GPH makes resumption of formal talks impossible and obscures Dutch complicity in fouling up decryption code

Fidel V. Agcaoili
Spokesperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
9 September 2011

The statements yesterday of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Chairperson Alexander Padilla of the Negotiating Panel of the Government of the Philippines (GPH, formerly designated as GRP) have made impossible the resumption of formal talks between the GPH and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma, chairperson and member, respectively, of the NDFP Negotiating Panel have been exhausting all diplomatic and political means to ensure that the formal talks between the GPH and the NDFP push through on a principled basis.

But the GPH response has been to publicly declare that it has no intention of complying with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and the Oslo joint statements of January and February 2011 by denying its obligation to release all or most of the 17 JASIG-protected individuals (as of February 2011) under its military custody.

Padilla even attempted to throw the blame on the NDFP for the GPH own non-compliance by citing the unsuccessful decrypting of the encrypted photographs in the safety deposit box. Padilla feigns ignorance of the connivance between the GRP/GPH and the Dutch government in the raids conducted on seven houses in The Netherlands and the confiscation of all electronic equipments, including the decrypting diskettes, which resulted in the fouling up of the decryption code and the non-return of the most important diskette.
 

Chairperson Jalandoni has made clear that the NDFP is determined to pursue the peace negotiations with the GPH to address the roots of the armed conflict, forge agreements on basic social, economic and political reforms, and pave the way for a just and lasting peace in the country. But the GPH must show good faith and comply with signed agreements – in this particular case the JASIG and Oslo joint statements as a positive step towards resuming the formal talks.

How can the GPH be trusted to comply with core agreements or any other agreement when it willfully refuses to comply with the JASIG, an agreement that merely guarantees the safety and immunity of individuals (including those of the Manila government) involved in the peace negotiations? How can the GRP inspire confidence when it considers compliance with obligations under signed agreements as “precondition”?

The NDFP will not agree to sit across the negotiating table with the GPH in any formal talks or meetings while the GPH refuses to comply with signed agreements and holds hostage the JASIG-protected individuals. The NDFP will refuse to negotiate under duress and until the GPH and its negotiators show sincerity and honor their word by complying with obligations under the JASIG and the Oslo joint statements of January and February 2011 by releasing all or most of the JASIG-protected individuals.

It has become abundantly clear that the GPH/GRP is out to scuttle the peace negotiations, blame the NDFP for scuttling these and justify the US-designed Oplan Bayanihan, a brutal military campaign of suppression thinly masked as a peace and development plan.

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NPA military actions in Central Panay are responses to the people’s demand for justice against the 61st IB’s long list of crimes

Jurie Guerrero
Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command, NPA-Central Panay
August 29, 2011

NPA units under the Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command in Central Panay launched three consecutive military actions from August 23 to August 28, 2011. These actions are the NPA’s firm response to the 61st IB’s very long list of violence and violation of human rights against the people.

Last August 28, 2011, sometime past ten in the morning, a platoon of Red fighters used a command detonated land mine to ambush the 6-man command group of Bravo Company, 61st IB, aboard a KM 450 military vehicle at the boundary of Bgy Switch and Bgy Bagong Barrio, Tapaz, Capiz. Wounded in the ambush were 1Lt Jose Dalida, CO of Bravo Coy, 2Lt Lisbon Brawner, and enlisted personnel—Pfc Arman Himorañon, Pfc Marlo Gahum and Cpl Reynante Vicente while Cpl Pedrajas was unhurt. Pfc Marlo Gahum died without reaching the hospital because it took more than two hours for the two Huey helicopters to evacuate the wounded. An additional casualty, Pfc Rolly Plano, was wounded when the reo carrying reinforcements turned turtle in Sitio Ambulong, Bgy Malitbog, Tapaz. Bravo Company is the most stubborn implementor of Oplan Bayanihan in Central Panay among the four companies under the 61st Infantry Battalion.

Meanwhile, two harassment actions were launched against two PDT (Peace and Development Team) units of the Charlie Company, 61st IB. The first harassment was fired on August 23, 2011, a little past ten in the morning, against the PDT unit staying at the elementary school building in the barrio center of Brgy Tacayan, Tapaz. The second harassment was implemented on August 28, 2011, past five in the afternoon, against the PDT unit which was also lodged in the elementary school building in the barrio center of Brgy Acuña in the same municipality. In these harassments, the NPA made sure no civilians were harmed.

For almost three months before these actions, from June to August, upland barrios in Tapaz have been disturbed without let up by military operations of 61st IB troops, who encountered an NPA squad in August 6, 2011 at the boundary of Bgy Lahug and Bgy Aglinab, Tapaz, Capiz. After the encounter, the 61st IB intensified its military operations to pursue this squad. In the midst of their hot pursuit operations, Major Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, commander of 3rd ID, arrogantly called on the NPA to surrender. Their hot pursuit operations culminated in the establishment of additional PDT units in the barrio centers of barangays Tacayan, Acuña, Nayawan, Lahug and Aglinab. These are in addition to the existing PDT units in the barrio centers of barangays Libertad, Wright, Roosevelt, San Miguel Ilaya, Katipunan and the PA-CAA detachments in Masaroy, Calinog and Abangay, Tapaz. This clearly shows the military’s utter disregard of the people’s legitimate petition against the military’s prolonged stay in the barrio centers. It has become clearer to the people that contrary to their pronouncements, the military’s intentions in staying at the barrio centers are not peace and development but war, not defense but the use of people as human shields.

The 61st IB’s already long list of crimes against the people in Negros is rapidly growing longer in Panay Island. Among its most recent violations are: 1) PDTs are stubbornly staying at the barrio centers of 11 barrios in Tapaz and Calinog despite the people’s strong protest; 2) psywar and threats against those who signed the petition and coercing them to admit that they are NPA supporters; 3) publicly accusing some persons that they are NPA members who supposedly had pictures holding guns or taking oaths; 4) persistent harassment of progressive organizations and their leaders, endangering the lives of these leaders by fabricating stories that their groups are front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF; 5) misinforming the people with fake programs of land distribution; and 6) giving protection to foreign corporations that bring in environmentally-destructive projects like mining and dams.

These consecutive successful actions of the NPA are surely appreciated by the people of Negros and Panay. Through these, victims of the 61st IB’s military violence will be given justice. Again, the people will prove that only through the long arms of revolutionary justice will their cries be answered.

_________________________________________________


New People’s Army
Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command
Central Panay
Press Statement
Agosto 29, 2011

Ang mga aksyon militar ng NPA sa Central Panay ay sagot sa isinisigaw na hustisya ng mamamayan laban sa mahabang listahan ng krimen ng 61st IB

Tatlong sunod-sunod na mga aksyon militar ang inilunsad ng mga yunit ng NPA sa ilalim ng Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command sa Central Panay mula noong Agosto 23, 2011 hanggang Agosto 28, 2011. Ang mga aksyong ito ang matatag na sagot ng NPA sa Central Panay sa masyado nang mahabang listahan ng mga karahasan at mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng 61st IB laban sa mamamayan.

Noong Agosto 28, 2011, pasado alas dies ng umaga, inambus ng isang platun ng Pulang mandirigma gamit ang command detonated land mine ang 6-ka-taong command group ng Bravo Company ng 61st IB na sakay sa isang KM 450 na sasakyang militar sa hangganan ng Bgy Switch at Bgy Bagong Barrio, Tapaz, Capiz. Nasugatan sa ambus sina 1Lt Jose Dalida, CO ng Bravo Company, 2Lt Lisbon Brawner, at ang mga enlisted personnel na sina Pfc Arman Himorañon, Pfc Marlo Gahum at si Cpl Reynante Vicente samantalang nag-iisang walang sugat si Cpl Pedrajas. Si Pfc Marlo Gahum ay namatay bago madala sa ospital dahil mahigit dalawang oras pa bago dumating ang 2 Huey helicopter na siyang nag-ebakweyt ng mga sugatan. Nadagdagan pa ang sugatan nang bumalentong ang isang reo na sinasakyan ng reinporsment sa Sityo Ambulong, Bgy Malitbog, Tapaz. Nasugatan si Pfc Rolly Plano. Ang Bravo Company ang pinakamasugid sa apat na kumpanya sa ilalim ng 61st IB sa pagpapatupad ng Oplan Bayanihan sa Central Panay.

Ang dalawang aksyong harasment naman ay inilunsad laban sa dalawang yunit ng PDT (Peace and Development Team) sa ilalim ng Charlie Company ng 61st IB. Ang unang harasment ay isiginawa noong Agosto 23, 2011, pasado alas diyes ng umaga, laban sa PDT yunit na naka-istasyon sa eskwelahan sa sentrong baryo ng Tacayan, Tapaz. Ang ikalawang harasment ay isinagawa noong Agosto 28, 2011, pasado alas singko ng hapon, laban sa PDT yunit na naka-istasyon din sa eskwelahan sa sentrong baryo ng Acuña sa bayan ding iyon. Sa nabanggit na mga harasment ay walang nasalantang mga sibilyan dahil sa mahigpit na pagtitiyak ng mga yunit ng NPA.

Bago ng nabanggit na mga aksyon, mula Hunyo hanggang Agosto 2011, halos tatlong buwan nang ginalugad ng naga-operasyong tropa ng 61st IB ang mga mabundok na baryo ng Tapaz hanggang sa na-engkwentro nila ang isang iskwad ng NPA noong Agosto 6, 2011 sa hangganan ng Bgy Lahug at Bgy Aglinab, Tapaz, Capiz. Pagkatapos ng engkwentro ay lalo pang pinaigting ng 61st IB ang kanyang mga operasyon para habulin at paalisin ang na-engkwentrong iskwad ng NPA. Sa gitna ng kanilang mga hot pursuit operations, mayabang na nagpanawagan si Major Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, kumander ng 3rd ID, na magsurender na ang mga NPA. Ang kanilang hot pursuit operations ay nagtapos sa pagpupwesto ng dagdag na mga yunit ng PDT sa mga sentro ng baryo sa Tacayan, Acuña, Nayawan, Lahug at Aglinab. Dagdag ito sa dati nang nakaposisyon na mga yunit ng PDT sa mga sentro ng baryo ng Libertad, Wright, Roosevelt, San Miguel Ilaya, Katipunan at sa mga detatsment ng PACafgu sa Masaroy, Calinog at Abangay, Tapaz. Maliwanag itong pagbabale-wala sa makatarungang petisyon ng mga mamamayan laban sa pagtigil ng militar sa mga sentro ng baryo. Lalo ring lumiliwanag sa mga mamamayan, kabaliktaran ng mga buladas ng 61st IB, na hindi kapayapaan at kaunlaran kundi digmaan at hindi pagtatanggol kundi paggamit sa mga mamamayan bilang kalasag ang tunay na layunin ng kanilang pagpupwesto sa mga sentro ng baryo.

Ang dati nang mahabang listahan ng mga krimen ng 61st IB laban sa mga mamamayan ng Negros ay mabilis na dinuduggtungan dito sa sa Isla ng Panay. Kabilang sa pinakahuling mga karahasan nito ay ang: 1) patuloy na pagpupusisyon ng mga yunit ng PDT sa mga sentro ng 11 baryo ng Tapaz at Calinog sa kabila ng malakas na reklamo ng mga mamamayan; 2) pag-psywar at pagbabanta sa mga nagpirma sa petisyon at pilit na pagpapaamin na supporter sila ng NPA; 3) pagpapalaganap ng mga gawa-gawang kwento na kasapi ng NPA ang ilang mamamayan dahil sa nakuha raw na litratong nagdadala sila ng armas ukon sumusumpa; 4) patuloy na harasment ng mga progresibong organisasyon at mga lideres nito at paglagay sa balag ng alanganin ng kanilang buhay sa pamamagitan ng paglulubid ng kwento na ang mga ito raw ay front organizations ng CPP-NPA-NDF; 5) panlilinlang sa mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng pekeng programa sa pamamahagi ng lupa; at 6) pagbigay ng proteksyon sa mga dayuhang kumpanya na magpapasok ng nakasisira ng kalikasan na mga proyektong pagmimina at dam.

Sa pagsasagawa ng NPA ng sunod-sunod na matagumpay na mga aksyon, tiyak na nasisiyahan ang mga mamamayan ng Negros at Panay. Sa pamamagitan nito mabibigyan ng hustisya ang mga biktima ng mga karahasang militar ng 61st IB. Muling mapapatunayan ng mamamayan na sa pamamagitan lang ng mahabang kamay ng rebolusyonaryong hustisya mabibigyan ng kaganapan ang kanilang isinisigaw na mga kahilingan.

Jurie Guerrero
Tagapagsalita

___________________________________________

New People’s Army
Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command
Central Panay
Press Statement
Agosto 29, 2011

Mga aksyon militar sang NPA sa Central Panay sabat sa ginasinggit nga hustisya sang pumuluyo batuk sa malaba nga listahan sang krimen sang 61st IB

Tatlo ka sunod-sunod nga mga aksyon militar ang ginlunsar sang mga yunit sang NPA sa idalom sang Jose Percival Estocada, Jr. Command sa Central Panay halin sang Agosto 23, 2011 tubtob Agosto 28, 2011. Ang mga aksyon nga ini ang mabaskog nga sabat sang NPA sa Central Panay sa tuman na ka laba nga listahan sang mga kalakasan kag mga paglapas sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung sang 61st IB batuk sa pumuluyo.

Sang Agosto 28, 2011, pasado alas dies sang aga gin-ambus sang isa ka platun sang Pulang hangaway gamit ang command detonated land mine ang 6-ka-tawo nga command group sang Bravo Company sang 61st IB nga sakay sa isa ka KM 450 nga salakyan militar sa lindero sang Bgy Switch kag Bgy Bagong Barrio, Tapaz, Capiz. Napilasan sa ambus sanday 1Lt Jose Dalida, CO sang Bravo Coy, 2Lt Lisbon Brawner, kag ang mga enlisted personnel nga sanday Pfc Arman Himorañon, Pfc Marlo Gahum kag si Cpl Reynante Vicente samtang solo nga wala mapilasan si Cpl Pedrajas. Si Pfc Marlo Gahum ang napatay nga wala makaabot sa ospital bangud malapit sa masobra duha ka oras antes mag-abot ang 2 ka Huey helicopter nga amo ang nag-ebakweyt sang mga pilason. Nadugangan pa ang pilason sang nagbalintong ang isa ka reo nga ginasakyan sang reinporsment sa Sityo Ambulong, Bgy Malitbog, Tapaz. Napilasan si Pfc Rolly Plano. Ang Bravo Company amo ang pinakamasupog sa apat ka kumpanya sa idalom sang 61st IB sa pagpatuman sang Oplan Bayanihan sa Central Panay.

Ang duha ka harasment aksyon naman ang ginlunsar batuk sa duha kag yunit sang PDT (Peace and Development Team) sa idalom sang Charlie Company sang 61st IB. Ang una nga harasment gintigayon sang Agosto 23, 2011, pasado alas dies sang aga, batuk sa PDT yunit nga nagatener sa eskwelahan sa sentrong baryo sang Tacayan, Tapaz. Ang ikaduha nga harasment ginpatuman sang Agosto 28, 2011, pasado alas singko sang hapon, batuk sa PDT yunit nga nagatener man sa eskwelahan sa sentrong baryo sang Acuña sang amo man nga banwa. Sa nasambit nga mga harasment wala sang naulamid nga mga sibilyan bangud sang hugot nga pagpaseguro sang mga yunit sang NPA.

Antes ang nasambit nga mga aksyon, malapit sa tatlo ka bulan halin sang Hunyo tubtob Agosto 2011, nga ginlabugay sang naga-operasyon nga tropa sang 61st IB ang mga nabukid nga kabaryuhanan sang Tapaz tubtob nga natabo nga na-engkwentro sini ang isa kag iskwad sang NPA sadtong Agosto 6, 2011 sa lindero sang Bgy Lahug kag Bgy Aglinab, Tapaz, Capiz. Pagkatapos sang engkwentro labi nga ginpasingki sang 61st IB ang iya mga operasyon para lagson kag tabugon ang na-engkwentro nga iskwad sang NPA. Sa katung-anan sang ila mga hot pursuit operations, pahambog nga nagpanawagan si Major Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, kumander sang 3rd ID, nga magsurender na ang mga NPA. Ang ila hot pursuit operations nagtapos sa pagpwesto sang dugang nga mga yunit sang PDT sa mga sentro sang baryo sa mga kabaryuhanan sang Tacayan, Acuña, Nayawan, Lahug kag Aglinab. Dugang ini sa daan na nga nagaposisyon nga mga yunit sang PDT sa mga sentro sang baryo sang Libertad, Wright, Roosevelt, San Miguel Ilaya, Katipunan kag sa mga detatsment sang PA-Cafgu sa Masaroy, Calinog kag Abangay, Tapaz. Maathag ini nga pagbale-wala sa matarung nga petisyon sang mga pumuluyo batuk sa ila pagtener sa mga sentro sang baryo. Labi man nga nagaathag sa mga pumuluyo, baliskad sa ila mga ginawakal, nga indi kalinungan kag kauswagan kundi gyera kag indi pagpangapin kundi paggamit nga taming sa mga pumuluyo ang matuod nga katuyuan sang ila pagpwesto sa mga sentro sang baryo.

Ang daan na nga malaba nga listahan sang mga krimen sang 61st IB batuk sa mga pumuluyo sang Negros ang madasig nga ginasugpunan diri sa sa Isla sang Panay. Maisip sa pinakalab-as nga mga kalakasan sini amo ang: 1) padayon nga pagtener sang mga yunit sang PDT sa mga sentro sang 11 ka baryo sang Tapaz kag Calinog sa pihak sang mabaskog nga pagpamatuk sang mga pumuluyo; 2) pag-psywar kag pagpamahog sa mga nagpirma sa petisyon kag pilit nga paakuon nga supporter sila sang NPA; 3) pagpatu-pato nga katapu sang NPA ang pila ka pumuluyo bangud sang kuno mga retrato nga naga-uyat sila sang armas ukon nagasumpa; 4) padayon nga harasment sang mga progresibo nga organisasyon kag mga lideres nila kag pagbutang sa katalagman sang ila mga kabuhi paagi sa paglubid sang istorya nga ang mga ini front organizations sang CPP-NPA-NDF; 5) pagpaniplang sa pumuluyo paagi sa peke nga programa sa pagpanagtag sang duta; kag 6) paghatag proteksyon sa mga dumuluong nga kumpanya nga magadala sang makahalalit nga proyekto sa sa pagmina kag dam.

Sa pagtigayon sang NPA sang sunod-sunod nga madinalag-on nga mga aksyon, pat-ud nga nagakalipay ang mga pumuluyo sang Negros kag Panay. Paagi sini mahatagan sang hustisya ang mga biktima sang mga kalakasan militar sang 61st IB. Sa liwat mapamatud-an sang pumuluyo nga paagi lang sa malaba nga kamot sang rebolusyonaryong hustisya mahatagan sang katumanan ang ila ginasinggitan nga mga demanda.

Jurie Guerrero
Tagapamaba
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Reply to sender | R

NORWAY, SUPPOSEDLY NETURAL IN GPH-NDF TALKS, PROVIDES INTEL TO US
 

In a February 2010 meeting with US Embassy officials, a Norwegian envoy told American officials that the communist leadership in the Philippines no longer abides by Joma Sison’s commitment to formal talks

Wikileaks:The Philippine Cables
7 September 2011: 3:27 am

MANILA – Since 2001, the Norwegians have been facilitating the peace negotiations between the government of the Philippines (GPH) and the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), mediating the talks that were conducted mostly in Norway’s capital Oslo.So if the Norwegians are supposedly neutral third party facilitators in the peace process, what was a top Norwegian official in the Philippines doing talking to US officials about the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations, providing the Americans intelligence information that could potentially be detrimental to the Filipino communists?

On February 3, 2010, Vegar Brynildsen, Norway’s special envoy to the Philippines on the peace process, met with US officials where they discussed Oslo’s efforts to facilitate the talks. Brynildsen disclosed to the Americans that Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the NDFP in the negotiations and the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), “held a four-eyes meeting with Presidential Peace Advisor Annabelle Abaya somewhere in the Netherlands at the end of November (2009).”

Vegar Brynildsen (left) met with special representatives from the NDFP and the Philippines government, Luis Jalandoni and Nieves Confesor, in Norway in May 2008, along with Norwegian envoy Hans Brattskar. Two years later, Brynildsen met with US Embassy officials in Manila where they discussed the peace process. (Photo from Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

In that meeting, according to a cable from the US Embassy in Manila dated February 4, 2010, Sison and Abaya agreed to hold formal talks in Oslo in December. “It soon became clear to Brynildsen, however, that the NDFP leadership in the Philippines refused to abide by Sison’s commitment to formal talks,” reads the cable, which was among the thousands released in recent days by the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks.

The author of the cable, US Embassy charge d’affaires Leslie Bassett, put a “strictly protect” note to the document, underscoring that Brynildsen had cautioned the Americans that discussion of the Sison-Abaya meeting “could call into question the discretion of the Norwegian facilitators.” In other words, Brynildsen was not supposed to share the information with anybody. That he did and to the US at that might not sit well with the communists, who have been waging a Maoist rebellion since the ‘60s, with an avowed goal to dismantle what they deem as US control of the country’s politics and economy.

It is perhaps too early to say what the effects would be, if any, of the disclosure concerning Brynildsen on Norway’s participation in the peace process. While it is not unusual for embassies to share information about matters they have an interest in, the Brynildsen meeting with the Americans could pose an embarrassment to the Norwegians, who have prided themselves in their efforts to mediate in the talks – a mediation that, indeed, has produced tangible results, such as the establishment of the Joint Monitoring Committee in 2004 that monitored human-rights abuses by both sides. The communists have likewise publicly praised Oslo for its mediation.
 

Last week, a day after the cable and thousands of others were uploaded to the Wikileaks.org site, Oslo announced that it was kick-starting the negotiations between the government and the communists after these stalled due to disagreements concerning the NDFP’s “consultants” still in jail.

Ture Lundh, a special envoy by Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines today, Sept. 5, “to try to break the deadlock,” according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

According to the cable, which was classified as secret, “this development showed the Norwegians that Sison, who has been self-exiled in the Netherlands since 1987, is no longer ‘calling the shots’ for the communist side, but, rather, needs further approval from Philippine-based figures.”

Brynildsen, it added, “said he found it a ‘real challenge’ to work as facilitator not knowing the inner workings of the NDFP and who held ultimate policymaking authority on the communist side. Normally, the Norwegian government insists on meeting with the top leaders of both sides before agreeing to act as an international facilitator. Tangentially, Brynildsen remarked that he was not positively impressed with the quality of Philippine government intelligence on the NDFP.”

Brynildsen discussed with the Americans the human rights situation in the Philippines, as well as the 2010 presidential elections. “Brynildsen opined that the election of presidential candidate Manuel Villar might prove conducive to peace talks with the NDFP,” the cable notes. Villar, a senator, allied with the left during the 2010 elections but failed in his bid. “Villar appeared willing to negotiate with leftists, and the NDFP had taken positive note of some of his public statements about human rights and income distribution,” it says.

The cable also notes that Brynildsen “also remarked that Sison ‘loves’ Villar’s running mate, Senator Loren Legarda, although Brynildsen did not know precisely why Legarda appealed to Sison.” Legarda has often been tapped by the communists as a facilitator or intermediary during releases of prisoners of war, most notably the release of General Victor Obillo in 1999 in Davao City.

In the cable’s “comment” section, Bassett writes that “the Philippine government and armed forces generally consider the communist threat to be more serious than that posed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Yet the Arroyo administration appears to have shown greater interest in making progress toward an agreement with the MILF than in pursuing talks with the NDFP. It is unclear to us whether this focus is because the MILF’s agenda appears less threatening to the core interests of the Manila-based elite; because the MILF’s leadership is more coherent and decisive than the communists’; or because there is greater international interest in seeing a resolution to the conflict with the Moros.”

In a separate cable, the MILF strongly urged for greater participation by the US in the rebel group’s peace negotiations with the government.

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ON THE GPH-NDFP PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND REVOLUTIONARIES FROM ATENEO
Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant

By Kevin Mizon
The Guidon
Ateneo de Manila University
20 August 2011

1. The second agenda in the peace process is the CASER. What are the exact, specific socio-economic reforms that CPP-NPA-NDF is heavily pushing for?

Answer: The socio-economic reforms include mainly upholding economic sovereignty and conserving the national patrimony, land reform and national industrialization, defending the rights of workers, promoting the people’s livelihood, cancellation of odious debts, respecting the right of ancestral domain of indigenous peoples and equitable economic and trade relations with all foreign countries for the purpose of development.

2. The third agenda is the CAPCR. What are the exact, specific political and constitutional reforms that the CPP-NPA-NDF is heavily pushing for?

Answer: The political and constitutional reforms include upholding national sovereignty and abrogation of unequal treaties, agreements and arrangements, empowerment of the working people, gender equality, respect for the right of self-determination of the indigenous peoples, a patriotic, democratic and people-oriented system of education and culture, elimination of corruption, overhaul of the electoral system, revamp of the judicial system and independent foreign policy for development and world peace.

3. Once these reforms have been institutionalized, how different will Philippine society be? How drastic and different will the consequences and implications be?

Answer: If the aforementioned reforms are adopted and implemented, the Philippines will be greatly and substantially different from what it is now,

The implications and consequences will be drastically different in favor of the broad masses of the people. The long-frustrated aspirations of the people for national independence, democracy, social justice and all-round development shall be advanced.

4. As a general question, what are the different scenarios of the CPP/NPA/NDF’s future? First, if the current round of negotiations finishes successfully in the three-year timeline? Next, if it doesn’t?

Answer: If the peace negotiations are successfully completed in three year’s time or sometime after, then the CPP, NPA and NDFP abide by the mutual agreements with GPH and there shall be just and lasting peace on a good foundation. If the GPH tries to impose capitulation and violation of principles on the aforesaid revolutionary forces, then the armed conflict shall continue and shall probably escalate to a new and higher level.

5. How viable is the armed struggle right now? Detractors of the CPP-NPA-NDF believe that your army’s physical strength isn’t enough in overthrowing the government.

Answer: Since the Second Great Rectification Movement in the 1990s, which repudiated and rectified major errors in the 1980s, the CPP, NPA and NDFP have become not just viable but far stronger than before.

Of course, the armed strength of the NPA is not yet enough to overthrow the entire ruling system. But the NPA and other revolutionary forces are now carrying out a plan to advance from strategic defensive to strategic stalemate.

The broad united front of revolutionary forces and legal opposition forces has high potential of overthrowing at any time a particular administration that is too repressive or too corrupt and thus hated by the people, like the regimes of Marcos and Estrada.

6. Sir, you have called parties working for radical reforms (such as Akbayan) as counterrevolutionaries. That in your side, there exists a false dichotomy between reforms and revolution. Any thoughts on this, sir?

Answer: I do not remember having said or written publicly that the Akbayan is counterrevolutionary. But of course I am aware that CPP publications and statements of known progressives have criticized the Akbayan as pseudo-revolutionary, reformist and even counterrevolutionary.

There is a difference between reformism and reforms that are necessary and useful for the people, such as those reforms demanded by the NDFP in peace negotiations with the GPH. Reformism is the systematic pretense for reforms or use of some reforms to block fundamental or revolutionary social change. In that sense, reformism is counterrevolutionary.

7. In the over 40 rounds of peace talks conducted and in the numerous interruptions, where would you say was the GPH’s at fault? Alternately, where would you say the CPP-NPA-NDF was at fault?

Answer: Since formal opening of GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in Brussels in June 1995, sixteen years ago, the GRP (now called the GPH) has been responsible for interruptions amounting to 14 years under GRP declarations of suspension, collapse and JASIG termination, aggravating GRP violations of agreements.

If one misconstrues the ceasefire agreement in 1986-87 as the beginning of peace negotiations, the GRP has been responsible for interruptions amounting to some 22 years out of 24 years. Remember that Cory Aquino unsheathed the sword of war in 1987 and swung her sword in vain for so many years against the NPA.

The NDFP has never made any declaration of suspension, collapse and JASIG termination to interrupt the peace negotiations. Only twice has it declared postponement of the formal talks of the panels. The first one was in August 2004 when it asked for postponement of formal talks to allow the GRP the time to fulfill its obligation to release JASIG-protected persons. The second one was in June 2011 when it called for postponement once more to allow the GPH the time to release JASIG-protected persons.

8. There is the study of a certain Japanese sociologist. He makes this provocative observation that revolutions lasting for more than one generation (20 years) tended to degenerate, not just in the actual military victories of the revolutionary group, but in the quality of its operations and its own cadres and fighters. That this holds true for the NPA, who has committed their own human rights violations, destruction of civilian infrastructures in the guise of a noble revolution, collecting revolutionary taxes – very anti-poor and trapo. Any response to this?

Answer: That Japanese sociologist you refer to is obviously ignorant of Philippine history. Since the first of the more than 200 armed uprisings under the Spanish colonial regime, the Filipinos have waged wider and better armed resistance culminating in the Philippine revolution of 1896 onwards. The current new democratic revolution through people’s war is in basic respects wider, deeper and better than the Philippine revolution of 1896 and the armed revolution that extended from the anti-Japan struggle in World War II.

The NPA is so far the biggest and strongest armed force of the revolutionary mass movement in Philippine history. It is led by the CPP which practises criticism and self-criticism on a daily basis and knows how to carry out a rectification movement as an educational mass endeavor to repudiate and rectify errors and set forth the new tasks for advancing the revolutionary struggle to a new and higher level.

I have no time or space here to answer such vicious claims as that the NPA is anti-poor and trapo. My suggestion is that those who make such claims go for social investigation in the guerrilla fronts of the NPA,

9. The Oplan Bayanihan is a widely debated issue as a sugarcoated counterinsurgency program. (It’s arguably highly similar to Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya) Does it mitigate or does it exacerbate? Any personal response to this program of the current Aquino administration?

Answer: Oplan Bayanihan is the same dog as Oplan Bantay Laya. The only difference is that Oplan Bayanihan is even more deceptive as it becomes more brutal. It misrepresents its military campaigns of suppression as peace and development operations and its human rights violations as defense of human rights and human security. It is guided by US advisors who believe that more effective psywar results in more effective intelligence and military operations.

The Aquino regime is continuing basically the same policies of the Arroyo regime. It is also the same dog of the US and the local big compradors and landlords. It tries to present itself as better than the previous regime through sheer propaganda and it insults the people by trying to buwang-wang them through gimmicks. Aquino seems to be oblivious of the fact that there is now an unprecedentedly severe global and Philippine economic and social crisis which demands basic reforms.

There is now a growing estimate by the revolutionary forces that the Aquino regime is not sincerely and seriously interested in the peace negotiations with the NDFP and is about to stop its masquerade about peace negotiations. Since the beginning, the OPAPP and the GPH negotiating panel have been obsessed with seeking to disembowel and negate The Hague Joint Declaration, the JASIG and CARHRIHL and not to pursue the negotiations on CASER.

10. Ateneans have been highly involved in the past, especially in the chaotic decades of the 70’s and 80’s. What do you think of this Ateneo? What are your thoughts on Atenean activists, such as Edgar Jopson and Emmanuel Lacaba, who joined the armed struggle and even died for the movement?

Answer: I have the highest respect and admiration for Edgar Jopson and Emmanuel Lacaba as Filipino patriots, proletarian revolutionaries and freedom fighters. I knew them personally and worked with them. They served the people and contributed greatly to the development of the new democratic revolution through hard work, militant struggle and their martyrdom.

There are many others from the Ateneo that have served the Filipino people like Edgar Jopson and Emmanuel Lacaba. They are products of that side of the Ateneo which inculcates social conscience and a strong sense of patriotism and social justice. Let us have more of such Ateneans. Not the type that is self-indulgent and bound by the dictates of foreign monopoly interests and the local exploiting classes,

11. The current Ateneo is identified as an “elite institution” but whose main educational framework spring from Liberation Theology. How about a critique to the Ateneo today? Also, on the Atenean revolutionaries involved with the party before, but have withdrawn support now?

Answer: The current students of the Ateneo can better describe and critique the Ateneo of today. At any rate, I agree that the Ateneo is an elite institution even as there are elements that are progressive rather than reactionary. Most of the Ateneo students come from well-to-do families. It is understandable that their main tendency is to stay in comfort within the ruling system even if oppressive and exploitative.

I do not think that this interview is the place for me to criticize anyone from the Ateneo who was supposedly revolutionary before but withdrew subsequently from the revolutionary movement. I can only say in general that any person has contradictory sides. One side can prevail at one time and another side at another time, depending on the will, the tests and circumstances of the person concerned.

12. In a nutshell, where do you think should Ateneo put itself in the ongoing people’s war?

Answer: I personally knew one Jesuit priest at the Ateneo who belonged to the Christians for National Liberation and supported the people’s war for national liberation and democracy. But I think that the Ateneo as an institution is in opposition to the ongoing people’s war. At any rate, it has been sober and decorous in dealing with the issue and seems to acknowledge the social roots of the armed conflict.

Ateneo is not known to be strident, vicious or inquisitorial against faculty members and students who might be suspected by military authorities as sympathetic or even part of the revolutionary movement. You have to correct me if my observation from afar is wrong.

When I was at the Ateneo in the fifties, one teacher of mine scorned the communist Casto Alejandrino and the anti-imperialist Claro Mayo Recto, both Ateneo alumni, and another teacher was proud of them in the classroom. When we took the papal social encyclicals in class, my Jesuit teachers focused on the theme of social justice and refrained from talking like rabid anti-communists. They also recognized the root causes of the armed conflict that had raged in the Philippines since the 1930s. ###



 

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From thailand news:
Reds gets Duterte as ‘resource person’
Sep 01, 2011Comments Offby Sunny


The communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) on Wednesday explained it has tapped Davao Metropolis Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as resource person in the ongoing peace talks with the Philippine government even as its chief negotiator said much more neighborhood government officials should be immediately involved in the peace procedure as observers or member of the federal government peace panel.

“They (neighborhood government officials) understood the scenario on the ground,” stated NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni
 

Jalandoni was in Davao Metropolis Wednesday for a consultation with peace advocates and an update on the peace negotiations.
 

He likewise satisfied with the households of the jail officials who had been captured by New People’s Army(NPA) guerillas for the duration of an August roadblock in close by Bukidnon province.
Duterte has preserved cordial relations with the communist rebel forces, typically meeting with top regionalcommanders of the NPA, the armed team of the Communist Celebration of the Philippines.
The previous Davao City mayor has also figured in several negotiations involving the release of police and military personnel and officials captured by the rebel forces.
 

He has repeatedly said that the govt are not able to win above the communist rebellion with military operations alone.
 

Duterte reportedly accepted the NDF provide, one particular that he has repeatedly spurned from past govt administration.
 

The colorful Duterte has been accused of allegedly backing a shadowy vigilante team that assassinatessuspected drug dealers and other criminals.
 

“This is something new that could be offered possibility,” Jalandoni explained of the possibility of like regional federal government officials in the peace method.
 

He made the suggestion following 3 vice governors from Mindanao urged equally the NDF and the Philippine federal government to forge a formal ceasefire although the peace talks are getting carried out.
 

The vice governors of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental and Surigao del Sur attended the forum whilst the governors of Cotabato and Davao Province sent their reps.
 

Jalandoni before rejected a prolonged ceasefire with the government with no a substantive agreement.
“There will be no ceasefire in the course of the talks until kung sasagutin ng maayos ng Pangulo ang provide ng NDFP sa kanya (President Aquino will critically contemplate the NDF offer you),” Jalandoni mentioned in referring to the ‘truce and alliance’ proposal it gave an emissary of the president in Netherlands far more than a month back.
 

The proposal is 10-stage agenda for cooperation and negotiations initial submitted by the NDF in 2005.
 

Jalandoni mentioned the Aquino govt has but to respond to their provide.