of Commerce has been prodding the puppet regime tofurther liberalize t - PDF document

of Commerce has been prodding the puppet regime tofurther liberalize the Philippine economy by openingup sectors reserved only for Filipinos, like theretail trade, telecommunications and real es-tate ownership.Aquino had early on showed the hollow-ness of his I will not stealŽ and I am notcorruptŽ slogans. He received the biggestcampaign contributions in the history ofPhilippine elections, but he has yet tomake a full disclosure.He is now paying back such massiveoutpouring of financial support, all tothe people's detriment. Obsequiously acced-ing to his imperialist overlords, he is obedi-ently implementing orders from theInternational Monetary Fund toadd to the people's tax burden,hike fees for public services andslash subsidies in an attempt tostave off the government's bank-ruptcy. Plans to raise toll fees onexpressways were put on reprieveonly through the people's strongprotests and timely ac-tions. But the regimeremains deadset on enigno Aquino III is rapidly shedding his maskas an agent of changeŽ and clean govern-ment.Ž This early, there already are strikingindications of his regime's corrupt, puppetand reactionary character, as his fastdisappearing popularity increasinglyfails to blind and deceive.Hardly had he taken the reins ofpower when Aquino showed proof ofhis puppetry to US imperialism. Like amendicant begging for alms and crumbsfrom his master's table, he sent a grovel-ling letter to US Pres. Barack Obama, ask-ing him to provide his bankrupt re-gime with an MCC Millennium Chal-lenge Account. The US acceded,granting the puppet regime $434million in exchange for more eco-nomic, military and political conces-sions that will further trample onPhilippine sovereignty.In another sign of his cringing pup-petry, Aquino has been pushing his Pri- This issue’shighlights...picture of incompetencePAGENPA seizes 37 firearmsPAGEWriting, guerrilla stylePAGE Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng PilipinasPinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-MaoismoANG Vol. XLI No. 17www.philippinerevolution.net Ang Bayanis published fortnightly by the Central Committeeof the Communist Party of the Philippines is published in Pilipino,Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray andEnglish editions.It is available for the Philippine Revolution Web Centralwww.philippinerevolution.orgwelcomes contributionsin the form of articles and news.Readers are likewise enjoined to sendin their comments and suggestions forthe betterment of our publication. Youcan reach us by email at: Vol XLI No. 17 September 7, 2010 Contents US-Aquino regime’s rottennessHostage crisisNPA seizes 37 firearmsDebt service above all else NPA to intensify guerrilla offensivesWriting, guerrilla styleBayan Muna activist shot deadOliveros mother and child back at PGHNDF condemns ambush of civiliansSectors denounce OBL extensionMarking Int’l Day of the DisappearedNews ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 to farmers and subsequently passon the burden of higher prices toconsumers.Aquino's appointment to pow-erful positions of representativesof imperialists and of fellow bigcompradors and big landlords whosupported his candidacy is likewisepayback for huge debts of grati-tude. With many of these appoint-ees already having blemished rec-ords, it did not take long for thestench to reek. Past anomalieswere soon bared and new acts ofcorruption exposed in a number ofhis key officials. Also becoming ev-ident are the factional conflictswithin the regime due to infightingto advance various economic, fac-tional ang selfish interests. Thenew regime's ranking officials havelikewise been selling highly placednational and regional positions forup to millions of pesos.Aquino was unable to concealhis class standpoint as a big land-lord in the issue of Hacienda Luisi-ta. He feigned a hands-off policyon what he claimed to be an inter-nal matter among shareholders. Infact, his presidency is an instru-ment of his landlord-compradorclan to prevent the implementationof genuine land reform in the haci-enda, tighten its monopoly controlover the estate and continue earn-ing billions through land-use con-version. He is likewise an instru-ment of the entire landlord class tomaintain their land monopoly. Heis therefore an instrument in main-taining the backwardness of thecountryside and keeping the peas-antry oppressed and exploited.Aquino's hypocritical stance ofadvocating reforms and good gov-ernance as a means of stampingout the people's revolutionarystruggles has all but vanished. Herelies mainly on military might tosuppress the growing revolutionarymovement and people's struggles.His regime has extended OplanBantay Laya (OBL) up to January31, 2011 while in the process offraming a new operational planpatterned after the US Counterin-surgency Guide. With OBL's exten-sion automatically comes the ex-tended campaign of targeting openmass leaders and activists and sus-pected supporters of the armedrevolution. Aquino had just takenhis seat in Malacañang when sevenactivists became victims of extraju-dicial killing. The use of torture as a policy of government has beenbared anew. Military abuses go onunabated, especially in the coun-tryside. The Morong 43 are still indetention, and not a single politi-cal prisoner has been released.The Aquino regime is no differ-ent from its predecessor in its lowregard for peace negotiations. Ithas merely reprised the deceptiveand divisive localized peace talks.Worse, it has been insisting on animmediate ceasefire as a precondi-tion for the talks, which consti-tutes another violation of previousagreements and protocols.Long before the end of his first100 days in office, the shallow andsymbolic changes Aquino has en-forced, such as his no sirensŽ pol-icy have lost steam in the face ofthe new government's gargantuanproblems and anti-people tenden-cies. To boot, the Aquino regimehas demonstrated an unprecedent-ed level of incompetence in itshandling of the August 23 Lunetahostage crisis.In the face of all this, Aquinohas taken an even more dependentand supplicating stance with re-spect to the US on which he reliesfor deliverance and continued sup-port for his rule. In his US trip thisSeptember, Aquino hopes to ar-range for bigger military and eco-nomic aid in exchange for morebasing rights for US militarytroops, intensified interventionand bigger concessions to enableUS enterprises in the country torake in even more superprofits. Bythen, the Aquino regime will havebeen caught completely in thesnares of its imperialist master.The rottenness, puppetry andreactionary character now beingmanifested by the Aquino regimeare relentlessly bringing it to ruinand causing its isolation from thepeople. They pave the way for thefurther advance of revolution andpeople's struggles. ~ 3 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 Hostage crisis paints picture of rottenness ated a diplomatic row between thePhilippines and China. And the factthat Malacañang failed to putAquino in touch with Hong Kongchief administrator Donald Tsangafter the latter had waited forhours did not help any.There was deep and widespreadanger among Hong Kong residentsas they saw how such incompe-tence led to the deaths of theircountrymen.Tourism has been bad-ly hit after the Chinese governmentissued an advisory against travel-ing to the Philippines. The Chinesegovernment has also refused to re-ceive a delegation sent by theAquino regime for talks pendingthe Philippine government's re-lease of its report and the meas-ures it would be taking with regardto the hostage crisis.After the incident, officials ofthe Aquino regime took to finger-pointing, inadvertently underscor-ing the existence of various fac-tions within the Aquino govern-ment. The lack of coordination be-tween the top two officials of theDILG„Robredo (who is from theBalayŽ group which is controlledby the Liberal Party) and Puno(who is from the SamarŽ groupwhich is controlled by Kamag-anak,Inc.)„as well as in other agenciesresulted in the government's cha-otic response to the crisis.The crisis has bared the rottensystem of appointments and offi-cial accountability and the lack ofresponsibility and monitoring bysupervisors, which resulted in thetumultuous handling of the crisis.All the fancy imagery carefully cul-tivated for Aquino during his elect-oral campaign is nowrapidly fading, leavingmany of those whohoped that heagent of change,profoundly disap-pointed. ~ he bloody aftermath of the August 23 Manila hostage crisis present-ed a revolting picture of the ruling system and the Aquino regime'srottenness and incompetence. Nine people were killed„eight Chi-nese tourists from Hong Kong and the hostage-taker Sr. Insp. RolandMendoza. Twelve other tourists were wounded. Mendoza was a former policeofficer removed from his post afteran extortion case was filed againsthim. He took the victims hostageto demand his reinstatement afterthe case had dragged on for years.The hostage-taking incidentbrought to the fore the rottennessand incompetence of variousbranches of government, includingthe Ombudsman, the Philippine Na-tional Police, the Manila city gov-ernment, the Department of the In-terior and Local Government(DILG), the Department of ForeignAffairs, the Aquino regime's Com-munications Group and even Be-nigno Aquino III himself.For all of 11 hours, the PNP andthe Aquino government committedone fiasco after another in dealingwith the crisis. The crisis, whichcould have been resolved sooner(either through effecting the hos-tage-taker's surrender or over-powering him) stretchedon for hours and culmi-nated with the police in-discriminately firing theirweapons without thoughtof securing the safe-ty of the hosta-ges.The po-licemen dis-played theirutter lack ofprepared-ness andtence to save the hostages for theentire country and the whole worldto see (and may even have hit orcaused the death of some of thevictims).The whole world witnessed howchaotic and incompetent Aquino'sentire government was in confront-ing the crisis and how such bungl-ing and incompetence exacerbatedthe crisis. Aquino was a no-showand had no role to play until thecrisis ended. His point man duringthe crisis„DILG Secretary Rico Pu-no„admitted that he had no expe-rience in handling hostage situa-tions or in leading the police. Pu-no, a close friend of Aquino's and agun dealer was assigned to super-vise the PNP, a function wrestedfrom DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo.The fact that the tourists takenhostage were from Hong Kong cre- 4 VICTORIOUS NPAOFFENSIVES ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 42 enemy soldiers in tactical he New People's Army (NPA) seized at least 37 firearms, includinga K3 light machine gun in a series of victorious tactical offensivesagainst the US-Aquino regime's armed minions from the last half ofAugust to the first day of September.The enemy also suffered 42 dead and 16 wounded, including threehigh-ranking military and police officers (a Philippine Army lieutenant and two police chiefs). On the oth-er hand, a woman Red figher val-iantly sacrificed her life.Contrary to the claims made byenemy propagandists, these fire-fights show the rising capabilitiesof NPA units.In Negros.The NPA cartedaway 23 high-powered firearmsafter raiding a detachment of the12th IB CADRE Battalion's DeltaCoy in Barangay Bunga, Tobosotown in Negros Occidental in theafternoon of August 28. The arms The proposed `1.645 trillionnational budget sets aside `357.1billion or 22% for interest pay-ments alone. This is higher by`80.9 billion (or almost 30%) com-pared to last year's allotment.There is also a proposal to raisethe AFP budget by 18% and hikethe Priority Development Assist-ance Fund, otherwise known as thepork barrel, from`10.9 billion thisyear to `24.8 billion in 2011.Not content with the previous`800 billion contingency fund,ŽAquino has raised it to a whopping`1 billion. The fund, which is un-der his direct control now consti-tutes the biggest pork barrel. Hehas also maintained the questiona-ble `500 million intelligencefundŽ of the Presidential Anti-Or-ganized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF)even if this agency is no longer un-der Malacañang's direct supervi-sion.On the other hand, the budgetfor health services will be reducedby 3.5% (from `40 billion this yearto `38.6 billion). To obscure thisfact, Aquino has been braggingabout raising the budget for thevaccination program and facilitiesfor neonates.Aquino has likewise beenboasting that his regme will be al-lotting `1.5 billion for potable wa-ter systems in impoverished com-munities. In fact, the regime hasreduced the budget for water re-sources development and floodcontrol by `4 billion or 22%. Aqui-no's mendacity and deceipt showthrough the way he has been issu-ing press releases that focus onlyon selected details.The Aquino regime obviouslytends to rely on the private sectorto build infrastructure badly need-ed by the people. It has reducedthe budget for agriculture andagrarian reform by `23.1 billion or26%. It has likewise slashed thebudget for electricity and energyby `3.4 billion or 65% and forroads and transportation by `7.9billion or 5%. Aquino has inserted Debt service above all else roviding social services is not among the Aquino regime's priorities,contrary to what it may claim. In Benigno Aquino III's proposedbudget for 2011, he allots the biggest chunk to debt service, justas what previous regimes did. `21.7 billion for financial supportfor progams under the private-pub-lic partnership scheme. But with-out any itemizations, this fund isvulnerable to corruption.The education budget has beenboosted, mainly to finance theconstruction of long-needed newclassrooms and hiring new teach-ers. Basic education will receive`206.3 billion compared to `172.9billion this year. But this still fallsshort by almost `100 billion to ad-dress all the problems currently be-ing faced by the education system.Worse, this comes at the cost of abudget slash for public collegesand universities. For instance, theUniversity of the Philippines willonly be receiving `5.5 billion com-pared to this year's `6.9 billion, areduction of 26%.Next year's national budget issaid to be only slightly bigger thanthat of this year. The Departmentof Budget and Management has an-nounced a freeze in the construc-tion of new infrastructure and thehiring of new employees. Govern-ment employees cannot hope forany upward adjustment in theirwages and salaries. Neither cancasual and contractual employeesin the various government agencieshope to attain permanent status. ~ 5 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 seizure consisted of at least 11 Ga-rand rifles, eight M14s and twoM16s, aside from ammunition, uni-forms and combat boots.The detachment troops hadjust finished conducting opera-tions when Red fighters under theRoselyn Ka JeanŽ Pelle Commandof the NPA in the Northern NegrosGuerrilla Front attacked. Prior tothis, the guerrillas had arrestedthe detachment commander Sgt.Efraim Bagonoc in a cockpit in Sit-io Pulangyan, Barangay Bunga.Command spokesperson Ka Ce-cil Estrella said that when the Redfighters brought the military offi-cer to the detachment, he tried tograb the firearm of one of theguerrillas as they reached thegates of the camp. It was at thispoint that a skirmish took place,resulting in the sergeant's deathand the wounding of two CAFGU el-ements. The NPA reinforcementsquickly arrived aboard a truck,leading to the surrender of the sur-prised paramilitary forces.The tactical offensive tookplace just days after 3rd ID chiefMaj. Gen. Vicente Porto boastedthat the NPA in Negros and Panayhad been severely weakened.Sa Davao Oriental.Eighteensoldiers were killed and ten otherswere seriously wounded in back-to-back ambushes by Red fightersof the NPA Conrado Heredia Com-mand-Front 20 on August 27 andThe ambushed soldiers formedpart of military troops from the25th IB, 67th IB of the 1001st In-fantry Brigade and elements of aScout Ranger Company who havebeen conducting a brigade-size op-eration covering the mountainousareas of Cateel and Boston up tothe Mt. Diwata Range n Diwalwal,Monkayo, Compostela Valley sincelate August. The large-scale opera-tion aims to clear the area to pavethe way for the operations of biglogging and mining companies.A platoon under the 28th IBscoured the interior areas of Bos-ton but were dealt blows by theNPA. Red fighters ambushed theenemy troops in Barangay Sumilaoat around 3 a.m. on August 27. TheAFP suffered ten killed and fivewounded.The following day, August 28, acomposite force of 67th IB and SRCtroops combed through an NPA ar-ea. But upon reaching Sitio Buko-Buko, Abijod, Cateel, they werewaylaid by NPA forces who hadbeen waiting in ambush. The fight-ing began at 3 p.m. and lasted for45 minutes. Eight enemy soldierswere confirmed dead while fiveothers were seriously wounded.Contrary to the AFP's claims be-fore the media, the NPA did notsuffer any casualties. The Redfighters were able to retreat safelybefore the arrival of enemy rein-forcements, said Ka Roel AgustinII, Conrado Heredia Command-Front 20 spokesperson.In Davao City. The NPA 1st Pu-lang Bagani Company in SouthernMindanao Region conducted twosuccessive military actions against69th and 60th IB troops in Paqui-bato District. On August 31, ademolition team from the 1st PBCdetonated explosives targetingtroops of the 69th IB led by Lt. Ry-an Belis in Sitio Nursery, BarangayMalabog. The following day, anoth-er demolition team from the 1stPBC mounted a harassment opera-tion against a column of the AFP1003rd Brigade composed oftroops from the 69th IB and ele-ments of the Bahani Long-RangePlatoon-Alamara in Sitio Quiam-bao, Barangay Lower Mapula. Inretaliation, two helicopters strafedthe entire area as two other heli-copters evacuated the dead andwounded. The dead soldiers werebrought to a funeral home in Pan-abo City.The enemy could not concealits casualties and admitted to suf-fering two dead (a Philippine Armysoldier and a CAFGU element) andtwo wounded who were beingtreated in a hospital.Military operations have beenpummeling Paquibato for twomonths now. Aside from the 60thand 69th IB, troops from the 84thIB and elements from the Alamaravigilante group have been broughtin all the way from Talaingod, Da-vao del Norte by the 1003rd Bri-gade to wreak havoc in Lumad andsettler communities in Paquibatoand nearby areas.Three elementsof the 4th ID were killed in an am-bush by Red fighters under theBoyboy Roa Command in SitioGamit, Barangay Sta. Filomena inQuezon town on August 26.In Northern Samar.rifles and three pistols were seizedby Red fighters under the NPA Ro-dante Urtal Command (RUC) whenthey wiped out an eight-man po-lice team in an ambush in Baran-gay Imelda, Catarman on AugustThe guerrillas detonated abomb that targeted the PNP vehi-cle carrying the policemen whohad arrived in response to reportsof a barangay official who hadbeen killed. Among the casualtieswas Sr. Insp. Nicasio San Antonio,vice police chief of Catarman.In a statement, RUC spokesper-son Ka Amado Pesante said thatbefore the ambush, the NPA hadmeted the death penalty on T/Sgt.Rolando de Guia of the 63rd IB forespionage. De Guia used his posi-tion in the village council as a cov-er for organizing an intelligencenetwork in Catarman. He was pre-viously a brutal CAFGU trainor un-der the 19th IB. Seized from himIn Agusan del Sur.A K3 lightmachine gun and two M16 rifles 6 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 NPA to intensify tactical offensives inresponse to OBL extension—Ka Oris he New People's Army (NPA) will meet head-on the extension of OplanBantay Laya (OBL) until January 31, 2010 with intensified and wide-spread tactical offensives, said National Democratic Front-Mindanaospokesperson Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos. These tactical offensives willescalate all the more as the NPAand the revolutionary masses de-fend their victories, said Ka Oris. Infact, in Mindanao alone, NPA unitswere able to launch 50 tactical of-fensives from July until Au-gust„20 in Southern MindanaoRegion (SMR), 27 in NortheasternMindanao Region (NEMR) and threein Far South Mindanao Region andNorth Central Mindanao Region.Most notable among the attri-tive and annihilative attacks bythe NPA in SMR was a raid last Au-gust 24 in Barangay La Fortuna,Veruela, Agusan del Sur where thereactionary government lost a lieu-tenant and four soldiers from the26th IB. The Red fighters were ableto seize a K3 light machine gun,two M16 rifles and rounds of am-munition. Also last August, twosoldiers from the Division Recon-naissance Company, including adie-hard leader of the paramilitaryBagani Force were killed in an am-bush. Two M16 rifles were seizedfrom them.There was almostno letup in battlesfought in the mountain-ous areas of DavaoCity; in the towns ofMaragusan, New Bataanand Monkayo in Compostela Valley;in the towns of Mati, Baganga andCateel in Davao Oriental; in NewCorella, Davao del Norte; in Davaodel Sur; and in North Cotabato.The NPA in NEMR also chalkedup 27 tactical offensives even asalmost all towns in its four provin-ces are under attack by fascisttroops. The NPA launched two suc-cessive ambushes on August 13.The first was against the ScoutRanger Company (SRC) in Purok 5,Barangay Pianing, Butuan City.After this, the NPA also ambushedelements of the 30th IB in Lusong,Barangay Puting Bato, CabadbaranCity. Four enemy soldiers werekilled and six others were wound-ed.Last August 28, three NPAteams attacked a composite forceof the 14th SRC, 75th IB and SWAG(Special Warfare Group), killing fivesoldiers and wounding three oth-ers. The enemy force that was al-most the size of a brigade forciblyoccupied the neighboring commu-nities of Palonpon and Boringon inBarangay Mahaba, Marihatag, Suri-gao del Sur. In August alone, Red fightersin Far South Mindanao Regionlaunched three military actions.Last August 3, they harassed 39thIB troops in Dungan Pekong, Ma-tan-ao, Davao del Sur,punishing an intelligenceagent the day after. OnAugust 8, the NPA am-bushed 27th IB forcesbio, Sultan Kudarat.The people's ar-my in North CentralMindanao also harassed the operat-ing battalion under the 1st TabakDivision of Western Mindanao Com-mand. Up to 24 soldiers were killedin different tactical offensives andencounters in the region from Aprilup to August. were seized by Red fighters un-der the NPA Alejandro LanajaCommand in a 15-minute raid onthe headquarters of the 26th IBin Barangay La Fortuna, Veruelaon August 24. Aside from thefirearms, the guerrillas also cart-ed away 1,800 rounds of ammu-nition, including ammunition foran M203. Five soldiers werekilled and one was wounded inthis firefight. The raid serves aspunishment for this militaryunit's grave violations of humanrights. The day after, two othersoldiers from this same unit anda CAFGU element were killed inan ambush by Red fighters whowaylaid them while they were onpatrol.In Sorsogon.A soldiers fromthe 49th IB's Special OperationsTeam (SOT) was killed and anoth-er one wounded in an NPA am-bush in Barangay Sangat, Gubaton August 22. This military unitis notorious for its serious hu-man rights abuses. A .45 cal pis-tol plus ammunition were seizedin this gunbattle.In Surigao del Sur.from the NPA Front 19 hit Insp.Christopher Mazo, police chief ofLianga town, while he wasaboard a vehicle in the eveningof August 21. Mazo's vehicle waspart of a convoy carrying a com-posite force of more than 50Philippine Army soldiers and PNPtroops that passed through Ko-lambogan Spar, Diatagon in Li-anga town.A no-torious operative of the MilitaryIntelligence Battalion of the 4thID was killed by an NPA partisanteam in Napaliran, Balingasag onAugust 15. Seized from S/Sgt.Elmo Penar was a .45 cal pistol.Also meted punishment was hisbodyguard and asset. Penar wasthe brains behind the arrest oftwo NPA members in 2006. ~ 7 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 While withdrawing from a mil-itary action and while readying anambush against possible enemy re-inforcements, Ka Agos stealthilytakes his ballpen and Grade Fourpad paper from his back pack. Cre-ative words form and flow from hismind as swiftly as the guerrillasdisarmed the guards of a bananaplantation, enabling him to write achildren's story. A day more of retreating to-wards a safe place and Ka Agos was(The Lost Firefly) whichwas included in a literary folio cel-ebrating the 40th anniversary ofthe Communist Party of the Philip-pines.Such incidents show how cre-ative writing blooms in the bosomof people's war. Ka Agos is used towriting even without a table or aquiet environment (although theirwithdrawal was quietly done) andeven in the midst of various activ-ities. He exemplifies how a revolu-tionary writer copes with the fluid-ity of an intensifying guerrilla warwhere mobility defines the life ofRed fighters like himself. Momentsof rest are a rarity, he said."Wherever, whenever, and inwhatever situation," Ka Agos ex-claimed. "I write wherever possi-ble." He once wrote while sittingon a sack of rice in the makeshiftkitchen of a camp erected for a Ba-sic Party Course, unmindful of thenoise created by comrades andmasses who were chopping fire-wood and cooking mungbeans. Hewas able to write two short storieswhich were submitted for a literaryworkshop conducted by some staff some years back. In other sit-uations (oftentimes during post-trek rest times or after conductingmass work), he was able to churnout a few more related stories, re-sulting in a short novel just wait-ing to be published.In fact, writing can be doneeven when not in a fixed place. It Writing, guerrilla style can be done guerrilla style or in amobile manner even in urban ar-eas, said Comrade Zel, a women or-ganizer invited to a presswork ofAsdang,the mass paper of FarSouth Mindanao Region. They had experienced transfer-ring from one house to another andwading through flooded streetsduring a raging thunderstorm. This,after they received informationthat an organizer had been arrest-ed by the enemy. As the situationwas not yet clear, they were notable to continue their writing. In-stead, they spent the time engag-ing in light banter with their hostwho offered them hot coffee. Butafter learning that the reported ar-rest was after all, not true, theyimmediately took out their laptops,ballpens and sheets of paper. Onecomrade didn't mind writing usingthe ironing board as a makeshifttable, saying happily that she hadonce written an article while sit-ting on the floor.But Comrade El, one of the ed-itors of Asdangsaid that even ifwriting is done guerrilla style, it isstill imperative for them to adhereto the principle of collective writ-ing and editing to ensure not justquality writing style but the cor-rect political line. The staff firstdiscusses content during collectiveissue planning and the finishedproducts are tabled for collectiveediting. Further, even if Asdangpresently understaffed, its publica-tion is not at all encumbered aswriters from different sectors likethe women and youth are groupedtogether to serve as the paper'stactical pool of writers. With their writing skills honedthrough collective writing, they areable to share what they learn with-in their respective sectors. It isone way of developing more writersto serve the revolutionary move-ment. ~ he creation of revolutionary art and the practice of revolutionary jour-nalism are both thriving in the midst of guerrilla warfare. In the fol-lowing article, a Red fighter and writer shares personal accounts of hispassionate involvement in both armed struggle and revolutionary culture. 8 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 FASCIST STATE ON ARAMPAGE Bayan Muna Activist shot dead after the local reactionary govern-ment consistently ignored theirlong-standing demand for goodwater supply were very angry. Thewater source was two kilometersaway and the residents patientlyconstructed a pipe made of con-nected bamboo poles so that ev-ery house could have access towater.The residents are now demand-ing payment from the PhilippineArmy for the damaged water sys-tem and punishment for the mili-tary officers responsible for its de-struction.July. Troops of the 34th IBwho were conducting military oper-ations tortured and forced brothersCesar and Juanito Gabac to serveas guides. They are ordinary peas- Bayan Muna (BM) member in Eastern Samar was summarily killed.Meanwhile, two youths in Samar were forcd to act as guides in amilitary operation and were presented by the military as rebel sur-renderees. In Misamis Oriental, soldiers who were conducting operationsdestroyed a water system in a remote barrio. August 25. tary death squad element shot andkilled Casiano Abing, 56, a BayanMuna (BM) member in Eastern Vi-sayas, in his house in Barangay 5,Poblacion, Balangiga, Eastern Sa-mar.Abing sustained five gunshotwounds. He was first rushed to ahospital in Balangiga and later, toSt. Paul's Hospital in Tacloban City,Leyte which is one and a half hoursaway. He was declared dead on ar-rival. He was the sixth activistkilled since Benigno Aquino III be-gan his term as the country's newpresident and the 121st victim ofextrajudicial killing in Eastern Vis-ayas since 2001.According to Atty. Katrina Cas-tillo, head of documentation andlegal services of Katungod-Sinira-ngan Bisayas, a local chapter ofKarapatan, Abing actively cam-paigned for BM and senatorial can-didates Satur Ocampo and Liza Ma-za in the last elections. Castilloadded that before the victim waskilled, he observed that he was be-ing surveilled by military opera-tives.August 13.Troops of the 8thID and the Division Reconnais-sance Company of the 4th ID de-stroyed a local water system in Si-tio Salahon, Misamis Oriental onsuspicion that it was a project ofthe New People's Army.National Democratic Front-North Central Mindanao Regionspokesperson Cesar Renerio saidresidents of Sitio Salahon whopainstakingly put up the project arina Judilyn Oliveros and her newborn child were brought backto the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) from Camp Bagong Di-wa in Bicutan, Taguig City last August 30 on orders of the MorongRegional Trial Court (MRTC).The MRTC decision came after the so-called Morong 43 and theirsupporters expressed strong opposition to the inhumane and unjustdecision of the lower court ordering the return of Oliveros and herchild to jail. The detained health workers have been waging a hun-ger strike since August 21 to denounce the continuing violations oftheir human rights and the non-implementation of laws on theircase. After giving birth last July 22 at the PGH, Oliveros along withher newborn child were forcibly taken back to Camp Bagong Diwa. The court ordered their return to the PGH after Oliveros' lawyersfiled an appeal. The order, however, was not implemented for an- ant youth from Barangay Anagasi,Paranas, Samar, said National Dem-ocratic Front-Eastern Visayasspokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas. The two youths were presentedto the media by the 8th ID on Au-gust 16 as alleged NPA membersreturning to the fold of law. Infact, Fr. Salas said, the two alongwith their mother Lucia were ar-rested on July 25 by 34th IB ele-ments under Lt. Col. William Peña-fiel.The military alleged that thetwo surrendered their firearms be-cause they had grown "tired" ofthe armed struggle and "are nowcooperating" with the government.Fr. Salas said it was a lie as thefirearms were not found in the Ga-bac brothers' possession but weretaken from a temporary hidingplace of the NPA. The militaryforced the victims to admit thatthe firearms were theirs. The Gabac brothers were notgiven any chance to defend them-selves or avail of the services of anattorney, said Fr. Salas. ~ NATIONALDemocratic Front-Bi-col spokesperson Comrade Gre-gorio Bañares condemned theambush of five civilians in SitioLanding, Barangay Bolod, SanPascual, Masbate on August 28.In a press statement dated Au-gust 30, Bañares said that basedon initial investigations of theJose Rapsing Command of theNew People's Army (NPA) in Mas-bate, the motive of the ambushwas connected to the dirty warsof politicians and the NPA hadno involvement whatsoever inthe incident.Bañares denounced as mali-cious and unfounded the allega-tions of the Philippine NationalPolice (PNP) and Armed Forces ofthe Philippines (AFP) that theNPA was in cahoots with privatearmies of politicians in Masbate.This propaganda attack by themilitary and police was done tocover up their inutile and uselesscampaign to disband private ar-mies in Masbate, Bañares said. 9 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 FASCIST STATE ON ARAMPAGE OBL was to end on July 30 aft-er shamelessly failing to achievethe AFP's goal of crushing the NewPeople's Army (NPA). During itscourse, the human rights watchdogKarapatan documented 1,206 casesof extrajudicial killings, 205 casesof abduction perpetrated by themilitary and other state armed for-ces, and many more cases of tor-ture and repression.Despite widespread denuncia-tions of OBL1 and 2, AFP Chief ofStaff Gen. Ricardo David neverthe-less announced on August 15 theextension of the plan for anothersix months. To ensure its effectivi-ty, the military said it would be fo-cusing on teaching the importanceof human rights.Karapatan chair Marie Hilao-En-riquez assailed the military's state-ment as a gross distortion, asthose who have been pinpointed asthe violators of human rightswould be the ones teaching thepeople their importance. BenignoAquino III wants his regime'scounterinsurgency program to bereadily accepted by the peopleeven if the military is tainted withthe blood of its victims, she said.Instead of punishing the perpetra-tors, Aquino is even coddlingthem, Enriquez added.OBL's extension will mean thecontinuation of massive militaryoperations and onslaughts in thecountryside, said Bagong Alyan-sang Makabayan (BAYAN) secre-tary-general Renato Reyes.Military, police, paramilitaryand private armies of warlord poli-ticians and foreign as well as bigcomprador businesses have beensowing terror in the Davao provin-ces, Compostela Valley, Samarprovinces, Negros island, Bicolprovinces and in Aurora in Central arious sectors strongly denounced Oplan Bantay Laya's (OBL) exten-sion up to January 31, 2011. other five days due to the Bu-reau of Jail Management andPenology's dilatory tactics.Oliveros and her child will bestaying at the PGH for threemonths.Meanwhile, Sen. Pia Caye-tano, head of the Senate Com-mittee on Youth, Women andFamily Relations said that Oliv-eros and her child should be al-lowed to stay at the PGH forthree more months so she canbreastfeed her child for sixmonths. The senator said thatthe World Health Organizationrecommends exclusive breast-feeding for all newborn childrenfor at least six months. PROGRESSIVEorganizations and families of persons involuntarily disap-peared by armed operatives of the state launched a protest action lastAugust 30 to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared.Marching from the University of Sto. Tomas to Mendiola Bridge in Ma-nila, they called on Benigno Aquino III to give justice to victims of ab-duction and summary killing under the past Arroyo regime.They will continue pressing for their demands, said the Families ofthe Disappeared for Justice (DESAPARECIDOS) and Victims of Arroyo Unit-ed for Justice (Hustisya). They also demanded that Arroyo and herhenchmen be punished for grave human rights violations.The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) also expressed dismayover the Aquino regime's non-action on the issue of abduction. It alsodenounced the appointment of Loretta Ann Rosales as head of the Com-mission on Human Rights. Last August 20, they launched a protest action in Quezon City wherethey displayed a giant yellow ribbon painted red and bearing the picturesof victims of abduction to symbolize their quest for justice.Meanwhile, activists in the US led by BAYAN-USA in San Francisco,California also launched a similar protest action, pressing Aquino to freethe Morong 43 and put a stop to Oplan Bantay Laya. Activists form alliance vs LRT-MRT fare hikes 10 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 NEWS Driver leader Ka Roda passes away Ka Roda was born on October27, 1934 in Libmanan, CamarinesSur to a peasant family. He contin-ued his college studies in Manilaand worked as a taxi driver in 1960and later as a jeepney driver plyingthe Cubao-V. Luna route in QuezonKa Roda became the head of alocal drivers' organization. He alsobecame one of the leaders of thePinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsu-per at Operators Nationwide (PIS-TON) when it was founded in 1981.He was elected 3rd vice presidentand became its president after afew months. He has been PISTON'shonorary chairperson since he fellill in 2002 until his death.Ka Roda led PISTON in variousstruggles, one of them against PD1605 which called for the cancella-tion of a driver's license after beingcited for traffic law violations three times. He also led protest actions inthe offices of oil companies andtransport strikes in Metro Manila.He was labelled by the Marcos re-gime as "the most rebellious driverthe Philippines has ever had" andwas arrested in 1983. He was againdetained in 1998 and 1990 underthe Corazon Aquino regime.Many have expressed their con-dolences over his passing. His lifewill serve as an inspiration to thedemocratic movement of driversand the toiling masses as he self-lessly devoted it to serving thepeople. A pillar of the transportation sector has passed away. Medardo "Ka Roda"Roda died of a heart attack on September 5. He first suffered a stroke in Alex Remollino, nationalist poet, dies KNOWNas a progressive writer, ac-tivist and poet, Alexander MartinRemollino, 33, passed away lastSeptember 3 due to a lung infec-tion.Remollino was one of thefounders of the poets' group Kil-ometer 64. He became a memberof the League of Filipino Stu-dents when he was in collegeand later worked at the IbonFoundation. He was also a writerof various progressive internetpublications such as the pine Online Chronicles, Tinig.comand He was also a mem-ber of National Union of Journal-ists in the Philippines and re-searcher of the Bagong Alyan-sang Makabayan (BAYAN) andKontra-Daya.His poem "Tuparin Natin angBanta ng Ating Panahon" (Let UsHeed the Challenge of Our Times)was among the highlights in themulti-media production Arrest Glo-ria during the struggle against theArroyo regime.He was born on August 6, 1977in Mandaluyong City. He grew upin San Pedro, Laguna and took upAB Legal Management at the Uni-versity of Sto. Tomas. THEKilusang Mayong Uno andAnakpawis formed a broad allianceto fight looming fare increases inthe Light Rail Transit (LRT) andMetro Rail Transit (MRT) in MetroManila. Tasked to focus on stop-ping the impending fares hikes,the Riles Laan sa Sambayanan Net-work (RILES) has already started apetition-signing campaign amongMRT passengers at the Cubao Sta-tion on September 1. The petition-signing campaign was first done bythe Bagong Alyansang Makabayan(BAYAN) and League of FilipinoStudents (LFS) in August. Severalpassengers have signed the peti-tion to oppose the fare increases.RILES spokesperson SammyMalunes said passengers shouldnot be made to shoulder the debtsand losses incurred by the compa-ny. He said services should be pro-vided to the people in the form ofaffordable LRT and MRT fares.RILES also opposed plans to priva-tize the MRT and LRT, saying thatprivate companies are only inter-ested in exacting profits instead ofdelivering affordable services,which should be the goal of publictransportation. Fares at the LRT will be raisedby `25 this September. The MRTfare, on the other hand, may alsobe raised by as much as `44. TheKMU said a worker will be spendingup to `50 a day for MRT and LRTfares alone. 11 ANG BAYAN September 7, 2010 NEWS "OPERATIONIraqi Freedom" is over,said US President Barack Obama onSeptember 1, officially ending theUS soldiers' combat mission inIraq.The official withdrawal of com-bat soldiers had been slated for2011 but Obama ordered it doneearlier due to mounting antiwarsentiment in the US and othercountries. While the US continuedto pour in huge amounts of fundsand resources in Iraq, its govern-ment was becoming increasinglyburdened with financial problems.In the last seven and a halfyears, 4,427 US soldiers were re-ported killed while 34,268 werewounded. The war has also caused100,000 casualties among the Iraqipopulation.Meanwhile, 50,000 Americantroops will remain in Iraq until theend of 2011 to serve as "advisersand assistants" to Iraqi troops.Despite the US withdrawal,there will be continued military in-tervention camouflaged by replac-ing uniformed troops with merce-naries. More than 130,000 merce-nary troops have been deployed toIraq in the past two years, biggerthan the number of uniformedtroops. These mercenaries are sup-plied by private contractors en-gaged in military and security un-dertakings. There are plans to fur-ther raise the number of these pri-vate military contractors. The Iraqi government has ex-pressed growing concern amid es-calating attacks by Iraqi guerrillas. US combat mission in Iraq ends WORKERSof the ABS-CBN InternalJob Market Workers Union achievedan initial victory when the Depart-ment of Labor and Employment(DOLE) issued a decision on August18 recognizing their union.Saying that employees underthe IJM must be recognized be-cause they have been working forthe welfare of the company, theDOLE also requested the conduct ofa certification election to securethe union's recognition.The IJM Workers Union de-nounced management's repressionof its members who picketed infront of the ABS-CBN company onAugust 20. Lending them supportat the picket were members of Kilu-sang Mayo Uno, Philippine Airlinesand Kowloon House workers, stu-dents and the National Union ofJournalists in the Philippines.The ABS-CBN management hadearlier made its workers sign a con-tract stating that they were merelycontractual workers or talents ofthe company. The union opposedthe move, saying the downgradedcontracts undermined the status ofemployees who had been workingfor the company for several years.The company has resorted to vari-ous maneuvers to bust the union,one of which was the retrenchmentof 110 workers.