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Resignations of Defense secretary, AFP chief, 5 others

Resignations of Defense secretary, AFP chief, 5 others
pressed over Knowing the Enemy CD

The militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), one of militant groups listed in Knowing The Enemy document had sought the resignations of Defense Secretary Atty. Avelino “ Nonong” Cruz and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Efren Abu, together with five other government and military officials, whom they tagged as the brains behind the controversial military compact disc listing several organizations, including media and church groups as enemies of the state.

Aside from Secretary Cruz and AFP chief Abu, the five other government and military officials, which Pamalakaya wanted to quit their posts are Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Isafp Chief Marlo Quevedo, Northern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez and Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan of the AFP Eastern Visayas Command.

“ This league of extra-ordinary fascists and first-rate militarist personnel of the Macapagal-Arroyo ruling syndicate in Malacañang is behind the production of this evil military document that is responsible for the left and right killings of activists and members of the media critical of the Arroyo government and the military establishment”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

A total of 29 activists belonging to militant party lists Bayan Muna and Anakpawis, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and affiliate organizations were summarily executed in the first quarter of 2005. Five other activists, including brothers Roger and Sergio Viray of Pamalakaya-Bulacan are still missing since February 12 this year.

“ The military CD Knowing the Enemy is now serving as AFP bible for government troops so that the soldiers would not miss their targets like progressive personalities and ordinary political activists, including media and church people openly criticizing anti-people state policies of Malacañang”, Hicap added.

Pamalakaya said the Knowing the Enemy CD presented to media last week looked like a watered down version of the controversial military document because the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), which was previously cited along with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) as groups infiltrated or controlled by the CPP was eliminated from the list together with Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and allied militant groups.

Pamalakaya earlier said the document resembled like a hit list or a list of groups placed in the military’s order of battle because of their being too critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and the military establishment, although the military denied that it was not and was only meant to warn organizations about the CPP plan to infiltrate their groups. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 05:20 | link | comments (2) |

US forces want Mindanao as new Afghanistan

US forces want Mindanao as new Afghanistan

The United States is now on the thick of preparations to convert Mindanao into another laboratory for war against terrorism similar to Afghanistan according to the statement issued by the militant group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

“ Malacañang and top officials of the military will surely deny this issue to high heavens. But at the end of the day, the Macapagal-Arroyo government will ultimately allow the US imperialist forces to convert Mindanao into to an American Mecca for war of aggression similar to Afghanistan”, said Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap.

The militant leader said the staging of RP-US Balikatan exercises in Basilan, which will officially starts today in Maluso and Lamitan towns is part of the preparations. At least 28 US military experts will return to Basilan to train 150 Filipino soldiers as part of the joint military exercises under Balance Piston OS-6.

The US government has allotted $ 140,000 or P 7.56 million for the joint military exercise that will end on May 5, according to US Army Major Robert Ball, mission commander of Balance Piston OS-6.

“ The US forces’ presence in Basilan indicates that the imperial army of Washington is now knocking at the doorstep of Mindanao to pave way for the Afghanistan like invasion of the South”, Hicap stressed.

US Embassy’s Charge d’ Affaires in Manila Joseph Mussomeli said the US government has strong evidence and reliable information that the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah has joined forces with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf group in Mindanao.

“ The US now pictures Mindanao as an island in grave disarray and disorder due to terrorist presence to clinch political-military premium that would justify the entry of their aggression forces in the South”, Hicap said.

Mussomeli in an interview with SBS-Australia said the threat in Mindanao is more long term and that certain portions of the island are lawless and that the situation is fast becoming like an Afghanistan situation.

For his part, Pamalakaya information officer Gerry Albert Corpuz said the statement of Mussomeli was a propaganda build up for the transfer of not less than 15,000 US troops from the American military based in Okinawa, Japan to Mindanao in preparation for the US war of aggression in the island similar to what they did in Afghanistan after 9/11 bombings in the United States.

“ It is part of the grand design. Once the US troops are transferred here, Washington will begin the invasion of Mindanao, a grand political-military project of the US government that had been kept by the Macapagal-Arroyo government since she assumed the presidency in 2001”, Corpuz added.

Pamalakaya said Malacañang should immediately cancel the scheduled Balikatan exercises this year following the statement of US Embassy in Manila and should pursue a thoroughgoing review and investigation on the American forces presence and undisclosed plans in Mindanao.

“There’s no way out but to drive the US forces out of the Philippine soil. Mrs. Arroyo should invoke and exercise the country’s national sovereignty to frustrate Washington from making Mindanao another Mecca for US-led terrorism”, the group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 05:18 | link | comments |

Militants to bring case of slain colleagues

Militants to bring case of slain colleagues
to ICC despite Palace rejection of treaty

The militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya on Sunday said they would bring the case of slain political activists to the International Criminal Court (ICC) even if Malacañang refused to submit the Rome Statue of 1998, the treaty that paved way for the creation of international body tasked to try countries guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism.

“ The country is a signatory to ICC and the Macapagal-Arroyo government is legally and politically bound to answer charges of crimes emanating from the conduct of war before the international court body, even if Malacañang has not submitted the treaty for Senate approval”, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

The militant group, which was one of the groups identified in the military CD Knowing The Enemy as a communist front, the growing case of political killings and mass abductions of Filipino activists across the country is another classic example of how the state and its military wantonly violate the rights of the people in course of waging a reactionary war against the people.

Since January this year, a total of 29 activists were summarily executed by alleged government troops and members of military-backed paramilitary troops and death squads and five activists are still missing, according to Hicap.

A significant number of lawmakers in both Houses of Congress had asked President Arroyo to submit the Rome Statue for Senate ratification since 1999 but Malacañang refused to heed to lawmakers call because of strong pressure from the United States government.

The international criminal court that was created by virtue of the Rome agreement would allow victims of war crimes and state terrorism to bring the perpetrators of crimes before the ICC.

The US, which was condemned by peace makers and peace activists all over for war crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Latin American countries had been asking allied nations which had signed the Rome Statue to enter into bilateral immunity agreement (BIA) t avoid having its government and citizens sued before the ICC.

“ They say it would be an uphill climb because President Arroyo refuses to submit the treaty for ratification, but we have nothing to lose. The objective is to let the ICC know that President Arroyo and her military generals are guilty of war crimes and crimes of humanity against the people and they are preventing the ICC from trying the people’s case against her regime before the international tribunal”, Hicap said.

But the militant group said the Senate should compel Malacañang to submit the Rome Statue to the Senate for approval. It said senators should now make their move and compel Malacañang to bring the agreement to the Upper House.

Pamalakaya likewise welcomed the delegates to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) adoption of a resolution calling for prosecution of war crimes, crimes against the humanity, genocide and terrorism. The US is a not a member of the IPU representing 144 democratic countries, but Venezuela MP Julio Garcia Jarpa cited US alleged war crimes against Iraq are the types of crimes, the ICC could hear and place to trial.

“ This is a good news, a welcome development for peace and justice activists across the globe. There is collective sentiment against the US-the world’s no.1 terrorist among IPU members. There is a strong chance that charges of war crimes against Washington puppet regimes like the Arroyo administration could be tried before the ICC”, the group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:54 | link | comments |

Militant groups show “ unedited version”

Militant groups show “ unedited version”
of Knowing the Enemy CD to media

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pamalakaya and the peasant activist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) on Saturday showed the unedited version of the controversial Knowing the Enemy compact disc containing the names of the organizations tagged by the military either as communists fronts or groups dealing with the underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“ What the AFP showed to media last Thursday was a distorted copy of the controversial briefing document. This is the one being used by the military for instructional purposes and the one which is being discussed in the countryside”, said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap pointing to CD which he was holding during a press briefing at the weekly Kapihan sa Cypress in Quezon City.

A significant number of organizations were taken out from the military sponsored press briefing last week according to Hicap, including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, an alliance of militant groups in which Pamalakaya and KMP are affiliated and the six left-leaning party list groups- Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Migrante and Suara Bangsa Moro.

Hicap also noted that the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) was also deleted from the original version and other groups that were previously cited in the document. “ The game plan is to confuse the public and make us appear like gossip makers saturating the people with half truths and half lies”, he stressed.

During the press briefing last week, military officials only cited 33 organizations including Pamalakaya, KMP, Anakbayan, Ibon Foundation, Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), human rights group Karapatan, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the National Union of Journalists the Philippines (NUJP).

Hicap asserted that allied groups like Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Bayan and cause-oriented organizations under Bayan were categorized as legal machinery of the CPP working in different sectors and that Pamalakaya was identified as an underground organization of the National Democratic Front (NDF) tasked to provide transport service to mobile communist guerrillas in the countryside using their bancas.

“ The puppet generals in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration are moving heaven and earth to convince the public that what we were saying about the Knowing the Enemy CD was a product of fictitious mind. This is a national insult to the collective intelligence of the Filipino people”, Hicap said.

Pamalakaya said the national security politics conceived by the highly insecure regime of President Arroyo was the guiding principle and ideology behind this vigorous campaign of Jurassic red-baiting, vilification, persecution and roaring rampage of political assassinations done on left-leaning personalities and individuals.

Earlier, the group dared Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita to issue a categorical statement regarding the government and the military’s policy on militant organizations whose leaders and mass members were recent victims of fresh wave of political killings in the country. To date, 29 political activists identified with militant party lists and progressive organizations.

“ Let’s call a spade a spade. Malacañang and its top generals are behind the spate of killings and mass abductions of political activists. The question is when will the Palace and the military decision makers of the Macapagal-Arroyo ruling clique would stop these senseless killings of leftist activists”, Pamalakaya said. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 00:52 | link | comments |

Knowing your enemy

“Knowing Your Enemy” puts Arroyo critics in AFP’s
order of battle, says militant group

“ The military power point document titled Knowing Your Enemy is like a long list of target groups critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and the military establishment. It seems like a hit list placing government critics in the AFP’s order of battle”, said the militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), one of the left-leaning groups identified by the military as “ enemy of the state” in the document publicly circulated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the released of Know Your Enemy further bolstered claims by militant groups that the military was behind the spate of political killings and harassment done against leftist activists in the country.

To date, there were 32 leftist activists killed, while 5 are still missing since January this year. Militants led by activist lawmakers Rafael Mariano and Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis partylist earlier staged a three-day fast outside the main gate to press President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and top House leaders to condemn and stop the series of political slays of political activists by alleged military agents.

“ The military is denying their involvement in the killings of political activists, but its power point presentation openly endorse the perpetual slaughter and political assassinations of personalities and ordinary mass members of left-leaning organizations”, Hicap said.

The militant group strongly urged President Arroyo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, AFP Chief of Staff Efren Abu, Defense secretary Atty. Avelino Cruz and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales to immediately order their “ boys” to pull out from circulation the power point presentation Knowing Your Enemy and instead engaged with militant groups and critics of the government in a principled debate rather than engaging in character assassinations and political killings of activists and critics.

The group was able to obtain a copy of Know Your Enemy and found out that aside from Pamalakaya, allied groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Kilusang Mayo Uno and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Karapatan, party lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women’s Party, other groups like the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the media groups National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) were cited as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Pamalakaya said it was identified as an underground organization affiliated with the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which it denied stressing that is a legal democratic organization.

Other groups named as communist fronts or have links with the CPP include the peasant women group Amihan, the militant migrant group Migrante, Suara Bangsa Moro, Anakbayan, Courage, Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response, Anak ng Bayan, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students, Kadamay, the indigenous group Kamp, Alliance of Concerned Teachers and Karatula cultural group.

“ This should cause for a major alarm. Knowing Your Enemy is guaranteed black propaganda that seeks public approval of left and right assassinations and political killings of leftist activists and other parties critical to Malacañang and the AFP and the national security politics of the ruling Macapagal-Arroyo administration”, Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya urged other allied groups, including the CBCP, the PCIJ and the NUJP to press criminal, civil and administrative charges against officials of the military over the production and mass circulation of Knowing Your Enemy, which the group said was part of the demolition and liquidation job of the military to get rid of personalities and groups critical of the present administration.

“ Criminal and other appropriate charges should be filed against top and responsible military officials behind Knowing Your Enemy. This power point presentation merely reiterated the government policy to treat its critics as fair game and therefore targets of state-directed attacks”, the militant group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 06:32 | link | comments |

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