NDF Threatens to Pull Out of Peace Talks After 
a Week of Barbed Exchanges with Arroyo Gov't

Had they been using bullets, it would have a very bloody week. The Macapagal-Arroyo government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) traded sharp words last week after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to shift targets, from the Abu Sayyaf to the New People’s Army (NPA).  The last word came from NDF chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison who said last August 9 that the NDFP is now considering terminating peace negotiations with the government.  

By GERRY ALBERT-CORPUZ
Bulatlat.com

Had they been using bullets, it would have a very bloody week. The Macapagal-Arroyo government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) traded sharp words last week after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to shift targets, from the Abu Sayyaf to the New People’s Army (NPA).  The last word came from NDF chief political consultant Jose Ma. Sison who said last August 9 that the NDFP is now considering terminating peace negotiations with the government.

A day after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced her government's plan to shift the military campaign on war against crime and terrorism from Abu Sayyaf to communist guerillas, Sison said the NPA will intensify its tactical offensives in its 128 guerilla fronts nationwide.

In a press statement, Sison said the Manila government should expect an intensification of the NPA tactical offensives against the military and the police in response to her all-out war against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA-NDF.

"The revolutionary people and forces of the CPP, NPA and NDFP are challenged to defend themselves and raise the level of their revolutionary armed struggle," Sison said.

Aside from NPA's tactical offensives, the CPP founding chairman said the government’s declaration of war would lead to the termination of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations and intensify human rights violations by the military, police and paramilitary forces.

Special Operations

Sison also said the NPA can launch special operations that involve negligible cost to itself and high cost to its enemy. "For instance it can destroy towers and lines, like during the final years of Marcos dictatorship, in order to compel the enemy troops to take the passive and futile position guarding these installations and deliver telling blows to the regime in terms of calculated economic disruption and clear demonstration of the inability of the regime to provide a profitable environment to the imperialist corporate vultures," he stated.

Sison’s statement became the banner headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer the following day, presenting his statement as an order for an “all-out offensive” that includes destruction of power installations.

The following day, Sison clarified his statement, saying any action by the NPA is to be decided by the Philippine-based revolutionary leadership.

Meanwhile, CPP spokesman Gregorio Rosal, also known as Ka Roger, said President Macapagal-Arroyo’s declaration of war “conforms to U.S. orders dictated by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell” during his visit.

Rosal claimed that even before Arroyo’s declaration, the U.S. and Philippine government had already planned to hold the next Balikatan “exercises” in NPA-controlled areas.

NDF political consultant Sotero Llamas told INQ7.net  Macapagal's decision is an indication the collapse in the talks is "imminent" but blamed the government for "constantly challenging" the NDF.

"With the President waging an all-out war against the NPA, how can we expect the peace talks to resume or to achieve substantial gains?" he said.

War on terrorism

President Arroyo last week said the war on terrorism does not distinguish between ordinary terrorists and those espousing a political ideology. The chief executive ordered the Department of National Defense (DND) and AFP to redeploy government troops from Abu Sayyaf-infiltrated areas in Mindanao to reported NPA strongholds.

Palace Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye refused to disclose the areas where redeployment of military troops will take place but AFP chief of staff Roy Cimatu said some battalions would be sent back to Central and Northern Mindanao from Western Mindanao where Sulu and Basilan are located.

Sources said troops may include units trained by U.S. forces in the recently concluded Balikatan 02-1 joint military exercises, although Bunye did not confirm this.

The military admitted that after years of decline, the NPA recovered its lost grounds. Reports reaching the AFP headquarters in Manila said the barangays influenced by the NPA rose from 445 in 1995 to 1,969 barangays in 2001 and 2,262 this year. The AFP report also said the NPA added five more guerilla fronts this year and has increased from 6,000 members in 1994 to 11,000 in 2002. 

The AFP said it will ask Congress to approve additional budget allocation for the military's plan to hire 7,000 new soldiers and 15,000 paramilitary recruits for its counter-insurgency operations.

The signs

"Current conditions are becoming similar to those in the years 1969-1972 when Marcos was preparing Martial Law," Sison said. "Upon the suppression of the legal democratic forces by the regime, armed city partisans warfare can flourish to make the business environment far worse than now for the big corporate masters of the regime", he added.

Militant groups likewise assailed President Arroyo's declaration of war against the communist guerillas and other legal democratic forces in the country.  The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-National Peasant Movement of the Philippines) and Pamalakaya, an activist fisherfolk group, in separate statements denounced " the all-out war policy" of the administration.

"She's a war freak president. At this point, Ms Macapagal's obsession to senseless war will fast track the collapse of her administration and her war freak republic," said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

The militant leader told Bulatlat.com that Macapagal's all-out policy has given the Filipino people the moral and political premium to launch a major political offensive against her administration in whatever form of protest.

'She's a political starlet kept hostage by her U.S. master and the militarist clique in her administration," Hicap added.

Labor wrath

The militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (May One Movement) was alarmed over the president's statement that her war against criminality and terrorism would cover " those factories' terrorized by left-leaning labor groups.

KMU secretary general Elmer Labog said workers are not terrorists. "We are actually the ones being terrorized by the repressive and cruel policies being implemented by the government. The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said there were 226 cases of violations against labor rights in the first 18 months of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration including scores of violent assault on picket lines, harassment, coercion, grave threats, illegal arrest and detention and surveillance of trade unions officers and members.

"We are deeply alarmed by her militarist attitude. She's becoming more and more despotic everyday," said Joel Maglunsod, another KMU leader.

In an interview with Bulatlat.com, KMP and Bayan chair Rafael Mariano said the inclusion of labor militant groups into Macapagal's all-out offensive against crime and terrorism was tantamount to a national crackdown of all militant groups in the country.

Mariano cited the workers’ contribution to the national wealth, including the big amount of taxes withheld from workers income. Administration Senator Ralph Recto said in year 2000, out of the P81.8 billion in individual tax collected by the government, P63 billion came from workers.

A strong republic against the people

The Utrecht based- Sison said GMA has the illusion that by running a" banana republic" for the U.S. and a "strong republic" against the Filipino people, she can ensure her election in 2004.

"'She is whipping up the demand and paving the way for a ' strong man.’" Sison said. He said DND Secretary Angelo Reyes and Senator Panfilo Lacson are possible contenders for the strong man's role.

The National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth Sector (Nnara-Youth) also said Reyes is preparing to run for President in 2004. 

The group's secretary general Carl Anthony Ala said the decision of Reyes to spend half of the $55 million in military aid by the U.S. against communist guerillas and his future visit in the United States are signs that Reyes is bent on getting the support of the U.S. for his presidential bid. With other reports/Bulatlat.com

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