Philippines air force chief warns troops against coup plots

MANILA (AFP) — Air force chief Pedrito Cadungog on Wednesday warned troops against joining any new plot to topple Philippines President Gloria Arroyo -- citing his own role in past coup attempts.

"I have been there, done that. I have been a witness. We failed and we should take the lessons of our past actions," Lieutenant-General Cadungog told reporters as he recounted his warnings to his unit.

He said he was once a member of a military faction that took part in the popular revolt that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Cadungog also said he was part of one failed bloody coup attempt in 1987 but he did not elaborate.

Most of the officers in the 1980s coup plots had charges dropped against them after reaching a settlement with government.

But he defiantly warned future coup plotters that they would have to go past him if they wanted to mount another coup.

"If you will not kill me, I will kill you," he said.

Arroyo has put down two attempted military mutinies in 2003 and 2006 by junior officers.

One of these officers, ex-navy lieutenant Antonio Trillanes, was elected to the Senate last year after campaigning from detention.

Some of these mutinous officers remain at large and the government believes they plan to exploit renewed anger against Arroyo over new allegations that her husband and a political ally were involved in a massive corruption scandal.

Cadungog however dismissed such groups.

"Now there are military officers claiming to be idealistic. I can say, they are not and they can go to hell."

He also warned the plotters that "what usually happens is bloodshed."

Opposition forces are planning street protests Friday to press their call for Arroyo's ouster. Communist insurgents and rebel soldiers have also endorsed stronger actions against the Arroyo government.

Communist, military rebels call for uprising on Philippine leader

Manila - Communist and military rebels on Wednesday called for an uprising to oust Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid an uproar over new corruption allegations against the leader's husband and allies. Army Brigadier General Danilo Lim and Senator Antonio Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant, said they hoped that the testimony of a new witness about the alleged involvement of Arroyo's husband and allies in graft would prompt Filipinos to take action. "We only hope that these damning revelations would be enough to finally convince the Filipino people to stand up and assert their sovereign power to choose a government that would truly protect their rights and fight for their interests," they said. Lim and Trillanes are among dozens of military officers and soldiers on trial for allegedly leading or joining previous plots to oust Arroyo over allegations she cheated in the May 2004 presidential election. Calls for Arroyo's ouster again swelled last week after a former government official, Rodolfo Lozada, accused security forces of kidnapping him to prevent him from testifying in the Senate over an anomalous 329-million-dollar government contract. Lozada was eventually able to testify at the Senate, where he corroborated earlier testimony that Arroyo's husband, lawyer Jose Miguel, and the country's former elections chief were involved in getting at least 130 million dollars in illegal kickbacks from the scrapped deal with a Chinese telecommunications firm. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) urged all anti-Arroyo forces to gather Filipinos for massive protests and "eventually cause the downfall of the despicable regime and make it pay for its grave crimes against the people.""The revolutionary armed forces, on their part, have been instructed by the CPP to further intensify tactical offensives in the next few weeks and months to help further weaken the Arroyo regime and contribute significantly to its ouster," it said in a statement. In the wake of Lozada's revelations, dozens of organizations have planned a massive demonstration on Friday to call for the resignation of Arroyo and other government officials accused of being involved in shady deals. Police have already increased patrols and checkpoint operations in Manila ahead of Friday's rally when 300 police officers were expected to be deployed. Authorities, however, have yet to raise security alerts.

NPA to continue attacking mining firms--rebel spokesman

LUCENA CITY -- NEW PEOPLE’S Army rebels will continue to attack mining firms operating in different parts of the country despite the security provided by the military, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal said.

“The NPA will continue to carry out military action against big plunderous mining firms, especially those being secured by military and paramilitary units, and those directly engaged in outright violation of the people’s rights, interests and welfare,” Rosal said in a statement sent to the Inquirer on Saturday.

Rosal denounced plans by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deploy more military and paramilitary units to train private security forces to serve as security guards of foreign mining firms operating in the country.

“It demonstrates how the Philippine military actually serves as a private army not only of bureaucrats and politicians but also of big, plunderous capitalists, especially multinationals,” he said.

Last week, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said the military was willing to provide security assistance to foreign mining companies after communist guerrillas attacked two mine sites in the last three months.

Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez, 7th Infantry Division chief, admitted that he had signed a memorandum of agreement to secure 3,700 hectares controlled by DMCI Mining Corp. in Sta. Cruz, Zambales.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said he saw nothing wrong with government soldiers providing security to mining companies, or to private firms in general, as long as this was covered by guidelines. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzo

Soldier hurt in NPA attack on Air Force detachment

MANILA, Philippines -- A government soldier was wounded after suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked a detachment of Air Force combatants in Nasugbu town, Batangas province, south of Manila on Thursday, a regional military spokesman said.

The rebels attacked the headquarters of the 733rd Combat Squadron in Clayo village at around 1:30 a.m., said Major Randolph Cabangbang, public information officer of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command (Solcom).

The identity of the wounded soldier, who holds the rank of Airman second class, was not immediately released. He was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment, Cabangbgang said in a text message.

The NPA guerillas were believed to have suffered an undetermined number of casualties, the spokesman said.

Empty shells from M203 grenade launcher, and M16 and M14 rifles were recovered from the scene, he said.

The attack came even as the government claimed to have gained momentum against the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which the military estimated to be at 5,700 in strength at the end of 2007

Philippine army clashes with Maoist rebels, 5 dead

MANILA (Reuters) - At least five Philippine soldiers were killed and six were wounded when about 70 Maoist-led rebels attacked an army detachment on the southern island of Mindanao on Wednesday, a military spokesman said.

Colonel Benito de Leon said troops were rushed to reinforce soldiers defending an army patrol base near Cateel town in Davao Oriental province, an agricultural and mining area in the country's southeastern region.

"We've lost five soldiers in the initial skirmishes," de Leon told reporters, adding the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels also suffered heavy casualties. "Everything is sketchy, so we're sending reinforcements."

The military said rebel activity on the southern Mindanao island has increased after the government announced plans to redouble efforts to wipe out more than 30 rebel bases this year.

On Monday, military chief General Hermogenes Esperon said the army was pouring more troops and resources in three areas where the rebels were known to be very active, including the Davao and Compostela valley regions on Mindanao island.

The army has claimed to have dismantled 13 rebel bases in 2007, reducing the number of communist guerrillas from 7,000 to a little over 5,700 fighters, the lowest-ever level in the nearly 40 years of conflict that has killed 40,000 people.

Esperon said on Wednesday the arrest of a senior rebel cadre, Randall Echaniz, in a farming village on the central island of Negros on Monday was a "major blow" to the communist leadership.

"There's going to be a vacuum in the leadership," he told a news conference. "The rebel movement is now in total disarray and many of their members are getting demoralised and disillusioned."

Philippines renews truce offer to Maoist rebels

MANILA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Philippines has renewed an offer to communist rebels to accept a ceasefire deal as a step to restarting peace talks on ending a four-decade rebellion, an aide of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Thursday.

Ricardo Saludo, secretary of Arroyo's Cabinet, told reporters the government "is heeding the Church's call for peace", and once again called for a truce to create an atmosphere conducive to talking peace.

"We call on the rebels to accept a ceasefire that would end the bloodshed and lay the foundation for sincere, productive negotiations toward a lasting settlement of the communist rebellion," Saludo said.

Active in 69 of 81 provinces across the archipelago, the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels have been waging protracted guerrilla warfare to overthrow the government since the late 1960s.

The conflict has killed 40,000 people and stunted economic development in rural communities, scaring potential investors as the rebels exact "revolutionary taxes" on plantation, logging and mining companies.

Peace talks between the government and the rebels, brokered by Norway, stalled in August 2004 when Manila declined to help remove the communist group from terrorist blacklists of the United States and some Western European states.

Last year, the government attempted to restart the talks by offering a ceasefire and declaring a six-month amnesty programme for rebels willing to lay down their weapons.

But the NPA rejected the peace overtures, imposing their own sets of conditions before agreeing to return to negotiations.

On Tuesday, bishops from the Roman Catholic and various Protestant churches offered to facilitate a new round of talks, asking the two sides to drop all preconditions to end one of the longest running communist insurgencies in the world. (Reporting by Manny Mogato, editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Investigation against Sison will be continued

18 januari 2008 The criminal investigation regarding the involvement of the Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison in assassination attempts in the Philippines will be continued. Today the Public Prosecution Service (O.M.) sent him a notice of further prosecution. The 68-year-old founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) and its armed wing, the New People"s Army (NPA), was arrested last year August in the Netherlands, his country of residence.

Philippines: 'And The Destabilization Plot Thickens'

Manila, Philippines - Authorities in the Philippines say they have arrested six men - five former soldiers and a serving Marine officer - for their role in an alleged destabilization plot against the government set on Jan. 22, the anniversary of the second people power revolt.

The ex-military personnel were arrested on charges of possession of firearms without valid permits for one M4 carbine an M16A2 and an AK-47. They are also allegedly involved in a new destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration. They are being detained by counter-terrorism units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The military and police are on "heightened alert" against a set of destabilization plots linked to members of the Magdalo rebel soldiers, a civil society group, and
communists rebels, media reports said. As the Pacific News Center reported Monday, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had alleged that "a plot might be carried out on or before Jan. 22, simultaneous to scheduled protest actions that will be held in commemoration of the violent confrontation between farmers and troops in 1987 that led to violent deaths."

President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo is scheduled to leave the country to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The plan allegedly called for targeted killings or assassination of "a popular opposition figure in an attempt to create chaos amid the protests."

The military identified the suspects as former Cpls. Redante Maranan, Walter Francisco, Ramon Peraña, and Kim Agas, former Sgt. Orlando Valencia, and Cp.l Jaime Dumagpi, a member of the elite Philippine Army's Scout Rangers battalion, and an unidentified Marine officer. Charges of illegal possession of firearms were filed against them. Police brought unlicensed firearms, including two M-16 rifles and an AK-47 recovered from the arrest site as well as documents implicating the men in the alleged plot.

The men were arrested by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and are now under police custody at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. The Marine officer has yet to be represented by a lawyer retained by his family who has sought his whereabouts. They fear for his life who was arrested by by a military counter- terrorism unit.

Military 'white alert' special unit on standby vs. militant protest and possible plot

Armed Forces spokesperson Col. Bartolome Bacarro said the military may raise the current status if events warrant it. "At present, the military is still on the normal, white alert status," Bacarro said. The AFP's NCRCOM commander Maj. Gen. Fernando Mesa is in coordinative meetings with its counterpart in the Philippine National Police (PNP) - the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) – to deal with possible scenarios for planned protest rallies.

"If the situation warrants, then we raise the alert (to red), then we will heighten our alert, but we'd like to highlight that we are in full control. We are ready and we can handle the situation," the military spokesperson said in a press briefing.

The military said it is monitoring reports that "the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), may take advantage of the rallies to destabilize the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by a combination of rebel groups."

The transcript of the briefing for reporters said, "the PNP is in the lead, the armed forces are here to support the police, particularly the NCRPO command. The PNP need us. But I stress that we are only playing a support role to the PNP," said Bacarro.

This comes after police officials said communist rebels have been monitored to be allegedly trying to get in contact with their counterparts in the Magdalo Group.

"The entire NCR command is ready to assist the PNP, if needed," Bacarro told reporters. NCRCOM has about 1,500 soldiers under its operational control, many of them trained in urban warfare and emergency assistance.

CPP NPA: Expansion underway; analysts see the return of urban warfare 'Sparrow units'

Military analysts told the PNC that CPP and NPA founder Jose Maria Sison told the NPA to expand its units in 40 areas and urban special units called "Sparrow units" were alleged to be activated.

Sison, in a statement Sunday on the CPP website said, "the NPA is intensifying its nationwide tactical offensives in order to seize more arms and resources from the(Government)." The statement also highlighted plans to "increase guerrilla fronts to cover all the 173 congressional districts in provinces" and the rebels "will also allow the armed city partisans to operate in 44 congressional districts in the cities and the formation and training of the 'people's militia units' in villages and self-defense units in activist organizations."

Sison said the rebel group is belittling claims by the military that it has lost 12 "fronts" or rebel commands. The NPA will, according to its founder, "build organs of political power at every level possible, destroy the political power of the die-hard reactionaries, and develop relatively wide stable base areas wherever possible on the basis of the guerrilla fronts."

Asia's oldest and one of the world's longest running communist insurgencies plans to "raise the level of land reform from the minimum to the maximum wherever possible, promote all possible social movements, dismantle the operations of despotic landlords and those of 'imperialist corporations' in plantations, mines and logging, and arrest and try plunderers, human rights violators and other criminals of the worst kind."

The organization's National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has informed its negotiating panel that the CPP is providing politico-military education and training to the CPP cadres and NPA officers. Claiming an "accelerated expansion and consolidation of the NPA," this will include the development of "NPA regional and provincial commands with their own strike forces and the increase of guerrilla fronts to cover all the 173 provinces and major urban centers."

The military has reported that the number of NPA rebels dwindled to 5,760 as of end of December 2007. An improved economy and growing job market in the outsourcing industry and information technology sector have taken much of the source pool of college graduates away from activism and into a rapidly growing middle class in the last five years. The military admits that the "Communist rebels remain the Philippines's most serious security threat." Rebel sympathizers increasingly infiltrate civic groups and nongovernment organizations to expand its mass bass of support and revenue. Some of the groups, the military says, exist in expatriate Filipino communities in the United States.

Meanwhile, military and police also alleged the NPA has degenerated in some areas into criminal gangs that engage in activities ranging from extortion and protection rackets for criminal organizations. Some engage in the narcotics trade and as alleged guns-for-hire of political groups.

The U.S. Treasury, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and, the U.S.Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported increased Philippine insurgent activity in narcotics trafficking in 2007, including arrests of rebel members engaged in either hashish and methamphetamine-based drug trafficking in U.S. territories in the western Pacific.

NPA rebels ambush soldiers in Aurora after Angara visit

(Updated 11:50 p.m.) Suspected communist rebels fired at Army troopers who have just provided security to the visit of Senator Edgardo Angara in Aurora province Saturday afternoon, injuring one soldier, a military official said.

Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, commander of the Northern Luzon Command, said the attack happened around 1:30 p.m. at Barangay Nipoo, Dinalungan town.

Maclang said soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, led by a certain 2Lt. Torres, were on their way back already to their base when undetermined number of suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels fired at them.

Earlier, Angara laughed off reports he was ambushed in the province, while launching several government projects there.

Angara told dzBB radio he was on a boat heading for Casiguran when the supposed ambush took place.

"Walang katotohanan yan. Nakasakay kami sa barko papunta kami Casiguran (That's not true. We were on a ship heading for Casiguran)," he said.

He said he never traveled by land in the area.

Chief Supt. Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director, added in a separate interview that police and local military troops are now in pursuit of the attackers.

"In pursuit ang aming mobile group at Army (Our police mobile group and the Army are in pursuit of the perpetrators)," he said.

Radio reports said at least one soldier was wounded after suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels ambushed a group of soldiers near a place where a program was held and attended by Angara and his sister in the province on Saturday.

Radio dzRH reported that neither Angara nor his sister, Gov. Bella Angara Castillo, was injured in the supposed attack on the event site. - GMANews.TV

NPA attack ‘punishment,’ for mining, says rebel spokesman

LUCENA CITY—The New People’s Army attacked the Australian-controlled Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) in Tampakan town in South Cotabato as a punishment for environmental destruction in the firm’s mining site, a communist spokesman said yesterday.

In a statement sent to the Inquirer, Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal said the raid on SMI was also in accordance with the directive for the CPP “to carry out offensive operations against big foreign mining firms that the Arroyo regime brings into the country to plunder natural resources.”

“The Arroyo regime lets big foreign mining companies siphon out billions of dollars worth of Philippine natural resources to the further detriment of the people’s livelihood and the environment,” Rosal said.

He warned of more attacks against foreign mining operations in other parts of the country.

He said the raid was intentionally timed on a holiday when the mining operation was on a break to ensure that no company worker and employee would be hurt.

No civilian was hurt in the raid, according to Rosal.

Rosal said the communist rebels fired shots at a nearby Army detachment but only to prevent the government forces from coming to the defense of the mining firm.

Philipines:Expect worse economic conditions in 2008

Jose Maria Sison:


Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, declared today his expectations of worse economic conditions in the Philippines in 2008. His discussion of these bleak prospects followed up his previous expose of the degradation of the Philippine economy by the Arroyo regime in line with the US-dictated policy of “neoliberal” globalization.

Prof. Sison said, “The underdevelopment and chronic crisis of the Philippine economy make it extremely vulnerable to the current financial crisis and recessionary trend being generated globally from the US. These have started to have a severe adverse impact on the Philippines. The Filipino people will undergo unprecedented economic and social suffering in terms of rising unemployment, decreasing real income, soaring prices of basic goods and deteriorating social services.

“The US and global demand for both the Philippine raw-material exports and semi-manufactured re-exports will contract because of the continuing industrial decline, reduced employment and recessionary trend in all the imperialist countries. US economic growth is expected to go down to less than two per cent from the usual level of around 3 per cent. The thirty OECD countries are expected to have an average growth rate of less than 3 per cent from the usual level of more than 5 per cent.”

Prof. Sison pointed out , “The US consumer market has drastically contracted because of the decline of regular employment and incomes as a result of the series of attacks on the US working class. Under the piratical banner of neoliberalism, the monopoly bourgeoisie has pushed down the wage level, cut back the social benefits and eroded the democratic rights of the workers. It has undermined the US consumer market and caused the crisis of overproduction to recur.

“And yet many of the workers were inveigled to engage in stock speculation through easy credit and to let investment managers raid their pension funds during the high-tech bubble in 1995-2000. The bigger scam came when more workers and other people were drawn to far easier credit for consumption during the housing bubble from 2001 onwards. In the wake of the ongoing mortgage meltdown, the American consumers are without savings and are deeply indebted.

“The mortgage meltdown has acquired global dimensions because US mortgages were repackaged and sold as financial products under such fancy names as “structured investment vehicles” and “asset-backed securities” to foreign banks and investment houses. Since August this year there has been an epidemic of write offs and write downs, involving the evaporation of more than USD 400 billion. This is expected to result in the tightening of international credit by USD two trillion as federal and commercial banks become more prudent in lending.”

Prof. Sison explained further the US financial crisis, “But the financial crisis generated globally by the US is not only about the mortgage meltdown and the necessity of writing down or writing off “asset-backed securities” by foreign banks. The US national debt has risen so fast from the level of USD 5.7 trillion in 2001 to USD 9.1 trillion at present. It is expected to rise to the level of USD 10 trillion before Bush steps down. The US has abused confidence in the US dollar as the global currency .

“The US trade deficit has rapidly grown to the annual level of USD 850 billion because of the US industrial decline and outsourcing of consumer goods, such as those produced in China, India and Southeast Asia. The US budget deficit has also grown rapidly because of the tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy and the unbridled spending for the Pentagon and the wars of aggression. The Pentagon budget has risen to the annual level of USD 600 billion and the costs of the Iraq war have gone far beyond the officially admitted level of USD 500 billion for “operations” and are already in the range of USD one to two trillion if related costs are taken into account.

“The abuse of international credit by the US to cover trade and budget deficits has led to a rapid decline of the dollar and to pressures for an international credit crunch. The dollar decline is generating defensive responses from such big US creditors like Japan, China and the oil producing countries. To play safe, they are gradually reducing their dollar positions in favor of other currencies or a basket of currencies. The financial crisis of the US is serious enough to start undermining the standing of the US as the sole superpower in economic and politico-military terms, as the main engine of global economic growth and as the global market of last resort.”

Prof. Sison stressed, “In 2008 the underdeveloped and semifeudal Philippine economy will face serious problems in relation to the export of raw materials and the re-export of low value added semi-manufactures in a shrinking global market as well as in relation to the securing of new loans and selling bonds to service the accumulated debt and finance the import of oil and other critically needed goods. The international credit standing of the reactionary state will be further degraded as its difficulties to repay the public debt and collect revenues become obvious.

“As the international reserves will decrease conspicuously, the Arroyo regime will not be able to conjure the illusion of economic growth and raise the value of the peso against the US dollar and other major currencies. In the real economy of the Philippines, the working people and middle social strata will be beset by intensified exploitation, increased poverty and misery and the heavier weight of oppression. The social discontent and people's resistance will further spread and intensify.”

PHILIPINES -New Peoples Army rejects Xmas truce

COMMUNIST rebels have rejected a 22-day truce that the government declared unilaterally and dismissed an offer for a three-year ceasefire as “gibberish.”

On Sunday, the first day of the truce, at least 20 communist guerrillas killed three unarmed Marines who were on their way to market in San Vicente town in Palawan province.

“If that is the response… then so be it,” Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said “We’ll go after them.”

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the rebels who staged the ambush would be “dealt with accordingly.”

In a statement, Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio Rosal said Esperon’s proposal of a three-year ceasefire was “totally ridiculous and downright dubious.”

“Who in his right mind would believe General Esperon when all along he has been saber-rattling and prating that the AFP can decimate the revolutionary Armed Forces by 2009? He is the least credible person to make the slightest gesture toward peace,” Rosal said.

Esperon said the truce would not be revoked but vowed to go after the Marines’ killers.

As the communists rejected the government’s peace overtures, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front warned that was prepared to go to war if the government failed to solve a dispute over its future homeland.

In a statement after the group walked out of talks in Kuala Lumpur, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the government’s decision to present “a totally unacceptable” draft agreement in Malaysia turned the negotiations into “a circus.”

Accusing the government of introducing conditions not previously discussed, Iqbal added: “It is better to have no agreement at all than to enter into a bad agreement.”

“This ugly turn of events in the peace process is taxing the patience of the MILF and the Bangsamoro people, who may be compelled to resort to other means, pacific or otherwise, of resolving the Mindanao conflict when they are pushed to the wall and become hopeless in the present peace process,” he said.

The MILF panel walked out of the negotiations set for Dec. 15 to 17 after seeing a copy of the government draft agreement that included conditions that the MILF never approved.

Iqbal blamed people in “the corridors of power” for spoiling the peace process with the revisions, without the knowledge of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza said Mrs. Arroyo included the aborted Kuala Lumpur talks in the agenda of today’s security meeting.

“We admit that there were some provisions—constitutional provisions—that were inserted and we need to clarify these. The MILF is entitled to their own opinion, but we are trying to address the situation,” Dureza said in a telephone interview.

He was non-committal when asked if the insertions could be removed, saying the President must first hear from government chief negotiator Rodolfo Garcia.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the government’s use of the 1987 Constitution to grant economic control to the rebel group was unacceptable, but would not elaborate.

Both Kabalu and Garcia were not optimistic that the January 2008 target for signing the ancestral domain agreement would still be met. With Florante S. Solmerin

UN: Philippines Army Killed Activists

GENEVA (AP) — The Philippine army has killed left-wing activists as part of its military campaign against communist rebels, a U.N. rights expert said Monday.

"In some parts of the country, the armed forces have followed a deliberate strategy of systematically hunting down the leaders of leftist organizations," said Philip Alston, a New York University law professor charged by the U.N. Human Rights Council with investigating extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.

Alston called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to stop further killings and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. The view echoes a recent demand by the U.S. Senate that the Philippines prosecute human rights violators — including soldiers — before it can receive additional military aid from the United States.

Alston visited the Philippines in February and issued a preliminary report in which he said the military was in a state of denial about its role in the deaths of about 800 opposition activists over the past six years.

In his final report, Alston dismissed theories the killings were carried out by communist groups to weed out spies and discredit the government.

"The military's argument that the leftist activists who have been killed are the victims of a 'purge' by the rebels is strikingly unconvincing and can only be viewed as a cynical attempt to displace responsibility," he said.

The Philippines military has for almost four decades been fighting rebels seeking to establish a Marxist state. Government troops are also engaged in a campaign against Islamic insurgents in the south of the country.

"The government has undertaken a range of welcome reforms, but the fact remains that not a single soldier has been convicted in any of the cases involving leftist activists," Alston said.

In his report Alston also examined other cases of extra-judicial killing in the Philippines, including the "people's courts" system operated by the communist rebels, and death squad killings of street children and petty criminals.

NPA owns up to 2 Masbate ambushes

By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer
Last updated 01:59pm (Mla time) 11/05/2007


LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines -- The New People's Army (NPA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for the two ambushes that left two policemen dead and five others wounded in Cataingan and San Pascual towns in Masbate province last week.

On October 31, police reports said a platoon-sized police team composed of the San Pascual police and the Regional Mobile Group was conducting internal security operations in Barangay (village) San Pedro in San Pascual when waylaid by armed men.

Officials identified the two policemen killed as Inspector Franco Andes of the RMG and Police Officer 1 Hernani Enriquez of the San Pascual police.

The day before, local policemen and personnel of the 50th Provincial Police Mobile Group were ambushed in Barangay Liong in Cataingan as they escorted election inspectors carrying ballot boxes.

In a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) through mobile phone, National Democratic Front-Bicol spokesperson Greg Bañares said the NPA-Jose Rapsing Command in Masbate was responsible for the two ambuscades.

Earlier, the NPA admitted responsibility for the Friday night torching of a Globe telecoms cell site in Barangay Bayanihan, San Fernando, Mabsate.

Around 50 NPA members raided the site and disarmed and hogtied its security guard, Masbate police reported.

Communist rebels abduct 3 soldiers in Philippine raid

MANILA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Communist rebels abducted three soldiers in a raid on an army base in the southern Philippines, the fourth such sting in as many months in the restive region.

Around 40 members of the New People's Army (NPA), disguised as government troops, seized 15 weapons in the attack on Saturday in Montevista, a small-scale mining town on the island of Mindanao, Major Rodrigo Sosmena said.

"They were using the three hostages as human shields in case our troops would pursue them. We have not found them yet, but we hope they are okay," Sosmena told reporters on Monday.

Last month, about 100 NPA rebels, some of them in military uniform, stormed a police station in another part of Mindanao, wounding two police officers before stealing 18 weapons, a two-way radio and office supplies.

The government, which is also fighting Muslim insurgents, has said the NPA is the Philippines' biggest security threat.

The 7,000-member organisation continues to attract recruits, disillusioned by the country's yawning gap between rich and poor, and extorts money from telecoms firms, mining groups and plantation owners.

The insurgency has killed more than 40,000 people since the late 1960s and peace talks have been stalled since 2004 after the United States and some European states labelled the NPA a terrorist group

Communist Rebels Attack Australian Mining Firm

Manila - Communist rebels attacked an Australian mining firm in the eastern Philippines, torching vehicles and equipment and seizing guns and various items, a regional military spokesman said Thursday. No casualties were reported in the raid on Wednesday, Major Randolph Cabangbang said.

About 40 communist rebels swooped down on the mine site of El Dore Mining Corpin Labo town in Camarines Norte province, 210 kilometres south-east of Manila, Cabangbang said.

The rebels burned four vehicles, a drilling equipment and a generator set. They also carted away an undetermined number of guns, computer sets and cellular phones before fleeing to the mountains.

The Communist Party of the Philippines recently ordered its armed wing - the New People's Army - to attack foreign mining firms in the Philippines.

The Philippine government has been promoting various mining projects in the country, attracting foreign investors but also criticisms from various groups.

On Wednesday, an anti-mining activist was killed during a protest rally outside an Australian nickel mining site in the central Philippine province of Romblon.

Arman Marin, 42, was leading a small group of protesters outside the Romblon Nickel Mining Project, operated by Australian firm Pelican Resources Ltd, when a company guard shot him at close range.

Army admits it can't quell communist revolt by 2010

By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
Published: October 02, 2007, 00:12


Manila: The Philippine Army cannot defeat the 38-year old communist New Peoples Army (NPA) in 2010, as demanded by President Gloria Arroyo, because the military is undermanned, handling separatist Muslim groups in the south and destabilising elements in Metro Manila, said a military operations head and an intelligence officer.

"We're pushing our commanders in the field to do more to meet our goals of strategically defeating the communist insurgency by 2010 based on our campaign plan," said Major General Jogy Leo Fojas, head of military operations.