ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

EDITORIAL

Engl ish Edition

Vol . XLVI I I No. 13

July 7, 2017

www.phi l ippinerevolution. info

Firmly oppose the anti-national and anti-peoplepolicies of the Duterteregime!

Vigorous mass protests and large mass actions of workers, peas-ants, urban poor, indigenous people, Moro people and otherdemocratic classes will confront GRP Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s

second SONA (state of the nation address) on July 24.

The people’s pent-up rageseethes against a pretentious regimethat has turned its back on its prom-ises and is clearly becoming anti-people, openly fascist, and subserv-ient to the US. Unimproved livingconditions and worsening repression:

this is the true state of the nation.The revolutionary forces must

give direction to the people’s rageto assert the people’s interest andput the Duterte regime to account.They must be united into a broadalliance of workers, peasants, indi-"Offensives. . . , " continue on 3

Offensives in Bicol,Samar and SMRFIVE NEW People’s Army (NPA)tactical offensives inflicted 34casualties in Bicol, Samar andSouthern Mindanao.

On July 1, at one p.m., forcesof Front 20 and Front 22 of theNPA-Southern Mindanao am-bushed troops of the 25th IB atSitio Upper Buay, Baylo,Monkayo, Compostela Valley.Seven soldiers were killed andtwo wounded. The NPA confis-cated an R4 rifle, ammunitionand several military-issue back-packs.

A platoon of the NPA-Northern Samar (Rodante UrtalCommand) ambushed troops ofthe 20th IB between thebarangays Polangi and Somogein Catarman town, NorthernSamar at 9 p.m. on June 20. TheRed fighters blew up a com-mand-detonated explosive andfired at soldiers aboard avehicle. Two were killed andseven wounded.

Meanwhile, Red fightersconfiscated a .45 cal. pistol at acheckpoint they set up near theambush site.

On June 21, at 1 a.m., Redfighters of the NPA-CamarinesNorte (Armando Catapia Com-mand) attacked the 902nd In-fantry Brigade patrol base inBarangay Dumagmang, Labo,Camarines Norte. In a battle thatlasted for three hours and 40minutes, one AFP trooper waskilled and four wounded, while

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN2

Push for the lifting of martial law inMindanao, ending the bombardmentof Marawi and the brutal suppres-sion of the Moro people’s strugglefor self-determination. Demandjustice from the government for thevictims of AFP and PNP violence andcompensation for the affectedpeople and their property due toAFP bombing and violence inMarawi and other parts ofMindanao.

Condemn gross violations ofhuman and civil rights and theGRP’s obstructions to peace talkswith the NDFP. Expose and opposethe bloody anti-drug war. Above all,oppose the imminent military rule inthe Philippines.

The revolutionary movementgave Duterte a chance to prove hisgood intentions to forge an informalalliance for the country’s peace andprogress, based on his almost threedecades of friendly relations withthe revolutionary movement inMindanao when he was still mayorof Davao City.

The revolutionary movement isserious in going into the peace talks.It displayed goodwill in extendingthe unilateral ceasefire to sixmonths (August 2016–February2017), the longest in the revolu-tionary movement’s history. But thefour rounds of peace negotiationshave proven that the GRP is onlyinterested in the NPA’s capitulationthrough a bilateral ceasefire agree-ment and not in addressing theroots and causes of the Philippinecivil war.

Placing the whole Mindanaounder martial law and the previousdeclaration of all-out war againstthe revolutionary movementcoupled with intractability in thepeace talks are clear indications ofthe Duterte regime’s subservienceto US imperialist dictates. The AFPuses martial law in Mindanao tofurther facilitate Duterte’s brutal

Editorial: Firmly oppose the anti-nationaland anti-people policies of the Duterteregime! 1

Offensives in Bicol, Samar and SMR 1

Where is the change? 4

Protests on Fil-Am Friendship Day 4

US intervention escalates under ML 5

Old politics in the time of Duterte 6

Investing in the president 7

Supreme Court upholds martial law 8

GRP to scuttle peacetalks 8

Moro people’s rights violated 9

Human rights violations worsen 10

Dominance of land monopoly 11

Peasants’ bungkalan 12

US destruction of Syria 13

Vol . XLVI I I No. 13 | Ju ly 7, 2017

Contents

genous people, Moro people andother sectors of society such aspersonalities and church people,academe, media personnel and oth-er professionals, and patriotic busi-nessmen.

Fight for the people’s basicrights and welfare. It is only rightfor the workers to demand an endto contractualization, the provi-sion of stable jobs, wage increases,workplace safety, and the scrap-ping of the government’s labor ex-port policy. Peasants must also as-sert their clamor for land to tilland the urban poor for decent jobsand housing. The indigenouspeople must demand the recogni-tion of the rights to their ancestralland and self-determinationagainst Duterte’s projects that willdisplace them from their land. Re-spect for the Moro people’s rightto self-determination must bepushed.

Duterte's foreign-leaning neolib-eral 10-point socio-economic pro-

gram has worsened US imperialist,landlord and bureaucrat capitalistdominance in Philippine society.

Whatever the people gainedthis past year were won throughtheir own struggles and the sup-port of progressives in and outsidethe Duterte government. Con-tractual workers became regularonly through strikes or collectiveaction and union struggles forcollective bargaining. The urbanpoor gained homes through col-lective occupation of idle and rot-ting houses in Bulacan. Even theparcels of hacienda and plantationland had to be occupied by peas-ants through difficult strugglesalthough these had already beenaccorded to them by law.

Condemn strongman rule anddefend the people’s rights againstrepression. Call for the termina-tion of Oplan Kapayapaan all-outwar that wields fascist violenceagainst the revolutionary movementand the people in the countryside.

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ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 3

“all-out war” and“flatten the hills” or-der against the re-volutionary forces inMindanao and extendthis to the Visayasand Luzon. Martiallaw’s real targets arethe mounting revolu-tionary armedstruggle and the resurgent armedstruggle of the Moro for self-de-termination.

Duterte’s bloody anti-drugcampaign is a war gone wild. Ittargets ordinary drug users andpushers while big drug lords andmasterminds of criminal syndicatesin the AFP-PNP and bureaucracyremain free. There is also the con-spicuous use of state terrorismagainst the revolutionary move-ment and other legal opposition.

Concurrent with broad open ac-tions against intensifying repression,armed struggle must be intensifiedto protect the revolutionary forcesand the people against martial lawand fascism. The New People’s Armymust launch tactical offensives na-tionwide and further strengthen thepeople’s army in different parts ofthe archipelago.

MakeDuterte account

for his independentforeign policy fraud.

Call for the immediaterepeal of the Enhanced

Defense CooperationAgreement and other un-

equal treaties.Duterte’s anti-US preten-

tions are directed at expandinghis sources of loans and arms toChina and Russia and not at break-ing US domination in the country.He has not repealed a single un-equal treaty with the US. US troopsremain in Philippine soil, construc-tion of at least six of its military fa-cilities inside AFP camps has begun,257 military exercises have beenlaunched this year, and US warshipsply Philippine seas in the continuedmilitarization of the South ChinaSea.

Duterte has allowed US spydrones and P3-Orion spy aircraftto fly over the Philippines forelectronic surveillance, intelli-gence gathering, and combatsupport for the AFP, especially inMarawi. His “anti-terrorist” warhas now fallen squarely into theframe of the US’ international waragainst terrorism, thus giving theUS leeway to further escalate itsinterference in the country’s in-ternal affairs. He is effectivelycollaborating with US psy-ops infanning Islamophobia, religiouswar, and the ISIS scare in thePhilippines. The US is ever push-ing and moulding Duterte’s pen-chant for strongman rule intosubservience to its dictates.

Duterte is exacerbating thesocial crisis of the Philippinessemicolonial and semifeudal sys-tem. A political crisis is bound toerupt. Amidst the continued de-terioration of Philippine societyand economy and the long depres-sion of the world capitalist system,the people have no recourse but tostruggle and advance their na-tional democratic aspirations andlaunch increasingly bigger massstruggles.

the NPA sustained no casualties. One K3 machine gunwas confiscated from the AFP.

The same day, around 6 a.m., two trucks carrying atleast 15 soldiers for reinforcement at Barangay Dumag-mang was blasted by a command-detonated explosive.The demolition action was carried out some 400 metersfrom the 9th IB detachment at Barangay Mahawan-hawan, Labo. Corporal Rey Lota was killed and four oth-ers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire. No casu-alties were recorded on the NPA side.

Also on June 22, around 11 p.m., the NPA-West Ca-marines Sur (Norben Gruta Command) blasted a passingtruck of the 92nd Division Reconnaissance Company atSitio Castilla, Barangay Napolidan, Lupi, Camarines Sur.

CAFGU Hilario Caña was killed in the explosion while fiveothers were wounded. The truck was carrying a sectionof military reinforcements for the previous day’s en-counter.

Meanwhile, Ma. Roja Banua, spokesperson of NDF-Bicol, said that “the [military’s news about an] en-counter between two forces of the NPA-Bicol inbarangays Hanopol and San Roque, Caramoan on July1, at 7:30 p.m. was a figment of the imagination."

"No battle happened and there was no NPA pres-ence in the area mentioned. The military is using thisfake news to spread terror among the communities ofCaramoan and freely scour the countryside,” Banuaadded.

"Offensives. . . , " from page 1

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN4

On Duterte's first year,

where is the change?

CARRYING CALLS to make good on hispromises of change, hundreds of mem-bers of progressive organizationsmarched to Mendiola, Manila last June30, a year since President RodrigoDuterte took his oath of office. Unlikethe previous year’s optimism and high ex-pectations for Duterte who claimed to besocialist and the first Left president, varioussectors expressed dismay for his failure to fulfill his promises.

The protest was led by BagongAlyansang Makabayan (Bayan).According to BAYAN, majority ofDuterte’s actions were negative,anti-people and pro-imperialist.Leaders also scored his policiesand the unchanged conditionssince the past administration.Among these are low wages, wide-spread contractualization, land-lessness and stalled peace talks.Duterte’s martial rule hasworsened human rights violationsand military abuses.

During the rally, the groupsused emoticons to sum up theDuterte administration’s responseto the people's demands. Promin-ent among the reactions wereemoticons that were ‘sad’, ‘scared’and ‘angry.’

Groups also criticized the con-tinued AFP bombings in Marawicity, the government's response tothe attacks by the Maute group inMarawi. These airstrikes have res-ulted in widespread humanitariancrisis of dislocation, hunger anddestruction.

Human rights advocates alsocondemned the appointment of 57former military and police officersin his cabinet, including Lt. Gen.Eduardo Año, the brains behind thedisappearance of peasant activist

Jonas Burgos.Duterte is no different from

his predecessors implementingneoliberal economic policies, des-pite his claims of independentforeign policy. The Duterte re-gime’s economic policies are“wrong, anti-people and anti-progress,” said the IBON Founda-tion. His administration spreadslies to justify tax reforms whichhe will use for his grand infra-structure projects.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)also slammed Duterte’s inaction totheir call regarding contractualiza-tion, wages and workers’ welfare.

“There are 24.4 million workerswho are victims of different typesof flexible labor standards andEndo. Even wages remain un-changed,” said Elmer Labog, chair-person of KMU.

Days before the protest, pro-gressive groups held a People’sSummit at the Philippine HeartCenter, Quezon City last June 28 toassess Duterte’s first year. Theyconcluded that genuine reformsfor the people remain to be seen onDuterte’s 1st year.

Protest actions were also heldin front of Eastmincom headquar-ters in Davao City, Cabuyao, La-guna and Plazoleta Gay, Iloilo.

Protests on Filipino-American Friendship Day

ON THE Filipino-American Friend-ship Day last July 4, hundreds ofmembers of progressive organiza-tions marched to the US embassyin Manila to slam US intervention,return of US military bases and thegrowing number of US armedtroops in the country.

The clearest example of thisinterference is its self-styled as-sistance to government troops en-gaged in armed fighting with theDawlah Islamiyah in Marawi Cityunder martial law.

Bayan secretary general Ren-ato Reyes Jr. remarked how thePhilippines is now part of the pri-ority areas of the US Special Op-erations Command focused on de-feating terrorist groups such asthe Daesh or ISIS.

Bayan also added that the twonations can never be friends, es-pecially if this relationship is one-sided and exploitative. For a longtime, the Philippines has beensubjected to war, colonization andviolation of sovereignty.

More than its military pres-ence, said Reyes, US interventiongravely affects our local politics,culture and economy.

Despite his anti-US rhetoric,the Duterte regime failed totranslate it into concrete actionand policies, instead he driftedcloser to US imperialism by im-plementing the US counterinsur-gency policy, Oplan Kapayapaan,approving US military forces toconstruct military bases throughEDCA and declaration of MartialLaw.

After the rally, groups marchedto the Supreme Court to expressdismay on its decision favoringDuterte’s martial law.

ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 5

US intervention escalates under martial law

GRP Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law, as well as his “anti-ISIS war,” falls com-pletely in line with the US’ interventionist line of “war against terror” and sets

the stage for the escalation of US inter-vention in the country’s internal affairs.

Since last year, the US hasbeen raising the alarm on the sup-posed ISIS presence in the coun-try. It claimed that the Philippinesis set to be the next “ISIS center”based on a single video of thegroup calling on all “jihadists” todrop by the Philippines if they en-counter problems going to Syria.It also overplayed the banditgroup Abu Sayyaf leader IsnilonHapilon’s supposed pledge of loy-alty to the group. In line with this,the US, through Sen. Joni Ernst,insisted on August 2016 the needto “go back” and establish USbases in the Philippines. Presently,only one of the five planned loca-tions for these bases is inMindanao, although this is wheretheir presence is largest.

Last May, a few weeks beforethe AFP laid siege in Marawi, thecommander of the US Special Op-erations Command stated that thePhilippines remains a priority formilitary intervention. It identifiedISIS and Al Qaeda as its prioritytargets and the countries wherethese have presence as targets for“long-term military intervention.”On June, the US Secretary of De-fense declared that the withdraw-al of its special forces from thePhilippines in 2015 was “prema-ture.” Most of its troops were per-manently based in Zamboangathen. At the same time, the USmaintained troops in other AFPcamps, including in Camp Ranaolocated inside Marawi.

These troops are believed tobe the instigators of the failed at-tempt to liquidate Hapilon on May

23 in an operation similar to thebotched raid in Mamasapano in2015. As before, various armedgroups banded against the AFPand killed a large number of sol-diers. Some witnesses said thatsoldiers deployed to the city were“almost decimated” on the firstencounter. Pictures of Morogroups in control of AFP’s wartanks and the SAF-PNP’s AFVsabounded in social media. Armedgroups coming together in a “pin-takasi” is a practice of fellowshipamong Moro clans against whatthey consider as a foreign force.

But unlike in Mamasapanowhere the slaughtered soldierswere not reinforced, Duterte de-clared martial law on the same day(at 10 p.m.) and poured tanks andtroops into the city.

Calculated and systematic psy-ops to deceive the public, promoteconfusion and justify the continu-ation of war were carried out.Stringent information control

(particularly in the media) anddisinformation has always been apart of US (covert) operations.

Duterte’s vilification of theMaute group designed to influ-ence the public and justify hisiron rule falls in line with the USanti-Islamic and racist line. Todemonize the group, he bestowedthe Maute the “ISIS” title, evenwhen military officials denied thelink. Marawi residents said thatthey only heard of the Maute as“ISIS” on television. They onlyknew the armed group as a familyengaged in a rido (clan war) inthe city.

Duterte’s portrayal of theMautes as berserk “extremists”who kill indiscriminately andwithout reason even without clearevidence indicates public condi-tioning as his main objective.Fake news from the AFP havebeen debunked frequently. EvenDuterte’s claim that the groupbeheaded a police chief has been

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN6

Old politicsin the timeof Duterte

Under the Duterte re-gime, the Philippines’

semifeudal economy per-sists. Under this system, biglandlords hold control overvast tracts of land and plant-ations, exploiting the toil ofpeasants in order to produce agri-cultural products for export.

This is combined with the tradewith foreign capitalists by the bour-geois comprador class which serves asintermediary between foreign capitaland local resources.

On the basis of the semifeudaleconomy, “semifeudal politics” prevailover the country. This is how politicaleconomist Dr. Edberto Villegas de-scribes the Philippine situation in hisessay “The Semi-feudal Political Sys-tem in the Philippines and the NationalDemocratic Revolution.” Here, the au-thor traces back the present system ofgovernment to the development ofsemifeudalism during the last part ofSpanish colonization.

However, it is US imperialismwhich moulded the current politicalcontrol of bureaucrat capitalists whorepresent their interests, alongsidethe interests of the comprador bour-geoisie and landlord classes. After theFilipino revolutionaries sequesteredlarge tracts of land from religious or-ders during the early part of the 20thcentury, this was overturned by theAmerican colonialists and sold to richSpanish families including the Elizalde,Ortigas, Ayala, Aboitiz and others.Rich Chinese families (Ledesma,Lopez, Tuason and Osmeña) were alsoable to acquire sugarcane haciendas.

These rich families who becamepartners of the American capitalistswere entrusted by the US to takecharge of government. All those whobecame the country’s highest official(Roxas, Osmeña, Laurel, Lopez, etc.)belong to landlord and comprador

families. Unlike during the Spanishcolonial period wherein positions givento rich local families were limited tothe municipal level, the US trainedpolitical representatives from thesefamilies for positions up to the na-tional level.

From 1903, pensionados were sentto the US to learn the method of gov-ernment and administration in variousaspects of society in accordance withthe colonial design. Taxes collected bythe US colonial government were usedto subsidize the schooling of thesechildren of rich families coming fromthe provinces. Upon returning to thecountry, they were entrusted with keypositions in the sectors of agriculture,education, commerce, and others.

The Commonwealth government,acting as a transition towards being acomplete semi-colony of the US, alsoserved as training ground for thosebeing groomed to become officials,from the president down to local rep-resentatives. By encouraging differentpolitical parties, the US and the localruling classes attempt to deceive thepeople with the illusion of democraticelections. Nonetheless, whicheverfaction comes out on top, the sameclasses are kept in power.

The US imposed its system of“democracy” in the Philippines withoutabolishing the exploitative feudalstructure, because this ensures thesupply of cheap agricultural productsto the US. On the other hand, those inpower use government machinations,the laws they created and other re-

proven a big lie. Contrary toAFP predictions, the priesttaken hostage by the groupremains alive.

Duterte has repeatedlycalled on the Moro peopleto resist the Maute group’s“foreign ideology.” This is adownright copy of the USline of generating national-ist fervour to gain sym-pathy for the war.Duterte’s praises of sol-diers doing their “patrioticduty” is a part of this line,as are stories about the“poor soldiers” killed orwounded in encounterswhich abound in the tradi-tional media. Duterte glori-fies the war, while blamingor belittling civilian casual-ties.

Even the regime’s meth-ods mimic the US tactic ofbombing entire communitiesto destroy private commerceand public infrastructures,leaving the place inshambles for foreign capitaland companies’ easy entry.(Read related article on Syr-ia in page 13.) The regimereinforced Marawi with US-trained troops, using US-made weapons.

Duterte openly wel-comed US troops, dronesand warplanes in Marawi. Itpromised to sell to him morearms, including his mostwished-for bombs.

He is still angling to getChinese and Russian long-term commitment or militaryaid after his trips from bothcountries this year. So far,his mendicancy in Russiahas not borne any concreteresults. Meanwhile, Chinaonly sent some weapons as a“gift."

ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 7

sources in order to further enrich themselves and keeptheir families in power. An assortment of benefits is en-joyed by the big bourgeois compradors and bureaucratcapitalists investing in politics.

More than empowering the families of bureaucratcapitalist families and their class, it is US imperialismwhich profits the most in the former’s placement in au-thority. For example, apart from providing leniency tolocal governments in collecting their own taxes, the Loc-al Government Code stipulates the reduction of govern-ment subsidy from the national treasury. This was en-dorsed by the World Bank so as to guarantee that thegovernment will be able to collect for debt servicing tothe World Bank.

Moreover, warlordism in many provinces of the Phil-ippines, according to Dr. Villegas, is also characteristicof an economy based on feudal ownership of land. This isreflected in the country’s politics, wherein political clansbuild their own armed groups to counter their rivals.

Likewise, the military and police serve as the rulingclans’ own armed group against their political rivals.

Starting 1960, new political families emerged, in-cluding the Duterte clan. These clans continue to holdpower in government, among them the families of Abad(Batanes), Abaya (Cavite), Villar (Las Pinas), Dy (Isa-bela), Alonto (Lanao del Sur), Angara (Aurora), Ejercito-Estrada (Laguna at San Juan), Pimentel (Cagayan deOro), Marcos (Ilocos Norte), Binay (Makati), Escudero(Sorsogon) and Zubiri (Bukidnon). In the current numberof lawmakers, 56% of the Senate and 74% of the LowerHouse come from political clans.

For the people, the strengthening of the revolution-ary movement gives them confidence that these families’political power will be smashed both in the countrysideand the cities. While the semicolonial government set upby the US persists, the people establish, alongside withthis, organs of political power which truly represent theclass of the toiling people and advance their interests.

Investing in the president

The Duterte family is a bureaucrat-capitalist clan. Its members rose to statepositions with the help and support of big local businessmen. Sara and PaoloDuterte, Davao City incumbent mayor and vice mayor, continue with theirclan’s bureaucrat-capitalist deeds. They have connections to, and defend theinterests of, foreign capitalists in the city.

Rodrigo Duterte comes from afamily of politicians who benefittedfrom the Marcos dictatorship. Hisfather Vicente, a staunch supporterof the dictatorship, was appointed asSecretary for General Servicesduring Marcos’ first term. Prior tothis, the older Duterte was mayor ofDanao, Cebu. He became governor ofthen-unitary Davao province from1959 until 1965. Their Cebu-basedrelatives also held key positions inCebu City during the 1950’s.

Ever since becoming mayor ofDavao, Duterte represented theinterests of big foreign and localcapitalists. When he ran forpresident, he reported receiving upto P335 million funds donated by bigbusinessmen. Ten of his biggestcampaign donors have big interestsin mining.

These include Sen. Alan PeterCayetano (donated P71 million),who was likewise funded by theZamoras of Nickel Asia company.This May, Cayetano was appointedas secretary of the Department ofForeign Affairs. Senator Cynthia

Villar’s son also gave P14 millionthrough the mining company TVIResources. As a reward, Villar’sother son, Mark, was appointedsecretary of the Department ofPublic Works and Highways. TheVillar family is in the constructionbusiness and clearly has interests inbuilding and investing in publicinfrastructure.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s childhoodfriend Carlos Dominguez, whom heappointed as chief of theDepartment of Finance, contributedP3 million. Dominguez is one of theowners of Sagittarius Mining,investing in copper and goldextraction in Mindanao. Hisbrothers-in-law, Tomas and NicasioAlcantara, likewise have big mininginterests. They contributed P28million for Duterte’s campaignfunds. For his part, Bienvenido Tan,another one of Dominguez’ businesspartners, gave P20 million.

Another Duterte close friend,Davao del Norte Rep. PantaleonAlvarez, was given the position ofHouse Speaker, and declared his full

support to Duterte (includingmartial law extension until 2022).Meanwhile, Salvador Medialdea,currently the Executive Secretary,gave P1 million for his campaign.Also, after contributing P30 million,businessman Dennis Uy wasappointed Presidential Adviser forSports. His businesses in gasolineretail and logistics services (2GO)grew when Duterte assumed office.

It is also expected that Dutertewill favour the Floirendo family,owners of large banana plantationsin Davao and the biggest funderduring his candidacy. CongressmanAntonio Floirendo Jr. gave a total ofP100 million (P75 million to Duterteand P25 million for Duterte’s partyPDP-Laban). Since 1998, theFloirendo family has been fundingDuterte’s candidacy for mayor ofDavao. Duterte appointedFloirendo’s brother in law asambassador to the United Kingdom.

After the elections, Duterteadmitted that the Marcos familygave support. In exchange for this,one of Duterte’s first orders wasthe burial of the former dictator atthe Libingan ng mga Bayani. Heimmediately gave the Marcosescontrol over Philweb, thegovernment company which runsonline gambling.

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN8

Supreme Court upholds martial lawVoting 11 in favor, three abstain and one dissenting, the SupremeCourt upheld last July 4 the Duterte regime’s martial law andDuterte’s authority to issue the declaration. This paves the way forthe extension of the current declaration and its expansion tocover the entire country.

In a document made public bythe Supreme Court, the courtagreed that the Maute group’s“siege” of Marawi last May 24 wasan “act of rebellion.” Thus,Duterte’s martial law, as well as hissuspension of the writ of habeascorpus in the entire Mindanao isjustified. “The Constitution grantshim the prerogative whether to putthe entire country or parts thereofunder martial law,” the court said.“There is no constitutional edictthat martial law should be confinedonly in the particular place wherethe armed public uprising actuallytranspired.”

The court parroted Duterte’sclaim that he should not be made towait for a “rebellion” to infest allcorners of the country before de-claring martial in the entire coun-try. “For sure, this is not the scen-ario envisioned by theConstitution,” the Supreme Courtadded. The decision practically

pushes Duterte intodeclaring martial lawnationwide.

Malacañang is allpraises for the SupremeCourt. Solicitor General Jose Cal-ida immediately crowed that thedecision confirms the ”existence ofa real and present rebellion” andthat it “threatens the lives ofFilipinos in Mindanao” as claimedby the execuive branch. The de-cision certainly “unified” all gov-ernment branches—the executivedominated by militarists, the legis-lative full of its lackeys and the ju-diciary that is scared out of itswits. Since last year, Duterte hasbeen threatening the SupremeCourt to toe his line, otherwise hewill implicate the judiciary in his“war against drugs.”

On the same day, a directivesurfaced calling on the AFP to quellthe “communist rebellion, illegaldrug syndicates and other local

terrorists” inline with the

Mindanao martiallaw. The AFP directive

laid bare the lie peddledby DND Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, theGRP peace panel headed by Sec.Jesus Dureza and Silvestre Bello,and by Duterte himself, that theNPA is “not a target” of martiallaw—a claim that the revolutionarymovement has always known to beuntrue. The AFP and the regimehave even used this lie to pressurethe NDFP peace panel and forcethe NPA to withdraw its call to de-fend itself and the people.

The AFP Operational Directive02-17 not only directed the “de-grading of the NPA’s armed capab-ilities,” it also ordered the arrest of“all target threat personalities” and“file cases” against them. In AFPparlance, this refers to activists andmembers of national-democraticorganizations.

THE PEACETALKS is on the way to being scuttled com-pletely by the Duterte regime. This was the observationoffered by Jose Maria Sison, the NDFP’s chief politicalconsultant, based on the following reasons:

1) the regime’s failure to make good its promise lastMay 16, 2016 to free all political prisoners

2) the GRP’s precondition that the NDFP must firstsurrender under the guise of a protracted and indefinitebilateral ceasefire before any agreements on substant-ive agenda

3) the GRP’s continuing all-out war policy againstthe revolutionary movement since February

4) the anti-NPA proclamation of martial law in theentire Mindanao and its rapid expansion in the entirecountry after the the Supreme Court decision and openUS imperialism’s support.

A Marcos-type fascist martial rule situation is now

existing and rapidly developing in the Philippines, Sisonadded. It will be made worse by Duterte’s attempt tomisrepresent revolutionaries as terrorists and addictsunworthy of the right to life. Aerial bombings and artilleryfire against communities the AFP suspects as supportiveof the revolutionary movement will surely intensify.

In line with this, Sison belied the claims of Sec. Sil-vestre Bello, GRP peace panel head, that the fifth roundof talks is scheduled to be held in Japan in August. Therehas been no common decision yet, he said. Instead, in-formal talks will be held to iron out differences in thesubmitted drafts on socio-economic reforms or CASER.

Aside from the GRP's loss of interest in substantivepeace negotiations, there is already a growing publicclamor for intensifying the people's war against the al-most certain imposition of martial rule on the peoplenationwide soon, Sison said.

GRP on the way to scuttlingthe peacetalks

ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 9

Duterte is violating the Moro people’s rights

VARIOUS MORO groups denounced last June 30 GRP Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’sviolation of their rights in his drive to supposedly solve the “Maute problem”by bombing Marawi indiscriminately.

Duterte’s action to solve prob-lems regarding the group withoutfirst consulting the Moro people is aviolation of their right to self-de-termination, Suara Bangsamorosaid. His destruction of the city vi-olates their civil rights. The drive torequire all Moros in the country tocarry “Muslim IDs” also violatesthese rights.

On June 22, the Ranao UlamaLeaders Conference appealed onceagain to the GRP to 1) allow them totalk with the Dawlah leadership (ofthe Maute group) to get them toleave the war zone voluntarily; 2) totalk to Duterte to inform him of theulamas' call for the immediate ces-sation of aerial bombings and liftingof martial law; and 3) immediatelymake way for the clearing andcleaning operations so that theevacuees can return to their com-munities. The AFP and Duterte didnot heed their calls.

According to the AFP’s lowered

estimates last month, only 40% ofthe city has been destroyed by aer-ial bombardment. Also, only 44 ci-vilians have died, contrary to someresidents’ pictures and stories ofdead bodies “littering the citystreets.”

In a barangay where Marawiofficials were allowed to inspectbriefly, they found human remainsscattered outside destroyedhouses. “The dogs ate them,” anofficial said. In another barangay,they discovered 17 cadavers. Theofficials are aware that a darkerand more sinister picture awaitthem once the fighting is over andthe full destruction of the bom-bardments is made known.

On the other hand, the AFP re-ported on July 6 that it had alreadykilled 351 Maute men (from theoriginal 50). Excluding the AFPspokesperson, nobody else has beenable to confirm that these werearmed men.

Due to persistent efforts, ula-mas and personnel and leaders ofthe Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF) were allowed to enter thewar zone twice and managed torescue around 2,000 civilians. Thisis contrary to the AFP’s earlierclaim that only 500 are trapped in-side the city. The rescuers couldhave saved more civilians if the AFPdid not give them a hard time and ifits soldiers did not violate theceasefires.

More than 400,000 people haveevacuated from Marawi and nearbytowns. A large number of them arein evacuation centers where manyhave fallen sick and suffer fromhunger as food aid has started todwindle. Around 59 have died anda recorded 25,000 who suffer fromsevere trauma have sunk into de-pression.

Many of the evacuees fear thatthey will have nothing to comehome to in Marawi. Stealing fromvacant houses is widespread. Stor-ies and pictures of soldiers forcingtheir way into closed houses in

their “search” for Maute menabound. Those who dared toreturn for their possessionsare given a hard time incheckpoints and accused ofbeing thieves.

More people are com-plaining of discrimination inthe 17,494 checkpoint opera-tions conducted all overMindanao. On June 30, afamily was held at a check-point in Sultan Kudarat,Maguindanao simply becausethey carried the Maute sur-name. Troops from the 37thIB later detained them in Co-tabato. Even more people ex-perience bullying, intimidationand threats from overbearingsoldiers and police.

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN10

Human rights violations worsenunder martial law

Human rights violations worsened under the Duterte regime’s martiallaw. Aside from Mindanao, violations are widespread in other parts of

the country where peasant struggles are gaining ground and in communitiesthe AFP suspects as supportive of the revolutionary movement.

Surigao del Sur. More than2,000 people from nine communitiesin Lianga once again evacuated onJuly 5, after days of terrorization bythe 75th IB. Two hundred (200) stu-dents and 43 teachers of the Alcadevschool in Barangay Diatagon wereamong those who left their com-munity. It has been less than a yearsince they returned to the area afterspending a year in evacuation cen-ters. The first evacuation was afterthree of their leaders were brutallymurdered by the AFP’s paramilitarygroups. They have only startedclasses this school year when theharassments began again.

In nearby Barangay San Miguel,soldiers circulated a list of “enemiesof the state,” which included thenames of four Lumad school teach-ers.

Negros Oriental. Elements fromthe 79th IB sowed terror in sitiosLaos and Agpapataw in BarangayBinobohan, Guihulngan City aftertheir troops clashed with an NPAunit near the area on June 30. OnJuly 1, they tried to drive away theresidents without giving them achance to gather their things, stoletheir farm animals and other prop-erties. They detained four minors,siblings Elizabeth Garde, 17;Jeremy, 11; Ana May, 9; and An-gelo, 8, and took them to the site ofthe encounter.

After the encounter, the barriofolks reported five residents miss-ing. They are Simplicio Garde andhis daughter Teresa Garde and thecouple Botsoy and Aurillia Cantelaand their daughter Jenamae. Relat-ives of the five attempted to searchfor them in the fields near the en-counter site but were stopped bythe military. The soldiers burned theCantela house and occupied other

peasants' houses as their barracks.Southern Mindanao. Soldiers

arbitrarily detained four progressiveleaders at a checkpoint in Lasang,Davao City on June 28. The TaskForce Davao held Hanimay Suazo,Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Re-gion (SMR) secretary-general, alongwith Lito Lao, Pedro Arnado andJerry Alborme, all of the KilusangMagbubukid ng Pilipinas, for fivehours. The leaders came from anactivity of the Madaum AgrarianReform Beneficiaries in Tagum Citywhen they were stopped at the saidcheckpoint. The soldiers tried tobring them to their military camp. Itwas already midnight when the sol-diers released them.

On July 2, elements of the 66thIB detained four members of theCompostela Farmers Association inCompostela Valley. Alicia Tindasan,Jhona Rose Baugto, Rolan Segociaand Estanislao Talledo were on theirway to a Lumad school in Purok 4B,Barangay Mangayon, when theywere accosted and arrested by eightsoldiers. The soldiers took them tothe Compostela Municipal PoliceStation where they underwent in-terrogation and were booked onwith trumped-up charges.

On June 30, nine leaders andmembers of the Bagkus-Salog, aLumad organization in Talaingod,were detained by members of theparamilitary group Alamara in SitioCabadjan, Barangay Sto. Nino inTalaingod, Davao del Norte. Theywere on their way to Davao City tojoin a protest action in connectionwith the Duterte regime's first year.They were released last July 1 fromthe Sto. Niño Police Station afterbeing rescued by Karapatan-SMRand Promotion of Church People'sResponse.

Southern Tagalog. Soldiers fromthe 731st Combat Group of the Phil-ippine Air Force conducted opera-tions in Barangay Coral ni Lopez inCalaca, Batangas on July 6 in a bid todrive away peasants tilling the land.The farmers here have been trying toget back the 70-hectare land stolenfrom them by landlord Louis Lopezduring the US-Aquino regime.

Prior to this, private goonsowned by landlord Federico CamposIII violently broke up a peasant andfisher folk camp in Balakbakan, LaiyaAplaya in San Juan, Batangas onJuly 3. They fired on the camp of theHaligi ng Batangenyong Anakdagatwhich hit two members and woundedmore. The goons then invaded thecamp and threw away the peasants’food supply. Campos evicted 600peasants and fisher folk from theircommunity on 2014 to make way forhis resort.

In Quezon, members of the PNParbitrarily arrested Roldan Tayac-tac inside his house in BarangayCamflora, San Andres last July 4.The police did not present any arrestwarrant, Talactac’s wife said.Talactac is a tenant of Hacienda Uy,which is currently being tilled by thefarmers. He was accused of stealingcoconuts from the lot he has beentilling.

Panay. Police arbitrarilycharged more than 60 individuals inrelation to the NPA’s successful raidof a police station in Maasin lastJune 18. Twenty of them werenamed, including two high schoolstudents from a nearby municipality.Among the accused is Mary IlyichBocala, NDFP consultant ConchaAraneta-Bocala’s daughter, whohappened to be vacationing in thecountry. The young Bocala vigor-ously condemned the inclusion of hername, as well as the publication ofher sister’s picture. The PNP is har-assing them, she says, because theirparents are involved in the revolu-tionary movement. The sisters havealready filed counter-chargesagainst the PNP.

ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 11

Continued dominance of land monopoly

In many parts of the country, large tracts of land aremonopolized by a handful of families. Most of these

lands are set up as haciendas, a legacy of colonialSpain’s feudal rule. Landlord economic and politicalpower is based on this hacienda system. Plantations alsocover large tracts of land. These are part of US imperi-alism’s social base for its control of the country.

Haciendas and plantationsMillions of hectares of agricul-

tural lands are still concentrated inthe hands of a few landlords and bigcorporations. These are aside fromthe public lands used by landlords orwithheld by the government fromthe rightful owners’ use.

In these parcels, intense ex-ploitation, constant threat of evic-tion, violence and killing are preval-ent. A big part of theseconcentrated lands are earmarkedfor conversion into industrial, resid-ential, recreational, tourist areas,agribusiness and other uses.

Some of these are the following:Daguma Range. More that

350,000 hectares in 10 municipalit-ies in South Central Mindanao arecontrolled by various companies ofthe Consunji family. Seven are loc-ated in Sultan Kudarat, two inMaguindanao and one in South Co-tabato. Logging operations havelong wrought destruction here.There are also other DMCI projects.Consunji plunder affects DulanganManobos, settlers and Moros andtheir ancestral lands.

Fort Magsaysay. Covering48,070 hectares in adjoining villagesin Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Aurora,these lands were seized by the AFPfrom the tillers. Last year, fourfarmers who joined the bungkalan(collective farming) were killed.They were members of ALMANA3100, an organization leading thestruggle to regain the lands.

Camp Peralta Military Reser-vation. This covers 33,310 hectaresin more than 20 villages of Capizthat are ancestral lands of morethan 20,000 Tumandok. The 3rd IDcontinues its attempts to drive away

the indigenousfarmers and manyhave been killed indecades of indigenouspeople’s defense of theirancestral land.

Yulo King Ranch. This cov-ers 39,238 hectares in four villagesin Coron and four in Busuanga,Palawan. These lands were seized byformer dictator Ferdinand Marcosand awarded to his cronies Luis Yuloand Peter Sabido. This is under thelocal government at present.

Hacienda Looc. This consists of8,650 hectares seized by Henry Sywhich he plans to convert into a re-creational park for tourism and forreal estate. More than 10,000farmers and fisher folk are in dangerof being evicted.

Clark Green City. Farmers andindigenous Aeta will be evicted from36,000 hectares in the municipalit-ies of Capas and Bamban in Tarlacand Mabalacat City and AngelesCity in Pampanga. Plans for buildinga modern city on a Public-PrivatePartnership basis are underfoot.The Duterte regime has offered thisto Chinese investors. In this plan,haciendas and ancestral lands tilledby indigenous farmers will be con-verted into a commercial center.

Hacienda Luisita. This covers6,453 hectares of land in ten villagesin Tarlac. Although the SupremeCourt has ruled the cancellation ofthe deceptive "Stock DistributionOption," the Aquino-Cojuangco fam-ilies continue deceptive and violentland grabbing ploys.

Negros. A total of 5,030 hec-tares is comprised of HaciendasBalatong, Nieva, Bonifacia, Soledad,Candelaria, Fe, Caridad and Cand-

aguet, San Antonio, Ara-al, Kaiya-man and Adelina. DandingCojuangco’s deceptive "corporativescheme", or the scam that farmerscan supposedly become millionairesas Cojuangco’s partners, was im-plemented here. The erstwhile Es-trada regime praised this programas a model of land reform.

Roots of the hacienda systemEurope’s rapid capitalist ex-

pansion impelled changes in thePhilippine economy in the early 19thcentury. Demand for cash cropsrose and capitalist countriesstrengthened links all over theworld. To face these changes, Spainordered widescale cultivation ofproducts such as tobacco, sugarcane, abaca and indigo for tradewith capitalist countries.

This encouraged the local rulingclass in the race to grab bigger andbigger swathes of land. Spaniardsenlarged their landholdings, as didchurch corporations (particularlythe Augustinians, Recolletos, andDominicans), the peninsulares(Spaniards born in the Philippines),and Chinese mestizos. Land con-centration was accelerated by royalgrants, purchase of royal estates orrealenga, and various types of landloans and sale such as the pacto deretroventa, and land grabbing byvirtue of colonial laws on land own-ership.

To squeeze out the biggest

Hulyo 7 , 2017 ANG BAYAN12

Peasants’ ‘bungkalan’ activities continue

PEASANT PROTESTS and campouts to reclaim lands from big landlords andland grabbers continued these past two weeks.

Southern Tagalog. Four peas-ant campouts were successfullylaunched in Quezon last June 30 inthe popularly named hacienda beltin Bondoc Peninsula. These cam-pouts were part of the bungkalanand balik-saka campaign led byPIGLAS-Quezon. Hacienda Uy,Hacienda Matias, Hacienda Puyaland Lupang Gancayco are part ofthe Hacienda Belt. Farmers demandthe land be distributed free.

Hacienda Uy comprises 385hectares in Sitio Marok-Barok,Camflora, San Andres, Quezon.Residents and farmers of HaciendaManuel Uy Ek Liong and HaciendaJuanito Uy joined their campout.

Farmers of Hacienda Matias inSitio Butangiad, Don Juan Vercelos,San Francisco, successfully claimedtheir lands. According to Pangkala-hatang Samahan ng Magsasakang

Tenante sa San Francisco, Quezon,tenants have been cultivating thelands for more than 30 years. Theywere victims of bogus land reformand the Kilusang Magbubukid saBondoc Peninsula which was influ-enced by Akbayan, a group underthe Liberal Party.

A picket was also launched byresidents of Purok 7, Brgy. Pobla-cion, San Francisco to oppose de-molition threat in their communitywhich was claimed by Armida Cara-bido and Delia S. Rey.

Farmworkers of Hacienda Puyalin Barangay Pacabit, Catanauan,Quezon, went through a series ofharassments. They were prohibitedto farm and harvest their crops;fabricated charges were filedagainst them and farmers wereevicted from their lands.

Meanwhile, around 100 police

profit, high crop quotas, taxes andlopsided sharing in favor of thehaciendero were imposed. Prices forfarmers’ products were alsopressed down.

The kasamá system originatedfrom this arrangement. This aimedto cover up the exploitative natureof the system by using the word"kasama" (literally, companion)therefore giving the impression thatthe tenants are partners of thehaciendero in tilling the land. Re-pression against opposition or res-istance was deeply entwined withthis exploitative system.

Haciendero-tenant relations re-main essentially unchanged up tothe present. Only the forms, labelsand methods have changed.

Hacienda Luisita is an exampleof a hacienda that has been carriedover since the Spanish period. Thiswas a grant from the king of Spainto the Compania Tabacalera en-compassing lands in La Paz, Con-cepcion, Capas in 1880. Even then,these have been sugarcane planta-

tions. At the same time, HaciendaIsabel and Hacienda San Antonio,covering a combined 11,000 hec-tares of tobacco land in Isabela,were awarded to this company.

Concentration or monopoly ofland continued and intensified dur-ing the succeeding US colonial peri-od. American banks’ Philippinebranches funded the trade in landsales, especially among the richSpanish and Chinese. These lands,wide coconut and abaca plantationsincluded, were the US’ main suppli-ers of agricultural products. Feudalexploitation was not only restored,it intensified across the ar-chipelago. Tenancy rates rose from18% in 1903 to 38% in 1948.

Upon the formal withdrawal ofUS colonialism, lands appropriatedby the king of Spain and the USwere passed on to the puppet gov-ernment, now classified as “publicland,” and turned into “forest ormilitary reservations,” logging orpasture concessions. This was aperiod of widescale land grabbing

that displaced thousands of settlersand indigenous people until thefrontiers were exhausted in the1960s.

HACIENDAS WERE ESTABLISHEDto milk the peasants and maintainlandlord class’ power and mono-poly of lands since hundreds ofyears ago. This is an importantcomponent of imperialist rule thatprofits from the products suppliedby the landlord. This scheme willnot cease to exist but continue totake on new forms to deceivepeasants who desire equal rightsor land ownership. Peasantstruggles will always be met withthe reactionary state’s full violencewhen the sham land reform lawslose their power to deceive.

But whatever form of deceptionor repression the state employs,one thing is certain. This exploitat-ive system will be toppled by thepeasant class in unity with othertoiling classes. They will retake theland that is rightfully theirs.

and private guards entered thepeasants’ campout within landsclaimed by the Almeda family inBarangay 9, Payompon, Mamburao,Occidental Mindoro last June 26.They demolished 20 makeshifthouses of farmers and indigenouspeople who were asserting theirright to take back their lands.Farmers were evicted in the 5-hec-tare land they had been able toclear and till.

Panay. In Iloilo, more than 100farmers and farmworkers launcheda bungkalan campaign this year.

Bungkalan was held last June30 in Sanson Estate, Sara, Iloilo.Farmers collectively cultivated 7.9hectares which is part of the 700hectares Sanson Estate. Led byPaghugpong sang mga Man-gunguma sa Panay kag Guimarasand Anakpawis, farmers success-fully planted bananas, sweet potatoand cassava.

ANG BAYAN Hulyo 7 , 2017 13

US destruction of Syria

The US and its coalition (Australia, Canada, France, Jordan,Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates) have

killed more civilians than ISIS fighters with their incessantbombing of Syria. The war against ISIS was launched inmid-2014 to conceal the war of aggression in Syriawhich intends to oust the anti-US government ofAl-Bashad.

Airstrikes or massive aerialbombings are being used by thesecountries as primary form of warfare.These have resulted in relentless de-struction of life, public and privateinfrastructures, and livelihood of thepeople. In Raqqa, Syria, most of thehospitals were demolished by bombs.A stadium, a museum, clinics, a hos-pital and government offices weredestroyed in a day. Airstrikes contin-ue even though 100,000 civilians arestill trapped in the city.

In Mosul, Iraq, about 900,000people have been displaced due tosevere water and food shortage as aresult of the widespread devasta-tion caused by bombings. There arecases that people are compelled toeat grass. Mossul and Raqqa areidentified as ISIS’ strongholds.There are also reports of abuses bythe Syrian Democratic Forces in thecity like looting, abduction and il-legal detention. Since August 2014until now, nearly 8,000 civilianshave died in Iraq and Syria.However, the US only admits 484 ci-vilian deaths. Meanwhile, Russianbombings in Syria have victimized2,000 people from 2015 until thefirst half of 2017. In 2015, a total of

22,110 bombs were dropped in Iraqand Syria, 947 in Afghanistan, 11 inPakistan and 58 in Yemen. An es-timate of 18,000 civilians werekilled because of these operations.

The US spends up to $20 billionper year in this war, at an average of$12.5 million per day. From thisbloody war, Raytheon and LockheedMartin earned $1.68 billion a year insales of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

According to the CIA, ISIS hasonly 31,000 fighters in 2015, and inthat same year, they had alreadykilled 25,000 ISIS members. But themembership purportedly expandedto 200,000 in 2017, and the CIAclaimed that US forces' bombingseventually killed 50,000 ISIS fight-ers. On the other hand, 250 USmilitary forces were killed byfriendly-fire.

While justifying ISIS as itstarget, the US tolerates ISIS

forces who cooperate with themagainst the Syrian government, aRussian ally. ISIS acquired $219.7million worth of weapons and sup-plies from the US through the sev-eral “accidental air-dropping” in-tended for the Syrian Kurds intoIslamic State territory. Moreover,in the attacks in Mosul, US allowedthousands of ISIS members to fleetowards Syria to further crush theSyrian state. Like the establishmentof Al Qaeda during Reagan’s period,they fought the former USSR asMujahideen resistance fighters.

The US 'war on terror' oragainst ISIS is a narrative of thou-sands of civilian deaths and de-struction of homes and livelihood.Meanwhile, these 'terrorists' mul-tiply, the dead come to life, and noone is punished in all of thesecrimes.

According to Jerlyn Diane, farmer-leader andspokesperson of Anakpawis-Sara, lands were alreadydistributed last year to more than 300 beneficiaries butthey were evicted from the land when they could notpresent any Certificate of Land Ownership.

Isabela. Peasants from Barangay Bagong Sikat, Isa-bela successfully foiled the threatened demolition oftheir community. This is the third attempt of the land-lord, Aurelia Mapili.

Farmers have been paying rent since 1978. But thelands were not covered by land reform and slyly sold byClarita Mariano and Sergio Mapili Sr. to Sergio Mapili Jr.

According to Exequiel Tubog, leader of Bagong SikatFarmers Association, Sergio Mapili Jr. first collected onesack of unhusked rice as rent for the land their houseswere built on. This rent kept rising by the year amid theprotests of the residents. Because of this, they werecharged with recovery of damages and possession ofproperty. The court also allowed demolition of theirhouses.

Farmers continue to fight against the demolition.Residents also keep rebuilding their barricades againstthe efforts to evict them by the landlord Mapili in cohortwith government agencies.