With the bombing in Jolo a few weeks ago the focus has been on Abu Sayyaf. It might appear that the NPA has faded away for the moment but they are still as active as ever
burning construction equipment,
engaging in firefights with the AFP, and even being nice enough to
release hostages. The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party and one would imagine that the members of the NPA and the CPP are all bona fide and verified communists but you would be wrong to make such a hasty generalisation.
A Manila court has trimmed down to 2 the number of individuals with “unassailable links” to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in the government’s "terrorist list".
In an 8-page resolution dated February 1, Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 19, identified only CPP chairman Jose Maria Sison and Antonio Cabanatan, Secretary of the Mindanao Commission, as having “undisputed links” to the CPP-NPA.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) originally listed 649 names as members of the CPP-NPA, a move which caused an uproar because it was perceived to be a case of terror-tagging.
From 649 to now only 2 names. Out of the thousands of people fighting in the NPA as well as the members of the NDF they can only verify that 2 people have unassailable links to the Communist Party? That is absurd. Especially when the AFP is warning people against the recruitment tactics of these groups.
Meanwhile, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato said the entire nation, not only the military and government, must condemn the efforts of the communist rebels to infiltrate the youth and student sectors as part of their initiative to recruit more members for their cause.
"We call that infiltration of the youth and student sector and exploiting their vulnerabilities. The case of the UPLB student is another proof of student sector exploitation of the CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front)," he said in a message to PNA.
How can the AFP call these groups communists but be unable to verify who their members are in a way that unassailably links them to the CPP? Are these surrenderees verified communists with unassailable links to the CPP?
What about Joaquin Jacinto who is a spokesman for the NDF?
Six militiamen held captive by communist rebels since December last year were freed on Thursday in Barangay San Juan in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur.
Joaquin Jacinto, spokesperson of National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao, said the release was a “gesture of goodwill” despite the government’s failure to suspend military operations.
The NDF added that the release of the hostages proves that it is still open to resuming peace talks with the government.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1086282/npa-frees-6-hostages-in-agusan-del-sur
Can the DOJ say that this man is unassailably linked to the CPP and the NPA? After all he is speaking for the NPA which is the armed wing of the CPP! As for this releasing of prisoners being a gesture of goodwill, well Dutere is still open to peace talks.
Will he or will he not resume the peace talks?
Despite saying a week ago that he would never talk to the communists, President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday again imposed a condition for the peace negotiations to resume.
“Stop extorting money and your taxation,” Duterte said in a speech during the Peace and Order Summit for barangay officials in Legazpi City in Albay.
“I will guarantee na ako na ang gagastos sa talks. You can come courtesy of the money of the Philippines,” he said.
“You can come and be billeted in simple hotels because luxury is not for us. You can come in peace, di kayo huhulihin,” he added.
The Flip-Flopper in Chief. Let me remind everyone who is reading this:
Now that Joma Sison and Antonio Cabanatan have been identified as the only verified communists in the whole of the Philippines they have been summoned to court.
“The Court hereby resolves to admit petitioner’s ‘amended petition’ and direct petitioner to serve summons to respondent organizations, through Jose Maria Sison and Antonio Cabanatan. The addresses of Jose Maria Sison and Antonio Cabanatan being unknown, service of summons shall be made by publication,” read the order.
Let's recap. The DOJ's list of communists has been shrunk from 649 to 2 and of these 2 the DOJ doesn't even know their addresses so they will be summoning them to court through publication in a newspaper! You would think if these men can be unassailably linked to the CPP that there would be a whole profile on them with their addresses but that is not the case. Obviously Joma Sison will not be flying back here from the Netherlands where:
"As a recognized political refugee in the Netherlands, I am protected by the Refugee Convention and by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits my deportation to the Philippines or even to a third country."
“The legal protection that I enjoy is well tested and proven valid and effective by the legal and judicial processes that I have undergone to have my name removed from the EU list of terrorists."
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/13/19/joma-sison-says-summons-from-manila-malicious-futile
This whole thing is a farce. In 2017 Duterte was eager to have the US delist Sison as a terrorist and now he wants to brand him officially as a a terrorist!
You can't win if you don't have a plan so the Philippines will continue to remain in the hole running in circles fighting commies they cant even verify as being commies. Sometimes the NPA even wins a battle.
Four soldiers were killed after communist rebels in Bukidnon successfully took over a paramilitary camp of the Army’s 1st Special Forces Civilian Active Auxiliary Patrol Base located in Green Valley, Barangay Dalwangan, Malaybalay City on Thursday, February 14.
Special forces huh? Sure.
The BOL has been ratified and people are jubilant about it.
“Let us be remind that the success of every electoral exercise depends on the active participation of the people regardless which side they will vote for,” Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said before the proclamation was made.
“As we proclaim the sovereign will of our brothers and sisters in the Bangsamoro Region, we not only mark the beginning of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but we also mark the beginning of a new era for our country,” he added.
A new era for the country indeed. What kind era it will be remains to be seen. Not everyone is eager to enter this new era.
President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his desire to reach out to Moro leaders who campaigned against the new law that would give their former colleagues full expanded autonomy in Mindanao.
At the distribution of certificates of land ownership for farmers here, President Rodrigo Duterte specifically mentioned Nur Misuari, the founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), who publicly opposed the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
“If I can get Nur…If we will have a talk and I can win him, we will be peaceful,” Duterte said.
On January 21, the people ratified BOL, creating the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the final step in the 2014 peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Misuari became the governor of a Muslim autonomous region after signing a peace deal with the government in 1996 but failed to lift the area out of poverty despite millions of dollars poured into the region.
It is not hard to predict the future of the BARMM. All one has to do is look back at the
ARMM which was born out of dialogues with the MNLF in a bid to resolve the Muslim secessionist problem. Misuari was installed as governor of the ARMM in 1996 and his tenure ended in violence and rebellion. The region remains impoverished despite lots of money being invested in the region. That's due to good old fashioned corruption and graft.
Surely things will be different in the BARMM.
“No one is 100 percent ready,” Tan said when asked how ready the MILF is to handle the affairs of government.
“However, they are ready in terms of [having the] determination to achieve good governance. Iba ‘yong sincerity nila [MILF] to govern and avoid corruption,” he added.
That's right. The Islamic terrorists who will be governing the BARMM are determined and sincere which practically guarantees they will succeed in avoiding the kind of corruption which is so endemic to Philippine politics. Along with good governance and avoiding corruption comes the security threats the MILF will have to deal with. Their "former colleagues" the MNLF, Maute, Abu Sayyaf and the rest are still out to cause chaos and havoc.
What programs there are meant to prevent radicalisation is not said. But if you are an orphan whose parents were killed by the infidels and have nothing left to lose why wouldn't you go with an ISIS recruiter who is offering you large sums of cash?
Abu Dar, the only remaining leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in central Mindanao, has been recruiting orphans of those who fought against the government during the Marawi City siege less than years ago.
Col. Romeo Brawner, commander of the 103rd Brigade, said that based on their intelligence-gathering, Abu Dar has been leading the training of children as young as nine years old in a remote area in Lanao del Sur.
“We were able to confirm this after we seized small black shirts when we overran their camp three weeks ago,” said Brawner.
“He is targeting the orphans and relatives of those who died in the Marawi siege. Sometimes, he is offering money for them to join him,” said Brawner.
Now that the MILF has risen to the top of the food chain in Mindanao and given the ultimate prize, their very own Islamic State, plenty of groups will be jealous and do everything they can to disrupt the "peace." Determination and sincerity won't be enough to stop those elements.
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