Insurgency: Cops Profiling Makabayan Voters

There has been quite a lot of activity in the fight against the insurgency this week. Obviously there has been the ongoing surrenders as well as the AFP finding weapons caches. The AFP says they have prevented the NPA from regaining ground in Negros. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177332

Soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry (Masaligan) Battalion (IB) thwarted the attempt of remnants of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to recover their lost ground in the remote area of northern Negros Occidental on Wednesday.

 

At around 6 a.m., the troops encountered some 10 communist rebels and eventually raided their hideout in Sitio Tinibyangan of Barangay Minapasuk, Calatrava town.

 

1Lt. Dansan Camua, civil-military operations officer of the 79IB, said residents informed the troops about sightings of armed men, who were also trying to ask for food.  

 

Government forces conducted security operations after receiving the reports, he added.

 

No casualty has been reported on the government side but heavy bloodstains were seen on the withdrawal route of the rebels, according to the 79IB report.

 

As of press time, troops were still conducting clearing and pursuit operations.  

It sounds like these NPA fighters are going hungry. According to the AFP the NPA in N. Samar have lost their food source due to development in the area.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177282

The New People’s Army (NPA) in Northern Samar has lost its source of food and funds with the initial implementation of Barangay Development Program (BDP) in six remote communities, a top official of the Philippine Army said.

In the past five months, the communist terrorists have stopped receiving financial support and food supplies from communities with the rollout of development initiatives, Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division said in an interview Wednesday.

“The much-improved accessibility to these villages due to ongoing farm-to-market road projects has driven the NPA away from communities. The people have stopped giving support to the NPA,” de Leon said.

He said a NPA platoon in Northern Samar used to solicit PHP175,000 monthly contributions from residents, village officials, and small businesses. A platoon used to receive 64 sacks of rice from local farmers.

“Losing these donations since we implemented the BDP in the past five months prompted hungry NPA members to surrender,” de Leon added.

De Leon said there are only two remaining NPA guerrilla fronts in Eastern Visayas and one of them is in Northern Samar

Perhaps these hungry fighters will surrender and avail of the government's benefits program. Perhaps they will fight to the end. To quote Col. Kilgore from Apocalypse Now, "Someday this war's going to end." The AFP says it has ended in Davao de Oro.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177223

Davao de Oro Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy announced during his end-of-term State of the Region on Tuesday here that his province is now insurgency-free.

“Just last week, I was notified by the Philippine Army that the last remaining members of the Guerrilla Front (GF) 2, the oldest New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla unit in Mindanao, had already left Davao de Oro,” Uy, the outgoing Regional Development Council chairperson, said.

In fact, Uy said the Provincial Peace and Order Council passed a resolution on Monday (June 20) officially declaring Davao de Oro an insurgency-free province.

He said the dismantling of armed rebel units in the province was the culmination of their long efforts to free the province from insurgency.

“We are happy that in Davao de Oro, no NPA front is present,” Uy said, crediting the achievement largely to the government's “whole-of-nation-approach” in eliminating local armed conflicts.

Meanwhile, Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, commander of the Army's 10th Infantry Division, said in a press briefing Tuesday afternoon that apart from Davao de Oro, Davao City, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental have already been declared insurgency free.

“Hopefully in Davao Oriental, we can achieve it, and we still have one week so that we can declare the entire Davao Region as insurgency-free,” Mempin said.

Working on the time table given to the by Duterte the AFP has one week left to declare the entire Davao Region insurgency free. Can they do it? Well, they could say they did because after all the number of NPA is insignificant and the AFP's definition of insurgency-free is:

“Insurgency-free”, according to Luga, means that they have received no more reports of armed men in the province. 

“Insignificant level. Wala na rito ang mga armed groups,” Luga said during the recent meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council held at the Capitol Social Hall.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/09/martial-law-insurgent-free.html 

Who knows if they will take that route simply because it's good optics?

What's really bad optics are two developments in the war against the NPA this week. The AFP won't see it that way but any right thinking person will take a look at these events and be appalled.

The first development is that the PNP is profiling voters who voted for the Makabayan Bloc.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1613195/gabriela-cops-profiling-makabayan-voters

The Gabriela Women’s party list on Sunday claimed the police was conducting community profiling in barangays with a high number of votes for Makabayan bloc groups in the May polls.

Gabriela party list Rep. Arlene Brosas accused Metro Manila’s Northern Police District of issuing a memorandum ordering the community profiling in barangays within its area of responsibility.

Brosas claimed that the memorandum was directed at barangays “with high votes for the Makabayan bloc” party list groups.

The Gabriela lawmaker cited a June 9 letter, supposedly by a Navotas City police intelligence officer, addressed to a barangay in the locality.

The letter referred to a “memorandum from higher headquarters to conduct community profiling on the identified barangays who (sic) got high votes of Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela party list during the recent election.” The Makabayan groups were identified in the letter by the acronym “Kabag.”

It requested from the barangay a list of “sectoral mass organizations, leaders and members, and the issues and concerns raised by the said groups,” in the area.

According to Brosas, “This latest order from the [Philippine National Police] is a brazen but desperate effort to single out communities, which supported Makabayan bloc, in a bid to further stifle dissent especially as prices are spiraling out of control and with a food crisis looming in the horizon.”

Now, anyone with a modicum of sense would read that and be outraged. The PNP are heading out to areas where the Makabayan bloc received a high number of votes and they are going to profile the voters in the area especially sectoral mass organizations, leaders and members, and the issues and concerns raised by the said groups."  According to the PNP voting for or supporting the Makabayan bloc in anyway shape or form automatically makes on a terrorist. Now your vote is not even sacred in the Philippines. 

Let's not forget that the Makabayan bloc is filled with legitimate partylist groups which the NTF-ELCAC, PNP, and AFP continue to red tag as Communist fronts. If that is the case then they should not be on the voting rolls. Is the COMELEC aiding and abetting enemies of the state? I know the line that Joma outed these fronts but that makes the whole thing even more confounding. Are we really to believe that the Philippine intelligence sector is so inept that they cannot get a gun more smoking than the words of Joma? So far they have not been able to produce any other evidence.

The response to this story from an ex-NPA is rather dumbfounding.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177221

Probing the connection of communist terrorist groups (CTGs) with communities is part of the job of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

What is questionable, according to Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, a former New People’s Army official, is the "malicious intent" of a party-list group to accuse government officials and security forces of "red-tagging".

Celiz is the secretary-general of Abante Sentrong Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Bayan (Sambayanan).

Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas claimed that the Navotas City police were ordered to do community profiling on Sunday to determine the villages that delivered votes for Makabayan bloc members Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela during the May 9 polls.

In a statement on Tuesday, Celiz said there is nothing wrong with the police conducting community profiling while Brosas is attempting to cover up the recruitment operations and exploitation activities of the CTG front organizations.

“There is nothing irregular when the PNP, as a law enforcement, public safety, and public order implementor, must conduct intelligence activities and because the Anti-Terrorism Council had already designated the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front) as terrorist organizations operating in the Philippines”.

Celiz said the PNP is only doing its mandate, especially since "Gabriela is one of the identified allies" of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

He said CPP founding chair himself, Jose Maria Sison, disclosed the communists’ ties with Gabriela, ACT Teachers, League of Filipino Students, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and Kilusang Mayo Uno, among others, and identified them as the “open democratic forces in the Philippines”.

“In translation, they are the front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF. That is precisely the reason why the PNP is conducting appropriate intelligence, security-related monitoring, and gathering of information because of this clear existence of facts pointing to the involvement of these organizations with the CTGs,” he said.

Celiz said the PNP should instead be praised for their contributions to curbing communist insurgency.

It is no surprise that this guy does not get it. The issue here is that the PNP are going to profile voters for voting for a certain party. Are they communist fronts? Then they should not be on the voting lists and the PNP should take that up with the COMELEC. Or perhaps it's all one big honey trap and the PNP and COMELEC are working in tandem to out communists. Either way the PNP are profiling people based on who they voted for and that is fundamentally wrong.

The second development is that the National Security Council has ordered the NTC to block several alleged communist linked websites. 

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/6/22/NSA-Esperon-website-block-CPP-NPA-media-groups.html

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered internet service providers to immediately block access to websites linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its alleged affiliates following the request of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon.

Esperon's request, dated June 6 and publicized on Wednesday, sought to prohibit access to websites that are directly linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF. These are the National Democratic Front of the Philippines site, the official publication of NDF; and the website of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, who is a designated terrorist under Anti-Terrorism Council Resolution No. 17 issued in 2021.

Esperon also lobbied to block online access to several independent media websites such as Bulatlat and progressive groups like Save our Schools Network, UMA Pilipinas, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, and Pamalakaya Pilipinas.

Esperon deemed these media organizations and groups to be "affiliated to and are supporting these terrorists and terrorist organizations." He, however, showed no proof to support his claims.

"They have established pervasive online presence through their website that they continually use to publish propaganda and misinformation campaigns in order to malign the Philippine government, recruit new members, and solicit funds from local and international sources," the NSA wrote to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba.

The full list that Esperon wants blocked are as follows: NDFP, NDF, Jose Maria Sison, Philippine Revolution Web Central, Bulatlat, Hiyaw, PRWC Newsroom, Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, Compatriots - Revolutionary Organization of Overseas Filipino and their Families, Save our Schools Network, UMA Pilipinas, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Pamalakaya Pilipinas, AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women, BAYAN, Arkibong Bayan, International League of People Struggle, Pinoy Weekly, Counter Punch, International Action Center, Monthly Review, People's March, Taga-Ilog News, Partisa-News, and People Resist News.

Esperon lobbied to block access to several independent news websites alleging that they are affiliated with and supporting terrorist organizations. He offered no proof for that claim. No surprise there. Esperon is, along with Queen Lorraine Badoy, the King of red-tagging. The NTC went along with the request without asking for clarification or proof. The next logical step is to declare all thee groups to be terrorist organizations. 

Bulatlat and Pamalakaya Pilipinas responded as follows.

Bulatlat, an alternative online news publication that has been operating for more than two decades, fought back against the request and accusations made by Esperon.

It condemned what it called the brazen violation of its right to publish, and of the public’s right to free press and free expression.

"This is prior restraint against protected speech," the news site said in a statement. "It is downright unacceptable as it is based on Esperon's mere hearsay. We raise the alarm that such arbitrary action sets a dangerous precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines,"

"We call on our readers, our fellow journalists, and the public in general to stand against attempts to muzzle legitimate sources of information," it also said.

Bulatlat has been a target of cyber attacks since late 2020.

A unit under the Department of Information and Communications Technology confirmed that an internet protocol (IP) address assigned to the Philippine Army has been attacking Bulatlat and another alternative media, Altermidya.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Ramon Zagala denied the cyber-attack allegations, saying this was merely a "surfing activity."

Meanwhile, Pamalakaya denounced the "desperate move" of Esperon to block a website mostly reporting about the plight of Filipino fishers in the West Philippine Sea and how the government is defending its territory.

Bulatlat has been harassed by the government as well as others such as Get Real Philippines for quite a while. It's no surprise that they have more than one URL as well as a mirror site and are still online. Heck all one has to do is use an online proxy server and all those websites can be accessed. More than likely they will simply shift addresses which makes this order all the more stupid. They also have Facebook and other social media pages and email lists which have not been shut down which means it is business as usual for all of them.

Though initially Esperon could offer no proof for the links between these organizations and terrorism he did offer some proof later.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177342

News organizations Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly were among the websites listed and submitted by National Security Adviser (NSA) Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for blocking on the internet as they support and promote terrorism.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Esperon said upholding and promoting the truth is a national security responsibility imbued with public interests, especially in this digital age where most Filipinos get information through different social media platforms.

Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, which claimed to be advocates of truth and objectivity, in reality, Esperon said, promotes misinformation and even terrorism.

“Misinformation remains to be one of the nation’s greatest enemies; and is in fact a powerful tool used by the Communist Terrorist Group to sow enmity and discord—dividing the Filipino people and separating us from objectivity and the truth,” Esperon said.

“Though we recognize that websites like Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly have been using their platforms to spread information on causes important to them, we cannot simply turn a blind eye to the fact that they have actively supported organizations affiliated with the CPP-NPA-NDF,” he added.

Esperon said the decision to include the two news organizations in the list of websites affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) stemmed from the stories and articles published by the news sites.

He quoted an excerpt of an analysis published by Pinoy Weekly on Nov. 3, 2020, entitled “Limang katwiran ng armadong paglaban” (Five justifications of armed resistance) (https://pinoyweekly.org/2020/11/limang-katwiran-ng-armadong-paglaban/).

Esperon said the published analysis promotes armed struggle to radically change the society, which falls under Section 9 (definitions of terrorism) of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

He quoted another excerpt of an article from Pinoy Weekly entitled “NPA at Masa, ‘di Matitinag’” (NPA and masses, ‘unshakable’) (https://pinoyweekly.org/2022/03/npa-at-masa-di-matitinag/) published on March 30, 2022.

According to the article, “(At the end, the CPP instructed the NPA to strengthen the recruitment and training of thousands of more red fighters from the ranks of young peasants, workers, intellectuals, women and other sectors).

“(The people’s army must further increase its guerrilla warfare capabilities, the secrecy of its methods of walking and encampment, in order to keep the enemy blind and deaf and to dismantle bombs and modern surveillance and bombing equipment,’ the CPP ordered)”.

The quoted excerpt, Esperon said, falls under the ATA’s Section 10, or the Recruitment to and Membership in a Terrorist Organization.

The article "NPA at Masa, ‘di Matitinag’" can be accessed via a proxy site and reading the whole thing reveals that it is a report on the CPP's 53rd anniversary on March 29th, 2022. Esperon has taken the last two sentences of the article completely out of context. The writer is only reporting on what the CPP has said and is not promoting recruitment to the NPA. The other article, “Limang katwiran ng armadong paglaban” is likewise being twisted by Esperon. Here is one offending passage:

4. Armed struggle is a legitimate means or form of social change

In the history of world societies, the armed revolt of citizens against a perceived oppressive system, class and/or regime has been the main means of significant social change.

In 1776, the Americans revolted against the English occupiers. In 1789, the French violently revolted against the kingdom of King Louis XVI. In 1917, an armed revolution overthrew the monarchy (Tsar) in Russia. In the Philippines, in 1896, an armed uprising was launched by Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan, before it was betrayed by Emilio Aguinaldo and others into the hands of the Americans in 1899.

There are many other examples in the world. But what is clear: Armed struggle is one way to radically change society.

Esperon claims this entire article violates RA 11479 section 9 but that section says:

Section 9. Inciting to Commit Terrorism.- Any person who without taking any direct part in the commission of terrorism, shall include others to the execution of any of the acts specified in Section 4 hereof by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations tending to the same end, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of twelve (12) years.

https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2020/ra_11479_2020.html

Where exactly the incitement is in this article Esperon does not say. Far from being an incitement to commit terrorism the article is only an analysis of the CPP-NDF-NPA and why their armed struggle is not terrorism as defined under international law to which the Philippines is a party. Agree or disagree about whether or not those groups are terrorist organizations (and let me be clear and say they are terrorist organizations and I do not support their cause) but there is no incitement in this article.  There is no call to action. There is no encouraging others to execute any of the actions listed in article 4 which is too long to reprint here. Pinoy Weekly's reply to Esperon about both of these articles agrees with this analysis. 

If Pinoy Weekly is indeed guilty of violating the ATA then the next proper step to take is to declare them a terrorist organization and to freeze all their assets and arrest their leaders and employees. If that is not done then these accusations are meaningless. 

It's interesting to note that of all the news outlets in the Philippines ONLY Bulatlat has called for an investigation into the Marawi siege. This is from January 2018.

https://www.bulatlat.org/2018/01/18/unanswered-questions-marawi-city-conflict/

As I noted it's the same old stuff this week except for these two developments of profiling voters and shutting down independent news outlets. Can we expect more of this? I don't know. Perhaps. In the five years I have been writing this column I have not seen anything like this. Hopefully in the fight against the insurgency we won't see people's rights violated even more but that seems doubtful. The ATA has opened a pandora's box. Everyone should be alarmed at the fact that the cops are profiling voters and that a government bureaucrat can single-handedly shut down the press.