DAVAO CITY , Philippines — The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is looking forward to accomplishing ever bigger achievements and revolutionary victories as it celebrated its 50thfounding anniversary on Wednesday.
“The Philippines has the exceedingly favorable conditions to wage a national democratic revolution as a solution to the chronic crisis,” the Party’s Central Committee said in a statement.
Despite the pronouncements of President Duterte that it would not reciprocate the CPP’s unilateral ceasefire and even ordered the military to crush the communist guerillas, communists across the country held a fiesta-like celebration in the hinterlands, marking the Party’s golden anniversary.
In cities, activists held meetings and small gatherings out of police and military intelligence agents’ radar.
The CPP also gave its highest recognition to the martyrs and to the founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison for bringing Marxism Leninism and Maoism ideology in the Philippine setting despite his incarceration and exile since 1987.
Counter-Insurgency Campaign
The CPP added that the AFP and Duterte have repeatedly boasted of crushing the NPA before 2018 ends but the communists said it was a big lie. This year, the Duterte administration said it would end the insurgency in the middle of 2019.
Duterte and the AFP are mounting a major strategic offensive in 2019 under the National Internal Security Plan of 2018, according to CPP.
It added that the said offensive is marked with the release of Executive Order No. 70 forming a “National Task Force to end local Communist Armed Conflict” involving all stakeholders in the government and civilians as weapons against the Communists.
Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the NDFP said that EO 70 limits the GRP to the framework of military suppression and the use of fake surrenders and fake encounters misrepresented as localized peace talks.
“It is in line with the anti-peace Proclamations 360 and 374, Memorandum Order 32, the arrest of NDFP Peace Consultants and the deployment of Duterte death squads in both urban and rural areas against suspected revolutionaries.EO 70 will not result at the end of the revolutionary movement led by the CPP”, Sison added.
President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2017 called for the arrest of NDFP consultants and peace negotiators. He declared that the peace negotiators would be considered “fugitives” and branded the CPP-NPA as a terror group.
Among those arrested was Rafael Baylosis who was nabbed in Quezon City in February 2018 and Adelberto Silva in October later that year.
Vicente “Vic” Ladlad joined the growing list of National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultants arrested since the collapse of peace talks between the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and the government in 2017.
The 68-year-old former activist was arrested along with Alberto and Virginia Villamor in Novaliches, Quezon City November 8 on charges of illegal possession of firearms.
National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant and Philippine Peace Center Executive Director Rey Claro Casambre was arrested by the police in Bacoor, Cavite on December 7.
Casambre was arrested with his wife Patricia while they were onboard a Toyota Vios in Barangay Niyog 3, Molino Boulevard, according to a police report.
Police said Casambre was arrested for murder and two counts of attempted murder by virtue of a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court 11th Judicial Region, Branch 32, in Lupon, Davao Oriental.
Peace Talks
Malacañang said the President would only be willing to resume peace talks if communist groups prove that they will not violate the terms of such.
“The President is always open to end bloodshed in this country. He doesn’t want any killing among Filipinos. But for as long as they violate the terms of peace talk, then the President will never allow it to happen,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
The GRP-NDFP peace negotiations was terminated in November 23, 2017 with Proclamation 360 subsequently followed with Proclamation374 designating the CPP-NPA as “terrorist organizations.”
Sison said that Duterte never gets tired of repetitively terminating the GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations despite the standing policy of the NDFP to be ready and willing to negotiate with the GRP.
With Duterte asking for a good reason for peace talks to continue and inviting NDFP officials in November to talk in Manila, the NDFP sees that the resumption of the peace negotiations runs counter to the to the scheme carried by the Duterte administration to carry out nationwide martial law and pushing for charter change to a bogus kind of federalism.
“Before he terminated the peace negotiations, the NDFP, and the GRP negotiating panels had made drafts of the CASER and CAPCR,” Sison said.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza has resigned from his post following President Duterte’s dismissal of his two subordinates for alleged corruption.
Dureza has accepted full responsibility for the corruption allegations in his office and sent a letter to the President “voluntarily tendering his resignation.”
He was replaced by appointed retiring Armed Forces chief Carlito Galvez Jr. to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
Tactical Offensives
The CPP lauded the NPA with the successful tactical offensives in Agusan del Sur, Sorsogon, Compostela Valley, and Northern Mindanao. The NPA tactical offensives were resounding blows against the Duterte regime’s martial law rule in Mindanao and across the country.
On the other hand, the NPA said that the recent NPA offensives do not violate the CPP’s unilateral declaration of a temporary ceasefire which took effect on December 24 to 26 and December 31 to January 1 next year to celebrate the CPP’s 50th anniversary and join the people in their holiday traditions. (davaotoday.com)
