CPP · 2019. 10. 26. · the people? Where are the irriga-tion systems, the drying facilities for palay and corn, and other projects beneficial to millions of peasants and minorities?

ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

Engl ish Edition

Vol . L No. 20

October 21, 2019

www.cpp.ph

EDITORIAL

Shattering theAFP's illusions

AFP sustains

20 casualties in

NPA offensives

NINE ELEMENTS OF the ArmedForces of the Philippines (AFP)were killed while 11 others werewounded in various military of-fensives conducted by the NewPeople's Army in Masbate, Que-zon and Bukidnon from October 8to 19.

Units of the NPA-Masbate si-multaneously attacked dispersedelements of the 2nd IB at SitioPoro, Barangay Talisay, San Fer-nando, Masbate on October 12.Two soldiers were killed while sixothers were wounded.

"Peace and development"teams of the 2nd IB have long beensowing terror in the barangays ofSan Fernando. They disrupt thelivelihood of residents. Three civil-ians were also brutally killed inBarangay Liong and Buenavista.

"AFP...," continued on page 3

If one were to believe the daily drivel of the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP), the New People's Army (NPA) has long been decimated.Thousands have supposedly "surrendered" and "returned to the foldsof the law." It claims that guerrilla fronts have been crushed and the rest ofthe NPA units are paralyzed. It proclaims that the NPA no longer has peo-ple's support because towns and villages have declared it "persona nongrata." It boasts that people now enjoy a comfortable life because basic ser-vices are now being delivered into "NPA lairs." It brags about developmentprojects and eradicating hunger and poverty. These purportedly portray thevictory of Oplan Kapanatagan, which is an extension of Oplan Kapayapaanand patterned after the "whole-of-nation" US counterinsurgency doctrine.

All these are illusions fabricatedby Rodrigo Duterte and the AFP.They lie about the number of "sur-renderees" that has surpassed theirestimated number of Red fighters.Most of them are peasants and mi-norities forced to raise their handsafter being deceived or coerced bysoldiers operating in their villages.Not even a percent of those pa-raded are true Red fighters who

were captured or who surrendered.By claiming such a big number of"surrenderees", Duterte and theAFP are inadvertently proving howthe NPA enjoys the deep and widesupport of the people in the coun-tryside.

The social services and devel-opment projects bragged about bythe AFP is a bigger illusion. Whereare these services much needed by

"Shattering...," continued on page 2

October 21 , 2019 ANG BAYAN2

the people? Where are the irriga-tion systems, the drying facilitiesfor palay and corn, and otherprojects beneficial to millions ofpeasants and minorities? What theyoffer are substandard housing unitsfor peasants who, after "surrender-ing," are coerced to leave their vil-lages. A television set was donatedto residents of Lianga in Surigao. Aday or two of medical and dentalmission, free haircuts, and othergimmickry are conducted by the re-actionary government while aban-doning public health and other so-cial services. Such programs havelong been carried out by local gov-ernments but these are now beingtaken over by the AFP.

The oppressed masses, espe-cially in the countryside, have no il-lusion about these lies. From theirperspective, there is nothing new inthe AFP. They are still the armedgoons who camp in the middle oftheir villages and intimidate people.It is the same battalions scouring

the mountains and farms in "clear-ing operations" and disrupting thepeople's livelihood. They are thesame soldiers who set up a networkof detachments to guard large en-ergy projects, commercial planta-tions and construction companies.Their large combat operations,supported by artillery, aerial bomb-ing and strafing, are the reason whypeople have left their communities.

Duterte continues to build upthe number of troops and weaponsof the AFP and its paramilitary inorder to intensify its war of sup-pression. Duterte brags about cre-ating 10 more battalions and onenew division, as well as the BrigadeCombat Team established in linewith US plan. AFP units are alsomounting numerous sustained andfocused military operations wastingthe people's money. In Mindanaoalone, the AFP Eastern MindanaoCommand reported launching128,000 small and big military op-erations in four regions from June

2017 to August 2018. To sustainthese operations, the AFP asks forbigger and bigger budget alloca-tion. The AFP and PNP is Duterte'spriority in the budget.

To satiate the greed of his cor-rupt generals, Duterte is shame-lessly begging from the US forarms, funds and other materiél forthe "modernization" program of theAFP. He is also approaching Russiaand China pretending to look foralternatives but only with the aimof making the US "insecure" aboutits alliance with the Philippines inorder to "force" it to pour in morefunds and brand-new weapons.

Duterte is hallucinating that hisAFP can crush the NPA. This willnot happen because the AFP isweak and rotten to the core. It is apuppet army that was established,funded and armed by the US. It isridiculous that its adviser in coun-terinsurgency matters is the US, acountry which has failed to crusheven a guerrilla force in more thanhalf a century of wars of interven-tion around the world (from Viet-nam to Afghanistan).

The AFP's nature, direction andstructure is aligned with the inter-ests and needs of the US. It is anarmy used by the US to suppressthe aspirations of the people fornational liberation and strengthenUS domination in the country. TheUS establishes and trains AFP unitssuch as the 1st Light Reaction Reg-iment, two Brigade Combat Teamsand other units (Aviation Regiment,Artillery Regiment and others) forits "counterterrorism" and "coun-terinsurgency" campaign and in or-der to absorb its second-hand airvehicles and artillery.

The AFP is riddled with corrup-tion, anomalies and intense internalcontradictions. The AFP is dividedamong rival reactionary factions. Itsgenerals scramble funds, resourcesand privileges to fund their luxuriouslifestyle and vices. They race to

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Editorial: Shattering the AFP's illusions 1AFP sustains 20 casualties 1Fake news conceal military infighting 3PAKED launches fourth edition of MKLRP 3Hunger among food producers 4Aid, not imports and loans 5Wyeth-Nestlé workers mount picket 5NKTI workers gain victories 5Militarization & mining, double disaster 6The Alcantara families' wealth 7Violence, Duterte's gift to teachers 8Closure of 55 Lumad schools 8Violence in Leyte 8Transportation crisis 9Turkey invades Rojava 10Ecuadorians oppose neoliberal reforms 11March against climate change 12

"Shattering...," continued on page 3

Vol L No. 20 | October 21, 2019

ContentsANG

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ANG BAYAN October 21 , 2019 3

pocket funds at all levels of the bu-reaucracy—from pension funds of re-tired soldiers to salaries of CAFGUforces. They are involved, if notthemselves lead, the biggest and mostviolent criminal syndicates.

The AFP does not have the Fil-ipino people's support. Moreover, itis detested by the people. The peo-ple have long suffered from its bru-talities. They cannot forget thegrave abuses under the US-Marcosdictatorship and fascist crimes per-petrated in the past three decades.They know how Duterte is surpass-ing this violence. The AFP, and noother, is the real persona non gratain peasant and minority communi-ties and villages.

While the regime is bolsteringthe AFP and unleashing its units inthe countryside, its list of rightsabuses continue to grow longer. Themore troops, the worse crime andabuses. They are merely stoking thepeople's anger and pushing them tofurther support and help the peo-ple's army. The toiling masses and

intellectuals continue to join theNPA in numbers because of intensepersecution, suppression andthreats. Duterte is now the numberone recruiter of the NPA in thecountryside.

The Party continues to expandand strengthen the NPA across thecountry. Despite large and all-outAFP offensives, the NPA continuesto persevere and preserve itsstrength. It can never be crushedby the enemy because it has deepand wide support of the masses andbecause it is adept at employingguerrilla tactics.

The illusions woven by Duterteand the AFP will soon be shattered.As the AFP's war against the peoplecontinues and escalates, the moreintense the people's aspirationsbecome to end the fascist brutali-ties of the Duterte regime. Howeverbrutal the AFP's oppression is, itcannot stop the people's anger fromexploding nor will it prevent theadvancement of the armed struggleacross the country.

On October 17, a unit of theNPA-Quezon blasted patrollingtroops of the 85th IB at Sitio Cat-ulin, Barangay Suha, Catanauan,Quezon. At least six soldiers werekilled in the offensive. Another sol-dier was killed in an NPA sniping op-eration in Barangay Abuabo Mauban

on October 8.In Bukidnon, operating troops of

the 401st IBde sustained five casu-alties after being blasted by Redfighters at Sitio Mahan-aw,Barangay Bulonay, Impasug-ong.The NPA-Bukidnon launched the at-tack on October 19 at 10 a.m.

"AFP...," from page 1

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Fake news conceal

military infighting

THE MILITARY AND police aredesperately concealing intenseinfighting and demoralizationamong their ranks by peddlingfake news. In Kalinga, Abra andIfugao, such news were used asa veil to conceal several gun-fights between soldiers, CAFGU,and police elements.

On August 15, two CAFGUelements were killed after beingshot by 24th IB soldiers insidetheir camp at Sitio Mong-ol,Barangay Maguyepyep, Salla-padan, Abra. The incident wascaused by a scuffle over agolden kuhol (snail) dish. Tosave face, 24th IB officials or-dered to fabricate a fake en-counter and make it appear thattheir troopers were attacked bythe New People's Army (NPA).

Col. Henry Doyaoen of the503rd IBde also peddled fakenews after a misencounter be-tween CAFGU and 50th IBtroopers in Kalinga on March20. The incident took placealong the boundary of barangayBuaya and Mabaca in Balbalanwhere the said units were thenconducting their respective op-erations. A soldier was killedduring the misencounter. Tosave face, the military peddledthat there was an encounterbetween the NPA and AFP, andthat they were able to confis-cate a rifle.

An CAFGU element was alsokilled by operating troopers ofthe 50th IB in Barangay Sakpil,Conner, Apayao. The saidCAFGU was shot by soldierswhile fetching water outsidetheir camp. On September 29,two police operatives were shotshot by their fellow police insidethe camp of the Regional MobileForce Battalion in Banaue, Ifu-gao.

PAKED launches fourth edition of MKLRP

THE FOURTH EDITION of the Short Course on the Society and Revolution(MKLRP) was launched last September 23. MKLRP is a basic educationcourse published by the Party through the National Education Depart-ment (PAKED). This edition added a section about the regime of BenignoAquino III. Several discussions about post-Marcos regimes were also pol-ished.

The PAKED is calling on all revolutionary forces to further intensifyMKLRP discussions and use this as a weapon to rouse, organize andmobilize the masses in the countryside and urban centers.

Get your copy of the latest edition of the MKLRP at www.cpp.ph.


Hunger among food producers

Hunger in the Philippines is evaluated as "serious." This was exposed byWelthungerhilfe and Concerned Worldwide in their Global Hunger Indexreport for 2019. The GHI measures and tracks hunger and malnutrinition innations. The report also said that stunting among children below five years is"alarming," and indicates widespread malnutrition.

It is ironic that hunger is mostfelt by peasant families who producethe nation's staple food. Up to 70%belonging to this sector are countedamong the poorest. Hunger is mostwidespread in the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindanao where up to44% go hungry based on conserva-tive estimates by the reactionarygovernment.

The main reason for hunger andfood scarcity in the countryside isthe measly income of landless peas-ants and low wages of farm workers.This is even worsened by RepublicAct 11203 or the Rice LiberalizationLaw (Rice Tariffication Law), whichtoday is the bane of palay (unhuskedrice) farmers.

Its enactment in February re-sulted in the influx of imported ricein the local market. This year, thevolume of rice imports is expected toreach approximately 2.3 millionmetric tons (MT) which is signifi-cantly higher than last year's 1.9million MT. A ton is equivalent to1,000 kilos.

This resulted in a sharp drop inthe farmgate price of palay. Severalressearches indicate that palayfarmgate prices dropped by morethan 21% on average from Septem-ber 2018 to 2019. Because of this,income of farmers who sell driedpalay dropped from P29,100/hectareto only P10,500/hectare nationwide.Farmers who sell wet palay incurmore losses.

Bankrupt farmlandsData by the Pambansang

Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid

(PKM)-Bikol indicate that undriedpalay is bought at only P8.50 inPolangui, one of Albay's top palayproducers. At this price, farmerslose a lot because they spend atleast P51,130/hectare of palay. Thecost of production includes ex-penses for production materials(P8,100) and labor (P43,030). Iflabor is paid wholesale, a farmerneeds P48,210. All expenses areshouldered by the farmer.

After three months, an hectarewill yield 70 sacks of palay, witheach sack usually weighing 50 kilos.At P8.50 per kilo in Albay, a farmergets only P29,750. Subtracting thecost of production to this amountleaves a farmer with no profit and anet loss of P21,380. The farmer isalso indebted to the landlord as heis obliged to pay 10% of his net in-come as land rent.

Palay farmers in Camarines Suralso reap debts. With a total pro-duction cost of P49,590, farmersare left with a net income of onlyP26,250 for 75 sacks of palay whichare sold at a farmgate price of P7per kilo. They are short by more

than P23,000 to break even. Con-sequently, they are compelled toloan from landlords or usurers tofund the next planting season. Af-ter incurring losses from palay pro-duction, farmers are faced withhigh prices of rice in the local mar-ket which amount to P30-P50 perkilo. (In Camarines Sur, the pre-vailing income sharing scheme is40-60, in favor of the landlord. Thecost of production is shouldered bythe landowner.)

Estimates by PKM indicate thatP13.80-P14.50 is needed for a kiloof palay production in the Philip-pines. This higher compared to theP7-budgetary requirement in Viet-nam and P11 in Thailand. In thesecountries, governments providesubsidies for rice production.

Farmers demand the immediaterevocation of the RA 11203 and anincrease in palay farmgate prices.Otherwise, they will further sufferfrom hunger. Farmers have alreadyincurred at least P60 billion inlosses from January to August.

In the long term, agrarian rev-olution will ensure minimum bene-fits for farmers, until free land dis-tribution is carried out. Alongsideother socio-economic programs,farmers' production become mostbeneficial in advancing their healthand welfare.


Aid, not imports and loans

PROGRESSIVE PEASANT ORGANIZATIONS demanded the US-Duterte regimethis October to immediately end rice importation and provide palay farmerswith necessary aid. They called for revocation of the Rice Liberalization Lawor RA 11203 which burdened farmers further. They said that machines andresearch will be of no use if rice farmers are already dead.

In Metro Manila, a series ofmass actions were mounted in con-juction with the World Food Daylast October 16. Demonstrationswere also held in Cabanatuan Cityand San Jose City in Central Luzon.Farmers lambasted Sen. CynthiaVillar who is the main proponent ofthe said law. The Villar family isamong those who have long beenbenefiting from use-conversion offarmlands into housing projects.

In Bicol, farmers organized theregional chapter of the Bantay Bigasalliance. Demonstrations were alsoheld in Legazpi City, Albay. Asidefrom calling for an increase in palayprices, coconut farmers also de-

manded a stop to using fraudulentweighing scales. They likewise con-demned the AFP's militarization andviolence in farming communities.

Farmers reap benefitsCordillera farmers reaped several

benefits in the form of aid from theirarduous struggle in the past months.

Last May, 3,000 farmers in Abrademanded the release of funds bythe local government as aid fordrought victims. In the town ofMalibcong, farmers were able todemand the local government toprovide them with 12 hand tractorsusing the fund from tobacco excisetaxes, and 50 cavans of rice from

the town's calamity funds. In thesucceeding assembly of represen-tatives of peasant organizationslast June, farmers likewise de-manded the local government torelease rice subsidies from its P4.5-billion calamity fund. Abra is amongthe provinces most adversely af-fected by drought in Cordillera,wherein 70,000-80,000 hectares oflowland and upland farms weredevastated.

The union argued that the wageincrease being offered by the com-pany is way too low in contrast tothe P17-billion profit rakes in annu-ally. On top of additional benefits,workers also demanded the regular-ization of 300 contractuals and thereinstatement of workers who wereillegally dismissed by the company.Wyeth-Nestlé is a multinational cor-poration which manufactures foodand milk products for infants.

The WPPU condemned the re-fusal of the management to regu-larize workers. It said that the de-cision was made in accordance tothe company's Factory 2020 pro-grm which aims to raise more profitthrough contractualization andsuppressing the workers' union in

the factory.On October 16, another strike

was staged by workers of Regent, afood manufacturing company. Theworkers mounted their picket infront of the factories in Kalawaan,Pasig and Tipas, Taguig City.

Workers complained about theprevalence of contractualization inthe company. They said that ma-jority of its employees have beenworking in the company for 20years but remain contractuals.Wages are extremely low. Themanagement also refused to imple-ment the CBA and recognize thenew union officers. The company isalso suppressing the said officials tosilence them and dismantle theirunion.

Wyeth-Nestlé workers mount picket

Wyeth-Nestlé workers mounted their picket last October 14 in front ofthe company in Cabuyao, Laguna. They were dismayed over the re-sult of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the mangementand officials of the Wyeth Philippines Progressive Workers Union (WPPU).

NKTI workers

gain victories

THE ASSOCIATION OF healthworkers at the National Kid-ney and Transplant Instituteannounced the victories itgained from its collective ne-gotiating agreement (CNA)with the hospital manage-ment.

The workers were able toassert the provision of benefitsincluding a mutual benefit al-lowance (P5,000 per em-ployee), free meals, free hos-pitalization for surgeries, andother health benefits, and anadditional fund for retirees(P70,000).

The NKTI specializes intreating kidney complications.Although state-owned, it isprofit-oriented as operation iscorporatized. The NKTI Em-ployees Association is a mem-ber of the Alliance of HealthWorkers.


Militarization and mining,double disaster in Tampakan

An incessant military campaign has again escalatedalong the borders of South Cotabato, Davao delSur, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato this year. Thefocused military campaigns were mounted in the saidarea by fascist forces of the 39th IB, 27th IB and 73rdIB under the 1002nd IBde of the AFP, and the SpecialAction Force and Regional Public Safety Battalion of thePhilippine National Police Region 11 and 12 to pave theway for the resumption of operations of the Tampakancopper-gold project.

At least 12 military operationshave been carried out by the AFP inthe area since October 2018. Threeof which were battalion operations,seven brigade operations and twodivision operations. These havebeen mounted since June. Two newmilitary detachments were also putup to augment 54 existing detach-ments encircling the area.

Mining equipment and ma-chineries were delivered to the min-ing site amid military operations. InNovember 2018, the Australiancontractor Major Drilling Corpora-tion (MDC) started its drilling activ-ities in the area.

Destructive miningAmid these military operations,

several maneuvers were carriedout by the company to dismantleremaining legal hindrances to itsoperations. The Department of En-vironment and Natural Resources,Department of Agrarian Reform,and the pro-mining local govern-ment of Tampakan facilitated thereclassification of lands alreadydistributed to beneficiaries underCertificates of Ancestral DomainTitle and Certificates of Land Own-ership Award. This sparked a riftbetween Lumads and settlers. Themining company also filed a courtpetition challenging the legality ofthe Local Environment Code of

South Cotabato which prohibitsopen-pit mining arguing that locallaws cannot supersede nationallaws such as the Mining Act of1995.

The people’s arduous armedresistance compelled the miningcompany to stall its operation in2014. The broad anti-mining cam-paign also compelled the multina-tional Glencore-Xstrata to divest in2016. Eventually, the local gov-ernment issued a resolusion ban-ning open-pit mining. The US-Duterte regime, however, favoredthe resumption of mining opera-tions and allowed the operation ofcompanies owned by bourgeoiscompradors including Henry Sy, Jr.(SM Investment Corp.), DavidConsunji (SODACO), ManuelPangilinan (Philex), Tomas Alcan-tara (SMI/Alsons Investmant), andLucio Tan, Jr. (MRC Allied).

Australian multinational In-dophil Resources NL, the largeststakeholder in the Tampakanproject, currently operates in thearea. Indophil was founded by for-mer managers of the WesternMining Corporation (WMC). Itowns a 40% stake in the SagittariusMines Inc. (SMI). San Miguel Cor-poration (SMC) and the AlcantaraGroup are among its major stock-holders.

The Tampakan mine is a $5.9-

billion project and has the largestreserve of gold and copper inSoutheast Asia. The Xstrata-SMIreported that the mine has a total2.4 billion tons of mineral deposits,13.5 million tons of which are cop-per desposits and 15.8 millionounces of gold. It has the potentialto yield an average of 375,000 tonsof copper and 360,000 ounces ofgold annually for 17 years.

Unwavering resistanceThe reopening of the mine was

met with staunch resistance byLumads and the people of SouthernMindanao. In Kiblawan, Davao delSur, B’laan residents burned down adrilling machine of the MDC earlythis year. In a mining forum held onSeptember 13 at the Notre Dame ofMarbel University in Koronadal City,Bishop Cerilo Casicas of the Dioceseof Marbel vehemently denounced theopen-pit mining and demanded astop to the mining operations.

Anti-mining advocates are warythat the resumption of the projectand the continuing martial law inMindanao will result in intense hu-man rights violations, reminiscent ofthe Capion massacre and the killingof Datu Anting Freay and activistBoy Billanes. The said victims wereall murdered by the reactionarystate for their stand against theTampakan mining project.


How did the Alcantara familyaccumulate its wealth?

The Alcantara family has a big investment in the Tampakan Copper-GoldProject. This is only one of the businesses of the Alsons Consolidated Re-sources Incorporated (ACR or Alcantara Group), a consortium with diverseinterests across Mindanao. They Alcantara group also owns a large share in theAustralian company Indophil Resources NL. They also have businesses in in-dustries including aquaculture, agriculture, construction, energy and logging.

The tycoon Alcantara familybased in Davao City is close to anda supporter of Rodrigo Duterte.Tomas Alcantara, president of theAlcantara Group, is the 33rd rich-est Filipino with a net worth of$300 million (P15 billion).

The Alcantara family migratedto Mindanao in the 1950s. Throughthe reactionary government's re-settlement program, Conrado Al-cantara, the family's patriarch,was able to grab lands and openlogging concessions in Sarangani(formerly a part of South Cota-bato) and General Santos (formerlythe district of Buayan and Dadian-gas). The family's properties ex-panded when after grabbing theancestral lands of Moros andB’laans. Conrado also grabbed aranch in Alabel and a logging con-cession in Davao del Norte.

The family's wealth rapidly in-creased and his businesses ex-panded in Davao and other parts of

Mindanao. In 1962, the family es-tablished Alsons Development andInvestment Corporation, the firstreal estate developer in DavaoCity.

They were able to accumulatemore capital by establishing theIligan Cement Corporation in 1968.They benefitted from the cement-manufacturing machineries ex-ported by Japan to the country asindemnification for the damages itdealt during World War 2.

Conrado Alcantara was a closefriend and a crony of the late dic-tator Ferdinand Marcos. Throughfavors given him by the Mala-cañang, Iligan Cement expandedfurther during the 1980s amid aneconomic crisis and a tight compe-tition among cement-manufactur-ing companies. Iligan Cement be-came the Alsons CementCorporation which is currently apartner of Ramon Ang's HolcimPhilippines.

Marcos also gave Alsons aTimber License Agreement (TLA)which allowed it conduct its loggingoperations in thousands ofhectares land in Davao del Norte.The company exports timber timberto China, US and other Europeancountries. After the dictator wasoverthrown in 1986 and was re-placed by Corazon Aquino, PaulDominguez (son-in-law of ConradoAlcantara) rose to power and be-came an influential cabinet mem-ber.

Alsons TLA expired in 1989 butwas only replaced with an Inte-grated Forest Management Agree-ment (IFMA) by the Aquino regime.It was awarded an approximately45,000-hectare concession areawhich covered almost the whole ofTalaingod and covered 19,000hectares of Ata-Manobo ancestrallands. The Ata-Manobos foughtagainst Alsons' landgrabbing.

Using the IFMA and after ac-quiring a P350-million loan fromthe Asian Development Bank, Al-sons was able to diversify in themining and agribusiness industry.

The Alcantara family also in-vested in the aquaculture industryin the 1980s. The Alsons Aquacul-ture Corporation is the biggest ex-porter of fresh milkfish and othermilkfish products. Its products areexported to the US, Canada, Aus-tralia, UK, Japan, Singapore,Hongkong and Micronesia.

The Alcantara Group was ableto rapidly diversify in the powerindustry using the Electric PowerIndustry Reform Act of the reac-tionary government. It currentlyowns seven power plants in variousparts of the country which are op-erated by its subsidiaries.

NKTI workers

gain victories

THE ASSOCIATION OF healthworkers at the National Kid-ney and Transplant Instituteannounced the victories itgained from its collective ne-gotiating agreement (CNA)with the hospital manage-ment.

The workers were able toassert the provision of benefitsincluding a mutual benefit al-lowance (P5,000 per em-ployee), free meals, free hos-pitalization for surgeries, andother health benefits, and anadditional fund for retirees(P70,000).

The NKTI specializes intreating kidney complications.Although state-owned, it isprofit-oriented as operation iscorporatized. The NKTI Em-ployees Association is a mem-ber of the Alliance of HealthWorkers.


In Bukidnon, state agents shotcouple Zhaydee and RamilCabañalez, in front of students atDalit Elementary School inBarangay Lumbayan, Valencia, lastOctober 15 in the morning.Cabañalez sustained two gunshotwounds on her chest and feet, andremains in critical condition. Herhusband and students managed toescape unharmed.

The two are members of the Al-liance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).Since last year, the group has beentagged by the Armed of Forces of thePhilippines as a communist front be-cause of its campaign for salary in-crease and benefits.

On October 10, elements of the402nd IBde and police illegallyarrested two teachers and mem-bers of members of the Rural Mis-sionary of the Philippines (RMP) inBarangay Limaha, Butuan City. Thevictims were identified as MelissaComiso, head of the RMP's literacyand numeracy program for

Lumads, and Nore Torregosa, avolunteer teacher. The two wereaccused of NPA membership andwere slapped with fabricatedcharges of illegal possession offirearms and explosives.

In Sultan Kudarat, elements ofthe 37th IB and police arrestedGina Ciano, a volunteer teacher ofthe Center for Lumad AdvocacyNetworking Services in SangayVillage, Kalamansig on October 14.She was accused of being an NPAofficial who was purportedly thethird "most-wanted" criminal inthe province. She was slapped withmultiple fabricated charges ofmurder and frustrated murder. Onthe same day, intelligence agentsarrested Digna Mateo, coordinatorof ACT in Bulacan, in front of theOur Lady of Fatima Parish in Mari-lao, Bulacan. A week earlier, Mateoreported that she was tailed byriding-in-tandem men after cam-paigning for a union of ACT-Cen-tral Luzon.

Violence, Duterte'sgift to teachers

Violence. This was the US-Duterte's regime's gift to teachers and theirstudents. This Teachers' Month, two teachers fell victim to killing at-tempts, while four others were illegally arrested.

THE SAVE OUR Schools Net-work (SOS), students andteachers condemned the deci-sion issued by the Departmentof Education (DepEd)-Region 11ordering the closure of 55Lumad schools in Davao. TheSOS asserted that the accusa-tions of Hermogenes Esperon,vice chairperson of the NationalTask Force to End Local Com-munist Armed Conflict, that theschools were used for NPA re-cruitment is baseless.

In a protest last October 11at the Freedom Park, DavaoCity, they called the DepEdfact-finding a fraud as itspersonnel have not even visitedthe said schools.

Salugpongan was foundedby Talaingod Manobo leaders in2003 and was accredited byDepEd in 2007. It provides freeeducation to Lumads and sup-ports the struggle to defendtheir ancestral lands in thePantaron Range.

Violence in Leyte

A MEMBER OF the NationalUnion of Journalists of thePhilippines was gunned down bysuspected armed state agentslast October 16 in MacArthur,Leyte. The victim was identifiedas Maureen Japzon, a writer ofBulatlat and official of theComelec in the said town. Sheauthored various articles whichexposed cases of extrajudicialkillings perpetrated by the AFPin Eastern Visayas under thecommand of Jovito Palparan.

On the same day, ReneeSuperior, councilor of BarangayLibungao, Kananga, was killedin the same town.

Closure of 55

Lumad schools hit


Metro Manila transportation crisis reflectsrotten economic system

Over the past few weeks, public attention has been focused on themassive traffic problem that plagues millions of commuters in MetroManila. This came after the breakdown of rails and public transporta-tion systems, as well as the gridlocks in Metro Manila's mainthoroughfares.

The Duterte government hasbeen trying to downplay the magni-tude of the crisis and dodging re-sponsibility over its failure to forgesolutions to transportation problemsby blaming these on former regimes.

By purchasing a luxury jet forthe commander-in-chief and othertop military officers, the governmenthas further rubbed salt into the peo-ple's wounds. Clearly, an efficientmass transport system is necessaryto resolve the daily agony being suf-fered by the people, especially themasses of workers and low-incomeearners.

The people's demand for imme-diate solutions and call to end anti-people policies that further burdencommuters are just. While demand-ing a solution, the people must alsounderstand that the transportationcrisis, at the more fundamentallevel, is a reflection of the rotten so-cial and economic system in thecountry, and can only be resolvedstrategically through a radicalchange of that system through revo-lutionary struggle.

Metro Manila is in a stateof decay and disarray

Metro Manila residents suffernot only from traffic, but also fromfloods, homelessness, waterless-ness, lack of sewers and garbagecollection, air pollution and conges-tion, especially those in urban poorpoor communities. Currently, thereare approximately 13-15 million res-idents in the national capital. Manilais considered the world's densestcity.

This is a result of the chaotic big

bourgeois realestate specula-tion (malls, high-rise offices andcondominiums),corruption-ladengovernment con-tracts for publicworks by whoeverbureaucrat capi-talist is in powerand profit-drivenprivatization ofpublic utilities, and dumping of sur-plus cars from Japan and the US.There is no national-level economicplanning to achieve balanced indus-trial and agricultural developmentand ensure the spread of economicactivity.

Residents from rural areas mi-grate to the national capital in largenumbers because of the stark im-balance between urban and ruralareas. Presently, the country's mainmanufacturing and commercial ac-tivities are concentrated in MetroManila and to a certain degree tooutlying provinces. Employment op-portunities are also concentrated inthese areas.

The large army of unemployedpeople in Metro Manila is advanta-geous to big business who uses theoversupply of idle labor to pressdown wages. Thus, the past reac-tionary governments have largelyignored the problem of overpopula-tion of Metro Manila and its con-comitant social problems.

Over the past 30 years, trafficproblem in Metro Manila has beenshort-sightedly addressed by onepublic transportation infrastructure

project or another, which soon afterreaches overcapacity, requiring an-other project, and still another.

First, it was the flyovers inEDSA, then the MRT along EDSA,then LRT2 along Aurora. Now, thereis a flurry of proposals to solve thedaily traffic gridlocks: a subway, askyway and walkway at EDSA and aNorth-South ring to bypass MetroManila.

The contracts for these projectswere awarded to bourgeois com-pradors favored by the regime. Allthese, including the construction oflight railways to Bulacan and Cavite,are projects driven by profit, markedby corruption and burdensome termsof loan payments. These may helpease traffic temporarily. In the long-run, however, these will also con-tribute to the further congestion ofMetro Manila.

Upon the victory of the nationaldemocratic revolution, the problemsof urban decay and overcongestionwill be decisively addressed. Therewill be a plan to achieve balancedgrowth of industry and agriculture.There will be jobs available all over

"Transportation...," continued on page 10


Turkey invades Northeastern Syria anew

Intense armed conflict has again escalated in northeastern Syria (calledRojava) after being invaded by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) on Octo-ber 9. In the name of "Operation Peace Spring," a so-called counter-terror-ism military campaign, the TAF indiscriminately bombed towns situated alongthe boundary of Turkey and Syria which are currently governed by the Kur-dish Democratic Union Party. This resulted in the forcible evacuation ofaround 300,000 Kurdish residents.

The offensives aim to decimatethe Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF), which serves as the officialdefense force of Rojava. The SDF ismilitarily led by the People's Pro-tection Unit (known as YPG), a self-defense force of the Kurdish people.The Kurds established the autono-mous government of Rojava in 2012as a base territory in their strugglefor establishing a Kurdish state inthe region along the borders of Tur-key, Syria, Iran and Iraq where ma-jority of residents are Kurds.

Turkey is insisting that the SDFis a "terrorist" organization as it ispurportedly allied with the Kurdis-tan Workers' Party o PKK. The PKKhas long been struggling for the es-tablishment of a Kurdish state. Er-dogan plans to expel 3.6 millionSyrian refugees living in Turkey andresettle them in the towns of Ro-java. Among the refugees are mil-lions of Syrians who were evictedfrom the country due to the five-year war created and incited by theUS. To actualize this, Erdogan hasto evict, if not eliminate, the Kurdsin Rojava to grab their territories.Turkey is launching the attackstogether with the Free Syrian Army,

a militia formed, armed and fundedby the US against Syrian Pres.Bashar al-Assad. According to Er-dogan, Turkey has already con-trolled up to 1,220 square-kilome-ters in the said territory.

The Kurdish people's defenseforce has a relatively weaker fire-power and fewer troops comparedto that of Turkey.

To counter Turkish attacks, theSDF was compelled to enter into analliance with the al-Assad regimerecently. The regime was consid-ered an enemy of the SDF for per-petrating several invasion attemptsin Rojava territories since 2012. OnOctober 14, Syria and its ally, Rus-sia, started to deploy troops in theregion.

US schemeIn 2015, the US entered into an

alliance with the Kurds in the nameof combatting ISIS. As part of thealliance agreement, 1,000 UStroops were deployed in Rojava.However, the real strategic interestof the US was to overthrow the al-Assad regime in Syria.

In 2017, Russia declared thatthe ISIS have already been "de-

feated" after its bases were pul-verized in Iraq and Syria. As a re-sult, US presence in Rojava wasrendered pointless. By December2018, Trump announced that he willpull-out 1,000 US troops from Ro-java. This was considered by someas the US' admission of defeat in itsattempt to dominate Syria. LastOctober 6, after negotiating withErdogan, Trump finally pulled-outthe remaining US troops in Rojava.

Trump's supposed abandon-ment of its Kurdish "allies" was metwith vehement and widespreadcondemnation. To save face, the USmade a public spectacle wherein itpurportedly imposed several eco-nomic sanctions against Turkey.However, these sanctions were im-mediately revoked by Trump onOctober 17 in exchange for a 120-hour ceasefire. Turkey used the saidperiod to facilitate the withdrawalof Kurdish troops from fortificationsalong the boundary of the twocountries.

On the succeeding days, agree-ments between US and Turkey,Turkey and Russia, and Russia andSyria on how the Kurdish territorywill be subdivided were exposed. Itseems that both US and Russia areamenable to the Turkish invasion ofKurdish territories situated alongits southern border. The remainingpart of Rojava and the whole ofnorthern Syria that was occupied bythe ISIS will again be under the

the country which will encouragepopulation dissipation of congestedcities. Surplus rural labor will be ab-sorbed by industries spread through-out the country. Workers wages andpeasant income will be raised.

Only under the people's demo-

cratic government and through eco-nomic planning can we achieve well-distributed economic growth, andconcomitantly, a balanced distribu-tion of the population. The people'sdemocratic government will pay at-tention to developing mass public

conveyances (railways for both in-city and long-distance travel). Onlythrough such planning can MetroManila and other cities bedecongested, and the grave trafficproblems and other problems of ur-ban decay be resolved.

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"Turkey...," continued on page 11


The biggest protests,participated in by approximatelysix million youth across the globethrough various forms ofmobilizations, were launched onSeptember 20-27 this year. Morethan one million marched in Italy.Mobilizations were also mounted inNew Zealand, the Netherlands andSpain. Citizens from Indonesia,South Korea, Taiwan and othersalso stood up against climatechange. The protests were aresponse to the call of GretaThunberg, a 16-year-old studentfrom Sweden, to mount a unitedprotest against her government in2018.

The Extinction Rebellion, anon-violent campaign for civildisobedience, was launched in theUnited Kingdom on October 7.Consequently, 1,500 rallyists werearrested in London, 92 of whomwere slapped with various criminalcharges. Similar protests were alsoconducted in other countries.

In the Philippines, 600 youthand students of UP Diliman

marched last September 20. Theymounted an earth-shapedformation to symbolize that theyouth will inherit the planet'sdestruction. The march wasspearheaded by the YouthAdvocates for Climate ActionPhilippines, Agham Youth and theKalikasan People’s Network for theEnvironment.

What is climate change?Climate change refers to

changes in the climate system dueto the rise in the temperature ofthe earth's atmosphere. Among itsmanifestations are theaccelerating sea level rise,frequent and extreme changes inthe weather pattern, warmtemperature and heavy rains. Italso takes the form of typhoons,landslides, floods and droughtamong others.

These changes affect plants,animals and especially humanbeings. The natural habitat ofanimals are engulfed by fire ordestroyed.

March against climate change

The social movement against policies and companies that destroy theenvironment and cause climate change is gaining ground globally.Since 2018, protests have been mounted every Friday under the campaign#FridaysForFuture. The participation of children and the youth, especiallystudents, in these protests is notable.

Based on the Global ClimateIndex, 526,000 people have beenkilled by more than 11,500 extremeweather events from 1998 to 2017.These resulted in the destruction offarmlands, produce and propertiesworth $3.4 trillion.

Philippines has been listed asthe fifth most vulnerable country toclimate change. It has been hit by307 extreme weather events in thesame period, majority of which arestrong typhoons. This resulted inthe destruction of properties worth$3 billion. Worst among these aretyphoon Yolanda (intenationalname: Haiyan, 2013), Pablo(Bopha, 2012) and Ondoy (Ketsana,2009). Due to its backwardeconomy, the people are reliant onfood and other resources that arevulnerable to natural disasters.

A report by the ClimateAccountability Institute thisOctober identified the top 20companies that contributesignificantly to climate change.Majority of these are multinationalenergy companies which emitgreenhouse gases (carbon dioxideand methane). The top companiesinclude Chevron, ExxonMobil andShell. Also among the list are state-owned Saudi Aramco andPetroChina. In sum, thesecompanies have emitted 480 billiontons of greenhouse gases (35% ofthe total global emision) since1965.

The Union of ConcernedScientists exposed that the US ishistoricallys the top contributor ofcarbon dioxide in the atmosphere(17%). It has only been overtakenby China in 2011. In 2016, the USand China were listed as the mostenvironment-destructive countriestogether with India, Russia, Japanand Germany.


government of al-Assad. With theseagreements, nothing will be left forthe Kurdish people.

Coveted resourcesTurkey, Syria and imperialist

countries are interested in Rojavabecause of its rich oil reserves, wa-ter resources and fertile land. Be-fore declaring its autonomy, Rojavaprovided almost two-thirds ofSyria's total oil extraction (251,000out of 387,000 barrels/day). After

its separation, it was able to pro-duce an average 15,000 bar-iles/araw which was used for powergeneration in the region, andserved as its main export to Syria.

The Euphrates river which is thelargest and one of the most impor-tant rivers in Western Asia waspasses through it. It serves as themain source of drinking water andprovides irrigation to farmlands inRojava. There are also major damsand reservoirs in the region which

Ecuadorian people oppose neoliberal package

TENS OF THOUSANDS of Ecuadorians mounted a general strike from October 3-13 in the country's capital, Quito, to manifest their opposition to the "PacquetazoPackage" a series of neoliberal reforms implemented by the regime of Pres. LeninMoreno. This was implemented in exchange for a $4.2-billion loan from the In-ternational Monetary Fund (IMF) last February.

Among the conditions imposedby the loan agreement were sig-nificant cuts in social spending,massive retrenchments of govern-ment employees and the elimina-tion of subsidies. These resulted ina drastic worsening of the eco-nomic and political crisis in thecountry.

Starkest among these reformswas the elimination of the $1.3-bil-lion gasoline and diesel subsidy.This doubled the prices of the said

products and resulted in a drasticincrease in the prices of all basicgoods. Additional taxes imposed byMoreno further burdened ordinarycitizens.

To attract foreign investments,he cut corporate taxes and tariffson agricultural and industrial prod-ucts. Moreno also lowered thewages of workers and denied themtheir basic labor rights including thecompensation of dismissed workers.

These reforms aim to crush the

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can be used to generate electricity.At present, water is twice as ex-pensive as oil in Rojava due to lim-ited supply.

Rojava also has a agriculturalpotential. Before its declaration ofautonomy, it served as Syria's foodbasket. It produced 43% of Syria'sgrains such as wheat and rice whichare the the staple food in the coun-try. It also produced 80% of itscotton which is used in its textileindustry.

capacity of Ecuador to stand on itsown two feet and bind it under thesemicolonial dominion of US impe-rialism.

In conjunction with the generalstrike, Moreno suspended the rightto organize, assemble and demon-strate for 60 days to suppress thestruggle of the Ecuadorian people.He employed the military and policeto violently disperse the protests.At least eight civilians were killed,800 were arrested and thousandswere wounded.

Due to the people's strong resi-tance, Moreno was compelled totemporarily suspend the policies im-posed by the IMF on October 14.

Documents

CPP · 2019. 10. 26. · the people? Where are the irriga-tion systems, the drying facilities for palay and corn, and other projects beneficial to millions of peasants and minorities?