills Group (CIIF-OMG), thus clearly belonging to thecoconut farmers.

CLAIM-Quezon encouraged the Duterte administration to approve Anakpa-wis Partylist’s House Bill 557 which will create a Genuine Small Coconut Farmers’Fund (GSCFF).

The GSCFF will establish a “council of small coconut planters” to protect themore than P72 billion coco levy fund already in government hands. This will givecontrol to the funds’ legitimate owners.

ANG BAYAN November 7 , 2016 11

has remained silent on the increa-sing power rates which have risensince July from P0.19/kwh orP200/month for a family whichconsumes 200/kwh. Companies aresaying that charges will increaseagain in November and Decemberdue to the weakening of the pesoand rising coal costs. The Philippi-nes has one of the highest electrici-ty rates in Asia.

The Duterte regime has also notdone anything to arrest rising pri-ces of commodities this pastquarter, especially food which hasrisen supposedly due to successivetyphoons. Inflation rates increasedto 2.4% in September, the highest inthe last 18 months. October ratesare expected to be much higher dueto the increase in almost all non-food items such as housing, electri-city and water, fuel and trans-portation.

Faced with such hardships, theregime’s tack of distributing aid andassistance to calamity victims andfamilies it deems to be the “poorestof the poor” is not enough to alle-viate the people’s situation. Duterte

should move away from stop-gapmeasures and institute decisivesteps to raise the people from po-verty.

The regime must make good itspromise to stop contractualizationand more importantly, create newand regular jobs. It should decisive-ly confront the capitalists and sidewith the workers to raise wages andsalaries. It should address the ri-sing costs of petroleum productsthrough centralized and state-to-state oil procurement fromcountries like Brunei, Indonesia oreven Iran and Venezuela.

It should implement strict pricecontrols and prevent capitalists andmerchants from exploiting shorta-ges. More than

this, it should put into place agri-cultural policies which will ensuresufficient food supply, subsidizebasic agricultural products andsupport peasants during calamities.

The people’s plight is worse-ning. In a national surveyconducted by Ibon Foundation inSeptember, seven of every ten Fili-pinos said that they are poor. Morethan half of the subjects said thatthey had difficulties buying food dueto lack of funds. About 40% saidthey had difficulties sending theirchildren to school and almost 50%said they had difficulties in buyingmedicine.

The said survey put into doubtan earlier touted survey thatthe number of poor Filipinoshave gone down during thesecond quarter of the year.According to state agencies,

the said drop is artificial,temporary and was made pos-sible only due to electoralspending. If the regime does

not make any move soon, thepeople’s lives will continue to de-teriorate.