ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

This December, the entire Party and Filipino people will mark andcelebrate the 50th anniversary of the Communist Party of thePhilippines. Party cadres, Red fighters, revolutionaries and act-

ivists in factories, schools and in guerrilla bases and zones of the NewPeople’s Army will launch a thousand and one rallies, assemblies andmeetings.

Duterte and the Armed Forces ofthe Philippines will not be able tostop the Filipino people’s celebra-tions, no matter how big or intensi-fied their military operations are. Infact, early celebrations have alreadybeen launched in some areaswithout the fascist enemy knowing.In other areas, comrades arealready busy with food preparationsand cultural presentation practiceswith the best singers, dancers andother artists.

The AFP mounted intensified

A thousand celebrationsfor the Party’s50th anniversary

EDITORIAL

military operations in a desperateattempt to halt any celebration ofthe revolutionary people. Its sol-diers went on an even more rapa-cious rampage in communities andforests they suspect as venues forgatherings. Their strafing, artilleryshelling and aerial bombardmenthave caused great distress amongthe people.

Under the guise of preventingNPA attacks, the reactionary statedeployed a number of police officers

NPA raids CAFGUcamp in AgusanTWO SOLDIERS OF the 3rdSpecial Forces Battalion and12 CAFGU elements were cap-tured and declared prisonersof war by the New People’sArmy-Agusan del Sur after Redfighters overran their camp inBarangay New Tubigon,Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. Thedaring offensive was carriedout without firing a single shotlast December 19 at 3 a.m.

The NPA-NEMR also seizedan M60 machine gun, 17 M16and 4 M14 rifles, two M4 car-bines, a Harris radio and hun-dreds of ammunition.

The people lauded the suc-cessful offensive of the people’sarmy. The said detachment isamong the more than 100 mil-itary camps in NortheasternMindanao which serve as hivesof criminals and anti-socialactivities. The troopers de-

"NPA...," continued on page 3"Celebrations...," continued on page 2

Engl ish Edition

Vol XLIX No. 24

December 21, 2018

www.phi l ippinerevolution. info

December 21 , 2018 ANG BAYAN2

and soldiers in far-flung barrios topurportedly stand guard. This isdespite the temporary unilateralceasefire declaration of the CPP andNPA in observance of both tradi-tional and revolutionary traditions.The CPP and NPA are ready towithdraw this declaration if provento be disadvantageous amid relent-less enemy offensives.

Whether the US-Duterte regimedeclares a temporary ceasefire ornot in conjunction with theChristmas season, the in-tensification of milit-ary operations andcampaigns isimminentthis com-ing year.RodrigoDutertehas alreadypushed itsrubberstampCongress andSenate to extend martiallaw in Mindanao and expanded its

coverage to other parts of thecountry through Memo Order 32.He has already formally establishedthe National Task Force which pur-portedly aims to end the armedconflict through the “whole-of-na-tion” approach. Concurrent withthe militarization of the civilianbureaucracy and the scheme to de-clare the CPP and NPA as “terror-ist” organizations, Duterte has ac-tually put the entire country undermartial law.

By launching large-scale military op-

erations,Duterte issquander-ing thepeople’smoney inprocuringmore bul-

lets, guns,cannons, mortars,

rockets, helicopter and drones.These are a bane to the people whoare being assailed by military

troops.He bribes ordinary soldiers with

larger salaries, and recently,CAFGU elements with financial aidwhile fattening the pockets of highmilitary officials he favors withlarge funds they can corrupt andplunder. Duterte’s real aim is to buytheir support for his fascist regime.He wants to use the AFP to inter-fere and manipulate the results ofthe 2019 elections, if this indeedwill push through, to put into powerthose who favor his tyranny and theAFP’s military reign.

Amid this, unrest among theAFP’s ordinary soldiers againstDuterte’s rotten and criminal re-gime is stirring. They are being ranto the ground in ceaseless militaryoperations by Duterte’s cannonfodder. Meanwhile, the people growmore contemptuous with the wide-spread and forced AFP and CAFGUrecruitment.

While celebrating, the peopleshould prepare for the intensifica-tion of attacks on their lives andrights. They should intensify theresistance against martial law inthe entire country.

All efforts should be exerted tounify all forces and masses to resistDuterte’s tyrannical rule and mar-tial law with the aim of ousting hisregime. Encourage all organizationsand personalities to expose andcondemn Duterte and his clique’scrimes and unrestrained corruption.Simultaneously, the undergroundmovement should be strengthenedto foil the regime’s brutal attacks.

The NPA should launch moretactical offensives against the mostnotorious AFP and PNP units behindthe worst human rights violationsand military abuses. These are alsoinvolved in criminal activities tar-geting ordinary people, and act asprotectors of destructive opera-tions of mining and commercialplantation among other plunderouscorporations. These bring the mostdestructive impact to the people’slivelihood.

Issue XLIX No. 24 | December 21, 2018

ContentsANG

Editorial: A thousand celebrationsfor the Party’s 50th anniversary 1NPA raids CAFGU camp in Agusan 119 new medics in Camarines Norte 3Int'l HR day protests 4Other protests 5AB Human Rights Report 6AFP's all-out operation in NMR 8Political prisoner dies 8State elements torch unionist's house 8The late Bush's war crimes 9CPI-Maoist holds 5th Plenum 10Yellow Vest protests in France 10

Ang Bayan is publ ished fortnightly by the Central Committee

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ANG BAYAN December 21 , 2018 3

ployed therein are notoriousfor extorting from small-scaleloggers, miners and busi-nessmen in the area.

Ka Sandara Amihan, NPAspokesperson in the province,said that the soldiers andCAFGU troopers who werecaptured are being treatedhumanely. Meanwhile, theCommunist Party of the Phil-ippines declared that theprisoners of war shall be re-leased once the Armed Forcesof the Philippines (AFP)ceases its offensives. This isto ensure the safe release ofthe prisoners. The Party alsocalled on third-party facilit-ators to coordinate with theconcerned NPA command fortheir release.

The Party also compli-mented the successful of-fensives mounted by the NPA-Sorsogon in the evening ofDecember 17. The Red fight-ers fired upon a police stationin Magallanes downtown andsubsequently attacked thePNP Mobile Force camp inBarangay San Ignacio, Gubat.Three soldiers were wounded.

In North CentralMindanao, the AFP incurred14 casualties from counter-offensives carried out byNPA units in the triboundaryof Misamis Oriental, Bukid-non at Agusan del Sur. Noless than 13 encounterstook place in the area. Theresidents reported that thecadavers of two soldierswere retrieved by the milit-ary in the evening ofDecember 7 in BarangayHagpa, Impasug-ong, Bu-kidnon. Subsequently atmidnight, 12 other woundedsoldiers were secretly re-trieved by trucks and am-bulances in Barangay Cala-bugao in the same town.

"NPA...," from page 1 19 new medics in Camarines NorteA GUERRILLA FRONT under the Armando Catapia Command (ACC or NPA-Camar-ines Norte) successfully conducted a province-wide training on the Basic HealthCourse this October. Nineteen individuals from the unit of the people’s army andmilitia and mass organizations in the barrio completed the course.

Prospective medical officials of thepeople’s army and militia and membersof the subcommittee on health of vari-ous mass organizations were amongthe priority participants of the training.Most of them had limited experience onmedical work. But recognizing the sig-nificance of the line work in advancingthe revolution, they willingly volun-teered to attend and learn.

All delegates vigorously particip-ated in the training. They were activeespecially while discussing the courseon First Aid because according to them,this is a staple need in times of armedencounters. The training gave the pro-spective medics further confidence.Their determination to save patientsserved as their drive to learn variousmedical techniques. Full-time Redfighters are challenged to perform theirmedical functions in times of tacticaloffensives and even during unexpecteddefensives. Meanwhile, delegates from

mass organizations pledged to delivermedical services in their respectivebarrios.

The training also gave emphasis tothe Revolutionary Medical Code ofEthics which states the principles onhow medics should deal with co-medicsand patients (Red fighters, masses andeven enemy troopers).

The training was a huge success as itwas carried out amid unrelenting militarycombat and “peace and development”operations in the province since Febru-ary. The operations covered eight barriosin Labo. The military also besieged andoccupation various barrio centers.

After conducting the training, theParty and NPA in Camarines Norte isconfident that they can withstand theattacks of the enemy and mount tac-tical offensives more frequently amidthe intensifying armed struggle againstthe dictatorial and fascist US-Duterteregime.

Congress approves martial law extensionFOR THE THIRD time, the implementation of martial law in Mindanao was further ex-tended. On December 12, the Joint Session of the House of Representatives and theSenate approved Duterte’s proposal to extend martial law in the island until next year.

With a majority vote of 223-23 inthe House of Representatives and 12-5in the Senate (with one abstention), theCongress has once again paved the wayfor reign of military terror in Mindanao.

Progressive groups from Mindanaoand supporters led by Bayan respondedto the extension with protests. Simultan-eous with the joint session, victims of hu-man rights violations in Mindanao moun-ted a program outside the BatasangPambansa. Sumifru workers also staged asymbolic die-in protest to portray the ex-perience of hundreds of victims under themilitary reign in the island.

The youth and Sumifru workers alsoprotested in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manilain the evening.

By subsuming the civilian bureau-

cracy under the absolute reign of themilitary, the intensification of humanrights violations perpetrated by theArmed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)and Philippine National Police (PNP) isimminent. The AFP and PNP shall cer-tainly exploit this scheme to ensure tomanipulate the upcoming May 2019 elec-tions and place their henchmen in power.

Despite the people’s observance oftraditional holidays this December andthe temporary ceasefire declaration ofthe Philippines, intense military combatoperations continue unabated in the re-gions of Mindanao. Troopers are ravagingcommunities and barrios in a vain at-tempt to sabotage celebrations by theNew People’s Army on the occasion of the50th anniversary of the Party.

ANG BAYAN December 21 , 2018 4

over 20,000 protested in more than 20 provinces and cities in thePhilippines to mark the 70th International Human Rights Day last

December 10. Similar protest actions were mounted abroad by Filipinos andtheir supporters.

Thousands mark InternationalHuman Rights Day with protests

Amid martial law, more than10,000 protested in Mindanao.They collectively condemned mar-tial law to belie Duterte’s whims onits implementation and further ex-tension.

In Metro Manila, around 5,000participated in the United People'sMarch for Human Rights spear-headed by Bayan and Karapatan.The group marched from LiwasangBonifacio, Lawton and convergedat the Mendiola Arch in Manila.

Among the protesters wereLumads, Sumifru workers and indi-viduals from other sectors fromMindanao. Dumagats, workers andfarmers from Southern Tagalogalso participated in the protestaction.

Luzon. The Cordillera Move-ment Against Tyranny and Cor-dillera Human Rights Alliance ledthe protest of hundreds of indi-viduals in Session Road, BaguioCity to oppose the intimidation andsuppression of human rights de-fenders and indigenous peoples.

Meanwhile, members of theIlocos Human Rights Alliance andSolidarity of Peasants Against Ex-ploitation trooped to and mounteda picket in front of the provincialcapitol of La Union in SanFernando City. Assemblies andprotests were also conducted inTuguegarao City, Didipio in NuevaVizcaya and Bangued, Abra.

In Central Luzon, farmers ledby the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukidsa Gitnang Luzon and individualsfrom other democratic sectorsmarched in Cabanatuan, NuevaEcija.

In Bicol, thousands of membersof Bayan-Camarines Sur and Ca-marines Sur Ecumenical Movement

for Justice and Peace protested inPlaza Oragon in Naga City. Similarprotests were conducted in LegazpiCity and Sorsogon and theprovinces of Camarines Norte,Catanduanes and Masbate.

Visayas. In Panay, Bayan andKarapatan spearheaded the UnitedPeople's Action against Dictator-ship in front of the Iloilo ProvincialCapitol where thousands took part.

In Eastern Visayas, Bayan ledthe protest action of more than800 activists in Tacloban, Leyte,and Catbalogan and Las Navas inthe Samar island.

More than 1,000 members ofBayan-Negros protested in the Ba-colod City Public Plaza to demandjustice for the massacre of ninefarmers in Sagay and the killing ofAtty. Benjamin Ramos.

In Cebu City, members of Bay-an and Karapatan marched fromFuente Osmeña Circle to MetroColon. In Bohol, a similar programwas mounted by farmers underHumabol-KMP and members ofGabriela in the City Square, Agora,Tagbilaran City.

Mindanao. Around 7,000Lumad-members of MAPASU andKASALO and human rights defend-

ers protested in Butuan City,Agusan del Norte. They condemnedthe violent military occupation ofLumad communities and schools.

Meanwhile, Bayan spearheadedthe march of 3,000 individuals inCagayan de Oro City.

In Davao City, protesters cri-ticized Mayor Sara Duterte and herfather for the long list of humanrights violations they have perpet-rated. The protest was mounted inthe Freedom Park and was spear-headed by Karapatan. A similarprotest action was conducted inGeneral Santos City and TandagCity.

Overseas. In Indonesia,members of the InternationalLeague of People’s Struggle andPeople’s Struggle Front protestedin front of the US embassy inJakarta.

In Brussels, Belgium, the In-ternational Coalition for HumanRights in the Philippines (ICHRP)mobilized in support of humanrights defenders in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Filipinos led byICHRP protested in front of theConsulate General of the Philip-pines in New York City andmarched towards the TrumpTowers. They demanded an end toUS military aid to the US-Duterteregime.

A similar protest action wasmounted in Vancouver, Canada.

December 21 , 2018 ANG BAYAN5

Unity march against demolition

More than 300 farm workers of Sumitomo Fruits Cor-poration (Sumifru) camped out in Mendiola, Manilalast November 27. The workers trooped to MetroManila to fight contractualization and assert theirdemand that the right of their union to collectivebargaining be recognized.

They also protested in front of the Department of Labor and Employmentheadquarters in Intramuros, Manila on November 29 to condemn Sec. SilvestreBello III’s issuance of Assumption of Jurisdiction which prompted the violentdispersal of their picket and the murder of two strikers.

Meanwhile, the workers gained broad support including those of the Work-ers Advocates for Rights Network (WARN) and students of the University of thePhilippines at University of Santo Tomas.

Drivers and operators protest against jeepney modernization

The No to Jeepney Phaseout Coalition and Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsu-per at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) spearheaded a nationwide coordinatedaction last December 5 to demand the abolition of the bogus and pro-capitalistjeepney modernization program which shall commence on March 2019.

Drivers and operators marched and converged in front of the Land Trans-portation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in East Avenue, QuezonCity. The Baguio-Benguet Movement Against Jeepney Phaseout and PISTON-Central Luzon mounted similar protest actions in Baguio City and in front of theregional office of the LTFRB in San Fernando, Pampanga, respectively.

Various groups of jeepney, truck, bus and UV express drivers and operatorsassembled, in time with the Senate budget hearing of the Department of(DOTr), to oppose its bogus and anti-poor program. Groups of truckers fromCavite, Laguna and Bulacan and bus operators from Cavite and Batangas par-ticipated in the said action.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Angkas drivers under the Riders of the Philip-pines protested at the People Power Monument to oppose the decision of theSupreme Court to stop cease their operation. The drivers who lost their jobsdue to the decision demanded that the operation of the private transportationcompany be allowed.

Activists lambast

Red-tagging campaign

Members of Bayan conducted apress conference and picketprotest in Plazoletegay in IloiloCity to condemn the recentdistribution of posters by stateelements tagging 45 membersof progressive organizations as“terrorist communists.” Amongthose listed are members of theNational Union of People’sLawyers, Karapatan and Leagueof Filipino Students. A similarprotest action was mounted inAklan on the next day.

Anti-TRAIN law protests

Progressive individuals spear-headed by GABRIELA protestedin Mendiola, Manila on Decem-ber 14 to oppose the almostone-year implementation of theanti-people Tax Reform forAcceleration and Inclusion(TRAIN) law. The policyresulted in rising inflation overthe year.

Protests for the

environment

The Center for EnvironmentalConcerns and KalikasanPeople’s Network for theEnvironment mounted a protestaction in Mendiola, Manila afterconducting the first conferenceof environment defenders onDecember 7. They demandedjustice for the extrajudicialkillings of their fellowadvocates.

The conference delegatesalso asserted that theconstruction of megadams,operation of foreign mining andplantation corporations andreclamation projects bestopped. They said that theseviolates the rights of the peopleto a safe and healthyenvironment.

ANG BAYAN December 21 , 2018 6

Duterte’s continuing reign of terror

In conjuction with the commemoration of the December 10 InternationalHuman Rights Day, Ang Bayan (AB) issued a report culled from its news

reports of human rights violation perpetrated this year by the ArmedForces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) andother armed agents of the US-Duterte regime. The complete article may beaccessed at www.philippinerevolution.info.

This year, AB monitored an av-erage of almost 82 cases of humanrights violations per day or a totalnumber of 29,869 victims fromJanuary to December 7, 2018.Close to four victims were killedevery two weeks while at leastthree were illegally arrested anddetained per week. An average ofat least 12 activists and progress-

ives were threatened, intimidatedand harassed per day. This sum-mary report affirms the grave stateof human rights in the Philippineseven as numerous other cases areyet to be reported in AB.

With the implementation ofDuterte’s National Internal Secur-ity Plan (NISP) this year whichpurportedly aims to decimate the

revolutionary armed movement,the fascist suppression of civilliberties and democratic rights andbrutality against the people, espe-cially the oppressed masses ofpeasants, workers and nationalminorities has intensified.

Kill ings, frustrated kil l ings and torture

Based on the initial tally of AB, there were at least 106 civilian victimsof extrajudicial (political) killings from January to December 7 this year. InNegros Island, which is dubbed a social volcano because of intense landconflicts, 23 victims of extrajudicial killings, 18 of whom are peasants, werereported. The victims include nine members of the National Federation ofSugar Workers (NFSW) who were massacred by suspected Special CivilianActive Auxiliary elements in Sagay City, Negros Occidental on on October20.

Twenty victims were also killedin the Bicol region. Among themare five residents of Barangay Na-bongsoran, Aroroy, Masbate whowere massacred by CAFGU troop-

ers on June 8. Meanwhile, 44 othervictims were killed in Mindanaounder the regime’s continuingmartial law.

On top of this, there were also

47 victims of frustrated killings.The victims include Jerry Alicanteand Victor Ageas, members ofNagkahiusang Mamumuo saSuyapa Farms (NAMASUFA) whowere shot by unidentified men inCompostela Valley last November11 and September 4, respectively.

At least 37 individuals were alsosubjected to torture. Among the vic-tims are five minors who weremauled and threatened to be killedby 19th IB troopers on November 18in Magpet, North Cotabato.

Bombing, strafing, attacks on communities and forcible evacuation

Twenty-two incidents of indiscriminate bombing and/or strafing and 54incidents of military occupation and attacks on communities resulting in theevacuation of about 24,667 individuals (excluding Marawi residents whoremain in evacuation centers up to the present) were reported by AB thisyear.

Four incidents of bombingand/or strafing perpetrated byvarious military units were recor-ded in Northern Mindanao. Mean-while, 11 incidents of occupationand attacks were reported each inSouthern Tagalog and Caraga.Massive evacuation of Moro resid-ents from the Autonomous Regionin Muslim Mindanao (12,100

evacuees) and peasant and Lumadresidents from Caraga (8,791)were reported as well.

Among the most vicious milit-ary actions were the bombing andmortar shelling carried out by theAFP Joint Task Force Central withthe assistance of US Army SpecialForces in Barangay Bialong, ShariffAguak, Maguindanao on September

5 which resulted in the killing ofone civilian and wounding of twoothers; the strafing and bombinglaunched by the Joint Task ForceRanao in three towns of Lanao delSur which resulted in the massevacuation of more than 11,000individuals; and the repeatedevacuation of thousands ofManobo from Lianga and SanAgustin Surigao del Sur and hun-dreds of Dumagats from Gen. Na-kar, Quezon due to the unrelentingabuses perpetrated by AFP troop-ers occupying their respectivecommunities.

December 21 , 2018 ANG BAYAN7

I l legal arrest and detention

This year, at least 271 were illegally arrested and detained by militaryand police force. On top of this are 407 victims of arbitrary detention.

In Central Luzon, 50 cases ofillegal arrest and detention werereported. Among the victims are42 striking NutriAsia workers,their supporters and members ofthe media who were illegally arres-ted and detained by elements ofthe Philippine National Police-Mey-cauayan after the violent dispersalof their picketline in font of the

factory in Marilao, Bulacan on June14 (23 victims) and July 30 (19victims).

In the Davao region, at least45 were illegally arrested and de-tained. Among the starkest cases isthe illegal arrest of 18 leaders andactivists, including former BayanMuna Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACTTeachers Party Rep. France

Castro, who were all slapped withtrumped-up charges of kidnappingand human trafficking in TagumCity last November 29. A dayearlier, elements of the police,56th IB and the Municipal SocialWork and Development Office putup roadblocks, interrogated andarbitrarily detained them togetherwith 61 other delegates of the Na-tional Humanitarian Mission andthe Manobo evacuees they rescuedfrom Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

Threat, Harassment and Intimidation

At least 4,282 individuals have been subjected to threat, harassment orintimidation this year. More than a thousand victims were from Caraga(1,659), 1,600 of whom are Manobo evacuees from Lianga who were har-assed by 75th IB troopers on their way to and even while staying in anevacuation center on July 16-18.

The victims also include Na-tional Democratic Front of thePhilippines consultants ReyCasambre, Adelberto Silva, VicenteLadlad and Rafael Baylosis whowere all illegally arrested this year.They are among the 600 names of

activists and political personalitiesincluded in the regime’s proscrip-tion case against the CPP and NPA.

The regime recently issued Ex-ecutive Order 70, which createdthe National Task Force (whichshall purportedly implement the

whole-of-nation approach, derivedfrom the “whole-of-government”concept espoused by the US StateDepartment’s 2009 Counterinsur-gency Guide), and MemorandumOrder 32 (which directly deployedadditional battalions to three re-gions to supposedly counter “law-less violence and terrorism”) topush for the institutionalization ofits NISP. With this scheme to es-tablish a fascist dictatorshipacross the country, the further in-

tensification of suppression isimminent this coming year.

In a separate report,Southern Mindanao re-gistered at least 90 cases ofextrajudicial killings (EJKs) inthe region under the Duterteregime, 21 of which wereperpetrated from January toNovember 19, 2018. At least12 of the victims were fromCompostela Valley, dubbed asa “valley of death.” At least27 civilians were also illegallyarrested this year, six ofwhom are still in detention inaddition to the other 49political prisoners in the re-gion arrested and detainedunder the Duterte regime.Meanwhile, 927 individualswere slapped with trumped-up charges this year in theNorth Central Mindanao Re-gion.

December 21 , 2018 ANG BAYAN8

AFP's all-out operation in Northern Mindanaois a bane to the people

The New People's Army (NPA)-Bukidnon ambushed the soldiers of the 8thIB last December 20, 2 p.m. at Sitio Nasandigan, Barangay Kalabugao,

Impasug-ong, Bukidnon. Three were slain and two wounded while retreating.

The ambushed troopers are partof the units of the Armed Forces ofthe Philippines (AFP) conducting all-out operation and non-stop bombingin the boundaries of Misamis Oriental,Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur sincethe first week of December. The at-tacks are part of the AFP's attempt tohalt preparations for traditional holi-days in the communities.

Apart from the 8th IB, the US-Duterte regime also mobilized morethan 400 troops from the 58th IB,Charlie Company of the 4th ID, 4thDivision Reconnaissance Company(DRC), Scout Rangers, Special ActionForces of the Philippine NationalPolice and CAFGU units. FromDecember 2-14, at least 43 6x6 mil-itary trucks roared into rural villages

to transport enemy soldiers into thebattle zone. The AFP conducted al-most daily artillery shelling and aer-ial bombardment using MD-520 at-tack helicopters which traumatizedcivilian residents in the area.

The military conducted intens-ive operations in the area to pavethe way for the Kalabugao PlainsPeace and Development Conver-gence Program (KP-PDCP). Prepar-ations for the project have beenunderway since 2016 which wereoperationalized through govern-ment agencies, as stated in the ac-complishment report of its Tech-nical Working Committee.

The Department of Interior andLocal Government facilitated theimprovement of water system,

spillway construction and road re-habilitation of Barangay Bulonay toPulangui River.

Meanwhile, the National Com-mission on Indigenous Peoplesprovided assistance on desaliniza-tion and titling codification of tra-ditional laws. The Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resourcesimplemented the greening andplanting of at least 1,330 trees inthe area, most of which are not be-neficial to the community.

Political prisoner dies

ALEX ARIAS, A 63-year old political prisoner, died after sufferingfrom a heart attack at around 7:30 on the eve of the International Hu-man Rights Day. He was declared dead on arrival at the Rizal MedicalCenter in Pasig City. He was the third political detainee to have died un-der the Duterte regime.

Arias suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes while in deten-tion. He was the former chairperson of the Pagkakaisa at Ugnayan ngmga Magbubukid sa Laguna, an affiliate of the Kilusang Magbubukid ngPilipinas.

He was arrested last April 7, 2012 and slapped with trumped-upcases of kidnapping and frustrated homicide, and detained in the MetroManila District Jail.

Arias is among the 160 sick and elderly political detainees thatDuterte promised amnesty as a sign of goodwill in conjunction with thepeace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philip-pines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

Bernabe Ocasla, a peasant leader, also died in prison on November28, 2016 after suffering a heart attack. His heart complication and highblood pressure worsened while in detention. On September 12, 2017,Marcos Aggalao, 74, also died in the Kalinga Provincial Hospital. Hesuffered from dementia, pneumonia and high blood pressure while in de-tention.

According to Karapatan, the deaths of the three political prisonersunder the Duterte regime is a grave reality whereas former First LadyImelda Marcos and other personalities are given special treatment des-pite having been proven guilty.

State elements torch

unionist’s house

in Compostela

AT AROUND 2:00 a.m. on Decem-ber 15, unidentified men burneddown the house of Paul JohnDizon, chairperson of NAMASUFA(Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Say-upa Farms) in Compostela, Com-postela Valley.

The house of Vicente Barrios,former chairperson of NAMASUFAand Kilusang Mayo Uno–SouthernMindanao Region chairperson,which stood adjacent Dizon’s, andthe union’s office were also con-sumed by fire. The burned housesand office were located 30 metersaway from the Packing Plant 220of Sumifru.

The assailants first attemptedto burn Dizon’s house on Novem-ber 29. They also strafed thehouse the following day. These in-cidents occurred simultaneouswith the camp-out mounted byNAMASUFA in Mendiola.

"AFP...," continued on page 9

ANG BAYAN December 21 , 2018 9

"AFP...," continued on page 9

The late Bush’s hidden war crimes

The US mass media was all praise to ex-president George Herbert WalkerBush or Bush Sr. when he died last November 30. This flattery by the

mass media and elitist politicians aims to obscure US imperialism’s war crimesand genocidal violence. But for Bush Sr.’s critics, his crimes against humanitycan never be forgotten.

In particular, Bush Sr.’s warcrimes in the 1991 Gulf Warwherein he was dubbed as the“butcher of Baghdad” can never beforgotten as he was responsible forthe deaths of 200,000 Iraqisthrough massive aerial bombard-ment.

War liesAccording to his critics, Bush

Sr. peddled lies to justify the im-perialist war against Iraq. He usedpropaganda in many forms to amasssupport for his war of aggression inthe Persian Gulf. After Iraq underSaddam Hussein occupied Kuwait,its smaller neighbor, on August1990, Bush Sr. rushed to portraySaddam as a “threat and bane tothe world.”

What Bush Sr. did not discloseis that April Glaspe, former US am-bassador to Iraq, was the one whogave Saddam the go signal on July1990, a week before he attackedand annexed Kuwait.

To amass greater support forthe 1991 Gulf War, Bush Sr. con-demned Saddam as a brutal dictat-or who violated international laws

for annexing Kuwait and declaredhim a threat to US national secur-ity. Bush Sr. used the issue of hu-man rights in his grandiosespeeches and even dubbed Saddama “living Hitler.”

The US fabricated stories aboutthe so-called brutal killings of in-fants in a Kuwaiti hospital by Iraqisoldiers. A 15-year old Kuwaiti girl,named “Nayirah,” testified in theUS Congress that she witnessed Ir-aqi soldiers entering the Kuwaitihospital. It was uncovered later onthat “Nayirah” was actually thedaughter of Kuwait’s ambassador tothe US and was coached by a publicrelations company for her congres-sional testimony. The CanadianBroadcasting Corporation reportedthat its reporters did not comeacross any evidence of the so-calledinfant killings.

Bush Sr. campaigned for theexpulsion of Saddam’s forces inKuwait for its use of chemicalweapons in the past and its con-tinuous development of nucleararms. Despite having supportedSaddam, then a US ally, the UScondemned his use of chemical

weapons against Kurds in the city ofHalabja in 1988 which resulted inthe deaths of 6,800 individuals,most of whom were civilians.

Documents recently released bythe US government exposed thatthe main aim of launching the waragainst Saddam’s regime is to se-cure oil resources in the region.Bush Sr. signed the National Se-curity Directive 26 in 1989 and Na-tional Security Directive 54 inJanuary 1991 which both declaredthat oil in the Middle East is im-portant to US national security andthat the US will continue to forciblydefend its interests.

Bush Sr.’s accusation that Sad-dam was stockpiling chemicalweapons is both a hypocritical andbig lie as it was the US which gaveSaddam billions of dollars in milit-ary and economic aid since the1980s until Iraq annexed Kuwait.

In 1992, it was reported on aprominent US television channelthat both the Reagan and Bush Sr.regimes allowed funds, chemicals,agricultural loans, dual-use tech-nology of chemical weapons andother war materiél to enter Iraq.

War crimesThe US-led coalition declared

war against Iraq on January 17,1991 and quickly defeated Saddam.

The Department of PublicWorks and Highways completedthe construction of the road con-necting Agusan del Sur to Bukid-non—the Danay-Kalabugao-Adta-lawon Road—which cost P752million. This aims to ease the entryof materials to the underdevelopedarea of Kalabugao for the KP-PDCP.

They also recruited two regularmembers of the Philippine Army inthe communities of Kalabugao tomaintain "peace" in the area.

Several other agencies weremobilized to fulfill the project in

order to purportedly "develop"Kalabugao which the New People'sArmy "preys on.” This is an initialimplementation of the "whole-of-nation approach" in accordancewith the National Internal SecurityPlan of the Duterte regime.

Due to continuous military at-tacks, the lives and livelihood of theLumad residents were disrupted.The attacks have massively af-fected the residents of Sitio Lak-bangan and Kalhaan in BarangayMinalwang, Claveria, Misamis Ori-ental. Other barangays such asKalabugao, Bulonay, and Hagpa in

Impasug-ong, Bukidnon and SitioKulili, Barangay San Vicente, Es-peranza, Agusan del Sur were alsoaffected.

Meanwhile, despite the Com-munist Party of the Philippines andthe NPA's declaration of temporaryunilateral ceasefire in conjunctionwith the celebration of traditionalholidays, the AFP asserted its non-observance of a ceasefire.

In launching relentless combatoperations, the AFP doused thehigh hopes of their foot soldiers tohave a brief respite during the hol-idays to be with their families.

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"AFP...," from page 8

December 21 , 2018 ANG BAYAN10

In the course of the war, the USdropped 88,500 tons of bombs inIraq and Kuwait, resulting in manycivilian casualties.

In a report on February 1991, noless than 408 civilian Iraqis diedwhen US planes bombed an air-raidshelter in Amiriyah in Baghdad, Ir-aq’s capital. According to the HumanRights Watch (HRW), the Amiriyahfacility was used as a civil defenseshelter during the Iran-Iraq war,but the US still attacked this withoutwarning. This is a grave violation oflaws of war, HRW added.

The US destroyed essential ci-vilian infrastructures in Iraq in-cluding electric plants, water sanit-ation facilities, food plants andflour mills among others. In a re-port by the Washington Post onJune 1991, the bombardment of ci-vilian facilities by the end of the

war was premeditated and not anaccident. After the war, hundredsof thousands of Iraqis were slainand considered “collateral dam-age.” That month, a group fromHarvard University conducting aresearch on public health issued areport stating that the destructionof civilian structures resulted inmalnutrition and epidemia such ascholera and typhus.

In a research conducted onJanuary 1992 by Beth Osborne Da-ponte of the US Census Bureau, sheestimated that 1991 Gulf War res-ulted in the death of 158,000 Ir-aqis, including 13,000 who immedi-ately died, and the destruction of70,000 electrical plants and watersanitation facilities.

The US amassed a huge sum ofprofit by launching the 1991 GulfWar as it was able to sell its stock-piled modern armaments to various

countries that participated in thiswar of aggression. It was also ableto control oil supply from theMiddle East and acquire a hugeportion of oil profits from SaudiArabia, Kuwait and other emiratesby binding them to military salescontracts wherein the US has con-trol over modern war materiél suchas the anti-missile system.

In 2003, US officials stripped athousand pages from the UnitedNations Report disclosing that ithas actually supplied the materialsfor the manufacturing of chemicalweapons in Iraq. A report by DieTageszeitung, a German news out-fit, disclosed that 24 US-basedcorporations and the Reagan andBush Sr. regimes were actually in-volved in illegally supplying Sad-dam’s government with materialsfor manufacturing weapons ofmass destruction.

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CPI-Maoist holds 5th Plenum

THE COMMUNIST PARTY of India (Maoist) held its5th Plenum in November 2018 and elected a newset of Central Committee (CC) members. FormerGeneral Secretary Comrade Ganapathy volunteeredto resign from his post to give way to youngercomrades. He cited his worsening health conditionand advancing age as basis for his resignation.

The new Central Committee honored ComradeGanapathy for his contribution as the CPI-Maoist’sGeneral Secretary since 1992, leading the Partythrough various Party mergers and internal con-flicts. The CPI-Maoist is waging a protractedpeople’s war against the reactionary system in In-dia. According to the Party, his key contributionwas strengthening the collective Party leadershipin the CC.

Upon deliberation, the Plenum elected ComradeBasavaraju to stand as the Party's General Secret-ary. He has been a member of the CC for 27 yearsand of the Political Bureau for 18 years. He wasmainly tasked to head the Central Military Com-mission, contributing to the advancement of thepeople's war in India.

The Party noted that these changes mark theParty's advancement and development. They addedthat these will strengthen the Party leadership inits general membership. Despite the SAMADHAN,the counter-revolutionary offensive of the enemy,they are ever-determined to march forward.

'Yellow Vest' protests in France continue

THE PROTEST MOVEMENT of the French people againstthe anti-poor government of President Emmanuel Macronhas now entered its fifth week. (Read related article inAng Bayan November 21, 2018.)

Compared to previous protests, the weekly demon-stration (every Saturday) last December 15 in Paris andother cities of France such as those in Saint-Ettiene,Bordeaux and Marseille are smaller and calmer but con-tinue to manifest the anger of the people against theelitist government.

Despite the decreasing ranks of protesters, Macronwas forced to give in and commit to lower taxes and in-crease wages to temper the yellow vests.

The people, however, continue to doubt the anti-poorgovernment. According to a protester, the imposition ofhigh taxes impeded the country's advancement and thedrive of its entrepreneurs, artisans, small businesses,workers while allowing the rich minority to evade taxa-tion.

The demonstrations, which were dubbed as the 'yellowvest movement' because protesters wore fluorescent veststhat are commonly used by drivers in France when repair-ing vehicles, started in November 17. The protests whichwere initially directed against taxation, grew and expan-ded in the whole country as an anti-government movementthat pulled down President Macron's popularity.

The people of Belgium, a nearby country, emulatedthe yellow vest protests against the neoliberal policiesimposed by their government.