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Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng PilipinasPinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo ANG

English editionVol. XLIII No. 11

June 7, 2012www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

Renato Corona's ouster as chief justice of the Supreme Courton May 29 paved the way for the further consolidation of theAquino regime's control over the reactionary state. This and

the upcoming appointment of a new chief justice signal the rulingclique's more solid hold over political power.

On Corona's ouster

In this issue...

K+12:Pro-imperialistprogram 3

AFP violenceagainst children 6

Plans afootto scuttlepeace talks 11

Controlling all the branchesof the reactionary governmentprovides the ruling Aquinoclique with the daringness to in-tensify the oppression, sufferingand repression of the Filipinopeople, further use state powerfor the benefit of its cohorts'

businesses and be more of apuppet to US imperialism.

In dropping Corona, the rul-ing Aquino faction was able towin over or neutralize the mainreactionary factions. It wasable to gain more strength andadvantage that it could use notonly against the Arroyo factionbut against the people and their

revolutionary and progressiveforces. It also gained moreleverage as it exploited the peo-ple's demand to prosecute Ar-royo and all her co-conspiratorsin the former regime for theirgrave crimes against the people.

The Filipino people weregladdened by Corona's ousterbecause he was part of

the rotten and op-pressive Arroyoclique. Nonethe-less, it was highlynoticeable howCorona was con-victed not for be-ing Gloria Ar-royo's man and

part of her corrupt machinerybut due to technicalities regard-ing his failure to comply with thelaw requiring officials and per-sonnel of the reactionary gov-ernment to declare all of theirwealth and property.

The people were disappoint-

ed with how Aquino's peopleavoided prosecuting Corona asan Arroyo stooge. They were al-so disappointed with the factthat as Corona stood trial,Aquino was granting one privi-lege after another to Arroyowho was under hospital arrest,instead of heeding the wide-spread clamor to incarcerate

her in a regular prison.Corona's ouster on the basis

of a technicality is being arro-gantly portrayed by the Aquinoregime as a huge victory ineradicating government corrup-

tion. But after nailing Coronafor failing to declare his hiddenwealth, the Aquino faction is be-

ing such a big hypocrite for re-fusing and thoroughly opposingthe challenge to sign a waiverthat would allow the public tolook into their bank accounts.

The Aquino clique's claims of having hooked the "biggest fish"in the judiciary or in the entire re-actionary government is an emptyboast. The Filipino people areaware that the biggest plundererslike Marcos have never stashedthe bulk of their ill-gotten wealthunder their real names.

The people know that cor-ruption in the reactionary gov-ernment is not the act of a few"lost souls" like Corona. Corrup-tion—the use of the privileges of state power to amass wealth—isrampant in the reactionary gov-

ernment. It is intrinsic in abackward and rotten economic

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2 ANG BAYAN June 7, 2012

and political system for the rul-ing classes to rely on using thestate to accumulate and expandtheir wealth and power.

The worst cases of corrup-tion take the form of using gov-ernment influence and power tofavor the businesses or econom-ic interests of the local and for-eign ruling classes. The latteruse their people in governmentto ensure that policies, laws andcontracts are all in accordancewith their interests.

Now that the Aquino cliquehas the Supreme Court in itspockets, it has more audacity to

use state power to advance theinterests of the big compradorbourgeoisie allied with Aquinosuch as Danding Cojuangco, Lu-cio Tan, Manuel Pangilinan, LucioCo, Henry Sy and other big busi-nessmen. Aquino will step up theuse of state power to pave theway for the big infrastructureprojects and operations of for-

eign big mining and other corpo-rations. He will intensify hisseizure of economic privilegespreviously enjoyed by the Arroyocamp through various contracts

entered into by government.In this regard, the farm

workers of Hacienda Luisitamust further strengthen theirstruggles to have the vast Co- juangco-Aquino estate subject-ed to land reform. Aquino andthe Cojuangco family are sure touse their newfound power in theSupreme Court to circumventand oppose the court's earlierdecision to distribute the Ha-cienda Luisita lands.

Aquino will likewise becomebolder in using state power tosuppress the people. Goaded andsupported by US imperialism,

Aquino has been using unbridledfascist violence under OplanBayanihan to suppress the peo-ple's struggles. The consolidationof Aquino's power makes himeven more brutal in using the mil-itary, the police and the paramil-itary and will worsen violationsof human rights.

In consolidating his power,

we can expect Aquino to be evenmore persistent in his obse-quiousness to US imperialismand in complying with the lat-ter's objective of continually

strengthening its military pres-ence in the Philippines. Now thatthe reins of power in all threebranches of government are inhis hands, Aquino will grow bold-er in trampling on existing lawsthat advance national sovereign-ty in order to allow the US mili-tary to use the Philippines as onebig base for its interventionism inthe country and its operations inthe Asia-Pacific region.

Aquino will also become bolderin following the orders of the US,the International Monetary Fundand foreign big banks and capital-ists and further expand the imple-

mentation of the liberalization,privatization, deregulation anddenationalization policies. Aquinois now in a stronger position to ad-vance the "cha-cha" or charterchange being pushed by US impe-rialism and Aquino's people in theLiberal Party.

The Filipino people must re-spond to the steps taken by

Aquino to consolidate his clique byfurther solidifying their ranks andthoroughly exposing and opposingcorruption, plunder, repressionand human rights violations andpuppetry to US imperialism.

The progressive and revolu-tionary forces must becomewell-versed in exposing theAquino regime's empty propa-

ganda and the corruption of theruling system and advance theirdemocratic struggles for jobs, just wage increases, lowerprices of oil, food and other ba-sic commodities, bigger budgetsfor education and health care,and the right to housing andagainst demolition, among oth-ers. They must step up their

courage to resist repression andfascist violence.They must strengthen their

struggle for genuine land reformand national industrialization andresist the Aquino regime's programto maintain the current semicolo-nial and semifeudal system. ~

Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of the Philippines

Ang Bayan is published in

Pilipino, Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligay-

non, Waray and English editions.

It is available for downloading

at the Philippine Revolution Web

Central located at:

www.philippinerevolution.net

Ang Bayan welcomes contribu-

tions in the form of articles and

news. Readers are likewise

enjoined to send in their com-

ments and suggestions for the

betterment of our publication.

You can reach us by email at:

[email protected]

Vol. XLIII No. 11 June 7, 2012

Contents

Editorial: On Corona’s ouster 1

K+12: Pro-imperialist education 4

US to return to Clark and Subic 6

AFP violence against children 7

CAFGU minors rescued 9

Military abuses in South Quezon 9

AFP violations in MP, Ifugao 10

Malabon urba poor leader slain 10

OPB in Eastern Visayas 11

Scuttling the peace talks 12

NPA seizes 18 firearms 12

CNL celebrates 40th year 13

Palparan arrest demanded 14

Strike at Co Ban Kiat 14

ANG

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3ANG BAYAN June 7, 2012

Still no punishmentfor Arroyo

On a vote of 20 to three, the Senate pronounced

Chief Justice Renato Corona guilty of failing todeclare in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and NetWorth (SALN) the amount of $2.4 million and morethan `80 million deposited in various banks. With theSenate declaring that this constituted betrayal of pub-lic trust, Corona was removed from his post and per-manently banned from holding public office.

A day after the popular acclaim over Corona'souster, progressive organizations led by the KilusangMayo Uno (KMU) held a protest action in Mendiola,Manila to demand that Gloria Arroyo and her cohortsbe tried immediately for their grave crimes against thepeople.

Arroyo is currently detained in a hospital insteadof a regular prison and has a pending motion to be al-lowed to seek medical treatment abroad ostensibly fora life-threatening condition. She also has a pendingmotion at the Pasay Regional Trial Court to be re-leased on bail.

KMU chair Elmer Labog said Benigno Aquino IIImust stop giving excuses for his failure to prosecute

Arroyo. His government must do so immediately, nowthat he has dispensed with Corona who he branded asa big obstruction to fulfilling this objective.

Pagbabago! spokespersons and Panagutin si GloriaMovement convenors Bibeth Orteza and Fr. Jose Di-zon, on the other hand, explained that their calls forgovernment transparency and justice for the peoplehave not ended with Corona's removal from office.Progressive and democratic groups and individuals joined the movement to oust Corona from power be-

cause they believed that after his trial and convictionby the Senate, the next step would be the prosecutionof Arroyo and her cohorts.

In the two years that Aquino has been in power, Ar-royo has yet to be charged with a major crime despiteseveral cases filed by progressive groups and a numberof individuals. Worse, the cases of plunder and other se-rious crimes filed at the Office of the Ombudsman havebeen downgraded to simple graft and corruption andelectoral sabotage, which are both bailable.

The rallyists also demanded that the land at Ha-cienda Luisita be distributed immediately and that thegrowing problem of hunger be promptly addressed. Toprovide immediate relief to the majority of the people,the `125 across-the-board wage hike for private sec-tor workers and the `6,000 salary increase for gov-ernment employees must also be implemented. ~

K+12:A pro-imperialistprogram

for education

T he Department of Education (DepEd)began to implement this school yearin selected public schools its new ed-

ucational program called K+12.Under the new program, a child must

first spend a year in kindergarten beforebeing accepted to elementary school. Ele-mentary education will remain at six grade

levels but changes will be made in the cur-riculum and instruction time. Two more years will be added to the high school cur-riculum to make four years of junior highschool and two years of senior high school(the 11th and 12th year of basic educa-tion).

The additional two years of high schoolwill be spent by students "specializing" invocational courses (for direct employment)

or academic, sports, music and the arts,among others.

Ever since the Aquino regime publicizedK+12, it has garnered many criticisms fromteachers, parents and students. K+12 doesnot solve the huge and apparent problemsfaced by the educational system.

The two additional years of high schoolwill be an added burden to parents whohave to shoulder the high costs of educa-

tion. It is also an added burden to teacherswho have long been suffering from lowsalaries, lack of facilities and long teachinghours. Classrooms, toilets, desks, booksand other basic needs that could provide abetter learning atmosphere for the childrenare severely lacking. (see related article )

The Aquino regime's implementation of K+12 is in compliance with the dictates of its imperialist master in the field of educa-

tion. Through K+12, the educational systemis being attuned to the needs defined byforeign multinational companies. It isframed within the policy of neoliberalismand imperialist globalization that have longbeen proven to be bankrupt and anti-devel-opment.

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68% passed the NAT given to el-ementary students. Less thanhalf (46%) of the high schoolstudents who took it passed.

Filipino students also scorelow in international examina-tions. DepEd records show thatthe Philippines finished 43rd outof 46 countries that participat-ed in the Trends in Internation-al Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS) in 2003. In 2008,the Philippines finished last inthe Advanced Mathematics cat-egory.

The DepEd claims that K+12is the solution to the low quality

of the country's education. Edu-cation experts aver that thelength of elementary and highschool education does not haveany bearing on the quality of ed-ucation. A study entitled"Length of School Cycle and theQuality of Education" cites thatstudents from Singapore andSouth Korea where basic and

secondary education last 13 years scored higher than stu-dents from the US whose schoolcycle lasts 15 years. On the oth-er hand, both the Philippines(with a ten-year school cycle)and Thailand (with 12 years)failed to comply with interna-tional standards.

a s u

The US-Aquino regime por-trays K+12 as among the

solutions to the unem-ployment problem.

Aquino falsely pic-tures the problem

of unemployment as amatter of mismatch be-

tween the skills or knowl-edge possessed by gradu-ates and the jobs that are

available to them.The Aquino re-

gime covers up the re-al roots of severe un-employment in the

f c lThe educational system in

the Philippines is being used bythe reactionary state to trainFilipino children to become partof the cheap and docile laborforce desired by foreign corpo-rations. It also serves the laborexport program which is a stop-gap solution to the widespreadproblem of unemployment.Thus, the stresses and trends inbasic education are all captiveto the needs and caprices of theinternational labor market.

No less than the K+12 primerstates that one of the reasons

for extending the length of basiceducation is for the youth tograduate at the age of 18—theminimum age for entering into alegitimate job contract. The lasttwo years of basic education aregeared towards "specialization"or technical/vocational educa-tion to train skilled and semi-skilled workers to meet the

needs of foreign corporationsand the foreign job market.

This means that high schoolgraduates can be fed directly tothe factories or go abroad asskilled workers. In implementingK+12, the Aquino regime will beable to lower the minimumage of qualifiedand skilled

w o r k -

ers, and thus pull down workers'wages.

Because students can startworking as soon as they leavehigh school, the reactionarystate can start claiming thattertiary education is a luxury orreserved only for advancedstudies. This will further justifythe reactionary state's abdica-tion of its responsibility to pro-vide opportunities for free andadequate college education. Inthis regard, K+12 reinforces thedecades-long pattern of reduc-ing the budgets of state univer-sities and colleges (SUCs) in ac-

cordance with the Education Actof 1982.

The reactionary state will allthe more abandon tertiary edu-cation to capitalist educatorswho even now are raking in mil-lions of pesos in profits.

t s t l -q

The quality of education inthe Philippines is decidedly low.The DepEd's own records showthat the vast majority of stu-dents fail the National Achieve-ment Test (NAT), a yearly exam-ination taken by Grade 6 and

2nd Year high schoolstudents. In 2009,only up to

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country. The backward systemof agriculture and the absenceof even basic industries is thereason behind the Philippineeconomy's inability to createenough employment for the an-nually growing labor force. Engi-neers, technicians, computerscientists and other experts inthe field of science have noplace in an economy whose onlyopportunities for employmentare working in call centers ortaking overseas jobs.

The kinds of skills or knowl-edge that Aquino says are need-ed are actually meant for call

centers or employment abroad.As in the past, it is these needsthat Aquino wants education tofocus on. A previous demand fornurses and caregivers promptedthe government to encouragestudents to enroll in thesecourses. After a few years, how-ever, the country now has a sur-feit of nurses with no jobs in

line.Now, because of current de-

mand, the government wantsstudents to become bartendersand welders or call centeragents. It is these skills that theAquino government wants toteach in the last two years of K+12.

Aside from being pro-imperi-

alist and an added burden, theK+12 program is a grandiose planthat is bound to fail. The DepEdand the Aquino regime's claimsthat K+12 will help prepare stu-dents for employment after fin-ishing high school is a patent liebecause nothing is being done bythe regime to solve the basicproblem of unemployment.

K+12 will bring no benefits,whether in the short or longterm, to the youth and the Fil-ipino people. It is just one of theregime's long list of pro-imperi-alist and antipeople programsthat must be thoroughly ex-posed and opposed. ~

Worsening deprivation in education

T he Aquino regime has allotted a grossly inadequate budgetfor education.

The DepEd's own statistics show that the country lacks morethan 152,000 classrooms for 2012 but has provided only enough

money to build 13,000. The figure does not include classrooms inneed of repair. More than 13 million desks and 135,000 toiletsare needed to address the needs of students who will be comingin this schoolyear. Up to 62% of schools do not have enough toi-lets. There is an average of only one toilet for every 143 stu-dents when the standard ratio in developed countries is one toi-let for every 20 students.

There is also a deficit of 96 million textbooks.To accommodate the students, many classrooms have been

divided in two, where teachers have as many as 45-100 students

per class. In Metro Manila, some schools have been forced tosend many students home and ask them to come to school onlythree days a week under the Home Study Program. The schoolshave been compelled to resort to such a measure to avoid in-tense overcrowding. There are cases where teachers requirestudents to bring their own chairs.

Despite the lack of more than 100,000 new teachers, thegovernment is hiring only 13,000 new teachers this year. A sin-gle teacher is made to handle the workload of two or threeteachers. Overall, there is an average of one teacher for every74 students. This year, an estimated two million children will betaking the required Kindergarten course. For this alone, up to25,700 new teachers are needed. The regime is resorting to theunacceptable and stop-gap solution of hiring contractual teach-ers to partially address this huge deficit.

For this year, the Aquino regime will be allotting `239 bil-

lion for the DepEd, equivalent to `7/day per student. This

will only be enough to build 27% of the new classrooms, buy

20% of the new desks and hire 12% of the new teachers need-

ed. The amount does not include the more than `100 billion

additional funds needed for the K+12 program. ~

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The growing number of casesagainst children is a result of the policy of militarizing civiliancommunities under the guise of the AFP's so-called "peace anddevelopment operations." Thebasing of armed troops in hous-es and population centers cre-ates a situation where childrenand minors become extremelyvulnerable to abuse by soldiers.

The following tally recountsoutstanding cases of outright vi-olence by the AFP against chil-dren in the past several months.These cases show how the AFPhas been so indiscriminate inconducting its war of suppres-sion against the people, witheven children being targeted bythe AFP butchers.

f a cTroops of the 61st IB merciless-ly shot at Donna Castor, 16, of Sitio Dawis, Barangay Gara-ngan, Calinog, Iloilo on April 3.Donna was then cutting downsome bamboo trees when a Com-munity Organizing for Peace andDevelopment (COPD) Team un-der a Sergeant Anden based in

Barangay Acuña, Tapaz, Capizopened fire at her. The incidenthas traumatized Donna, whonow refuses to leave theirhouse.

Brothers Michael, 10, andRichard Mancera, 7, were killedwhen elements of the 49th IBrained bullets on the hut of theMancera family in Sitio Pagurin,

Barangay Malaya, Labo, Ca-marines Norte on February 25.Their sister Ella, 14, was wound-ed. Also killed was their fatherBenjamin and another victim.Officials of the Barangay Malayavillage council attested that theelder Mancera was an ordinary

farmer and not a member of theNew People's Army (NPA) asclaimed by the military.

On February 16, fifteen-yearold Christian Roy Noceta and hiscompanion Jessie Perez, 31,were killed when a team fromthe Philippine Army SpecialForces gunned them down whilethey were hunting in BarangayIlayang Atingay, Magdalena,Laguna. Wounded in the inci-dent was their companion, 18- year old Francis Abadilla andanother 15-year old boy. Resi-dents acquainted with the fourhunters belied the military's ac-cusations that the victims wereNPA members.

Meanwhile, two cousins(aged 15 and 17 years) who

were charcoal makers werewounded when soldiers con-ducting operations opened fireat them in Barangay Moriones,San Jose, Tarlac on February 7.Their 20-year old hearing-im-paired cousin Boyet Ibarra waskilled.

Fifteen-year old Charlie Bar-tolome was deeply traumatized

when he and other youth fromBarangay

Tibabo,P i o d u -

ran,

AFP violence against children

T here are growing and worsening violations of the rights of chil-dren in the course of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP)implementation of the US-Aquino regime's Oplan Bayanihan.


US to return

to Subic and Clark

T he Aquino regime under-handedly allowed the revival

of US military bases in CentralLuzon when it permitted the USmilitary on June 4 to use their oldfacilities in Clark, Pampanga andSubic, Zambales once again.

Benigno Aquino III and Gen.Martin Dempsey, chair of the USJoint Chiefs of Staff signed anagreement for this purpose be-fore Aquino left for a working

visit to the United Kingdom.The agreement supposedlycalls for the US to secure thepermission of the Philippine gov-ernment first before sending inits combat ships and planes. Butthe caveat has no real signifi-cance, as seen in the nuclear-ca-pable submarine USS North Car-olina's recent surfacing at theSubic Bay Freeport with no priorclearance, and with the incident just shrugged off by officials of the puppet government. The sur-facing of the USS North Carolinawas actually in violation of thereactionary constitution.

Dempsey and Aquino'sagreement signals the influx of big numbers of combat troops,warships, fighter planes, drones

and other US military facilitiesin the Philippines on a level un-precedented since the junking of the Military Bases Agreement in1991.

Permitting the US to usetheir former bases at Clark andSubic is tantamount to allowingthe US to use the Philippines asa launching pad for its interven-

tionist wars in the Asia-Pacific.When Clark Air Base and

Subic Naval Base were still inexistence, they were used by theUS as launching pads for its mil-itary operations in Vietnam inthe 1970s and Iran in the1980s. ~

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Albay were indiscriminatelyfired upon by troops from the2nd IB led by a Lieutenant Silis.The youth were on the way to adance in Barangay Basicao-In-terior of the same town whenthey were chanced upon by the2nd IB troops.

Three youth were il-legally arrested by elements of the 74th IB in Sitio Tagbakan,Barangay Pansoy, San Andres,Quezon on March 28. The sol-diers arrested minors ElmerDesuyo and Rey Rodrigo, both17, and Reynaldo delos Reyes.They were accused of being NPA

members collecting taxes fromthe residents. The three victimswere only looking for work in acoconut plantation when theywere arrested.

Minors Alfred Martinez, 17and Meric Trinidad, 16, of Barangay Balite, Tarlac Citywere picked up and detained bysoldiers on March 27. They werereleased through the interces-sion of the village council.Barangay Balite is one of the vil-lages actively opposed to theoppression and exploitation of farm workers in Hacienda Luisi-ta.

o e f Two minors, aged 8 and 12 years old from BarangayPagsanjan, Paranas, Samarwere arrested on March 19

along with their mother Ani-ceta Labong, after they visitedtheir detained father Artemioand their two brothers Ruel,21 and Jeffrey, 26. At midnight

of March 4, soldiers from the87th IB raided their house andtortured Artemio, a villagecouncilman, right in front of his 12-year old daughter. Theywere forcing him to confess tobeing an NPA supporter. Hewas arrested along with hisson Ruel. Jeffrey was arrestedon March 13 at the Paranastown center.

On January 29, an infant anda 2-year old child were arrestedby soldiers of the 34th IB alongwith their parents, both resi-dents of Barangay Hinagunuyan,Catubig, Northern Samar. They

were forced aboard a helicopterand brought to Palapag town.The victims have been brandedas rebels who have surrenderedto the government. ~

"We were abusedby the soldiers"

T he Children's Rehabilitation Center-Panay (CRC-Panay)launched a children's camp in Barangay Manampunay, Leon,Iloilo on April 20-21 to help child victims overcome their grave

fear wrought by the militarization of their areas in recent years.

barangay hall, a soldier pulledhim and hit him in the chest.

9-y o There

was an encounter between theNPA and the 82nd IB inBarangay Manampunay on De-cember 10, 2009. "We were inschool then when we heard gun-shots. Our teacher stoppedteaching. We were all veryscared." The 82nd IB was thenlaunching a military operationostensibly to flush out the NPAguerrillas from the area.

Mariel and Jemar were justsome of the children who werebold enough to relay their expe-riences. The other children ex-pressed their fear and the vio-lence they experienced throughart. ~

A hundred children fromBarangay Manampunay and oth-er adjacent communities joinedthe drawing and drama session

as a means of recounting theirexperiences. Through drawingand other art forms, the childrenwere able to recall their bitterexperiences in the hands of themilitary. The CRC documentedviolations of the rights of chil-dren and immediately providedpsychological assistance to thechild victims of militarization.The children all seemed to havethe same description about whatthey experienced: "We wereabused by the soldiers."

1 -y o Ataround 9 a.m. of December 11,2009, a day after an encounterbetween the New People's Army

and the 82nd IB, a group of sol-diers went to our house andasked if the rebels hid theirfirearms in our hut. A soldier

strung an ammunition belt fullof bullets around my neck, like anecklace, and forced me tospeak. My brother, who was 14- years old then was ordered by asoldier to bring a pail from theencounter site to the barangayhall. When he arrived at the

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In Catanauan town, sol-diers created a disturbance atthe funeral wake being heldfor Manilyn Caribot, a 17- year old civilian killed in thecrossfire between the 85th IBand the New People's Army(NPA) on April 29 in Lopez,Quezon. The teenage girl wasthen visiting a relativewhen the gunbat-tle occurred. De-spite proof thatshe was a stu-dent, the mili-tary accused herof being an NPARed fighter. TheAFP withdrew

its accusationsafter receivingbrickbats andlater sent twosoldiers to offerP150,000 to theslain student's aunt GenelynDichoso in exchange for hersilence and desistance in fil-ing charges against the mili-

tary.On May 5, two truckloads

of armed soldiers parked atthe gates of the cemeterywhere Caribot was to beburied. They surrounded thevictim's grave, showing no re-spect at all for the dead andno concern for the security of the civilians attending the

burial. Simultaneously, othersoldiers were ransacking Di-choso's and five other houses.Witnesses said the militarytroops trained their guns atthe children who had been leftbehind by their parents whoattended the burial.

There are many other cas-es where the military threat-ened and physically and ver-bally abused the residents.One of the victims is fisher-man Dondon Perez from SanAndres, Quezon. Troops of the 74th IB went to his houseto take his food, boat andfishing equipment. On March22, drunken soldiers from the

74th IB accost-ed and threat-

ened withbodily harmRey Rodri-go, 16; Rey-naldo de losSantos, 18;

and ElmerDesuyo. The

victims are al-so residents of

San Andrestown.

These cases belie theAFP's claims that it now hasa clean human rights record.KARAPATAN-Southern Taga-

log secretary-general GlenMalabanan said the AFP isswimming in the blood of thevictims of human rights vio-lations in the region and therest of the Philippines. Thereactionary state has been"shielding" South Quezonand Bondoc Peninsulaagainst mass struggles and

armed struggle because it isa center of agricultural pro-duction where products likecoconut, corn and rice areabundant and where there isa huge potential for naturalresources like gold and pe-troleum. ~

NPA rescues 6

CAFGU minors

Six minors aged 12 to 16 years were rescued by Red

fighters of the New People'sArmy-Front 88 after being con-scripted as elements of the Citi-zens Armed Forces GeographicalUnit (CAFGU) in Sitio Tambo,Barangay Binikalan, San Luis,Agusan del Sur on May 30. (see related article on p. 11)

The Communist Party of thePhilippines roundly condemned

their recruitment into theCAFGU as a violation of theComprehensive Agreement onRespect for Human Rights andInternational Humanitarian Law(CARHRIHL), the InternationalConvention on the Rights of theChild and protocols of interna-tional humanitarian law.

In coordination with inter-national and local child rightsadvocates, NDF-Mindanao mayfile complaints with theCARHRIHL Joint MonitoringCommittee, corresponding in-ternational groups and otheragencies against the AFP andthe Aquino regime for their vio-lations of the CARHRIHL andother international laws thatprohibit the recruitment, train-

ing and arming of children assoldiers.

Because of its severe isola-tion from the people, the AFPhas been finding it difficult torecruit more personnel to use inits antipeople Oplan Bayanihan.In its desperation to find re-cruits, it has resorted to con-scripting minors into

the CAFGU. ~

Military abusesin South Quezon

M

ilitary abuses are relentless in South Quezon and Bon-doc Peninsula where eight AFP, paramilitary and police

battalions are currently concentrated.


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S

tealing pigs, goats, chickens and other livestock is rampant inareas around the CAFGU detachment in Barangay Ubao,Aguinaldo, Ifugao. Residents point to no other

than the military troops encamped at the detach-ment who are always drinking, gambling, playingloud music and often shooting theirguns indiscriminately.

In April, a five-man team of sol-diers masquerading as members of the New People's Army (NPA) ex-torted `1,500 from civilian Eusebiodela Cruz, a resident of Barangay

Ubao. Aside from taking his money,they also forcibly took his pig.

Students at the Ubao NationalHigh School are also often dis-turbed in their studies because

Malabon urban poor leader slain

T wo gunmen killed Ernesto "Ka Erning" Gulfo, 52, leader of an urban poor community in Catmon, Malabon. The victim,

who was shot at close range sustained gunshot wounds to hischest and died on the way to the hospital.

The assailants posed as junk dealers and were asking Gulfowhat the going price for brass scraps was before gunning himdown. They had reportedly already gone to his house the day be-fore.

Gulfo was the president of the Alyansa ng NagkakaisangSamahan ng Maralita sa Malabon and the newly elected chair-man of the Alyansa Kontra Demolisyon in the same city. He leda barricade in Catmon on May 21 against the threatened demo-lition of the houses of up to 1,500 families to give way to thegovernment's Community Mortgage Program(CMP).

Most of the residents of the area are con-tractual workers, garbage collectors andscavengers who are incapable of shouldering

the CMP because of their very small incomes.Gulfo is the fifth urban poor activist killedunder the Aquino regime. The others are Anto-nio Homo, a local leader in Kadiwa, Navotas;Rommel Fortades and Soliman Gomez of PangarapVillage, Caloocan; and Arnel Leonor of Silverio Compound,Parañaque. ~

AFP human rights violationsin Mountain Province and Ifugao

troops from the 54th IB wouldgo there after their military op-erations.

Troops of the 5th ID tram-pled on the corn crops in swid-den farms in Sitio Dalanao,Barangay Bantay, Paracelis,Mountain Province while con-ducting military operations lastMay 31. The complainant was aresident named Kimpee, one of the owners of the swiddenfarms. Instead of being given anapology and receiving paymentfor the damaged crops, howev-

er, all the hapless peasant gotwere insults from the AFPtroops.

In another incident, militarytroops accosted a civilian namedSabado and his companion whowere aboard a motorcycle inSitio Dagawe, Barangay Pobla-cion, Paracelis, MountainProvince. They were suspected

of being NPA members allegedlybecause they sported long hair.The soldiers laughed at and in-sulted them when the victimstold them they were members of the Baptist church.

In the same village, soldiers

cocked their guns at the passen-gers of a van for no apparent

reason inS i t i oT a n u -f o n g ,BarangayP o b l a -c i o n ,Paracelis

in May.In the same month,

in Sitio Amulong,Barangay Poblacion,residents were an-gered no end uponlearning that the mili-tary had stolen their

vegetable crops. ~

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ANG BAYAN June 7, 2012

In 2010, the 63rd IB beganbasing itself in the village cen-ters. Now, it is the 34th IB thathas taken over. The soldiershave called for public meetingsseveral times to trumpet their"peace and development opera-tions," malign the New People'sArmy and terrorize the peopleby saying that they had a list of all the members of revolutionary

organizations in the area, andso it would be better for them tosurrender. After these meet-ings, the soldiers would go tothe houses of suspected massleaders and repeatedly interro-gate them to instill fear andpressure them into doing whatthe military wants. The peas-ants are also constrained from

frequently going to their farms,fearing that they might bechanced upon by the soldiersand be victimized, as what oftenhappens. They bewailed the factthat they felt like thieves intheir own coconut lands when-ever they made copra becausethey had to do so in a hurry andtake advantage of days when

they knew the soldiers would bestaying in the village instead of going on patrol.

From their barrios, the peas-ants secretly left and marchedto the town. They went aroundthe municipality and later held abrief program. The farmers were

prohibited from entering the au-ditorium and given only an hourand a half for their activity onthe pretext that the police andmilitary were on alert becauseof alleged reports of an NPA at-tack.

As the program was goingon, the military tried to sabo-tage the activity by relentlesslytaking pictures of the

rallyists. Not con-tent with this,they even calledin two truck-loads of sol-diers fromthe 34thI Bhead-

q u a r -ters. Put onthe defensivep o l i t i c a l l y ,Captain Rem-pillo of the63rd IB offeredto dialogue withthe peasants to

address theirg r i e v a n c e s ,even if he hadno prior plansof do-ing

so. Lt. Col. William Penafiel,34th IB commander, got angryat the peasants for repeatedlyincriminating his unit in thesummary execution of farmerJovito "Boyboy" Pajanustan of Barangay San Miguel, LasNavas. But all the military's ef-forts to downplay the griev-ances were in vain. Instead, thesoldiers were stripped of theirmasks of respecting humanrights and the rules of war. Theywere also forced to admit that itwas wrong for them to requirethe villagers to sign in logbooksevery time they entered or left

the barrio. They also fell silentwhen Barangay Imelda officialscomplained about forcing themasses to serve as humanshields and accompany the sol-diers in leaving the villages.

The soldiers and the police-men failed to intimidate the pro-testers. In fact, the marchers'morale rose even higher when

residents of the town centercame to attend the programand brought free food for therallyists.

The farmers proved oncemore that their strength inthwarting the antipeopleOplan Bayanihan lies in theirunited and militant action. ~

Oplan Bayanihan,the people's calvary

A

bout 200 peasants from the militarized villages of San Miguel,San Francisco, Perez, Quirino and Imelda launched a march-

rally on Good Friday, April 6 in Las Navas, Northern Samar.Holding a streamer saying "OPLAN BAYANIHAN, KALBARYO NG MA-MAMAYAN" (Oplan Bayanihan, the people's calvary), the peasantsunder the Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka Laban sa Kahirapan ng LasNavas (APKLAS) aired their grievances and opposition to the addedhardships wrought by the militarization of their communities and itseffects on their livelihood. They also demanded a rollback in theprices of gasoline, basic commodities and services so they could havesome relief from their intolerable poverty.

10

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NDFP chief political consult-ant Jose Maria Sison said thatthe plan may be implementednext year or even earlier if Aquino succeeds in controllingthe three branches of govern-ment—the executive, legislatureand judiciary—and a peace

agreement is forged betweenthe GPH and the Moro IslamicLiberation Front (MILF). Aquinohas so far succeeded with thefirst requisite with his ouster of Renato Corona as chief justiceof the Supreme Court and hisimpending appointment of amember of his own clique as thenew chief.

Sison added that BenignoAquino III himself has beenblocking both regular and spe-cial documents that offer thepossibility of a ceasefire shouldboth parties agree on a general"declaration of intent" thatwould be of benefit to the Fil-

ipino people.Among others, the "declara-

tion of intent" contains princi-ples that protect the country'ssovereignty and advance thepeople's economic welfare.

Meanwhile, NDFP spokes-person Fidel Agcaoili lambasted

Aquino for claiming that theNDFP was not serious with thepeace talks. Agcaoili calledAquino a hypocrite for constant-ly talking about peace when allhe really wants is to wage a bru-tal war against the revolution-ary forces and the Filipino peo-ple.

One of the main reasons for

the impasse in the peace negoti-ations is the continued deten-tion of more than 350 politicalprisoners, including 13 NDFPconsultants in various prisonsnationwide. They have beenslapped with criminal chargesdespite their being revolutionar-

Plans afoot to scuttleGPH-NDFP peace talks

T

here are clear indications that the US-Aquino regime is plan-ning to scuttle the peace talks between the Government of the

Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front of thePhilippines (NDFP).

ies. Another political prisonerhas been recently added to thelist, with the rearrest in May of Jaime Soledad, one of the NDFPconsultants earlier released.

Meanwhile, Ramon Patriar-ca, an NDFP consultant current-ly being held at Camp Lapu-Lapuin Cebu City (headquarters of the AFP Central Command) be-gan his hunger strike on June 1to press for his transfer to a

civilian facility.Patriarca was picked up by

combined elements of the policeand the 78th IB on February 5,2009 in Consolacion, Cebu. Hewas previously detained at theDanao City Jail and suddenlytransferred to the Cebu Provin-cial Detention Reformatory Cen-ter (CPDRC) in January, where

he was held incommunicado.Even visiting Amnesty Interna-tional-Minneapolis representa-tive Dr. Gary King was not al-lowed to see him. After a fewdays, Patriarca was transferredto Camp Lapu-Lapu.

The court issued an order onJanuary 30 for Patriarca to betransferred back to the CPDRC,

but four months later, the mili-tary still refuses to comply withthe order.

Eighteen of Patriarca's for-mer co-detainees at the DanaoCity Jail will launch a sympathyfast on June 9-11 to supporthim. ~

NPA seizes 18 firearms in raid

Red fighters of the Front 88 Operations Command of theNew People's Army (NPA) in Northeastern Mindanao Re-

gion seized 18 firearms in a simultaneous raid on three detach-ments of the 23rd IB in Sitio Tambo, Barangay Binikalan, SanLuis, Agusan del Sur on May 30.

The arms haul consisted of an M16, three M14s, twelveGarands, a carbine and a 9 mm pistol. Several magazines androunds of ammunition were also seized by the people's guerril-

las. The people have long been complaining to the NPA aboutthe abuses of the 23rd IB and the CAFGU in the area.

The CAFGU deputy commanding officer and a CAFGU ele-ment of minor age were wounded in the fighting. The raid like-wise resulted in the rescue of six other minors aged 12 to 16 years recruited by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to theparamilitary organization. (see related article on p. 8) ~

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The church people belongingto the CNL played a very impor-tant and historic role in servingthe Filipino people and advanc-ing their struggle for national

liberation and democracy. In acongratulatory message, Com-munist Party of the Philippinesfounding chair Comrade JoseMa. Sison said that the Partyand the New People's Army arefortunate to have the CNLamong their comrades in thecontext of cooperation andservice to the oppressed and ex-ploited masses.

Since the beginning, the CNLhas aligned itself with the patri-otic and progressive forces. Itcourageously and assiduously joined the resistance movementagainst the Marcos fascist dic-tatorship and persevered in win-ning over ordinary church peo-ple, nuns, priests, pastors andbishops to defend human

rights and prevent the reac-tionaries from using thechurch institution as atool of imperialism andthe exploiting classesagainst the toilingmasses.

The CNL hasplayed a bigrole within the

National Democratic Front.After the fall of the fascistMarcos dictatorship, theCNL continued to actwithin the NDF frameworkand along the path of rev-olution against the entire

system and succeeding reac-tionary regimes.

The Christians for NationalLiberation was founded on Feb-ruary 17, 1972, the 100th an-

niversary of the martyrdom of the patriotic priests MarianoGomez, Jose Burgos and JacintoZamora who were executed bythe Spanish colonialists forleading the Cavite Mutiny.

Several CNL members countamong the thousands who were

arrested, torturedand imprisoned by

the fascistmilitary uponthe declara-

tion of martial lawon September 21,

1972. In spiteof this, the

CNL contin-ued to ex-

pand and contribute to the rev-olutionary struggle. It was oneof the organizations that coop-erated with the Communist Par-ty of the Philippines in puttingup the Preparatory Commissionfor the National DemocraticFront in April 1973.

During the first years of martial law, the CNL took on thetask of helping other nationaldemocratic mass organizationssend personnel to the country-side, taking care of woundedRed fighters and helping in themovement's communications

system. It also contributed in abig way to preparing areas be-come guerrilla zones of the NewPeople's Army.

Hundreds of priests andother church workers havechosen to take the path of serving the people. Not a fewchurch people have been mar-tyred in line with this duty.

Among them were CarlosTayag, a CNL activist who wasabducted in 1976. A Redemp-torist priest, Fr. Rudy Romanowas likewise abducted by thefascist US-Marcos regime onJuly 11, 1985 and remainsmissing. Two other priests Fr.Zacarias Agatep and Fr. NiloValerio were killed by the mili-

tary during the Marcos dicta-torship. Fr. Frank

Navarro was slainunder the Cora-

zon Aquino re-gime.

The church peo-ple's movement of pro-

gressive service to theoppressed and exploited

continues to expand. Stateviolence against them likewisecontinues, as shown on October17, 2011 with the murder inMindanao of Fr. Fausto "Pops"Tentorio of the Pontifical Insti-tute for Foreign Missions(PIME). ~

40 years of serviceby the CNL

V

arious revolutionary organizations expressed their solidarity

with the Christians for National Liberation (CNL) as it com-memorated in May its 40th founding anniversary. Since its

founding, the CNL has achieved so many victories in serving the Fil-ipino people in conjunction with its exercise of the Christian faith.

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13ANG BAYAN June 7 2012

Co Ban Kiat workersstrike anew

WORKERS of the Co BanKiat Hard-ware in Ba-rangay Tam-bo, Paraña-que Citystruck anewon May 27

after management reneged on an agree-ment arrived at after the previous striketo reinstate 103 workers who had beenillegally terminated.

On top of this, the Co Ban Kiat man-

agement likewise fired 14 workers whohad recently been promoted to regularstatus. Workers who had long beenworking for the company as contractu-als were also not regularized, despite anagreement arrived at between manage-ment and the workers' union on May 11,after a ten-day strike. Contractualworkers who had finished their contractwere likewise booted out and those who

had signed agreements prohibiting themfrom joining unions were harassed.

The Co Ban Kiat managementclaimed that its latest moves werespurred by the termination of the com-pany's contract with the service agencythat supplied the workers. The KilusangMayo Uno (KMU), however, said that theunion and the company's managementhad a written agreement which had

nothing to do with the service agency.The workers therefore had the right tostrike to assert their interests andcounter the capitalist's abuses.

During a program held at the work-ers' picket line, the KMU assailed theDepartment of Labor and Employment(DoLE) and its secretary Rosalinda Bal-doz for encouraging the expanded im-plementation of contractual employ-

ment. The KMU said that job layoffsevery four to five months have become aregular occurrence because of Depart-ment Order No. 18-A, Series of 2011signed by Baldoz, which tolerates con-tractualization. ~

UN rights advocates

call for Palparan arrest

Several countries that attended the Universal PeriodicReview (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights

Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland on May 29 calledfor the arrest of Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. and othermilitary and police officials with notorious records of hu-man rights abuses in the country.

Australia led the other countries in demanding thatthe butcher general Palparan and other culpable officersand personnel of the military and other armed agencies of the Philippine government be hunted and brought tocourt.

Twenty-two countries likewise expressed concern

about the continuing cases of extrajudicial killings, ab-duction and torture involving the military and police un-der the Aquino regime. Among these countries are Cana-da, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, TheNetherlands, Spain, Austria and Australia.

Palparan is currently facing charges of illegally de-taining and kidnapping University of the Philippines stu-dents Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan and farmerManuel Meriño. The three victims were abducted in 2006in Hagonoy, Bulacan. The Regional Trial Court of Malolos,Bulacan issued an arrest warrant in December 2011 forPalparan. He has since gone into hiding.

The UNHRC conducts the UPR every four years. This year, 69 countries attended the review of the humanrights situation of various countries, including the Philip-pines.

In 2008, the Philippine government pledged to im-prove its dismal human rights record. Under the currentAquino government, however, serious violations of humanrights continue. ~

r v u A2 -M 3 2

Extrajudicial killings: 76 cases

Frustrated extrajudicial killings: 49 cases

Torture: 62 cases

Forced evacuation due to militarization: 6,556 cases

Intimidation/harassment/threats in the course

of military operations: 15,862 cases

Abduction: 9 cases

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