With a new administration peace talks are again be flouted by both the government and the CPP. The NTF-ELCAC says the only acceptable peace talks are of the localized variety.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1628589/ntf-elcac-to-focus-on-localized-peace-talks-with-reds |
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) said Friday it would focus on localized peace talks with communist rebels, with one of its officials saying “nothing good came out” of negotiations on a national scale.
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Charlie Galvez said localized peace talks with communist rebels are still ongoing.
He said the government had tried a national approach in peace talks in the past, but it “ended up to nothing” compared to local peace engagements.
(We are still waiting for guidance. Now, peace talks are still ongoing, but we localized it.)
(Based on our assessment, within the more than 50 years of our negotiations, nothing good came out of national peace talks.)
In explaining the choice of NTF-Elcac to focus on localized peace talks, Galvez stressed that the “dynamic of conflicts is different in different areas.”
(It’s different. It’s different for Bangsamoro, the Visayas, and Central Mindanao and Southern Mindanao.)
(Localized peace engagement is better. We can see the interest and issues addressed by our local agencies.)
Asked if this means the NTF-Elcac does not have a recommendation on the national peace talks, National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos, who serves as the vice chairperson of the task force, said: “They are all localized.”
The CPP has rejected this method calling it " a smokescreen for psywar."
“The Party … reject[s] the ‘localized peace talks’ of the NTF-Elcac,” said CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena in a statement.
Valbuena added that the proposal is nothing but “a smokescreen for psywar (psychological warfare), pacification and suppression operations” of the military.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1629059/cpp-rejects-ntf-elcac-backed-localized-peace-talks
PNP Chief Danao is against peace talks altogether because the NPA assassinated a PNP officer recently.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/838492/danao-frowns-on-possible-peace-talks-with-reds-after-supposed-attack-vs-pro8-cops/story/ |
Philippine National Police (PNP) Officer-in-Charge Police Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. on Monday expressed disapproval of peace talks between the government and the communist rebel group.
In his speech after a flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame, he hit the “leftist group” after it allegedly ambushed cops of Police Regional Office 8 who were distributing aid to poor communities on Saturday.
“They are there to give assistance to the poorest of the poor. Pero (But) unfortunately you ambushed them. O tapos (and then) now you are talking peace talks. Anong klaseng peace talks 'yan (What kind of peace talks is that)?” Danao said.
A police patrolman died in the incident, according to Danao. The PRO8 identified the fatality as Police Patrolman Mark Monge.
According to PRO8, the police were conducting humanitarian activity in the towns of San Jose de Buan and Gandara in Samar province when around 10 communist rebels allegedly fired at them.
Danao threatened to ambush communist rebels himself if the situation could be reversed.
(If the government can be reversed, I myself would ambush you, to be honest. It hurts.)
Ambushing the NPA is exactly what the AFP and PNP should be doing. But instead they are attempting to bribe them to surrender.
The NPA continues to set off landmines. The AFP says they are doing this as a show of strength to force the government into peace talks.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179328 |
The recent attack by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) insurgents against soldiers in Northern Samar are part of their efforts to project strength through terror in a bid to force the government to return to the negotiating table.
"The violent actions of the CPP-NPA are expected. They are meant to strengthen the CPP’s hold on their dwindling and demoralized fighters and increase the pressure to the government to resume the peace talk according to their terms. They will not succeed in their underhanded scheme," said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) acting spokesperson, Col. Medel Aguilar, in a message to reporters Wednesday.
This came after a soldier from the 20th Infantry Battalion was killed while five others were wounded after the NPAs detonated anti-personnel mines in the remote Osang village in Catubig, Northern Samar on Tuesday.
The fatality and injured soldiers were among the 24 troopers patrolling the vicinity belonging to the Community Support Program (CSP) team assigned to Osang and Nagoocan villages.
The CSP is a flagship program of the AFP used to clear communities of NPA infestation and to bring the government closer to the people through faster delivery of basic services.
The AFP gave as another reason that the NPA uses landmines is because they want to hinder development.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179321 |
The detonation of anti-personnel mines in Northern Samar is a manifestation of the New People’s Army’s (NPA) opposition to the implementation of the Barangay Development Program (BDP), an official of the Philippine Army said on Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Joemar Buban, commander of the Philippine Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion, on Wednesday said the attack of the communist group on the soldiers belonging to the Community Support Program (CSP) was a strategy to delay projects since these soldiers are tasked to secure BDP projects.
BDP projects are socioeconomic development undertakings geared towards the provision of farm-to-market roads, health centers, electrification, water and sanitation facilities, schools, and livelihood.
Buban said Osang village in Catubig town, Northern Samar where the NPA planted the mines is a recipient of a PHP20-million BDP funded by the central government.
Among these projects are infrastructure, agriculture, livelihood programs, and handicraft training.
Goodness knows what their real motivation is since the NPA has been using landmines for quite sometime now and show no signs of stopping. One former NPA rebel says resumption of peace talks would be a betrayal of Filipinos.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179331 |
Resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is a betrayal to the Filipino people and a disgrace to the government's success in dismantling the group, an ex-NPA cadre said Wednesday.“The goal of 'negotiation' is to buy time to buttress a position—military, political, social, or economic—and to wear down, frustrate, and harass the state and its security forces,” Arian Jane Ramos, known as Ka Marikit, when she was secretary of the Guerrilla Front 55 under the NPA's Southern Mindanao Regional Command.Ramos’s reaction came following a statement issued by CPP founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison that he was always open to peace negotiations with the Government of the Philippines (GPH), whoever the president is.Ramos, also former chairperson of Gabriela Youth–University of the Philippines Mindanao, said such negotiations served only the rebels' propaganda objectives and are not to reach peaceful agreements.“The CPP-NPA-NDF will never compromise, concessions are only made to advance its strategic plan,” she said in an interview.If the CPP-NPA-NDF is successful in capitalizing on the momentum in their favor, Ramos said the rebel group will continue to “commit acts of terror across the entire nation.”
Being an ex-rebel she should know what she is talking about right? Surely she doesn't harbour any grudges or wish to sow disinformation about her ex-comrades right? Who knows but some of these ex-rebels seem to sure know what the NPA is doing despite no longer being a part of the group.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179144 |
Communist rebel recruiters have turned to other online platforms such as the popular digital music and podcast service Spotify after their websites were blocked by the National Telecommunications Commission.Joy James Saguino, a former high-ranking leader of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) turned anti-rebel advocate, said the group is being actively assisted by its umbrella organization, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), to explore and use online platforms to “dupe” potential recruits.“They are exploiting all information platforms to expand their machinery of indoctrination and radicalization, especially that Spotify is widely used by the youth,” Saguino, a former secretary of the New People's Army (NPA) Guerrilla Front 20, said in a phone interview Monday.Saguino said CPP-NPA-linked organizations are using Spotify to create podcasts to disseminate propaganda and recruit young people into Asia's longest-running insurgency.The government, she said, must take action “on removing such content on social media platforms. This is plain rebellion taught in online platforms and must be dealt with seriously by the government.”
The blocking of several websites happened only recently and many of those websites are still accessible yet we are supposed to believe that these organizations, in a quick turnaround, began podcasts directed at the youth? That is not believable. Is Spotify going to be red-tagged next? Perhaps.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179549 |
Children should be spared from digitalized recruitment schemes of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its front organizations, the leader of a parents’ group said Friday.
The League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) appealed to the national government to investigate the use by the CPP-NPA of Spotify, an audio streaming and media services provider, and other social media platforms to entice more children to join the communist armed struggle.
“We strongly condemn the deception of our children by these communist terrorist groups and its sympathizers using the Spotify platform,” said Remy Rosadio, LPP president, in a text message on Friday.
Rosadio said the government must probe the infiltration of communist groups in various social media platforms.
“I am appealing to President Bongbong Marcos, Vice President Sara Duterte, and all the concerned government agencies to look into this matter and to restrict all CPP-NPA accounts and investigate the other outlets being used by their front organization for deception and recruitment,” she said.
Rosadio said Duterte, as Education Secretary, can do something about the reported recruitment.
“Innocent children are their easy preys in online videos. Almost all children staying at home are relying on YouTube and other online entertainment like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify to ease their boredom while staying at home,” she said.
Rosario added that other groups like Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, and Kabataan are similarly invading Spotify to attract the attention of children.
She said even former CPP-NPA rebels attest that there is massive exploitation of children by spreading communist ideologies online, even if the National Telecommunications Commission has already blocked websites connected with the CPP-NPA-NDF.
She said the course on Maikling Kurso sa Lipunan at Rebolusyong Pilipino (MKLRP, loosely translated as Short Course on Society and the Revolutionary Filipino) is being played on Spotify as an educational podcast under the “History” category.
The first chapter of the audiobook became available to the public in October last year while the latest episode was aired just on Wednesday.
Other communist-related audiobooks on Spotify are Rakenrol: Salaysayan sa Araling Pilipino with 26 episodes and Aling Aktibista (The Activist), popularly known as ARAK, reportedly a required course for activists.
While Spotify itself is not hosting podcasts, any user with an account can upload a podcast by providing the link to the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed and hosting partner.
Hard to believe that someone would listen to a history lecture and then abandon society for the mountains with the NPA. What are the stats for these shows and how have they actually influenced people to join the NPA? None of the podcasts listed are new which voids the idea that they have anything to do with recently blocked websites. This particular lecture series is being hosted by Mon Sy who is a professor at UP-Diliman and he has been doing so since 2020. What are the implications of this? Will he be charged or arrested or red-tagged? Here is a tweet he retweeted praising the nurses of the NPA.
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| https://twitter.com/YearoftheMonSy/status/1479445621551484929 |
What's a surrendered rebel to do? You got your money, you got your free housing, you got your job assistance, what now? There is one thing The State cannot give you and that is your soul.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179424 |
Ten former communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels decided to restore their Christian faith through baptism and vowed to abandon the communist ideology.In an interview Thursday, Davao Oriental information officer Karen Lou Deloso said the rebels were baptized by a team of volunteers from the Lighthouse Church on July 18, the same day they graduated on July 18 from the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).A surrenderer only known as "Red", 29, said he was thankful for being allowed to change as he vowed not to waste such a “rare opportunity” for them.“We are grateful for being taught about goodness and transformation. The hatred and grudges in our hearts are now gone, and I am truly thankful I have changed,” he said."Dodong", another surrenderer who used to work in the “white areas“ of the communist movement, urged his former comrades to “genuinely transform and embrace the life of peace.”Deloso said the former rebels are also thankful for the Happy Home, the provincial government-run halfway house and processing center for former rebels, which was conceptualized and initiated by Governor Corazon Malanyaon in 2013.“They said that if it weren’t for the Happy Home, they would not have gone through spiritual processing because it’s different from the ideology they were taught in the communist movement,” she said.Since then, services and facilities have evolved and become the E-CLIP implementation model in the country.Currently, Deloso said hundreds of former rebels are "living their best lives" after receiving scores of benefits from Happy Home, including financial assistance, educational services, livelihood assistance, skills training, housing, spiritual services, and moral recovery activities.
There is so much here that is unsaid. It is deserving of a documentary or at least a full write up. If these killers can redeem their souls then that is a good thing. In fact it is the only thing that matters.
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