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This issues

highlights...Violent dispersal of

youth protest PAGE 3

Victory and bigger

battles in Hda. Luisita

PAGE 6

Red pangayaw

PAGE 8

Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng PilipinasPinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-MaoismoANG

English EditionVol. XLII No. 23

December 7, 2011www.philippinerevolution.net

Editorial

After only a year and a half in power, the US-Aquino regime leaves behind a road ofrighteousness stained with the blood of vic-

tims of human rights violations committed in thecourse of the war of suppression being waged bythe regime against the people. Benigno AquinoIII's catchwords of peace and respect for humanrights are not enough to cover up the brutality ofhis regime's armed minions against the Filipinopeople.

As soon as he came to power, Aquino gavemarching orders to the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines and the Philippine National Police to crushthe New People's Army in three years. The AFP thus

framed Oplan Bayanihan (OPB), a far more brutalwar of suppression against the people.

Under OPB, military operations are beinglaunched against villages suspected by the AFPand PNP of being active in therevolutionary movement. The

AFP has positionedteams of soldiers

in barrio

Unite the people against the US-Aquinoregime's war of suppression

centers to wreak havoc, terrorize and attack peo-ple it considers as enemies of the state. Thesevicious operations are patterned after thoselaunched by the butcher Gen. Jovito Palparan from2004-2010.

Wherever they operate, the AFP and PNP im-pose martial rule. They enforce curfews and con-duct illegal searches. Persons suspected of involve-ment in the revolutionary movement are persecut-ed by the military through various means. Travel aswell as work in the fields are restricted. Limits areimposed on the volume of food and other suppliesthat residents could purchase. Soldiers violate thepeople's domiciles. Military troops camp out with-

in or beside campuses and other public places.Gambling and drunkenness among troopers arerampant.

This is the face of people-centered terrorism.The worst and most brutal of these AFP and PNPoperations are conducted in areas where peasantswage intense struggles for land reform and minor-ity peoples fight the incursion of foreign big plan-tations and mining companies on their ancestrallands.

In the cities, it is the urban poor commu-

nities that bear the brunt of theUS-Aquino regime's brutality.Thousands of families havefallen victim to violent demo-litions. Aquino's governmentconducts at least one demoli-tion per month to pave the wayfor big bourgeois comprador

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Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of the Philippines

Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino,

Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and

English editions.

It is available for downloading at

the Philippine Revolution Web Central

located at:

www.philippinerevolution.org.

Ang Bayan welcomes contributionsin the form of articles and news.

Readers are likewise enjoined to send

in their comments and suggestions for

the betterment of our publication. You

can reach us by email at:

[email protected]

Vol. XLII No. 23 December 7, 2011

Contents

Editorial: Unite the people against

regimes war of suppression 1

Aquino regime no different

from predecessor 3

Youth protest dispersed 3

Bogus peace zones in MP 4

Stop violence against women 6

Victory in Hacienda Luisita 6

Inspiring other struggles 7

Arroyos gimmickry 8

Red Pangayaw 9

Drones vs. civilians 9

2 million strike in UK 10

News 11

ANG

2 ANG BAYAN December 7, 2011

projects. Workers' unions contin-ue to suffer persecution, withnot a few unionists becomingvictims of extrajudicial killings.

The US-Aquino regime aimsto suppress those who stand forthe people's rights and interests.

Just like the past regimes, thecurrent government targets ac-tivists and leaders who are at theforefront of mass struggles. Ille-gal arrests, forced disappear-ances and extrajudicial killingsare mounting. An activist ormass leader is killed almost everyweek by Aquino's armed minions.There are more than 350 politicalprisoners (including 78 arrested

under the Aquino regime). Butlike Marcos, Aquino and his offi-cials insist that there is not asingle political prisoner in thecountry.

Among the political de-tainees who continue to languishin jail are 13 peace talks consult-ants of the National DemocraticFront of the Philippines (NDFP).

The US-Aquino regime refuses toset them free despite havingpromised three times to releasethem. The consultants shouldlong have been released in ac-cordance with the Joint Agree-ment on Safety and ImmunityGuarantees (JASIG) which safe-guards against the conduct ofsurveillance, arrest, imprison-ment and other forms of persecu-

tion against personnel of bothparties involved in the peacetalks.

Aquino's refusal to complywith his obligations in the peacetalks is proof of his lack of inter-est in negotiating with the NDFP.

He gave off some soundbytes lastyear about the peace talks, buthas since then put up one obsta-cle after another to prevent thetalks from making any significantprogress. With Aquino's rhetoricabout peace and respect forhuman rights nothing but hotair, it has become evident thatfor him, the peace talks arenothing but an exercise in

hypocrisy.Aquino's genuine interests lie

in intensifying the war of sup-pression against the people, us-ing the military, police, CAFGUand the other state armed forcesas his instruments. It thereforecomes as no surprise that not asingle military officer or elementresponsible for past fascist

crimes has been charged andpunished. Aquino continues toimplement measures that over-whelmingly favor soldiers andpolicemen. The US has been pro-viding military assistance to fur-ther upgrade the AFP and PNP'sweaponry and equipment.

In the face of the US-Aquinoregime's relentlessly intensifyingwar of suppression, the people

must further amplify theircourage and fighting spirit. Theymust be roused to collectivelydefy military abuses. Humanrights education must be propa-gated among their ranks, as pro-vided for in the Comprehensive

Agreement on Respect for HumanRights and International Human-itarian Law (CARHRIHL). Withtheir consciousness raised, thepeople will determinedly defendtheir homes, livelihoods andfreedoms.

Every single fascist crimemust be cause for outrage. Everyhuman rights violation commit-ted by abusive soldiers, police-

men and paramilitary forces mustbe made known to the entire na-tion and the whole world. Venuesfor the quick dissemination of in-formation from farflung villagesto the mass media, social mediaand other information channelsover the internet must be invig-orated. Every grievance emanat-ing from the remotest sitio must

be made to resonate over the en-tire archipelago.The struggle for justice is the

struggle not just of a few indi-vidual victims against particularsoldiers or military and policeunits. To trample on a person'shuman rights is to trample oneveryone's human rights. Oneperson's cry for justice must be-come the nation's cry for justice.

It is not only the state's offi-cers and armed minions whoshould be held accountable. Themasterminds of the fascist war ofsuppression against the peoplemust also be held responsible.The struggle to make Gloria Ar-royo and her fascist followers payfor implementing the brutalOplan Bantay Laya must contin-ue.

At the same time, BenignoAquino III must also be held ac-countable for his implementationof the repressive Oplan Bayani-han and his refusal to confrontand resolve the basic social is-sues that lie at the roots of thepeople's armed resistance. ~

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3ANG BAYAN December 7, 2011

US-Aquino regime no different from predecessor

The US-Aquino regime is no different from its predecessor. After al-most a year and a half in power, rampant violations of human

rights continue. The destruction of farms, the forced evacuation ofLumad and peasants from their lands and homes especially in the

Surigao and Agusan provinces, in Compostela Valley and General San-tos City are as commonplace as they were before. The same can besaid for the forced evacuation of tribespeople, the Bangsamoro andpeasants from Samar and Negros, said KARAPATAN in its 2011 report.

Aside from extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances, amongthe other striking human rights violations committed by the US-Aquino regime are torture, arbitrary arrests, illegal detention, demo-

litions of urban poor communi-ties, forced evacuations of vil-lagers, destruction of people'sproperty, threats, harassment, in-

discriminate firing, prohibitingand violently dispersing protestsand other people's assembliesand gatherings and using schoolsand other public places as head-quarters or for other military pur-poses.

Bicol topped the list ofplaces with the biggestincidence of humanrights violations due to

the US-Aquino regime'simplementation of OplanBayanihan, followed bySouthern Mindanao Re-gion, Southern Tagalog,Western Visayas, CentralVisayas and Eastern Visa-yas. Another mark of thepresent regime is its ar-rogant statement deny-

ing the existence of po-litical prisoners, Thereare, in fact, 356 politicalprisoners, 78 of them ar-rested under the Aquinoregime, and 13 of whomare NDFP consultants. ~

Violations (July 2010-Oct. 2011) VictimsExtrajudicial killing 64Forced disappearance 9

Torture 51Frustrated extrajudicial killing 27Illegal arrest and detention 135Illegal search and seizure 120Physical assault and injury 62Demolition 6,108Violation of domicile 243Destruction of property 5,403Divestment of property 185Forced evacuation 4,376Threat/harassment/intimidation 11,593Indiscriminate firing 5,052Forced/fake surrender 32Forced labor 112Use of civilians in police and/or militaryoperations as guides and/or shields 19Use of schools, medical, religious and otherpublic places for military purposes 10,577Restriction or violent dispersal of mass actions,public assemblies and gatherings 842

longer stand a social systemthat produces immense wealthfor foreign interests and a fewas the people, who toil all theirlives, are increasingly pusheddeeper into hunger, poverty andinjustice.

Campout Mendiola is in-spired by the upheavals in theMiddle East and North Africa tothe European strikes and the Oc-

cupy movements. It plans to mo-bilize tens of thousands of peoplefrom campuses, communities andworkplaces to camp out at Mendi-ola to rock the nation with daysof outrage and protest. Similaractions are set to take place inother regions. ~

Violent dispersal of youth protest

Policemen violently dispersed a youth protest action along RectoAvenue in Manila in the afternoon of December 6. Firetrucks weremobilized to bombard the protesters with water while policemen

pushed back more than a thousand youth and students marching fromMorayta Avenue.

The youth were planning to join the Campout Mendiolaprotest action where they wouldpitch tents along Mendiola bridgefor three days. Government forces

positioned several police trucksalong Mendiola to prevent thecampout. The protesters went in-stead to Plaza Miranda in Quiapowhere they set up camp. Workersand other sectors will be joiningthe youth in the next few days inanother attempt to reach Mendi-

ola bridge.The youth protest is led by or-

ganizations like Anakbayan, Ka-bataan Partylist and the Leagueof Filipino Students and is sup-

ported by almost 200 other youthand student groups.

In a manifesto, the youthprotesters declared We can nolonger stand a twisted socialsetup that robs the majority ofour people of a decent life andbasic social services. We can no

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the NPA and isolate the peoplefrom armed struggle and theirreal army. Once the NPA is outof the peace zone, the peoplewill lose their defender, leavingthe military and the rulingclasses free to ravage the areaand let in destructive and plun-

derous projects such as large-scale mining.

Then and now, localizedpeace zones have run con-trary to the national level peacetalks between the GPH and theNDFP. Under the framework oflocal peace accords, previousagreements between the GPHand NDFP like the CARHRIHLmay be disregarded within the

peace zones.The peace zone concept

first emerged in the Philippinesunder Corazon Aquino's regime.Social democrats (SocDem) whowere highly influential in Mala-caang pushed the conceptthrough the Coalition for Peace

Bogus peace zones assailedin Mountain Province

The Leonardo Pacsi Command (New People's Army-MountainProvince) strongly condemned the bogus consultations andreferenda being conducted by the Provincial Peace and Order

Council in the province's various municipalities. The Philippine

National Police has been brazenly manipulating the referenda onwhether to declare a peace zone in Mountain Province by pack-ing consultations with police officers and personnel who favor themeasure. The referendum question Do you want peace? is alsohighly loaded and patently deceptive.

The peace zone concept isbeing peddled by reformistforces ostensibly to achievepeace and allow the implemen-tation of development projects

and programs. Accordingly,both the AFP and the NPA willnot be allowed inside thepeace zone. Instead, localarmed forces like the CAFGU-CAA and the Cordillera People'sLiberation Army along with thePNP will be positioned in the

area. Nonetheless, the militarymay be allowed inside thepeace zone on any pretextand whenever it wants to getin. In essence, the peace

zone concept does not reallyrid the area of the AFP. Worse, itprevents the people from de-fending themselves, whetherthrough their collective actionor through their army, the NPA.

Actually, the peace zone'sreal objective is to drive away


Aquino's statistical sleight of hand

Instead of confronting and addressing thebasic problem of poverty, the Aquino regimehas been manipulating government statisticsto make it appear that there has been a reduc-

tion in the number of poverty-stricken Fil-ipinos.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatinorecently exposed the changes made by the Na-tional Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)on the parameters for determining the povertythreshhold. Previously,poverty was defined interms of food expendituresnot exceeding `52 per in-dividual per day. The

NSCB has since reducedthe poverty food thresh-hold to `46 perperson per day byeliminating a number ofitems from the aver-age person's estimat-ed typical daily foodconsumption.

Changing the parameters for

poverty determination has enabled the

Aquino government to fake a reduction in thepoverty incidence from 26.3% to 20.9%. Main-taining the same parameters would have re-sulted in a rise in the poverty incidence to

32%.The Aquino government has been engaging

in such statistical sleight of hand in a desper-ate attempt to demonstrate the success of

its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT)program in raising the people's in-come levels. Otherwise, it would

not have been able to justifythe `39.5 billion CCT budgetfor 2012, which reflects a70% increase over the allo-

cation for 2011.The NSCB last manipu-lated its parameters in

2003 under the Arroyoregime to effect

an imaginary re-duction in the pover-

ty incidence, whichwould have come close to

40% without the statistical

trickery. ~

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(COPE).From the Aquino to the

Ramos regimes, there were 11peace zones established na-tionwide. They were set up in,among others, Carmen and Tulu-nan, North Cotabato; Naga City,

Camarines Sur; Tabuk, Kalinga;Matagaragan, Abra; and Sagadain Mountain Province.

The Sagada peace zonehas often been bandied aboutby the concept's promoters as asuccessful example. Nothingcould be farther from the truth.

Sagada was a highly milita-rized town from the late 1980suntil the 1990s. There were

grave human rights violations.Military detachments were setup within schools and even in-side the municipal hall. Placessacred to the people, such asthe dap-ay (meeting places ofthe elders) were violated by sol-diers who urinated and defecat-ed in them. Two minors werekilled by drunken soldiers in Oc-

tober 1988 right in frontof the municipal hall inthe Sagada town cen-ter. Another minorwas killed in thecrossfire in a gun-battle betweenthe military andthe NPA at the SagadaCentral School in No-vember 1988.

These incidentsstrengthened calls by Sagadaresidents for the demilitariza-tion of their town. They de-manded the pullout of the fas-cist AFP troops, justice for thevictims of military violenceand the dismantling ofparamilitary forces andthe rest of the AFP's in-telligence infrastructure.Said the residents, it wastrue that the peoplewere being caught inthe middle of the AFP-NPA conflict, especiallythose suspected by themilitary of supporting therevolutionary movement.

AFP troops often vented theirire on the people whenever theysuffered losses in the battle-field.

SocDem like Teresita GingDeles (then a member of theMalacaang staff and currently

the head of the Office of thePresidential Adviser on thePeace Process or OPAPP) seizedon the demilitarization call, butsupplanted it with their peacezone concept.

Despite the peace zone'sestablishment, however, the en-emy attacked Mt. Sisipitan inSagada in June 1991, bombingit and sending in ground

troops. To make an improvisedlanding field for its helicopters,the military razed an entire

hectare of forest land on top ofthe mountain, which serves asthe main watershed of Sagadaand the adjoining town of Be-sao. The people's economic ac-tivities were also disrupted bythe AFP's constant mortar at-

tacks on Mt. Sisipitan.The thousands of troops un-

der the 702nd Brigade thatwere poured into the area inNovember 1991 stayed until1999. Armored personnel carri-ers and other combat vehiclesregularly scoured the roadsleading to the Sagada towncenter. Compared to the time ofthe Marcos dictatorship when

no one from Sagada or Besaojoined the CAFGU, the AFP wasable to form 14 CAFGU compa-nies all over the province whenthe peace zone existed.

Three battalions of the702nd Brigade were concen-trated at the center andother areas of Mountain

Province: the 24th IB

in Sagada-Besao; the68th IB in Bontoc-Sadanga; and the 69thIB in Radian-Bauko-Sabangan. The mili-tary dug trenches at

the top of the moun-tain overlooking Pobla-

cion, Sagada. Foxholes en-circled the church, leadingall the way to the altar

where the sol-diers cookedtheir meals.The same wasdone to thechurches inAguid, Sagadaand Bagnen,Bauko.

Contrary to theSocDems' claims, therewas no peace insideSagada's peace zone.This bitter history will

only repeat itself ifanother peacezone scheme isallowed in Moun-

tain Province. ~

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Victory and biggerbattles aheadin Hacienda Luisita

Farmers and farm workers of Hacienda Luisita cel-ebrated as the Supreme Court issued a decisionin their favor on November 22. After a decades-

long legal battle, the Court finally ordered the distri-bution of the 4,500-hectare hacienda to its farmersand farm workers. Nonetheless, the latter and theirbroad supporters know full well that the fight is farfrom over and that there are many more obstacles tobe hurdled before they could gain possession of theland.

GABRIELA slamsviolence againstwomen

GABRIELA and other progressivegroups rallied at Mendiola in Mani-

la on November 25 to commemoratethe International Day for the Elimina-tion of Violence Against Women.

The commemorative day was de-clared by the United Nations in 1999.

The rallyists reminded the Aquinogovernment that it should hold GloriaArroyo accountable for violating wo-men's human rights. GABRIELA noted

that 153 women were killed, 11forcibly disappeared and 290 illegallyarrested under the Arroyo regime. Theyare among the 1,208 victims of extra-judicial killings, 206 victims of forceddisappearance and 1,099 victims oftorture during the Arroyo regime.

GABRIELA secretary general LanaLinaban said that Arroyo's electoralsabotage case was just a drop in thebucket. If criminal cases were filed forevery human rights violation under herregime, they would be enough to keepher in prison for hundreds of years.

The rallyists also assailed the con-tinuing rights abuses under OplanBayanihan. Six women have been sum-marily killed and there are 35 womenpolitical detainees currently beingheld in various prisones nationwide.

Linaban added that the military

frequently uses sexual violence totrample on women's dignity and fight-ing spirit.

She cited the case of Charity Dio,a 31-year old schoolteacher who wasinterrogated by the military wearingonly her undergarments. Dio is ac-cused of being a rebel along with Bil-lie Batrina and Sonny Rogelio. Togeth-er, they have come to be known as theTalisay 3. They were, in fact, volun-

teer organizers of the Samahan ngmga Magsasaka sa Batangas. Theyhave been detained at the BatangalCity Jail since 2009.

GABRIELA demanded that BenignoAquino III order the immediate releaseof the 35 women political detainees.~

The Supreme Court also ordered Hacienda LuisitaInc. (HLI) to compensate the farmers and farm work-ers in the amount of `1 billion, equivalent to the val-ue of the land HLI had already sold to other entitiesin the past several years, including portions that hadbeen converted to residential enclaves and on whichpart of the Subic-Clark Expressway had been con-structed. The Supreme Court nullified the HLI's StockDistribution Option (SDO) which the Cojuangcos hadused since the 1980s to avoid land distribution. The

Court recognized that the powerful landlord clan hadbeen able to maintain its control over the vast estatethrough the SDO.

Nonetheless, the Court has also ordered that theCojuangco-Aquino family be given just compensa-tion for its alleged role in developing the land. Fol-lowing the Court's valuation of `170,000/hectare,the clan would have to be compensated to the tuneof `836 million. The amount would initially be shoul-dered by the government, using public funds. Thefarmers would then amortize the amount, depositing

payments at a governmentbank over a peri-od of up to 30years. If theCojuangcos hadtheir way, theywould like tobe compensated inthe amount of`1 million perhectare, mean-

ing the peas-ants would beowing them al-most `5 billion.

Paying offdebts is a huge

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burden to farmers, who eventu-ally fall victim to loan sharksand big businessmen. In manyinstances, they are forced to sellback the land that had been dis-tributed to them to landlordsand corporations.

The Cojuangco-Aquinos, in-cluding their number onereprsentative Benigno AquinoIII, have been invoking CARPERas the legal basis for demandingjust compensation. The peas-ants' response: They do not owethe land to the Cojuangco-Aquinos, especially since theclan gained possession of it byusing public funds. More than

this, they who have been toilingon the land for decades withouthaving received enough wagesand compensation are the oneswho have enriched the land andnot the Cojuangco-Aquinos whohave been living off their sweatand blood.

Moreover, although theSupreme Court recognized theSDO as an obstacle to land re-form within Hacienda Luisita, ithas not outrightly declared itunconstitutional. The Cojuang-co-Aquinos can still invoke it in

the next court battles. Neitherhas the Court decision coveredthe many other haciendas na-tionwide that are under the SDOscheme.

The legal victory at HaciendaLuisita brings to the fore theneed to advance the enactmentin Congress of the GenuineAgrarian Reform Bill (GARB)which provides for the free dis-

tribution of land to agrarian re-form beneficiaries. It also un-derscores the reactionary char-acter of CARPER, which is thelegal framework now being in-voked by Aquino to bleed thepeasants dry and revoke theirlegal victory.

It is correct for the farmersand farm workers of HaciendaLuisita to demand the free dis-tribution of land and opposeany scheme that would obligethem to amortize the land thatwas unjustly seized from them

by the Cojuangcos.It is also correct for the

farmers and farm workers of thevast estate to persevere in theircampaign to collectively man-age and till the lands at Hacien-da Luisita. For the past severalmonths, they have been plant-ing vegetables and raising live-stock in order to enjoy the fruitsof the land even in the absence

of a decision from the SupremeCourt. They have thus been ableto raise their incomes, improvetheir living conditions and sus-tain their ongoing struggle.They did not rely on the Court'sdecision then. They should notdo so now. ~

Hacienda Luisita victory inspires other struggles

The effects of the Supreme Court's historic November 22 decision to revoke the Stock Distribu-tion Option scheme and begin distributing the lands in Hacienda Luisita to the farmers and

farm workers of the vast estate have reverberated beyond the hacienda's boundaries.

The Court decision has spurred the KilusangMagbubukid ng Pilpinas (KMP) on November 25to call for agrarian reform coverage for the 12other haciendas natiownide that are underthe SDO scheme. Nine of these are in Negros

Occidental, two in Iloilo and one in Davao delSur. They have a combined area of 2,787hectares.

Meanwhile, the lat-est victory in HaciendaLuisita has also in-spired coconut farmersto demand anew the re-turn to them of the co-co levy fund.

On November 28,more than 200 small co-conut farmers from Quezonprotested in front of the SanMiguel Corp. (SMC) office in PasigCity, bringing with them varioustools for producing copra. Theywanted to demonstrate how diffi-

cult copra making is.Said the Pinag-isang Lakas ng Magbubukid

sa Quezon and KMP, the coco levy fund was de-rived from a tax on the saleof copra imposed during

martial law. In 1983, thefund which was then worth`2 billion was used byDanding Cojuangco to buythe majority shares at SMC.The shares are now valuedat `200 billion.

The coco levy fund wasforcibly exacted by the Mar-

cos-Cojuangco clique, said the KMP.It is owned by small farmers andshould have been returned to them

a long time ago. The KMP calledfor the immediate enactment ofthe Small Coconut Farmers Trust

Fund bill filed by Anakpawis Rep.Rafael Mariano to pave the way forthe return of the coco levy fund. ~

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Red pangayaw

At least eight firearms were confiscated by a group of Lumadfrom security guards of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) inBarangay Tablu, Tampakan, South Cotabato on November

27.

The Lumad belong to agroup called Red Pangayaw.

The National DemocraticFront in Far South Mindanao Re-gion (NDF-FSMR) hailed the RedPangayaw as an armed massmovement of the Lumad forcourageously and determinedlytaking on a powerful enemysuch as the giant Xstrata-SMI

mining company.NDF-FSMR spokesperson KaEfren explained that althoughthe group used the term pa-ngayaw, its objective is notsimple personal vendetta. RedPangayaw is a mass movementfighting for the legitimate and

just demands of the Lumad, andis part of the national-demo-cratic movement.

Their struggle is also unlikethat of the ordinary pangayawwhich targets personal or clanenemies. Pulang Panga-yaw targets the armedand fascist instrumentsof SMI such as the 27th

and 39th IB of thePhilippine Army, the spe-cial CAFGU, private goonsand security guards ofXstrata-SMI and Task ForceKitaco and its intelligenceoperatives. Task Force Kita-co was formed by the Philip-

pine Army 10th ID to focus onKiblawan, Davao del Sur;

Tampakan, South Cotaba-to; and Columbio,

No one took the Arroyocamp's statements seriously,with several sectors still de-manding that Arroyo be de-tained in an ordinary prison. Af-ter all, her own doctors havesaid that she is well enough toleave the hospital. The courthad already ruled earlier thatArroyo remain under hospital ar-rest, but no longer at the priceySt. Luke's. Arroyo has been re-manded to the Veterans Memor-ial Medical Center (VMMC), apublic hospital where formerpresident Joseph Estrada had al-

so been detained.The Arroyo camp has also

been trying to secure a housearrest order so Arroyo could stayin her palatial house in La Vista,Quezon City. Or, should she re-main at the VMMC, her lawyershave asked that she be allowedto use her laptop and cellphone,a privilege denied detainees.

Because practically no onesympathizes with Arroyo in thePhilippines, her camp is tryingto muster some sympathyabroad. One of her lawyers, At-ty. Raul Lambino left the coun-try for Europe on December 1 tomeet with the Christian Democ-

ratic Party. Lambino is set to re-port on the Aquino regime's al-

Gloria Arroyo's camp has been cooking up one gimmick afteranother in an effort to prevent the former president's deten-tion in a regular jail during her trial. The latest is a hilarious

claim that an assassination plot codenamed Put the Little Girl toSleep has been hatched against her. As the plot goes, BenignoAquino III's government is allegedly out to poison Arroyo or useother means to kill the former president and now Pampanga repre-sentative.

Arroyo's gimmickryleged political persecution ofArroyo in hopes of garnering in-ternational support for her.

Arroyo's accusations of po-litical persecution in the handsof the Aquino government aremeant not only to court public

sympathy but to cover up theAquino government's specialtreatment of Arroyo.

Even before the 2010 presi-dential elections, the Arroyoand Aquino camps had alreadycome to an arrangement thatAquino would tread softly onthe Arroyos once he becomespresident. This explains why ittook 505 days (or more than a

year) for Arroyo to be chargedcriminally and arrested.

The Filipino people must ex-ercise the utmost vigilance andmonitor every twist and turn inthe Arroyo-Aquino conspiracy inorder to expose every accommo-dation granted by the Aquinogovernment to the Arroyo campand make sure that Arroyo is

punished for her grave crimesagainst the people. ~

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9

VICTORIOUS NPA OFFENSIVES

ANG BAYAN December 7, 2011

Ambush in Paquibato

Three soldiers from the 69th IB were killed in an ambush bythe 1st Pulang Bagani Company on November 29 in Sitio

Guinobatan, Barangay Paradise Embac, Paquibato District, DavaoCity. The Red fighters were also able to seize an M203 grenadelauncher. The soldiers were part of a Community Peace and De-velopment (COPD) team conducting military operations in thearea.

Meanwhile, the Merardo Arce Command of the New People'sArmy in Southern Mindanao Region strongly assailed Davao Citymayor Sara Duterte after the latter called for the surrender of KaParago and Ka Oda, both leaders of the 1st Pulang Bagani Com-pany. Duterte had also earlier defended a soldiers' encampmentnear a school in Paradise Embac despite complaints from resi-dents. She has also consistently assailed NPA tactical offensivesagainst the 69th IB which is notorious for its serious humanrights abuses against Paquibato residents.

Thousands of residents of Paquibato and Panabo have fallenvictim to the 69th IB. To name a few, the abusive battalion isguilty of forcible surrenders and recruitment into the CAFGU; at-tempted rape; molestation of women and harassment of youthand schoolchildren; fomenting pangayaw to instigate conflictsbetween Lumad and non-Lumad settlers; drunkenness; threatsand intimidation; and using civilian facilities such as schools,

residents' homes and barangay halls for military purposes. ~

Sultan Kudarat, municipalitieswhere Xstrata-SMI has its mainoperations.

Said Red Pangayaw: For thepast five years since Xstrata

started its exploration of ourlands, we have tried to tellthem peacefully that we do notwant the mines. We do notwant to destroy our mountains,our rivers and our huntinggrounds. We do not want themeager income they give us inexchange for our livelihood.But they have been adamant intheir desire to extract the goldand copper from our lands.

So there has been trouble.They deployed the 27th IB, the39th IB, Task Force Kitaco andseveral companies of securityguards to pacify us, silence us,and later drive us away. Wetried to negotiate, we tried tobarricade, we tried to petition.But everything has come to

naught. So now there is no oth-er recourse but to fight back.

US using drones against civilians

The US has been usingdrones extensively in bombingPakistan and Afghanistan. Atleast 300 drone bombing raidshave been conducted in thetribal areas of Pakistan alone.

Most of them (248) were un-dertaken under Barack Oba-ma's government. The USclaims that the drones havebeen targeting terrorists.

Drones or unmanned aerialvehicles are among the US'

newest military weapons.Drones are controlled by morethan 2,000 Combat SystemsOfficers stationed in the Cen-

tral Intelligence Agency'sCounterterrorism Centers scat-tered in over 60 clandestinelocations around the globe.

Up to 2,912 personsincluding 160 childrenhave beenkilled by the US government through indiscriminatebombing attacks by drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia,

Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. This estimate was made in a study

issued in October by independent media persons belonging tothe Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The actual number islikely higher since some areas that have been bombed bydrones have been off limits to investigators.

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2 million strike in UK

M

ore than two million public sector workers in the UnitedKingdom waged a successful strike on November 30 to

oppose added reforms in the pension system. It wasbiggest strike in the UK in 30 years.

The mobilization was led by24 unions representing 2.6million workers. More than amillion joined the strike inEngland; 300,000 in Scotland;200,000 in Northern Ireland;and 170,000 in Wales. Differ-ent sectors also had deep andextensive participation in thestrike.

The unions were angeredafter the government requiredall members to pay additionalpension contributions, raisedthe retirement age and maderevisions in the pension sys-tem that would result in re-duced wages.

The people were angeredeven more when Finance Min-ister George Osborne an-nounced a two-year extensionof the existing wage freeze.Seven-hundred thousand(700,000) public sector work-ers will also be fired after re-newed budget cuts allegedlyspurred by the rapidly worsen-ing economic crisis.

Public services were practi-cally paralyzed for 24 hours af-ter thousands of teachers andstudents; doctors, nurses andeven patients; policemen,lawyers, drivers; airport, immi-gration and customs workersand officials; library, museumand art gallery employees; andeven garbage collectors, cooksand others walked out.

More than 70% (16,000) ofthe UK's 21,700 government-run schools were closed. InNorthern Ireland, train and busservices were 100% paralyzedwhile subways in Glasgow andMerseyside were closed. More

than 200 pickets; 34 bigdemonstrations; and 15 bigmarches were launched nation-wide. The biggest march-demonstrations took place inthe cities of London, Bristol,Manchester, Belfast, Birming-ham, Glasgow, Edinburgh,Brighton and Dundee witheach mobilization joined by10,000 to 30,000 strikers.

Mounting civilian casualtiesin Afghanistan

More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in night raids byNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in

Afghanistan. NATO has adamantly defended these raids, say-ing they are an important weapon against the Taliban. But thefigures now point to the night raids as the single biggest

cause of civilian deaths in Afghanistan since US-led forces in-vaded the country in 2001.

Night raids by NATO have been increasing in number andfrequency as the 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of most ofits forces nears. Every night, an average of ten raids are con-ducted. In some instances, up to 40 raids have been conduct-ed in a single night. ~

The drones used in the Philip-pines and elsewhere in Asiaare controlled from the Ander-son Air Force Base in Guam.

The use of drones has be-

come an important part of theUS' terrorist war. This year, itallocated $4.8 billion morefor this purpose. In 2010, theUS only had 50 drones. In thenext few years, it plans to add700 more.

Most drones are used forreconnaissance, surveillanceand gathering electronic in-formation against anti-US in-dividuals, groups or move-ments. But there are otherslike the Predator drones thatare armed with missiles orbombs.

Human rights advocacygroups the world over strong-ly oppose the use of dronesbecause most of their victimsare civilians.

Drone attacks also violateinternational humanitarianlaw which strictly prohibitsUS intervention in the inter-nal affairs of other countriesand violations of sovereignty.The US is accountable for allthe extrajudicial attackslaunched by drones from itsvarious military bases world-wide. ~

The government used thou-sands of policemen to sup-press the mass actions. At thecenter of London, police putup steel cordons to block themarchers. Ninety-six (96)strikers were arrested, beatenup and detained in a marchtowards the Parliament build-ing. This occurred when some

60 members of Occupy Londonwere able to enter the XstrataMining Company building andcontrol it for six hours. Fromthe top of the building, theprotesters unfurled a streamerwith the slogan All power tothe 99%. ~

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ANG BAYAN December 7, 2011

Retail businessmen strike in India

The Indian government was forced to withdraw plans toopen the retail sector to foreigners after the country's

small retailers launched a big protest on November 30.The strike was led by the Confederation of All India Traders

representing 10,000 retail business organizations. Clasheserupted between the police and protesters in Lucknow, UttarPradesh. As a result, stores were abandoned in Agra andChhattisgarh and garage operations and school activities weredisrupted.

The government-sponsored business reforms will allow gi-ant international supermarket chains to penetrate the localmarket. Although their operations would be confined to thecities, the foreign retail giants will be allowed to own 51% ofshares of retail corporations.

International companies have been keen on penetratingIndia because its population of one billion makes it the sec-ond biggest market worldwide. ~

Workers celebrate Bonifacio Day

MILITANT workers' organiza-

tions and other progressivegroups launched a protest ac-tion on Novembr 30 at the footof Mendiola Bridge to com-memorate the 148th birth an-niversary of Andres Bonifacio.

Wearing Katipunero cos-tumes, some 3,000 rallyists ledby the Kilusang Mayo Uno, Par-tidong Anakpawis, GABRIELAand Kalipunan ng Damayang

Mahihirap called on the peopleto emulate Bonifacio and car-ry on his struggle for genuinesocial change.

The protesters also de-manded a `125 increase inthe daily wage and an end tocontractualization. They de-manded that the HaciendaLuisita lands be distributedunconditionally and called forgenuine agrarian reform andgenuine independence from im-perialism.

KMU chair Elmer Labog saidthat if Bonifacio were alive to-day, he would be waging a rev-olution for social change.Labog called on workers and

other impoverished sectors to

study the real conditions pre-vailing in the country and theroots of poverty and join or or-ganize unions and other groupsthat would advance theirrights.

Meanwhile, a bill has beenfiled in Congress making thestudy of Bonifacio's life andprinciples a required subject incollege. The bill filed by Ka-

bataan Partylist Rep. Ray-mond Palatino aims toteach patriotism to theyouth.

QC government orders2 demolitions

TWO violentg demolitions wereconducted by the local govern-ment of Quezon City and thePhilippine National Police onNovember 28.

A resident was arrested andanother was wounded aftersome 30 policemen and mem-bers of a demolition team at-tacked an urban poor commu-nity of more than a hundredfamilies along BIR Road, East

Triangle in Barangay Central.The residents first tried to fendoff the demolition by puttingup a barricade. They also triedto negotiate for a reprieve.When the urban poor began toactively defend their homes,the police attacked, destroyinga number of shanties. An outof uniform policeman was seenfiring his weapon. Recovered

from the scene were six spentM16 shells.

The residents are firmly op-posed to the demolition thatwould pave the way for theconstruction of the QuezonCity Central Business Districtwhich is part of the Aquinoregime's Public-Private Part-nership program.

Meanwhile, in Sitio Looban,Barangay Kaligayahan, No-valiches, elements of TaskForce Illegal Structures andTask Force Nova tried to forcetheir way into an urban poorcommunity in the area by ram-ming a truck into a barricadethat had been set up by theresidents. Several of the pro-testers were injured and arrest-

ed.The residents are against a

housing project planned in thearea by the local government,saying that they would beforced to relocate to placeswithout decent services andlivelihood opportunities.

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Fascists kill Indian communist leader

The Communist Party of thePhilippines (CPP) strongly con-demned the reactionary Indian

government for the brutal tor-ture and murder of ComradeMalloujula Koteswara Rao,spokesperson and member ofthe Political Bureau of theCommunist Party of India (CPI-Maoist).

In a statement, the Indiangovernment claimed that Rao,who was more popularly knownin India as Comrade Kihenji

was killed in an encounter inthe Burishol Forest Area inWest Midnapore District, Ja-

ngalmahal, West Bengal on No-vember 24. But based on theCPI-Maoists information, Com-rade Kishenji was negotiatingwith West Bengal officialswhen he was treacherouslycaptured and killed by fascistsoldiers.

Said the CPP, the imperial-ists and reactionaries and theirfascist lapdogs in India have

succeeded in satiating theirbloodlust in torturing and mur-dering Comrade Kishenji. But

they will pay for this brutalcrime. The Indian people willcontinue to advance along therevolutionary path of armed re-sistance and mass struggle un-til the reactionary state isoverthrown and national andsocial liberation are achieved.Thus will justice be attainedfor the oppressed and exploit-ed people of India.

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