Monday, December 24, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Notes on Federalism
NOTES ON THE
FEDERAL STRUCTURE FOR THE PHILIPPINES*
By Gonzalo M.
Jurado, PhD
Vice-President
for Finance and Development and Professor of Economics
Kalayaan
College
We’ve
heard of the pros and cons of a federal structure of government for
our country from various authorities in the last several years**,
perhaps even taking sides in the debate. My own thoughts on the
matter have been formed from my long association with Dr. Abueva who
as a scholar has long advocated the federal structure of government
for our country. Though I am apprehensive that a federal structure
of government might unleash latent forces of separatism in our
country, I am persuaded that it might just be the structure that will
ensure that decisions and actions taken at higher levels of political
authority, which in our current unitary structure seldom affect
people on the ground, impact positively on the lives of our
countrymen. This should accelerate the development of our economy
and speed up the enhancement of the welfare of the Filipino people.
I am in
general agreement with Dr. Abueva on the points he has raised in his
paper for which reason I shall not anymore comment on them. What I
shall do is to cite three propositions in economics suggesting that a
federal structure of government compared to a unitary one will be
better for our country, more responsive to our individual and common
aspirations.
One. The
federal structure of government will reduce the negative and increase
the positive impact of location on our political subdivisions.
Location theory says that the nearer you are to the center the more
likely you are to benefit from the advantages of the center; the
opposite is also true, the farther you are from the center the more
likely you are to suffer from the disadvantages of distance.
No matter
what we do, we can never obliterate the consequences of distance.
Everything else being equal, it will always take longer to travel
over a longer distance than over a shorter distance. It will always
take longer to come to Manila from Batanes than from Bulacan. It will
always be more costly to deliver a product to distant South Cotabato
than to nearby Cavite. Those closer to the kitchen will receive more
culinary attention and service than those farther from it.
This
explains why Mindanao and the Visayas, both physically distant from
Manila, the center of our current unitary structure of government,
suffer from inadequate infrastructure and poor political, social and
economic services, while provinces neighboring Manila, including
Manila itself, suffer from a surfeit of these facilities and services
-- notwithstanding commitments regularly made by Luzon political
leaders to direct more attention and more resources to Mindanao and
the Visayas or lessen the concentration of resources in Luzon or
Manila.
A federal
structure of government will enable our provinces to maximize their
benefits (or minimize their costs, which is the same thing) from
distance. That is because each federal unit will have its own
capital which, naturally, will be located somewhere in the federal
state. With its own center, the federal unit will have no compelling
reason to defer to the unitary center. Provinces, towns and
communities within the federal unit will now be referring to a center
nearby rather than to any capital situated hundreds of kilometers
away. People from Batanes will not have to come to Manila when they
can settle their problem in Basco. The high transport cost of a
product coming from Luzon to South Cotabato can be avoided if the
product can be sourced from Koronadal. Why bother about distance to
the kitchen when the kitchen has relocated to your immediate
neighborhood?
Two. The
federal structure of government will attract the forces of
agglomeration to the federal units and thus accelerate the federal
units’ development. From agglomeration theory we know that people
and resources tend to concentrate in places where there are already
large concentrations of people and investments. People are attracted
to people; investments attract further investments. The opposite is
also true: people and resources tend to be “repelled” by empty
space.
As matters
currently stand people and investments tend to agglomerate in Manila,
the center of our unitary structure of government. Despite
strenuous demands for decongestion and dispersion frequently voiced
by city officials and urban planners, people from the provinces
gravitate to Manila; businesses large and small come to settle in
Manila. The reason is simple, here is where jobs are located, here
is where incomes and profits are earned.
As the
various federal units work for their development, they will attract
agglomeration forces to themselves. New or refurbished federal
capitals will function as magnets to people and resources in the
federal state. Responding to perceived needs of civil servants in
the various departments of the new federal state and the relocated
departments of the unitary government, businessmen can be expected to
make investments in housing, restaurants, and personal services. In
due time, these investments will draw further investments in hotels,
education and medical facilities. Before long industrial,
commercial, and cultural agglomerations will have risen in the
federal capital and its environs, dynamizing the whole federal state.
And three.
The federal structure will promote friendly competition among the
federal units, accelerating their growth and development. Economics
abhors monopolies for the simple reason that monopolies are
inefficient, selling poor quality products at prohibitive prices, to
the detriment of the interest of the communities they serve. In
contrast, entities operating in competitive markets are constrained
to deliver the “best” products at the most reasonable price to
customers in order to keep their share of the market. The government
in a unitary system is the most glaring example of a monopoly,
unchallenged in its collection of exceedingly high taxes from the
citizens and delivery of unspeakably poor services to them.
The federal
structure of government will give vastly expanded autonomy to federal
units. In the exercise of this autonomy federal units will be
obliged to rely upon themselves. They will have to plan out and
implement the development of their areas of responsibility on the
basis of their own vision and resources.
One virtue
of the federal structure is that it will enable the federal units to
benefit not just from their own genius and resources but also from
developmental stimuli coming from outside. That is because sooner
than later they will find themselves in friendly competition with
their neighbors. Competition will enable them to replicate the
successes and avoid the failures of their neighbors, even as their
neighbors will also benefit from their successes and failures.
This
friendly competition will be a most welcome development. For,
operationally, it can only result in the improvement and expansion of
the economic, social, political, cultural, educational, and other
social overhead, not just of one federal unit but of all of them, to
the benefit of the country as a whole.
These are
economic reasons supportive of the political arguments put forward by
Dr. Abueva, suggesting that the federal structure of government is
superior to the unitary structure in the acceleration of the
development of our economy and the more speedy enhancement of the
welfare of the Filipino people.
*Delivered at 4th Round Table Discussion on Structural Reform: Forms of Regional Decentralization, sponsored by the University of Asia and the Pacific, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, on September 10, 2012, in reaction to “Federal Form of Decentralization” by Jose V. Abueva.
**For a comprehensive discussion of federalism, see, among other sources, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, with Internet Link: plato.stanford.edu/entries/federalism/.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Bangsamoro to replicate Navarre gov’t system
http://tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/5984-bangsamoro-to-replicate-navarre-gov’t-system
Written by Fernan J. Angeles and Mario J. Mallari
The Daily Tribune
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 00:00
Government chief peace negotiator and presumably the chief Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiator, along with their staff, are leaving for Spain today and will land in Navarra after Madrid, to study and replicate the legal and government system on which the Bangsamoro legal framework is to be patterned.
Navarra, or Navarre, is located in the northeast side of the peninsula of Iberia in Spain. Navarra, an autonomous region, is surrounded by Aragon in the east, by the Basque Country in the west and by the nearby country of France in the north.
Presidential Peace adviser Teresita Deles in a statement e-mailed to Palace reporters, said the members of the government peace panel and other government officials will visit Navarra, Spain as a means of preparing for the drafting of the annexes and other details of the framework agreement with the MILF.
The delegation leaves for Madrid today and from there will travel to Navarra on Oct. 24. Deles claimed the Navarra trip is crucial in the effort of both the government peace negotiators and the designated panelists of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to finish annexes on power-sharing, wealth-sharing and normalization before the end of the year even as Deles spoke of the resumption of the talks in Kuala Lumpur next month.
In a statement, Deles said the trip will “give insights to the Philippine delegation on how Navarra’s governance works, which can be useful in the drafting of annexes and in further discussions of the details of the signed Framework Agreement.”
Navarre, or Navarra, is a chartered community in Spain that practices a high-degree of self-governance. Nonetheless, it operates within Spain’s overall structure.
“The visit also hopes to draw lessons and insights relevant as reference to the drafting of the Basic Law of the Bangsamoro. The trip also hopes to inspire models for the yet to be established Bangsamoro set to replace the current (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” Deles said.
“Both parties, through their technical working groups, expect to finish three annexes by the end of the year,” Deles said.
A European Union internet page describes the Government of Navarre, or Diputación Foral, thus: It “is the collegial body that, under the leadership of its President, lays down general policy and supervises the Administration of the Comunidad Foral of Navarre. It consists of the President and the Ministers, or Foral Deputies, who are appointed by the President (of the Navarre government).
“It befalls the Government to wield legislative power and perform executive duties. Likewise, it is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Navarre’s Regimen Foral, its own system of laws, which is the equivalent in Navarre to the Statues of Autonomy in the rest of Spain. The Navarra “Government is empowered to address conflicts of competencies and to file unconstitutionality proceedings before the Constitutional Court. Furthermore, it exercises those powers that, in terms of Local Administration, are vested in it by the Amejoramiento del Fuero.
“Likewise, it is empowered to enter into international agreements and treaties that affect issues that fall within the jurisdiction of Navarre, as well as the appointment of its representatives to the Board of Co-operation with the State, as well as to whatsoever other public or private bodies or institutions. With the prior authorization of Parliament (of Navarre), the Government is entitled to issue public debt, constitute guarantees and subscribe loans, and to enter agreements with the State and with the other Autonomous Communities.
“The Government lays down the overall policy targets for the Comunidad Foral, approves drafts of foral law, the General Budget, the General Accounts of Navarre, and submits them all to the deliberations of parliament. It orders payments to be made and administers Navarre’s assets.
In addition, the Government may issue Legislative Decrees and approve, by means of a Foral Decree, the regulations for the development and execution of foral legislation and of those laws and provisions of the State regarding those matters whose implementation corresponds to Navarre.
“It also befalls the Government, among other duties, to perform the senior management and inspection of the Administration of the Comunidad Foral and of the public companies and entities attached to the same, and the supreme command of the Foral Police Force.
“The Government is to resign following the holding of elections to the parliament of Navarre, when the latter withdraws its confidence in the President or passes a vote of no confidence or upon the resignation, a definitive ruling on impeachment or death of the President.
“The ministers are appointed by the President. Among their powers, special note should be made of the following: submission for the approval of the Government of the drafts of Foral Laws and drafts of Foral Decrees, the exercise, by means of Foral Order, of statutory powers, the issue of administrative rulings, the authorization of expenditure and payments and the representation of their department.
“The cessation of ministers is to occur when so determined by the President, when Parliament approves a vote of no confidence or withdraws its confidence, or in the event of the cessation of the President, through resignation, a definitive ruling on impeachment or death.
“Navarra, like all other autonomous communities in the country is governed by its own seat of power. The province is very much a part of Spain, but the decentralized structure of the government makes the province independent. Basic government services like social services, health, urban development, employment, environment protection, education and housing are provided solely by the regional government.
Navarra is comprised if 272 municipalities that have a combined population of more than 600,000.
The Navarre government has its own police force.
Government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen earlier said that there will be no timetable in so far as the decommissioning of MILF rebels is concerned, but the process should be finished before 2016.
The annexes will complete the Oct. 15 framework agreement between the government and the MILF.
Once the annexes are finished, both sides will sign a comprehensive peace agreement.
Deles said President Aquino will issue an executive order within two to three weeks to create a Transition Commission that will craft and propose a new law for the creation of Bangsamoro, a political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The commission will be composed of eight representatives from the MILF and seven from the government, including a slot for a representative from the Moro National Liberation Front.
Meanwhile, even as there is talk of peace, members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway faction of the MILF, which recently signed a framework agreement with the government, yesterday engaged responding military troops in North Cotabato province, resulting in one militiaman wounded.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, commander of the 7th Infantry Battalion (IB), said the clash erupted along Barangay Lower Paatan in Kabacan town at around 6:30 a.m. when the military was alerted by concerned residents that BIFF members were tilling their lands.
According to Hao, the soldiers, accompanied by local policemen, were immediately fired upon by the BIFF band, led by a certain commander Kadatuan.
A member of the Civilian Armed Auxiliry (CAA) was wounded during the clash that lasted for about 15 minutes.At around 1:30 p.m., Hao declared the area clear from the BIFF elements.
Hao maintained that the clash with BIFF has nothing to do with the signing of the framework agreement between the government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF last Oct. 15.
The BIFF, led by Ameril Umbra Kato, is among the groups being watched closely by government authorities following the signing of the framework agreement by the GPH and MILF last Oct. 15 in Malacanang.
Prior to the signing, the BIFF was branded as “spoiler” of the peace process after launching massive atrocities in Maguindanao province last August at the height of the 30th exploratory talks between the GPH and MILF peace panels in Kuala Lumpur.
The BIFF attacked several military installations in the province, resulting in the killing of five government troops.
Written by Fernan J. Angeles and Mario J. Mallari
The Daily Tribune
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 00:00
Government chief peace negotiator and presumably the chief Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiator, along with their staff, are leaving for Spain today and will land in Navarra after Madrid, to study and replicate the legal and government system on which the Bangsamoro legal framework is to be patterned.
Navarra, or Navarre, is located in the northeast side of the peninsula of Iberia in Spain. Navarra, an autonomous region, is surrounded by Aragon in the east, by the Basque Country in the west and by the nearby country of France in the north.
Presidential Peace adviser Teresita Deles in a statement e-mailed to Palace reporters, said the members of the government peace panel and other government officials will visit Navarra, Spain as a means of preparing for the drafting of the annexes and other details of the framework agreement with the MILF.
The delegation leaves for Madrid today and from there will travel to Navarra on Oct. 24. Deles claimed the Navarra trip is crucial in the effort of both the government peace negotiators and the designated panelists of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to finish annexes on power-sharing, wealth-sharing and normalization before the end of the year even as Deles spoke of the resumption of the talks in Kuala Lumpur next month.
In a statement, Deles said the trip will “give insights to the Philippine delegation on how Navarra’s governance works, which can be useful in the drafting of annexes and in further discussions of the details of the signed Framework Agreement.”
Navarre, or Navarra, is a chartered community in Spain that practices a high-degree of self-governance. Nonetheless, it operates within Spain’s overall structure.
“The visit also hopes to draw lessons and insights relevant as reference to the drafting of the Basic Law of the Bangsamoro. The trip also hopes to inspire models for the yet to be established Bangsamoro set to replace the current (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” Deles said.
“Both parties, through their technical working groups, expect to finish three annexes by the end of the year,” Deles said.
A European Union internet page describes the Government of Navarre, or Diputación Foral, thus: It “is the collegial body that, under the leadership of its President, lays down general policy and supervises the Administration of the Comunidad Foral of Navarre. It consists of the President and the Ministers, or Foral Deputies, who are appointed by the President (of the Navarre government).
“It befalls the Government to wield legislative power and perform executive duties. Likewise, it is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Navarre’s Regimen Foral, its own system of laws, which is the equivalent in Navarre to the Statues of Autonomy in the rest of Spain. The Navarra “Government is empowered to address conflicts of competencies and to file unconstitutionality proceedings before the Constitutional Court. Furthermore, it exercises those powers that, in terms of Local Administration, are vested in it by the Amejoramiento del Fuero.
“Likewise, it is empowered to enter into international agreements and treaties that affect issues that fall within the jurisdiction of Navarre, as well as the appointment of its representatives to the Board of Co-operation with the State, as well as to whatsoever other public or private bodies or institutions. With the prior authorization of Parliament (of Navarre), the Government is entitled to issue public debt, constitute guarantees and subscribe loans, and to enter agreements with the State and with the other Autonomous Communities.
“The Government lays down the overall policy targets for the Comunidad Foral, approves drafts of foral law, the General Budget, the General Accounts of Navarre, and submits them all to the deliberations of parliament. It orders payments to be made and administers Navarre’s assets.
In addition, the Government may issue Legislative Decrees and approve, by means of a Foral Decree, the regulations for the development and execution of foral legislation and of those laws and provisions of the State regarding those matters whose implementation corresponds to Navarre.
“It also befalls the Government, among other duties, to perform the senior management and inspection of the Administration of the Comunidad Foral and of the public companies and entities attached to the same, and the supreme command of the Foral Police Force.
“The Government is to resign following the holding of elections to the parliament of Navarre, when the latter withdraws its confidence in the President or passes a vote of no confidence or upon the resignation, a definitive ruling on impeachment or death of the President.
“The ministers are appointed by the President. Among their powers, special note should be made of the following: submission for the approval of the Government of the drafts of Foral Laws and drafts of Foral Decrees, the exercise, by means of Foral Order, of statutory powers, the issue of administrative rulings, the authorization of expenditure and payments and the representation of their department.
“The cessation of ministers is to occur when so determined by the President, when Parliament approves a vote of no confidence or withdraws its confidence, or in the event of the cessation of the President, through resignation, a definitive ruling on impeachment or death.
“Navarra, like all other autonomous communities in the country is governed by its own seat of power. The province is very much a part of Spain, but the decentralized structure of the government makes the province independent. Basic government services like social services, health, urban development, employment, environment protection, education and housing are provided solely by the regional government.
Navarra is comprised if 272 municipalities that have a combined population of more than 600,000.
The Navarre government has its own police force.
Government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen earlier said that there will be no timetable in so far as the decommissioning of MILF rebels is concerned, but the process should be finished before 2016.
The annexes will complete the Oct. 15 framework agreement between the government and the MILF.
Once the annexes are finished, both sides will sign a comprehensive peace agreement.
Deles said President Aquino will issue an executive order within two to three weeks to create a Transition Commission that will craft and propose a new law for the creation of Bangsamoro, a political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The commission will be composed of eight representatives from the MILF and seven from the government, including a slot for a representative from the Moro National Liberation Front.
Meanwhile, even as there is talk of peace, members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway faction of the MILF, which recently signed a framework agreement with the government, yesterday engaged responding military troops in North Cotabato province, resulting in one militiaman wounded.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, commander of the 7th Infantry Battalion (IB), said the clash erupted along Barangay Lower Paatan in Kabacan town at around 6:30 a.m. when the military was alerted by concerned residents that BIFF members were tilling their lands.
According to Hao, the soldiers, accompanied by local policemen, were immediately fired upon by the BIFF band, led by a certain commander Kadatuan.
A member of the Civilian Armed Auxiliry (CAA) was wounded during the clash that lasted for about 15 minutes.At around 1:30 p.m., Hao declared the area clear from the BIFF elements.
Hao maintained that the clash with BIFF has nothing to do with the signing of the framework agreement between the government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF last Oct. 15.
The BIFF, led by Ameril Umbra Kato, is among the groups being watched closely by government authorities following the signing of the framework agreement by the GPH and MILF last Oct. 15 in Malacanang.
Prior to the signing, the BIFF was branded as “spoiler” of the peace process after launching massive atrocities in Maguindanao province last August at the height of the 30th exploratory talks between the GPH and MILF peace panels in Kuala Lumpur.
The BIFF attacked several military installations in the province, resulting in the killing of five government troops.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
What is communism?
"Communism also known as Marxism is a false ideology of greed and violence,
That calls for all the poor to rob and kill all the rich,
So that there will arise a classless society, where there is material equality,
Because then nobody will be rich, and everybody will be poor.
"It is not really an ideology of love of the poor,
It is merely an ideology of hatred of the rich.
"That is all there is to communism, nothing more."
Dodong alias Ka Kiko
01 December 2001
That calls for all the poor to rob and kill all the rich,
So that there will arise a classless society, where there is material equality,
Because then nobody will be rich, and everybody will be poor.
"It is not really an ideology of love of the poor,
It is merely an ideology of hatred of the rich.
"That is all there is to communism, nothing more."
Dodong alias Ka Kiko
01 December 2001
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Once upon a red star
Through the years the Chinese secret service has constantly kept a keen eye on the Philippines, being strategically located in the South China Sea, long considered by China as a Chinese. Control early Philippine operations was handled directly from Yan'an, Mao Zedong's stronghold and revolutionary base in mountainous Shanxi province in the north of China. Established in October 1935 as the final objective of Mao's 12,500-kilometer Long March, Yan'an was the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
As early as January 1930, Mao asserted, “a spark can set fire to a whole plain.” That plain was the whole of Asia, including the Philippines, and since then the CPC was tediously providing the spark or tending the fires that had started spontaneously in the region. Spearheading the conflagration was the Department of Special Affairs, the Tewu , first led by Zhou Enlai, and later by Kang Sheng, the highly efficient and dreaded Chinese master spy; and the Philippines became a special zone in the Red Chinese international intelligence and espionage activities. In intelligence nothing is a coincidence. And, as in choosing Yan’an as their jump-off base in China, the Chinese secret service chose Central Luzon as the focal point of their Philippine efforts, because of its striking distance to the Philippine center-of-gravity, which is the capital city of Manila (the hub of government and its military and security services); while at the same time affording good battle terrain and effective lines of retreat and re-grouping in the vast cane fields and farmlands in the area, and quick access to sanctuary in the foothills and mountain ranges of the Sierra Madre. As an added incentive to this foreign intrusion at the time, Marxist principles found fertile ground in Central Luzon because of the poverty of the peasant farmers due to the prevailing land tenancy system. As a result, a good number of the personalities who came under the influence of the foreign-based communist drive came from Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, and a few from Nueva Ecija. It was mostly during the fight against the Ferdinand Marcos regime that the communist united front drive took on a more nationwide character because of the widening anger at the Marcos government by the intelligentsia and middle forces. Also in the late 1960s, this communist Central Luzon base came under the shadow of the constructed North Luzon Expressway, the first expressway in Southeast Asia, which more and more became a psychological intrusion into their area of operation.
The original Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) was established on November 7, 1930, the anniversary of the Russian communist October Revolution. The founders of the PKP-1930 came from the Partido Obrero and the Progressive Workers’ Party of the 1920s. On October 26, 1932, the PKP was banned by the Philippine Supreme Court, causing it to go underground. In late 1932, a legal Marxist party, the Socialist Party, was created. In 1935, the PKP was accepted into the Comintern (Communist International). In 1938, the Socialist Party merged into the PKP.
During World War II, the PKP joined the fight against the Japanese occupation. Under orders from the Comintern, the PKP launched its armed force with Luis Taruc (from San Luis, Pampanga) as its military chief. The force was initially called People’s Liberation Army, but the name dictated by the Chinese adviser to the PKP prevailed during the war, Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (The People’s Anti-Japanese Army), in order to conform to Mao’s policy of a broad alliance against Japan. Thus, the force became famous as the Huks (or Hukbalahap).
The influence of the Chinese secret service in the Philippine communist movement was felt strongly. The Philippine party accepted the presence of the Chinese in the main organs of leadership. These Chinese advisers wielded great influence in the formulation of the PKP’s policies and plans. Early on, there were three Chinese in the Central Committee, led by Co Keng Sheng who also belonged to the supreme body, the Politburo. This Chinese trio reported directly to Yan’an and put into effect methods of action learned from the Moscow Comintern. In May 1942, Kang Sheng sent Colonel Ong Viet as military adviser to the Philippines. Under his guidance, the PKP set up a political and military training school in the mountains of Arayat in Pampanga. Other Chinese experts soon arrived to serve as guerrilla instructors. Translated military texts of Mao and Zhu De, as well as Edgar Snow’s Red Star over China, were used for classroom instructions. Meanwhile, armed attacks against the Japanese troops led to Japanese reprisals against the villages; this was a guerrilla tactic aimed at gaining popular support against the invaders. And in March 1943, under heavy pressure from Japanese counter-operations in the Arayat areas, a major internal crisis in the PKP resulted in the elimination of its leader Vicente Lava (from Bulacan), who was blamed for the military defeat. A mini-secretariat took the place of Lava, and this was headed by another sent agent, “Comrade C”, the Chinese adviser and eyes and ears of Yan’an.
After the war, in 1946, the PKP participated in the presidential elections within the Democratic Alliance. In 1948, the PKP began an armed struggle against the government, changing the name of its military arm to Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), or People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In early 1950’s, the HMB had about 10,000 “soldiers”. In October 1950, the entire secretariat of the Central Committee of the PKP was arrested by Philippine authorities, including its General Secretary Jose Lava (from Bulacan, brother of Vicente and Jesus). By end of 1954, the armed struggle was effectively over. But subsequently another guerrilla force known as Bagong Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan, or Army ng Bayan under Pedro Taruc and Kumander Sumulong (Faustino del Mundo from Pampanga) was created. But this force engaged mostly in major criminal extortion and protection activities in the areas around Clark air base because of the thriving business environment there.
Also in the 1950’s, there were marked successes in the Tewu penetration of government, media and civil organizations. The CPC’s clandestine bureau in the Philippines, this time already directed from Beijing, operated via satellite organizations such as the Philippine Committee of Overseas Chinese or the Philippine branch of the CPC. This bureau’s general secretary, Chanh Shan, worked in close contact with the local communist leadership and with the HMB. But intelligence operations conducted against a major target is always not enough. Moles must be either sent in from the mother spy agency (“sent agents” or “sleepers”) or key personalities already in place must be tediously studied and subsequently recruited (“turned agents” or “agents in place”) in order to carry out the much higher objectives of espionage. In true secret service fashion, the Tewu began recruiting secret agents within Philippine society. The attached book excerpt gives an idea of a mole operation.
Pedro de la Peña was an intelligence agent of the Army G2 (army assistant chief of staff for intelligence). He successfully burrowed himself into the friendship and confidence of defence and armed forces officials by helping them financially when they needed it. Publicly, de la Peña was seen as fiercely anti-communist. But he was secretly working for the Tewu. His friend Antonio Chua Cruz, millionaire-owner of the anti-Huk and anti-Soviet newspaper, Free Asia, was also employed by the Tewu. In intelligence, nothing is what it seems. These two were unmasked in 1952 when Philippine authorities arrested William Pomeroy and Celia Mariano Pomeroy (from Rizal). Pomeroy was an ex-U.S. air force, a journalist and later a student at the University of the Philippines. In the U.S., William joined the Young Communist League in 1937, and the Communist Party U.S.A. in 1938. In U.P., he met and married Celia who herself had joined the PKP in 1941, becoming a member of the PKP Central Committee. Seized from the couple were documents and detailed notes on the recruitment and running of Pedro de la Peña and Antonio Chua Cruz. This espionage ring had been successfully supplying the Tewu with crucial intelligence on the Philippine government, military and business community. William and Celia were also known as “Bob” and “Rene”, a couple who were guerrilla instructors at a “Stalin university” attended by HMB members in the mountains of the Sierra Madre.
In 1964, Jose Maria Sison (from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur) co-founded the Kabataan Makabayan (KM)
with Nilo S. Tayag (from Pampanga). On December 26, 1968, coinciding with the 75th birthday of Mao Zedong, Joma Sison re-formed and chaired the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines. He re-organized the CPP and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy. Thus, after the failure of the Moscow-leaning Lava brothers, the Philippine communist movement regained strength and resumed united front building and activities under the sphere of influence of the Communist Party of China. On March 29, 1969, the New People’s Army (NPA) was organized by the CPP. Incorporating remnants of the HMB forces, the NPA began military operations under the leadership of Bernabe Buscayno (a.k.a. Kumander Dante from Capas, Tarlac) who was the former HMB commander.
At around this era, a young politician of Central Luzon had begun to make his presence felt. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was a very young war correspondent covering the Korean War for The Manila Times, for which he received a presidential award for journalism. Also in the early 1950s he became a close adviser to secretary of defence Ramon Magsaysay. Later on, President Magsaysay sent him as personal emissary to Luis Taruc, leader of the HMB which led to Taruc’s unconditional surrender. He became mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac from December 30, 1955 to December 30, 1959; vice governor of Tarlac from December 30, 1959 to December 30, 1961; governor of Tarlac from December 30, 1961 to December 30, 1967; and senator of the Republic from December 30, 1967 to September 23, 1972. In 1966, he became the secretary general of the Liberal Party. On October 11, 1954, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. married Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco whose family owned and operated Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, Pampanga.
In late 1968 and early 1969, General Emilio Zerrudo, First Philippine Constabulary Zone commanding general, reported government encounters with communist guerrilla forces in the cane fields of Tarlac. Notably, Zerrudo was surprised at the more advanced M16 rifles wielded by the communist guerrillas as compared to the government arms of older M1 carbines, Garands, Thompson submachineguns and BAR automatic rifles. In fact, PC Generals Zerrudo and Vicente Raval had to borrow M16 rifles from the Americans in Clark Air Base, Pampanga in order to equal the guerrilla firepower. Gen. Zerrudo also noted that when overwhelmed by superior government numbers, the guerrillas retreated into and disappeared in the vast cane fields of Hacienda Luisita, where it was being talked about that wounded communist fighters received medical care.
Sometime in mid-1972, Joma Sison, as head of the CPP, in joint special operations with the Chinese secret service, successfully landed a very large shipment of arms and ammunition from abroad somewhere in the coast of northern Luzon. The public came to know of this arms landing in July, 1972 when the government announced the capture of the MV Karagatan, off Digoyo Point in the north province of Isabela. The MV Karagatan was the arms transport vessel, but it was already empty when seized by government forces.
Planning and preparing for cross-border clandestine special operations such as the MV Karagatan landing of arms takes many months, even years. By military definition, ‘special operations or specops are always of a strategic (meaning political) and/or operational (meaning highest military purpose) nature, and must utilize the advantage of virtually unlimited resources and national-level intelligence’ (meaning the necessary involvement of a sovereign power or government). Some examples are: the Iran-Contra Affair during the Reagan administration in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran (in glaring contravention of an international arms embargo on Iran earlier spearheaded by the U.S. itself), the proceeds of which were then used to support clandestine arms delivery to the Contras in the mountains of Nicaragua who were fighting the Marxist Sandinista government; also in the 1980s, the massive supply by the U.S. through Pakistan of arms and logistics to the Mujahedin who were fighting the Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan; and in recent past, the U.S. specops which led to the killing of international terrorist Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
By this definition therefore, months before, perhaps even a year, Joma Sison had prior secret knowledge of the arms delivery. Sison thereby became concerned with an impending personnel and operational problem: he was expecting the arms and logistics to arrive, but he was lacking men in the communist New People’s Army in order to deploy the majority of the expected war materials. Let us read the direct and firsthand account of retired Army general Victor N. Corpus of Sison’s solution to this dilemma: “I was a lieutenant in the Constabulary teaching comparative government at the Philippine Military Academy when I defected to the Communist New People’s Army on December 29, 1970. For the next five years, I lived with the rebel guerrillas. I helped train them in warfare and fought with them against what I perceived to be an unjust government.... The Plenum of the CPP Central Committee of December 1975 became the turning point for me....I had prepared beforehand a list of my criticisms directed at Joma [Jose Ma Sison] and some members of the Central Committee. But I did not have enough courage to say what I really felt during that meeting for fear that what happened to Danny Cordero (alias Ka Cris) might also happen to me. You see, for being too vocal and frank in his criticisms of the regional party leadership during a party committee meeting, Danny Cordero was charged with inciting to rebellion; and in that same meeting (which was converted into a military tribunal), Danny was executed...Why did the Party leadership order the bombing of the Plaza Miranda where so many innocent civilians were killed and wounded? I was present when some leaders of the Party headed by Joma plotted the bombing of the Liberal Party (LP) rally at Plaza Miranda. Danny Cordero, before his execution, revealed before the military tribunal that he was totally innocent of the charge of inciting to rebellion, insisting that the Party leadership in fact had full trust in him by assigning him a very delicate mission. When pressed by a member of the military tribunal what the so-called delicate mission was, Danny proclaimed that it was he, together with two other comrades from Caloocan, who was assigned to bomb Plaza Miranda.
Question: Did Ruben Guevara (alias Ka Peter), who headed the military tribunal and represented the Central Committee, manipulate the trial and execution of Danny Cordero to forever silence him regarding this ‘skeleton’ in the Party ‘closet’?....It was in a jungle camp of Commander Dante, then the Commander-in-Chief of the New People’s Army, in the Isabela portion of Sierra Madre Mountains that the plan to bomb the Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda was first hatched. It was also in this camp where I was brought after I led a group of NPA’s in a raid of the armory of the Philippine Military Academy –my alma mater – on December 30, 1970. A few weeks after my arrival at the camp, Joma, then chairman of the Central Committee of the CPP and Jose Luneta, the General Secretary of the Party, arrived and joined us in the camp....It was during one of our study sessions that Joma made mention of thousands of arms that would be arriving from the People’s Republic of China. The problem raised was that we were only less than a hundred armed men in Isabela at the time. How then could we match the thousands of firearms to the few men that we had? We would then be reversing Mao’s dictum that it is people, not weapons, that are the decisive factor in war. But Joma had a brilliant solution....At the time we were discussing the matter, election was drawing near. Joma saw in the electoral exercise a chance to create the conditions for bringing about the revolutionary leap that he was aspiring for....If we could create conditions, such as an incident in one of the rallies of the opposition party, that would heighten the contradictions between the two main factions of the ruling class, we could weaken the ruling class as a whole and hasten its downfall. If a rally of the Liberal Party were bombed, the opposition would naturally point an accusing finger at Marcos. Marcos, in turn, would surely blame the Communist Party, and force him to take more severe repressive measures against us. The greater the repression, the greater still would be the resistance, Joma contended. And by our forcing the hand of Marcos to take more repressive measures (which Marcos actually did by suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus right after the Plaza Miranda bombing), the middle forces (or the so-called ‘moderates’) would be pushed to join the armed struggle and thus swell our ranks. This was the ‘quantum leap’ that Joma aspired to create through that incident at Plaza Miranda, which he hoped would solve the problem of too many firearms with too few men to use them. Such was the rationale for the Plaza Miranda bombing.” (from ‘Silent War’ by V.N. Corpus)
The event that came to be targeted was the Liberal Party (LP) campaign rally to proclaim the LP candidates for the senate and for mayor of Manila. It was on the weekend Saturday night of August 21, 1971. About 4,000 spectators were in the audience to cheer LP stalwarts such as Senators Jovito Salonga, Eddie Ilarde, Eva Estrada Kalaw, Sergio Osmena Jr, LP president Gerardo Roxas, candidate for mayor Ramon Bagatsing and other top LP leaders, some with their wives. At or about 9:15 p.m., as the customary fireworks lighted up, two hand grenades were thrown onto the stage within less than two seconds of each other. Killed instantly was a 5 year old child and The Manila Times photographer Ben Roxas. Ninety eight others were injured, many critically. Seven more would die from injuries, bringing the death toll to 9, all innocent spectators. Senator Salonga became blind in one eye and deaf in one ear because of the blast; he was among those who were most seriously injured. Many thought he was also going to die. Even wives of the LP politicians who were seated on stage five rows back suffered serious injuries. Judy Araneta-Roxas, the wife of the LP president was hospitalized.
When the two grenades exploded, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the foremost LP senator and party general secretary was not on stage in Plaza Miranda. Before the attack, witnesses recount seeing him going around the area of the rally in his convoy, but avoiding the plaza. He made brief stops at certain places, notably at the Manila Hotel and, repeatedly, in front of the Jai-alai court in Taft Ave. People saw him and recognized him, and they wondered why he was not at Plaza Miranda. Reportedly in the car with Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was the son of Amah Pilar, the owner of the Carvajal Restaurant in Manila’s Chinatown.
Being arguably the most popular senator at that time and a key pillar of the Liberal Party, why wasn’t Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. at his party’s most important rally to start the campaign in the capital city? It was not a matter of luck, but a matter of connection; and foreknowledge borne out of the connection. He was warned by Jose Maria Sison himself or by Kumander Pusa (Ruben Tuazon from Pampanga, former PKP cadre who later joined the CPP), or both. Rodolfo Salas (a.k.a. Kumander Bilog from Pampanga, who became NPA chief after Kumander Dante was captured by the government) believed that Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was a traditional politician who would use any venue or group, the NPA included, to advance his political ambition. Rodolfo Salas himself met Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. in late 1960 when the senator brokered the groundbreaking meeting between Jose Maria Sison of the CPP and Kumander Dante of the HMB, which was the organizational meeting leading to the creation of the New People’s Army. At that time, Rodolfo Salas was the CPP political officer-in-charge for Central Luzon. Salas tells of his visits with Kumander Pusa to the Time Street residence of Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. to receive support from the senator, often arms and ammunition. For whatever reason, one can only guess as to why Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. did not warn his party friends, considering that he was a young politician in a hurry with resolute presidential ambitions.
Samuel ‘Bob’ Paquis, a cadre of the CPP/NPA, was the driver of the Volkswagen beetle car which brought bomber Danny Cordero to the area of Plaza Miranda. Immediately after the bombing, Cordero and driver Bob then proceeded to northern Luzon where they linked up with units of the CPP/NPA.
When Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino became president of the Philippines in 1986, coming to power after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in the 1986 first Edsa people power uprising, one of her first policy directives was a move to grant “full and complete amnesty” to the members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. As a dissemblance, the amnesty covered other political strata such as national democrats, social democrats and other allies. [Recently in 2011, Senator Joker Arroyo, a Corazon Aquino ally and her former Executive Secretary, felt obliged to explain, “collaboration among groups belonging to different sides of the political spectrum then (that is, during the fight against Marcos) was not unlike the principle behind the Allied forces’ decision to side with Communist Russia in WWII.”] President Corazon Aquino’s amnesty was formally announced sometime in early 1987. During this time, Samuel ‘Bob’ Paquis became a “rebel returnee” under the rebel rehabilitation program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Services (AFPCRS). Soon, both houses of congress began investigating the Plaza Miranda bombing. Bob Paquis was asked to attend one such hearing in the Lower house, where he was accompanied by Col Oscar Florendo, who was then concurrent Armed Forces Secretary Joint Staff and AFP Spokesman and PIO. When a related hearing in the senate on Plaza Miranda was scheduled, with Senator Jovito Salonga as senate president (Senator Salonga’s term was from 1987 to 1991), the AFP was again all set to bring Bob Paquis to attend the senate hearing. However, then sitting President Maria Corazon C. Aquino made back-door moves so that the hearings would altogether be stopped. President Corazon C. Aquino also allowed a Utrecht, Netherlands exile for Jose Maria Sison who was earlier freed by her amnesty proclamation. Except for being mentioned in the media once in a while, the Plaza Miranda bombing has never again been mentioned officially.
Filipino scholar and historian Teodoro A. Agoncillo, in his ‘A Short History of the Philippines’, wrote that Filipino relationships with one another are guided by Filipino traditional attitudes, such as pakikisama (the sense of deep camaraderie, which implies mutual respect and help), utang na loob (which demands that a man pay his debt of gratitude to a friend or another person who has helped him), and Filipino traits such as hospitality, respect for elders, closeness of family ties and loyalty to a friend. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. had at the very least an operational relationship with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army which were trying to bring down the government and the democratic system in the Philippines, at the same time that he himself was a high official of that Government. While condemnable, one can, by a strenuous stretch of reasoning, accept such reality as a traditional politician trying everything, including active conspiracy with an intrusive foreign ideology and power, to capture the presidency. But there is an inescapable truth here: if a man can’t be loyal to close friends and comrades about to face danger, how can he be loyal to people whom he does not know? How can he be loyal to a people? He can use them, manipulate them, even sacrifice them fatally to further his ambitions and the interests of his family; but loyalty, never.
Once there was a star, he may or may not have been Red, which is not altogether an important differentiation in the strategic sense. One who once had been a Red conspirator may be your most important ally in some future time and for some very good strategic reason. But he certainly was not a worthy, loyal friend and couldn’t have been loyal to a people he didn’t know. This goes beyond politics and the ordinary mundane; it has to do with real character and the true worth of a person. Perhaps the God of History has ordained that two seemingly disparate events, wide apart in time, become connected by the common thread of one person and the same day of the same month. That, on a weekend Sunday afternoon, August 21, 1983, that person had to go through his own personal Plaza Miranda. The first Plaza Miranda was clearly meant to be an instrument of national manipulation. This second Plaza Miranda may have been similarly utilized.
In intelligence if there is any doubt, there is no doubt.
Ninoy Sison
Facebook
06 April 2012
As early as January 1930, Mao asserted, “a spark can set fire to a whole plain.” That plain was the whole of Asia, including the Philippines, and since then the CPC was tediously providing the spark or tending the fires that had started spontaneously in the region. Spearheading the conflagration was the Department of Special Affairs, the Tewu , first led by Zhou Enlai, and later by Kang Sheng, the highly efficient and dreaded Chinese master spy; and the Philippines became a special zone in the Red Chinese international intelligence and espionage activities. In intelligence nothing is a coincidence. And, as in choosing Yan’an as their jump-off base in China, the Chinese secret service chose Central Luzon as the focal point of their Philippine efforts, because of its striking distance to the Philippine center-of-gravity, which is the capital city of Manila (the hub of government and its military and security services); while at the same time affording good battle terrain and effective lines of retreat and re-grouping in the vast cane fields and farmlands in the area, and quick access to sanctuary in the foothills and mountain ranges of the Sierra Madre. As an added incentive to this foreign intrusion at the time, Marxist principles found fertile ground in Central Luzon because of the poverty of the peasant farmers due to the prevailing land tenancy system. As a result, a good number of the personalities who came under the influence of the foreign-based communist drive came from Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, and a few from Nueva Ecija. It was mostly during the fight against the Ferdinand Marcos regime that the communist united front drive took on a more nationwide character because of the widening anger at the Marcos government by the intelligentsia and middle forces. Also in the late 1960s, this communist Central Luzon base came under the shadow of the constructed North Luzon Expressway, the first expressway in Southeast Asia, which more and more became a psychological intrusion into their area of operation.
The original Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) was established on November 7, 1930, the anniversary of the Russian communist October Revolution. The founders of the PKP-1930 came from the Partido Obrero and the Progressive Workers’ Party of the 1920s. On October 26, 1932, the PKP was banned by the Philippine Supreme Court, causing it to go underground. In late 1932, a legal Marxist party, the Socialist Party, was created. In 1935, the PKP was accepted into the Comintern (Communist International). In 1938, the Socialist Party merged into the PKP.
During World War II, the PKP joined the fight against the Japanese occupation. Under orders from the Comintern, the PKP launched its armed force with Luis Taruc (from San Luis, Pampanga) as its military chief. The force was initially called People’s Liberation Army, but the name dictated by the Chinese adviser to the PKP prevailed during the war, Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (The People’s Anti-Japanese Army), in order to conform to Mao’s policy of a broad alliance against Japan. Thus, the force became famous as the Huks (or Hukbalahap).
The influence of the Chinese secret service in the Philippine communist movement was felt strongly. The Philippine party accepted the presence of the Chinese in the main organs of leadership. These Chinese advisers wielded great influence in the formulation of the PKP’s policies and plans. Early on, there were three Chinese in the Central Committee, led by Co Keng Sheng who also belonged to the supreme body, the Politburo. This Chinese trio reported directly to Yan’an and put into effect methods of action learned from the Moscow Comintern. In May 1942, Kang Sheng sent Colonel Ong Viet as military adviser to the Philippines. Under his guidance, the PKP set up a political and military training school in the mountains of Arayat in Pampanga. Other Chinese experts soon arrived to serve as guerrilla instructors. Translated military texts of Mao and Zhu De, as well as Edgar Snow’s Red Star over China, were used for classroom instructions. Meanwhile, armed attacks against the Japanese troops led to Japanese reprisals against the villages; this was a guerrilla tactic aimed at gaining popular support against the invaders. And in March 1943, under heavy pressure from Japanese counter-operations in the Arayat areas, a major internal crisis in the PKP resulted in the elimination of its leader Vicente Lava (from Bulacan), who was blamed for the military defeat. A mini-secretariat took the place of Lava, and this was headed by another sent agent, “Comrade C”, the Chinese adviser and eyes and ears of Yan’an.
After the war, in 1946, the PKP participated in the presidential elections within the Democratic Alliance. In 1948, the PKP began an armed struggle against the government, changing the name of its military arm to Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), or People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In early 1950’s, the HMB had about 10,000 “soldiers”. In October 1950, the entire secretariat of the Central Committee of the PKP was arrested by Philippine authorities, including its General Secretary Jose Lava (from Bulacan, brother of Vicente and Jesus). By end of 1954, the armed struggle was effectively over. But subsequently another guerrilla force known as Bagong Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan, or Army ng Bayan under Pedro Taruc and Kumander Sumulong (Faustino del Mundo from Pampanga) was created. But this force engaged mostly in major criminal extortion and protection activities in the areas around Clark air base because of the thriving business environment there.
Also in the 1950’s, there were marked successes in the Tewu penetration of government, media and civil organizations. The CPC’s clandestine bureau in the Philippines, this time already directed from Beijing, operated via satellite organizations such as the Philippine Committee of Overseas Chinese or the Philippine branch of the CPC. This bureau’s general secretary, Chanh Shan, worked in close contact with the local communist leadership and with the HMB. But intelligence operations conducted against a major target is always not enough. Moles must be either sent in from the mother spy agency (“sent agents” or “sleepers”) or key personalities already in place must be tediously studied and subsequently recruited (“turned agents” or “agents in place”) in order to carry out the much higher objectives of espionage. In true secret service fashion, the Tewu began recruiting secret agents within Philippine society. The attached book excerpt gives an idea of a mole operation.
Pedro de la Peña was an intelligence agent of the Army G2 (army assistant chief of staff for intelligence). He successfully burrowed himself into the friendship and confidence of defence and armed forces officials by helping them financially when they needed it. Publicly, de la Peña was seen as fiercely anti-communist. But he was secretly working for the Tewu. His friend Antonio Chua Cruz, millionaire-owner of the anti-Huk and anti-Soviet newspaper, Free Asia, was also employed by the Tewu. In intelligence, nothing is what it seems. These two were unmasked in 1952 when Philippine authorities arrested William Pomeroy and Celia Mariano Pomeroy (from Rizal). Pomeroy was an ex-U.S. air force, a journalist and later a student at the University of the Philippines. In the U.S., William joined the Young Communist League in 1937, and the Communist Party U.S.A. in 1938. In U.P., he met and married Celia who herself had joined the PKP in 1941, becoming a member of the PKP Central Committee. Seized from the couple were documents and detailed notes on the recruitment and running of Pedro de la Peña and Antonio Chua Cruz. This espionage ring had been successfully supplying the Tewu with crucial intelligence on the Philippine government, military and business community. William and Celia were also known as “Bob” and “Rene”, a couple who were guerrilla instructors at a “Stalin university” attended by HMB members in the mountains of the Sierra Madre.
In 1964, Jose Maria Sison (from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur) co-founded the Kabataan Makabayan (KM)
with Nilo S. Tayag (from Pampanga). On December 26, 1968, coinciding with the 75th birthday of Mao Zedong, Joma Sison re-formed and chaired the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines. He re-organized the CPP and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy. Thus, after the failure of the Moscow-leaning Lava brothers, the Philippine communist movement regained strength and resumed united front building and activities under the sphere of influence of the Communist Party of China. On March 29, 1969, the New People’s Army (NPA) was organized by the CPP. Incorporating remnants of the HMB forces, the NPA began military operations under the leadership of Bernabe Buscayno (a.k.a. Kumander Dante from Capas, Tarlac) who was the former HMB commander.
At around this era, a young politician of Central Luzon had begun to make his presence felt. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was a very young war correspondent covering the Korean War for The Manila Times, for which he received a presidential award for journalism. Also in the early 1950s he became a close adviser to secretary of defence Ramon Magsaysay. Later on, President Magsaysay sent him as personal emissary to Luis Taruc, leader of the HMB which led to Taruc’s unconditional surrender. He became mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac from December 30, 1955 to December 30, 1959; vice governor of Tarlac from December 30, 1959 to December 30, 1961; governor of Tarlac from December 30, 1961 to December 30, 1967; and senator of the Republic from December 30, 1967 to September 23, 1972. In 1966, he became the secretary general of the Liberal Party. On October 11, 1954, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. married Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco whose family owned and operated Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, Pampanga.
In late 1968 and early 1969, General Emilio Zerrudo, First Philippine Constabulary Zone commanding general, reported government encounters with communist guerrilla forces in the cane fields of Tarlac. Notably, Zerrudo was surprised at the more advanced M16 rifles wielded by the communist guerrillas as compared to the government arms of older M1 carbines, Garands, Thompson submachineguns and BAR automatic rifles. In fact, PC Generals Zerrudo and Vicente Raval had to borrow M16 rifles from the Americans in Clark Air Base, Pampanga in order to equal the guerrilla firepower. Gen. Zerrudo also noted that when overwhelmed by superior government numbers, the guerrillas retreated into and disappeared in the vast cane fields of Hacienda Luisita, where it was being talked about that wounded communist fighters received medical care.
Sometime in mid-1972, Joma Sison, as head of the CPP, in joint special operations with the Chinese secret service, successfully landed a very large shipment of arms and ammunition from abroad somewhere in the coast of northern Luzon. The public came to know of this arms landing in July, 1972 when the government announced the capture of the MV Karagatan, off Digoyo Point in the north province of Isabela. The MV Karagatan was the arms transport vessel, but it was already empty when seized by government forces.
Planning and preparing for cross-border clandestine special operations such as the MV Karagatan landing of arms takes many months, even years. By military definition, ‘special operations or specops are always of a strategic (meaning political) and/or operational (meaning highest military purpose) nature, and must utilize the advantage of virtually unlimited resources and national-level intelligence’ (meaning the necessary involvement of a sovereign power or government). Some examples are: the Iran-Contra Affair during the Reagan administration in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran (in glaring contravention of an international arms embargo on Iran earlier spearheaded by the U.S. itself), the proceeds of which were then used to support clandestine arms delivery to the Contras in the mountains of Nicaragua who were fighting the Marxist Sandinista government; also in the 1980s, the massive supply by the U.S. through Pakistan of arms and logistics to the Mujahedin who were fighting the Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan; and in recent past, the U.S. specops which led to the killing of international terrorist Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
By this definition therefore, months before, perhaps even a year, Joma Sison had prior secret knowledge of the arms delivery. Sison thereby became concerned with an impending personnel and operational problem: he was expecting the arms and logistics to arrive, but he was lacking men in the communist New People’s Army in order to deploy the majority of the expected war materials. Let us read the direct and firsthand account of retired Army general Victor N. Corpus of Sison’s solution to this dilemma: “I was a lieutenant in the Constabulary teaching comparative government at the Philippine Military Academy when I defected to the Communist New People’s Army on December 29, 1970. For the next five years, I lived with the rebel guerrillas. I helped train them in warfare and fought with them against what I perceived to be an unjust government.... The Plenum of the CPP Central Committee of December 1975 became the turning point for me....I had prepared beforehand a list of my criticisms directed at Joma [Jose Ma Sison] and some members of the Central Committee. But I did not have enough courage to say what I really felt during that meeting for fear that what happened to Danny Cordero (alias Ka Cris) might also happen to me. You see, for being too vocal and frank in his criticisms of the regional party leadership during a party committee meeting, Danny Cordero was charged with inciting to rebellion; and in that same meeting (which was converted into a military tribunal), Danny was executed...Why did the Party leadership order the bombing of the Plaza Miranda where so many innocent civilians were killed and wounded? I was present when some leaders of the Party headed by Joma plotted the bombing of the Liberal Party (LP) rally at Plaza Miranda. Danny Cordero, before his execution, revealed before the military tribunal that he was totally innocent of the charge of inciting to rebellion, insisting that the Party leadership in fact had full trust in him by assigning him a very delicate mission. When pressed by a member of the military tribunal what the so-called delicate mission was, Danny proclaimed that it was he, together with two other comrades from Caloocan, who was assigned to bomb Plaza Miranda.
Question: Did Ruben Guevara (alias Ka Peter), who headed the military tribunal and represented the Central Committee, manipulate the trial and execution of Danny Cordero to forever silence him regarding this ‘skeleton’ in the Party ‘closet’?....It was in a jungle camp of Commander Dante, then the Commander-in-Chief of the New People’s Army, in the Isabela portion of Sierra Madre Mountains that the plan to bomb the Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda was first hatched. It was also in this camp where I was brought after I led a group of NPA’s in a raid of the armory of the Philippine Military Academy –my alma mater – on December 30, 1970. A few weeks after my arrival at the camp, Joma, then chairman of the Central Committee of the CPP and Jose Luneta, the General Secretary of the Party, arrived and joined us in the camp....It was during one of our study sessions that Joma made mention of thousands of arms that would be arriving from the People’s Republic of China. The problem raised was that we were only less than a hundred armed men in Isabela at the time. How then could we match the thousands of firearms to the few men that we had? We would then be reversing Mao’s dictum that it is people, not weapons, that are the decisive factor in war. But Joma had a brilliant solution....At the time we were discussing the matter, election was drawing near. Joma saw in the electoral exercise a chance to create the conditions for bringing about the revolutionary leap that he was aspiring for....If we could create conditions, such as an incident in one of the rallies of the opposition party, that would heighten the contradictions between the two main factions of the ruling class, we could weaken the ruling class as a whole and hasten its downfall. If a rally of the Liberal Party were bombed, the opposition would naturally point an accusing finger at Marcos. Marcos, in turn, would surely blame the Communist Party, and force him to take more severe repressive measures against us. The greater the repression, the greater still would be the resistance, Joma contended. And by our forcing the hand of Marcos to take more repressive measures (which Marcos actually did by suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus right after the Plaza Miranda bombing), the middle forces (or the so-called ‘moderates’) would be pushed to join the armed struggle and thus swell our ranks. This was the ‘quantum leap’ that Joma aspired to create through that incident at Plaza Miranda, which he hoped would solve the problem of too many firearms with too few men to use them. Such was the rationale for the Plaza Miranda bombing.” (from ‘Silent War’ by V.N. Corpus)
The event that came to be targeted was the Liberal Party (LP) campaign rally to proclaim the LP candidates for the senate and for mayor of Manila. It was on the weekend Saturday night of August 21, 1971. About 4,000 spectators were in the audience to cheer LP stalwarts such as Senators Jovito Salonga, Eddie Ilarde, Eva Estrada Kalaw, Sergio Osmena Jr, LP president Gerardo Roxas, candidate for mayor Ramon Bagatsing and other top LP leaders, some with their wives. At or about 9:15 p.m., as the customary fireworks lighted up, two hand grenades were thrown onto the stage within less than two seconds of each other. Killed instantly was a 5 year old child and The Manila Times photographer Ben Roxas. Ninety eight others were injured, many critically. Seven more would die from injuries, bringing the death toll to 9, all innocent spectators. Senator Salonga became blind in one eye and deaf in one ear because of the blast; he was among those who were most seriously injured. Many thought he was also going to die. Even wives of the LP politicians who were seated on stage five rows back suffered serious injuries. Judy Araneta-Roxas, the wife of the LP president was hospitalized.
When the two grenades exploded, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the foremost LP senator and party general secretary was not on stage in Plaza Miranda. Before the attack, witnesses recount seeing him going around the area of the rally in his convoy, but avoiding the plaza. He made brief stops at certain places, notably at the Manila Hotel and, repeatedly, in front of the Jai-alai court in Taft Ave. People saw him and recognized him, and they wondered why he was not at Plaza Miranda. Reportedly in the car with Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was the son of Amah Pilar, the owner of the Carvajal Restaurant in Manila’s Chinatown.
Being arguably the most popular senator at that time and a key pillar of the Liberal Party, why wasn’t Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. at his party’s most important rally to start the campaign in the capital city? It was not a matter of luck, but a matter of connection; and foreknowledge borne out of the connection. He was warned by Jose Maria Sison himself or by Kumander Pusa (Ruben Tuazon from Pampanga, former PKP cadre who later joined the CPP), or both. Rodolfo Salas (a.k.a. Kumander Bilog from Pampanga, who became NPA chief after Kumander Dante was captured by the government) believed that Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was a traditional politician who would use any venue or group, the NPA included, to advance his political ambition. Rodolfo Salas himself met Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. in late 1960 when the senator brokered the groundbreaking meeting between Jose Maria Sison of the CPP and Kumander Dante of the HMB, which was the organizational meeting leading to the creation of the New People’s Army. At that time, Rodolfo Salas was the CPP political officer-in-charge for Central Luzon. Salas tells of his visits with Kumander Pusa to the Time Street residence of Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. to receive support from the senator, often arms and ammunition. For whatever reason, one can only guess as to why Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. did not warn his party friends, considering that he was a young politician in a hurry with resolute presidential ambitions.
Samuel ‘Bob’ Paquis, a cadre of the CPP/NPA, was the driver of the Volkswagen beetle car which brought bomber Danny Cordero to the area of Plaza Miranda. Immediately after the bombing, Cordero and driver Bob then proceeded to northern Luzon where they linked up with units of the CPP/NPA.
When Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino became president of the Philippines in 1986, coming to power after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in the 1986 first Edsa people power uprising, one of her first policy directives was a move to grant “full and complete amnesty” to the members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. As a dissemblance, the amnesty covered other political strata such as national democrats, social democrats and other allies. [Recently in 2011, Senator Joker Arroyo, a Corazon Aquino ally and her former Executive Secretary, felt obliged to explain, “collaboration among groups belonging to different sides of the political spectrum then (that is, during the fight against Marcos) was not unlike the principle behind the Allied forces’ decision to side with Communist Russia in WWII.”] President Corazon Aquino’s amnesty was formally announced sometime in early 1987. During this time, Samuel ‘Bob’ Paquis became a “rebel returnee” under the rebel rehabilitation program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Services (AFPCRS). Soon, both houses of congress began investigating the Plaza Miranda bombing. Bob Paquis was asked to attend one such hearing in the Lower house, where he was accompanied by Col Oscar Florendo, who was then concurrent Armed Forces Secretary Joint Staff and AFP Spokesman and PIO. When a related hearing in the senate on Plaza Miranda was scheduled, with Senator Jovito Salonga as senate president (Senator Salonga’s term was from 1987 to 1991), the AFP was again all set to bring Bob Paquis to attend the senate hearing. However, then sitting President Maria Corazon C. Aquino made back-door moves so that the hearings would altogether be stopped. President Corazon C. Aquino also allowed a Utrecht, Netherlands exile for Jose Maria Sison who was earlier freed by her amnesty proclamation. Except for being mentioned in the media once in a while, the Plaza Miranda bombing has never again been mentioned officially.
Filipino scholar and historian Teodoro A. Agoncillo, in his ‘A Short History of the Philippines’, wrote that Filipino relationships with one another are guided by Filipino traditional attitudes, such as pakikisama (the sense of deep camaraderie, which implies mutual respect and help), utang na loob (which demands that a man pay his debt of gratitude to a friend or another person who has helped him), and Filipino traits such as hospitality, respect for elders, closeness of family ties and loyalty to a friend. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. had at the very least an operational relationship with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army which were trying to bring down the government and the democratic system in the Philippines, at the same time that he himself was a high official of that Government. While condemnable, one can, by a strenuous stretch of reasoning, accept such reality as a traditional politician trying everything, including active conspiracy with an intrusive foreign ideology and power, to capture the presidency. But there is an inescapable truth here: if a man can’t be loyal to close friends and comrades about to face danger, how can he be loyal to people whom he does not know? How can he be loyal to a people? He can use them, manipulate them, even sacrifice them fatally to further his ambitions and the interests of his family; but loyalty, never.
Once there was a star, he may or may not have been Red, which is not altogether an important differentiation in the strategic sense. One who once had been a Red conspirator may be your most important ally in some future time and for some very good strategic reason. But he certainly was not a worthy, loyal friend and couldn’t have been loyal to a people he didn’t know. This goes beyond politics and the ordinary mundane; it has to do with real character and the true worth of a person. Perhaps the God of History has ordained that two seemingly disparate events, wide apart in time, become connected by the common thread of one person and the same day of the same month. That, on a weekend Sunday afternoon, August 21, 1983, that person had to go through his own personal Plaza Miranda. The first Plaza Miranda was clearly meant to be an instrument of national manipulation. This second Plaza Miranda may have been similarly utilized.
In intelligence if there is any doubt, there is no doubt.
Ninoy Sison
06 April 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
"Real warriors shed tears for fallen enemies"
MULANAY, Quezon –In the bloody battles experienced by Army soldiers all over the archipelago, even warriors have wept a tear for their fallen enemies.
This is what Corporal Rishman Ballasta, 30, experienced after a fierce firefight with at least 15 rebels in Bgy. White Cliff, San Narciso, Quezon on June 30, 2012.
Ballasta was leading 10 other soldiers in a security patrol to locate the heavily-armed rebels who allegedly extorted money from the villagers.
It was around 11:00am when the soldiers spotted the armed men, resting in a hut.
They were approaching the hut when staccatos of gunfire broke the silence, sending them to drop for cover.
He commanded his soldiers to return fire at the communist rebels who came out one by one with their guns blazing, hitting one of his men.
He directed some of his men to secure the flanks and provide cover as the medics treated the wounded soldier.
Seeing some of the rebels lay lifeless a few meters from his location, he directed his troops to cease firing.
"I asked the remaining rebels to lay down their weapons and raise their hands. They kept on firing at us, wounding another soldier," said Ballasta.
"Lumaban tayo mga kasama, kakaunti lang sila at mga bata pa ang mga iyan (Lets fight them comrades, these are young soldiers and there are only a few of them)," came the orders from the NPA commander.
More shots were fired at the soldiers, bullets plowing their positions , wounding one of them.
Left with no choice, Ballasta and his men returned fire as they gradually approached the enemy positions.
Sensing that the gun firing from the rebels faded away after almost an hour of intense exchange of gunfires, he commanded the team to clear the encounter site.
By that time, he realized that they killed 11 of the rebels, some of whom were obviously 'child warriors', one of whom was a female rebel.
Real warriors also cry
While gathering all the dead rebels, tears flowed in the eyes of his soldiers, seeing innocent-looking young boys among the bloody corpses lying on the ground, still carrying their bandoleers and rifles.
Among the dead were identified through their ID cards including a young female combatant, Maricel Benegas, 17, and Benjo Endonilla, 17.
“I thought of the families they have left behind. The parents and siblings of those poor souls who were duped by the communists came to mind ,” Ballasta said, tears welling in his eyes.
He said that he did not really want to wipe out the whole armed group.
"Amidst the hail of bullets, I negotiated for their surrender. I was frustrated that they responded with flying bullets," he said.
Ballasta said that shedding tears for the rebels is not a sign of weakness.
"I felt the pain suffered by the grieving relatives for the death of their loved ones as the news about the incident unfold. I also cried in anger because the communists deceived the young boys into believing that the problems in our society can be resolved by perpetrating atrocities against government forces," he explained.
He said that he is proud even if it would be known to the whole world that the soldiers' eyes have filled with tears while fighting fellow Filipinos.
"We are not happy shooting our misguided kababayans (countrymen) during clashes. We will always try our best to convince them to peacefully surrender and cooperate with the government in solving our problems," he concluded.
Deceitful means
While the soldiers arranged the funeral of the dead rebels at St. Peter Funeral Homes in San Narciso town, representatives of KARAPATAN-Quezon persuaded the families to let them bring the dead rebels to Manila "so they can be given decent burial and their death be honored".
The group explained that dead rebels were 'innocent civilians' killed by the soldiers and that the group will help so that justice must be served.
Lt Melchor Zarandona, the CMO officer of the 74th IB had the chance to talk with the grieving relatives.
"The family members of the dead child warriors declined the offer that the dead be honored in Manila. The relatives were frustated that their children were recruited as NPA rebels and not as ordinary workers according to their (children) claims ," said Zarandona.
Maria Liza Guevarra, 45, the aunt of one of the slain rebel named Jerome Guevara, 24, could not hide her anger for the death of her nephew.
“I despise the NPA rebels. Why do they have to involve innocent people in whatever 'cause' they are fighting for?”
Hero soldiers
To recognize the laudable accomplishments of the 74th IB led by Lt Col Dennis Perez, Army chief Lt Gen Emmanuel Bautista took time to visit the soldiers in their field headquarters here on July 12, 2012.
He lauded the gallantry and compassion that the soldiers have shown during the encounter and conferred recognition medals to the brave soldiers.
He took notice of the fact that the 74IB troops also spared the lives of two child combatants who were captured in an encounter with a small band of rebels in March 2012.
“These men and all others like them are the pride and honor of our country. They shrug-off any danger just to protect the people and keep the peace in the land,” said Bautista.
Bautista has also called on the soldiers to convince the communist rebels to go back to the folds of the law.
“We must continuously encourage the remaining armed rebels in Quezon to peacefully surrender and cooperate with the government. We can only move forward as a nation if we help each other solve our problems,” he said.
Posted by rangercabunzky at 7/20/2012 11:22:00 AM http://rangercabunzky.blogspot.com/2012/07/real-warriors-shed-tears-for-fallen.html
This is what Corporal Rishman Ballasta, 30, experienced after a fierce firefight with at least 15 rebels in Bgy. White Cliff, San Narciso, Quezon on June 30, 2012.
Ballasta was leading 10 other soldiers in a security patrol to locate the heavily-armed rebels who allegedly extorted money from the villagers.
It was around 11:00am when the soldiers spotted the armed men, resting in a hut.
They were approaching the hut when staccatos of gunfire broke the silence, sending them to drop for cover.
He commanded his soldiers to return fire at the communist rebels who came out one by one with their guns blazing, hitting one of his men.
He directed some of his men to secure the flanks and provide cover as the medics treated the wounded soldier.
Seeing some of the rebels lay lifeless a few meters from his location, he directed his troops to cease firing.
"I asked the remaining rebels to lay down their weapons and raise their hands. They kept on firing at us, wounding another soldier," said Ballasta.
"Lumaban tayo mga kasama, kakaunti lang sila at mga bata pa ang mga iyan (Lets fight them comrades, these are young soldiers and there are only a few of them)," came the orders from the NPA commander.
More shots were fired at the soldiers, bullets plowing their positions , wounding one of them.
Left with no choice, Ballasta and his men returned fire as they gradually approached the enemy positions.
Sensing that the gun firing from the rebels faded away after almost an hour of intense exchange of gunfires, he commanded the team to clear the encounter site.
By that time, he realized that they killed 11 of the rebels, some of whom were obviously 'child warriors', one of whom was a female rebel.
Real warriors also cry
While gathering all the dead rebels, tears flowed in the eyes of his soldiers, seeing innocent-looking young boys among the bloody corpses lying on the ground, still carrying their bandoleers and rifles.
Among the dead were identified through their ID cards including a young female combatant, Maricel Benegas, 17, and Benjo Endonilla, 17.
“I thought of the families they have left behind. The parents and siblings of those poor souls who were duped by the communists came to mind ,” Ballasta said, tears welling in his eyes.
He said that he did not really want to wipe out the whole armed group.
"Amidst the hail of bullets, I negotiated for their surrender. I was frustrated that they responded with flying bullets," he said.
Ballasta said that shedding tears for the rebels is not a sign of weakness.
"I felt the pain suffered by the grieving relatives for the death of their loved ones as the news about the incident unfold. I also cried in anger because the communists deceived the young boys into believing that the problems in our society can be resolved by perpetrating atrocities against government forces," he explained.
He said that he is proud even if it would be known to the whole world that the soldiers' eyes have filled with tears while fighting fellow Filipinos.
"We are not happy shooting our misguided kababayans (countrymen) during clashes. We will always try our best to convince them to peacefully surrender and cooperate with the government in solving our problems," he concluded.
Deceitful means
While the soldiers arranged the funeral of the dead rebels at St. Peter Funeral Homes in San Narciso town, representatives of KARAPATAN-Quezon persuaded the families to let them bring the dead rebels to Manila "so they can be given decent burial and their death be honored".
The group explained that dead rebels were 'innocent civilians' killed by the soldiers and that the group will help so that justice must be served.
Lt Melchor Zarandona, the CMO officer of the 74th IB had the chance to talk with the grieving relatives.
"The family members of the dead child warriors declined the offer that the dead be honored in Manila. The relatives were frustated that their children were recruited as NPA rebels and not as ordinary workers according to their (children) claims ," said Zarandona.
Maria Liza Guevarra, 45, the aunt of one of the slain rebel named Jerome Guevara, 24, could not hide her anger for the death of her nephew.
“I despise the NPA rebels. Why do they have to involve innocent people in whatever 'cause' they are fighting for?”
Hero soldiers
To recognize the laudable accomplishments of the 74th IB led by Lt Col Dennis Perez, Army chief Lt Gen Emmanuel Bautista took time to visit the soldiers in their field headquarters here on July 12, 2012.
He lauded the gallantry and compassion that the soldiers have shown during the encounter and conferred recognition medals to the brave soldiers.
He took notice of the fact that the 74IB troops also spared the lives of two child combatants who were captured in an encounter with a small band of rebels in March 2012.
“These men and all others like them are the pride and honor of our country. They shrug-off any danger just to protect the people and keep the peace in the land,” said Bautista.
Bautista has also called on the soldiers to convince the communist rebels to go back to the folds of the law.
“We must continuously encourage the remaining armed rebels in Quezon to peacefully surrender and cooperate with the government. We can only move forward as a nation if we help each other solve our problems,” he said.
Posted by rangercabunzky at 7/20/2012 11:22:00 AM http://rangercabunzky.blogspot.com/2012/07/real-warriors-shed-tears-for-fallen.html
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
ABANTE
Here's a message circulating in cyber space. It looks like it will get worse before it gets better.
By Elaine Monteclaro:
28 March 2012
ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISM AND EXTORTION (ABANTE)
DECLARATION OF WAR
We are a group of concerned businessmen based in Southern Philippines who are alarmed by the continuous and unabated atrocities, harassments, terroristic and extortion activities of the Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) directed against our group. We are appalled to see and hear one crime after another committed against our sector by the murderous Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front or CPP-NPA-NDF.
We are God-fearing, peace-loving members of the society, who conduct our business with utmost regard for the welfare of our fellow-Filipinos whom we shared our dreams of better life for all. We also constantly hope that one day soon, all the inequities of society will disappear and prosperity can be felt by most if not all through hard work, faith and perseverance.
We hold ourselves partly to be blamed for the continued terrorism and extortion perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF as we naively acceded to the extortion operation of their coercive force – the NPAs in the past, thinking wrongly that it will be more harmful for our business and family if we ignore their incessant demands for funds or material support.
We acknowledge that our Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police cannot protect us all at all times from the anonymous CPP-NPA-NDF and their allies who sweet-talk us into acceding to their extortion plea under the guise of revolutionary taxation.
We have suffered in silence as we are consumed by cold fear. But lately, we have reached our threshold of fortitude. We can no longer remain passive against the abuses and excesses of the CPP-NPA-NDF perpetrated through the years. We resolved that we cannot forever be coerced and perpetually fearful of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s ubiquitous presence and intimidation tactics.
Therefore, we clandestinely banded together and formed an alliance. We call ourselves the ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISMAND EXTORTION – ABANTE for short.
Just like the CPP-NPA-NDF with their cold-blooded murderers in the NPA and their duplicitous supporters in the legal front who greatly benefit from latter’s extortion operation, members of ABANTE also decide to remain anonymous. The reason being is that we declare war against them!
To start with, we resolve that instead of allowing ourselves to be extorted and coerced by the NPAs and their allies - we will now provide reward money for anyone who KILLS abusive NPA leaders and members in Southern Mindanao.
We will hold our reward operation with utmost confidentiality and we will see to it that whoever answers this call, state forces or private individuals, the reward money will be delivered to you or your group the soonest possible time after the hit. We will devise a way to communicate with private bounty hunters so that their accomplishments will be paid for expeditiously. Although we do not set a price tag for enemy targets, we consider however that CPP-NPA-NDF leaders and their duplicitous legal front officers command a more expensive price than ordinary NPA combatants.
THIS MEANS WAR and our group ABANTE will pursue this to the very end until the last man standing.
GOD BE WITH US
By Elaine Monteclaro:
28 March 2012
ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISM AND EXTORTION (ABANTE)
DECLARATION OF WAR
We are a group of concerned businessmen based in Southern Philippines who are alarmed by the continuous and unabated atrocities, harassments, terroristic and extortion activities of the Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) directed against our group. We are appalled to see and hear one crime after another committed against our sector by the murderous Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front or CPP-NPA-NDF.
We are God-fearing, peace-loving members of the society, who conduct our business with utmost regard for the welfare of our fellow-Filipinos whom we shared our dreams of better life for all. We also constantly hope that one day soon, all the inequities of society will disappear and prosperity can be felt by most if not all through hard work, faith and perseverance.
We hold ourselves partly to be blamed for the continued terrorism and extortion perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF as we naively acceded to the extortion operation of their coercive force – the NPAs in the past, thinking wrongly that it will be more harmful for our business and family if we ignore their incessant demands for funds or material support.
We acknowledge that our Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police cannot protect us all at all times from the anonymous CPP-NPA-NDF and their allies who sweet-talk us into acceding to their extortion plea under the guise of revolutionary taxation.
We have suffered in silence as we are consumed by cold fear. But lately, we have reached our threshold of fortitude. We can no longer remain passive against the abuses and excesses of the CPP-NPA-NDF perpetrated through the years. We resolved that we cannot forever be coerced and perpetually fearful of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s ubiquitous presence and intimidation tactics.
Therefore, we clandestinely banded together and formed an alliance. We call ourselves the ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISMAND EXTORTION – ABANTE for short.
Just like the CPP-NPA-NDF with their cold-blooded murderers in the NPA and their duplicitous supporters in the legal front who greatly benefit from latter’s extortion operation, members of ABANTE also decide to remain anonymous. The reason being is that we declare war against them!
To start with, we resolve that instead of allowing ourselves to be extorted and coerced by the NPAs and their allies - we will now provide reward money for anyone who KILLS abusive NPA leaders and members in Southern Mindanao.
We will hold our reward operation with utmost confidentiality and we will see to it that whoever answers this call, state forces or private individuals, the reward money will be delivered to you or your group the soonest possible time after the hit. We will devise a way to communicate with private bounty hunters so that their accomplishments will be paid for expeditiously. Although we do not set a price tag for enemy targets, we consider however that CPP-NPA-NDF leaders and their duplicitous legal front officers command a more expensive price than ordinary NPA combatants.
THIS MEANS WAR and our group ABANTE will pursue this to the very end until the last man standing.
GOD BE WITH US
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)