COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison has said the communist rebels may not accept President Rodrigo Duterte’s calls for a protracted and indefinite bilateral ceasefire, ahead of a return to peace talks.
Despite four successful rounds of peace negotiations between the government and communist rebels, Sison said the Duterte administration must first commit to the social and economic reforms, which he said was at the heart of the communist insurgency.
“If the NDFP [National Democratic Front of the Philippines] agrees to that, that would be very bad. People will say, ‘What about the social and economic reforms?’ At least those must be taken up in advance of this ceasefire,” Sison said in an interview with Minneapolis-based socialist newspaper FightBack! posted Tuesday, Sept. 26.
“In fact, properly, the permanent truce is a subject matter of the end— it’s the fourth item under the rubric of ‘end of hostilities and the disposition of forces.’ So, this is a problem,” the CPP founder added.
In related developments:
The Gabriela Women’s Party on Wednesday voiced concern over the military’s aerial bombardment and indiscriminate strafing on communities in Batangas following a supposed encounter with communist rebels in the area.
Gabriela Party-List Rep. Arlene Brosas said military operations were “excessive” that these had displaced hundreds of families from their homes and caused class suspensions.
“The women’s party-list group will push for an investigation on the incident while gathering reports from the ground,” she said.
The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas also on Wednesday assailed the continuing military operations in Talumpok Silangan in Batangas City that included aerial strikes and strafing of civilian communities following a clash between government forces and the New People’s Army, early morning of Sept. 24.
The KMP said they were holding accountable Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina, commanding general of the Philippine Air Force, for the air strikes.
“The military said the operations are in pursuit of the NPA but the air strikes targeted civilian communities, destroying houses and farms. How can farmers escape bombs dropped by military planes?” said Gigi Bautista of Samahang Magbubukid ng Batangas.
“Bombing runs and indiscriminate firing are routine actions in the government’s all-out war. Indiscriminate air strikes have worsened since Duterte’s martial law in Mindanao. Batangas City is just a few hours away from Metro Manila. The all-out war is closing in on us. We must unite and fight this wanton violation of human rights,” said Eriberto Pena of Tanggol Magsasaka, a watchdog monitoring human rights violations against farmers.
Sison said the NDFP demanded the administration must comply with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect For Human Rights and international humanitarian law, “by releasing the political prisoners, either by one of two methods—one is by general amnesty, the other is by withdrawal of the charges.”
Sison also feared the government’s bloody drug war might be used against revolutionary forces, as what happened in Colombia.
“This campaign popularizing the extrajudicial killings at first posed against this illegal drug trade can be shifted, can be used a method, against the revolutionary movement,” Sison said, citing repercussions pointed out very early by Ka Oris, the spokesperson of the CPP and the NPA.
“And this could be something like ‘Plan Colombia.’ At first the paramilitaries units were formed supposedly against the illegal drugs, then then they could be shifted against the FARC and ELN,” he added.
“The Communist Party and the rest of the revolutionary movement have been alerted, and so right now, even Duterte is making some offensives justifying the disengagement that the NDFP has to undertake.”
Duterte last weekend once again floated the idea of giving general amnesty to communist rebels, but only if they would surrender and give up on their decades of waging armed struggle against the government.
Early this month, Duterte said he was considering whether to accept the offer of communist rebels for an eventual resumption of the peace talks, but nevertheless could not accede to all their demands for the release of political prisoners.
The CPP, however, tagged the Duterte administration as “anti-people, pro-imperialist, and fascist” for embarking on efforts to undermine the very institutions that serve as a check on his executive powers, including revived threats to declare martial law nationwide and impose a “revolutionary government.”
Duterte ended the peace talks with the CPP-National Democratic Front in July following a series of attacks of its armed wing the NPA against government forces.
Citing Karapatan Southern Tagalog’s report, Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus said at least two people, including a minor, had died in the military operations in the villages of Cumba and Talahib Pandayan in Batangas City.
“We strongly deplore AFP’s ‘clearing operations’ via aerial bombardment in Batangas City as it has already killed at least two people and has sent the lives of hundreds of families, including women and children, in disarray,” De Jesus said.
“To use air strikes for a very small group of alleged rebels speaks of the military’s disregard for innocent lives in its rabid push for an all-out war against communist guerrillas,” she added.
De Jesus said it was the AFP which was sowing disproportionate fear and panic among Batangas residents with its excessive use of force and wanton rights violations in its pursuit operations.
“We are extremely alarmed that the AFP is deploying bomber planes to Batangas City, which is just a few kilometers south of Manila, over the alleged presence of over a dozen rebels. Is this a prelude to more sinister schemes to justify intensified military operations near the capital and to extend the scope of martial rule?” she said.
When AFP units cannot go after the NPA, by default, the soldiers instantly direct the attack to farmers and civilians in the area as form of retaliation, KMP said.
Since Sunday, the Philippine Air Force 202nd Infantry Brigade had launched aerial bombings in upland peasant communities in several villages, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate to safer grounds.
Col. Arnulfo Burgos, commanding officer of the 202nd Brigade, said the strikes were conducted to apprehend escaping members of the NPA.
At least 80 families are seeking shelter in Barangay Talahib Pandayan and 50 families are in Barangay Cumba and. The Batangas City government has suspended classes in local elementary schools in Tibig, Cumba, Talahib Pandayan, Talahib Pandayan National High School, elementary schools in Talahib Payapa, Sto. Domingo, Maruclap, Conde Itaas, Talumpok Proper, Talumpok Silangan, Talumpok National High School, elementary schools of Haligue Silangan, Haligue Kanluran, Sto. Niño and Sto. Niño National High School.
Since May this year, more than half-a-million civilians evacuated from their communities as a result of the combined air strikes and ground operations in the provinces of Quirino, Marawi City, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Southern Mindanao Region, Samar, Negros Occidental, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Misamis Oriental, KMP said. With Maricel V. Cruz and Bill Casas