“Oppressive lockdowns and widespread joblessness are causing grave hardships on the masses, stoking widespread anger, rousing them to fight back and inciting more and more people to join the armed resistance to fight and seek the ouster of the US-Duterte regime.”
The CPP reported that the steady expansion of the areas of operation of the NPA renders large-scale AFP operations ineffective as the government troops fail to encircle and overpower the smaller NPA units.
“The regime is setting the stage for all-out suppression of democratic rights using ‘anti-terrorism’ as pretext.”
“While other kids marvel at Star Wars, we had real heroes for parents.” — VJ Topacio
This is why it is important to equate “poor” with “vulnerable.” Why, the most oppressed and exploited are also the most organized and politicized. More than ever, it is crucial for the ruling elite and their imperialist masters to deny that landless peasants, wage workers, informal workers and the unemployed wield the power of conceptual thought within the context of a protracted people’s war for national liberation and socialism.
Since the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by the Duterte administration, the CPP said that at least 219 barangays nationwide have been subject to counter-insurgency operations. They also assert that Duterte’s real goal is to “use the pandemic as an opportunity to try and crush the ‘insurgency’ before the end of his term in office,” pointing out the focus on military operations instead of social services.
The CPP said its Central Committee has ordered the extension for 15 more days in order to “prioritize the fight against the pandemic and ensure the safety, health and well-being of everyone.”
“The Secretary-General (Guterres) encourages the parties to reach a lasting political solution and end this longstanding conflict.”
The CPP said the purpose of its unilateral ceasefire is to ensure and facilitate necessary, unhampered and immediate medical, health and economic assistance, support and movement of the people brought about by the exigencies of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“The NDF greets the CPP in its ability to stay strong despite continuing attack and urges the people of the Southern Tagalog region to rise up and join the struggle.”
The CPP and NPA demanded the Duterte regime to abide by the Geneva Conventions and other international protocols and called on all of Duterte’s forces to stop targeting and killing civilians.