ANGPahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas

Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo

Engl ish Edition

Vol . L No. 23

December 7, 2019

www.cpp.ph

Kabataang Makabayan hasplayed an important role in the dif-ferent stages in the country’s re-volutionary history over more thanfive decades. Indeed, KM hasproved itself as one the Party’s mostreliable partners in waging thepeople’s democratic revolution inthe country.

Kabataang Makabayan workedalongside the Party during the earlystage of Marxist-Leninist ideologicalstruggles, rectification, organiza-

tional building, mass propagandaand mobilization and building theNew People’s Army (NPA). It as-sisted the Party in nationwidebuilding and spreading the people’swar across the archipelago. Itplayed an important role in under-ground propaganda and organizingwork among the youth and workersduring the Marcos martial law yearswhich would later reenergize thelegal protest movement in the1970s. It has persisted in the re-

volutionary underground as one ofthe stalwarts of the NationalDemocratic Front (NDF) where itrepresents the interests of theFilipino youth and their demand fornational democratic change.

Its membership of young activ-ists and intellectuals continues toserve as a deep bench for trainingrevolutionary proletarian cadresand recruitment of Party members.Over the past years, cadres fromthe ranks of KM have been deployedto various fields of revolutionarywork. Most notably, many intellec-tuals and workers activists, arenow in the NPA and serve as its

The Filipino youth must fight the fascistUS-Duterte regime and demand an endto imperialist plunder and rapeMessage to the Kabataang Makabayan on the occasion of its 55th anniversaryand 156th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends warm militantgreetings to the leadership and mass members of KabataangMakabayan (KM) on the occasion of its 55th founding anniversary. We

also mark the 156th birth anniversary of Filipino working-class hero AndresBonifacio.

"Youth...," continued on page 2

EDITORIAL

December 7 , 2019 ANG BAYAN2

political officers and unit command-ers, working together with Redfighters and cadres from among thepeasant and minority masses.

The Party considers KM as acrucial partner in the work ofarousing, organizing and mobilizingthe Filipino people. Under the openfascist tyranny and state terrorismof the US-Duterte regime, it is nowbeing called upon to serve as one ofthe revolutionary core of thepeople’s democratic resistance.

Kabataang Makabayan mustseize the opportunity arising fromrapidly worsening conditions in thecountry marked by lack of access toeducation, widespread youth job-lessness, loss of hope and culturaldegradation. They must rouse theFilipino youth in their tens of thou-sands.

The KM must do its utmost tocarry out national democratic pro-paganda among the youth intellec-tuals and the toiling masses. Itmust dispel the fascist lies of theDuterte regime and expose imperi-alism, feudalism and bureaucrat

capitalism as the basic ills thatplague the Filipino people. It mustteach about the continuing neces-sity of waging revolutionary armedstruggle to end the backward, op-pressive and exploitative semicolo-nial and semifeudal society.

The founding of KM was madeto coincide with the birth of AndresBonifacio who successfully led theFilipino people in waging armed re-volution against Spanish colonial-ism. This was done so in order tounderscore the patriotic content ofthe national democratic program,and which remains the key elementin the Filipino people’s struggle fornational and social liberation.

Kabataang Makabayan mustcontinue to carry out antiimperialistpropaganda and raise the Filipinoyouth’s patriotic fervor. Like Bon-ifacio, the current generation ofyoung Filipinos must be at the fore-front of the Filipino people’s clamorfor genuine national freedom.

The activists of KabataangMakabayan must expose the linkbetween foreign big corporate in-terests and the Duterte regime’s

"Youth...," from page 1

Editorial: The Filipino youth must fight thefascist US-Duterte regime and demand anend to imperialist plunder and rape 1

NPA ambushes fascist battalion in Abra 3

KM: celebrate and rise to the challenge 3

Bonifacio's 156th birthday 4

Assembly of Party branch in Panay 5

Support disaster-stricken areas 5

PNP kills peasant couple in Butuan 6

A year of killings and crackdown 7

60th IB kill Red fighter hors de combat 7

Successful strike in Bicol 7

Resolution against water privatization 7

Release Ka Diego Padilla! 8

Prison transfer scheme 8

"Youth...," continued on page 3

fascist onslaught and suppressioncampaign. They must expose the bigmining companies, plantations, en-ergy, tourism and other infrastruc-ture projects, as well as foreign bigbanks who finance and benefit fromDuterte’s reign of terror. They mustexpose how the country’s wealthand the toiling masses are beingwringed by the superprofit ex-tracting operations of big foreignmonopoly capitalists and their localbig bourgeois comprador partners.They must expose how foreign bigcorporations and big landlords aredispossessing the peasant massesof their agricultural and ancestrallands. They must expose the fakeryof Duterte’s land reform declara-tions which merely aim to facilitatethe grabbing of lands from thepeasants.

Activists of KM must unite thepeople and mobilize them to de-mand a stop to the plunder of thecountry’s patrimony and environ-ment, and the rape of our moun-tains, rivers and seas. They mustunite with the broad masses in de-manding a stop to all foreign bigmining operations, plantations andcorruption-laden infrastructureprojects. They must expose US mil-itary intervention and militarypresence and how it directs the AFPand PNP in counterinsurgency op-erations to suppress the patrioticand democratic forces in the coun-try.

Kabataang Makabayan and thestudent and youth movement mustfurther invigorate the nationaldemocratic propaganda movement.It must plan to reproduce theParty’s newspaper Ang Bayan andits own Kalayaan in the tens ofthousands and carry these to thebiggest possible number of people inschool campuses, factories, urbancommunities and rural villages.Kabataang Makabayan and itschapters must regularly issuestatements on burning national andlocal issues and print them for massdistribution. The KM must lead

Vol L No. 23 | December 7, 2019

ContentsANG

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ANG BAYAN December 7 , 2019 3

thousands upon thousands of groupdiscussions and study meetings, us-ing both open and clandestinemethods. It must institutionalizeother forms of mass propagandathat reach out to the masses suchas weekly film showing, travellingcultural shows and others.

Its activists must continue tohelp in further invigorating the na-tional democratic cultural move-ment by producing poems, songs,

visual and graphic art, street per-formances, video productions andothers. The activists of KM mustuse social media as a tool forpropagating the national demo-cratic line while fighting its perni-cious ultrademocratic pull whichpromotes individualism and disor-ganization.

The activists and cadres of KMmust study, uphold and inculcateMarxism-Leninism-Maoism and ap-ply and further improve it to thevarious fields of revolutionary workthey are involved in, including car-rying out social investigation amongthe masses. They must publish theresults of their studies as a way ofpropagating and promoting Marx-ism-Leninism. They must also en-courage the scholars among theirranks to apply Marxism-Leninism intheir fields of academic work as a

way of fighting the bourgeois andpettybourgeois reformist ideologicalinfluences hiding behind such labelsas postmodernism and others.

Across the world, the youth areagain proving themselves a greatforce of progressive and democraticchange as they demonstrate ingreat numbers against oppressiveneoliberal policies and governmentcorruption which aggravate thepeople’s social economic conditions.

In the Philippines, where con-ditions are fast deteriorating underthe US-Duterte regime, revolution-ary activists are called upon to mil-itate the Filipino youth and unitethem with the masses into a strongforce for social revolution.

End the US-Duterte fascist re-gime! End imperialist plunder andrape! Carry forward the nationaldemocratic revolution!

NPA ambushes fascist battalion in Abra

Red fighters of the New People's Army (NPA)-Abra ambushed the soldiersof the 24th IB operating in the mountains of Tubo, Abra on December 1,

4 p.m. A soldier was wounded during the offensive.

"Youth...," from page 2

The 24th IB is notorious forperpetrating human rights viola-tions. Its soldiers were formerlyunder the command of Jovito Pala-paran during the onslaught ofOplan Bantay Laya in Central Lu-zon.

In 2006, the 24th IB abductedactivists Sherlyn Cadapan, KarenEmpeño and Manuel Merino in Hago-noy, Bulacan. Merino was killed at itsbattalion camp in Limay, Bataan. Ca-dapan and Empeño were also lastsighted there. During the same pe-riod, two farmers accused of of sup-porting the NPA were killed by oper-ating soldiers.

The crimes of the 24th IB con-tinued unabated when it was de-

ployed in Abra. In 2017, the bat-talion bombed the communities ofMalibcong. This resulted in the de-struction of farms and forcibleevacuation of residents. Soldiersalso camped in schools and houses,enforced a food blockade, andsowed fear among the residents.The 24th IB also perpetrated manycases of coerced surrenders, illegalarrests and tagging of activists as"NPA supporters."

In Negros Occidental, seventroopers of the 62nd IB werewounded in an encounter with Redfighters last November 22 in Bara-ngay Cansalungon, Isabela. Theencounter occured at around 4 p.m.Meanwhile, another unit of the

NPA-Negros harassed a CAFGUActive Auxiliary camp in BarangayBalogo, Guihulngan City, NegrosOriental on November 30, 9 p.m.

In Northern Samar, a soldierof the 20th IB was killed in a ha-rassment operation of the NPA inBarangay San Francisco, LasNavas. The 20th IB has been rav-aging several rural communities inLas Navas for several weeks al-ready.

In Bohol, two 47th IB trooperswere wounded in an offensivemounted by the NPA-Bohol in Ba-rangay Rizal, Bilar, on October 24,11:40 a.m.

Ka Jose Ignacio of the NationalDemocratic Front-Bohol said thatthe tactical offensive belies thefalse claim of the AFP-PNP that theprovince is already counterinsur-gency-free.

December 7 , 2019 ANG BAYAN4

sacrifices, contradictions anddoubts, for the sake of the nation'sfuture.

Various KM chapters and NPAcommands also issued their respec-tive solidarity statements. KM-NCRcriticized the vileness of OplanKapanatagan and the capital accu-mulation of bureaucrats and offi-cials of the reactionary govern-ment. KM-NCR members mounted alightning rally along Recto Avenue,Manila on November 29.

Another lightning rally wasconducted by KM-Southern Tagalogin UP Los Baños on December 6 tocommemorate the anniversary.

The KM-Bicol issued an openletter honoring parents for raisingand teaching their children to self-lessly love the nation. KM-Sorsogonalso recognized the key role of theyouth in drumbeating social issues.

The regional NPA command inNegros also expressed its solidarityand called on the youth to continueBonifacio's revolution. The NPA-North Negros also issued a soli-darity statement.

Meanwhile, the NDF-EasternVisayas challenged the youth tounite against Duterte, take on rev-olutionary tasks and participate inthe struggle for social change.

The KM issued a statementcalling on its members to intensifythe struggle against the oppressive,fascist and puppet Duterte regimeand advance the people's demo-cratic revolution until victory.

It highlighted the significanceof uniting with the toiling massesand advancing their democratic as-pirations. Among these are thestruggles against the Rice Liberali-zation Law, contractualization,wage deregulation, the K-12 pro-gram and others.

Additionally, the KM layeddown its major tasks, primary ofwhich is to fight Rodrigo Duterte'sde facto martial law. It also calledon the revolutionary youth to havea sharp grasp of the Marxist-Lenin-ist-Maoist theory and strive topractice this in advancing the revo-lution. It also highlighted the im-portance of the continuous and as-siduous recruitment in schools,communities, factories, farms andother places. It must also lead theprogrammed deployment of ac-tivists and cadres in the country-side to participate in the agrarianrevolution and armed struggle.

In the spirit of serving the peo-ple, the KM is eager to participatein the revolution and overcome

KM on its 55th year: celebrateand rise to the challenge

Commemoration of Andres

Bonifacio's 156th birthday

HUNDREDS OF ACTIVISTSmarched from Liwasang Bonifa-cio to Mendiola in Manila tocommemorate Andres Bonifa-cio's 156th birthday. The mobi-lization was led by Anakbayanand Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).The protesters carried the call"Fight neoliberal attacks onworkers and the people." Theprogressive groups vehementlycondemned the US' impositionof unfair economic policies andChina's intrusion into Philippineterritories.

Elmer Labog, KMU spokes-person, said that Filipino work-ers must be liberated from ex-ploitation in order to be trulyfree. He added that the peoplemust carry on with the struggleagainst contractualization,wage depression, and worseningunemployment and poverty un-der the Duterte regime.

The youth pledged to em-brace Bonifacio's revolutionaryspirit by carrying on with thestruggle for the genuine free-dom of the country.

Before converging at Liwa-sang Bonifacio, separateprotests were mounted by vari-ous groups in front of the USand Chinese embassies.

In Pampanga, Aetas led bythe Central Luzon AetaAssociation marched to the Ba-yanihan Park in Angeles City.They condemned the forcibleeviction of thousands of minori-ties from their ancestral landsto pave way for the constructionof the New Clark City whichserved as the venue of the SEAGames. They also criticizedDuterte and his henchmen'scorruption, and the minimalsupport to Filipino athletes.

Similar protests weremounted in Laguna, Negros andDavao.

Amid the struggle against extreme fascism, poverty and the absence offreedom under the US-Duterte regime, the Kabataang Makabayan (KM)

celebrated its 55th founding anniversary on November 30. The 156th birthanniversary of Andres Bonifacio was also commemorated on the same day.

ANG BAYAN December 7 , 2019 5

Mobilize to provide support to disaster-stricken areas—CCP

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) called on all commands andunits of the NPA, and all revolutionary mass organizations last December

3 to provide aid to victims of typhoon Tisoy.

"They may coordinate with localand international groups to providevictims with necessary humanitar-ian aid, and help them repair theirhomes and farms after thecalamity," said the CPP.

The New People's Army (NPA)-Bicol declared a week-long unilat-eral ceasefire in the region to fa-cilitate the provision of variousforms of aid aid to residents whowere affected by the typhoon. Theceasefire began on December 6, 12a.m., and will take effect until De-

cember 12, 2019, 11:59 p.m.The NPA-Southern Tagalog

called on all its units to conductrelief and rehabilitation operationsin their respective areas and pro-vide aid to typhoon victims. TheNPA-ST is ready to help in recon-structing houses and infrastruc-tures that were devastated by thestorm, including the farms ofpeasants. The NPA-ST remindedthe revolutionary government ofits duty to ensure that all typhoonvictims are provided with aid and

support.The CPP advised all NPA units

to be cautious of AFP attacks in themiddle of the calamity. The NPAalso pledged to hold big mining,plantation, illegal logging andpower companies that destroy theenvironment, accountable.

Initial data indicate thataround 500,000 residents wereaffected by typhoon Tisoy in theprovinces of Luzon and EasternVisayas. Approximately P811-mil-lion worth of properties and cropswere destroyed in Bicol and Orien-tal Mindoro. The typhoon heavilydevastated Mindoro, Bicol andNorthern Samar.

Regional corresponsal

Assembly of the oldest Party branch in Panay

The oldest Party branch in Panay launched its assembly last October 17-18. The said branch was established in 1973 after the reestabishment of

the Communist Party of the Philippines. For forty-six years now, the Partybranch has remained at the forefront of mass struggles in the barrio andarmed struggle in the region.

The assembly chose the theme"Consolidate the unity of Partybranch members to lead themasses. Bravely fight Oplan Kapa-natagan." It aims to consolidate itsmembers and strengthen its lead-ership in the said barrio.

For a long period, the Partybranch withstood various brutal

suppression campaigns of previ-ous regimes especially under theUS-Marcos dictatoriship. Some ofthe first members of the Partybranch offered their lives duringthis period. Residents were alsoforced to evacuate from the bar-

rios. The branch launched variousmass struggles to defend theirancestral lands, and overcamecalamities and other problems.Through all these, its membersremained steadfast, defended theinterests of the Party and contin-ued on supporting the New Peo-ple's Army.

Two-thirds of the total Partybranch membership participated inthe assembly. This only proves thatthe dictator-wannabe Duterte hasfailed to terrorize the Party. Theysummarized the history of the Party

branch. Their experi-ences and victoriesserved as inspirationto new and youngParty members. Theyalso drew importantlessons from their vic-tories and weaknessesto further improve

their leadership. One ofits biggest victories is that the

"Assembly...," continued on page 6

December 7 , 2019 ANG BAYAN6

Police officers kill peasant couple in Butuan

Elements of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 13 gunned down peasantcouple Rolando, 55, and Josephine Egtob, 56, at their farm in Sitio San

Roque, Barangay San Mateo, Butuan City on December 2 at around 3 p.m.The two were activist members of the Unyon sa mga Mag-uuma sa Agusandel Norte (UMAN).

After the crime, PCapt. Emer-son Alipit, Butuan City Police Officespokesperson, made it appear in aradio interview that the two weremembers of the New People's Armyand were shot during an encounter.The victims' children belied thisstatement. They said that their par-ents were just farmers and had noguns. They also testified that no en-counter took place.

Attempted killingIn Surigao del Sur, unidentified

gunmen shot and attempted to killGaudencio "Junjun" Paclawona,chairperson of Anakpawis TandagCity and councilor of Barangay SanIsidro on December 4. Paclawonawas on his way home from the saidcity when he noticed that he wasbeing tailed by four men aboard twomotorcycles. The victim sustained agunshot wound on his legs and wasrushed to the hospital.

In Negros Occidental, 62nd IBtroopers indiscriminately strafedthe house of farmer Cresincio Dilfenat Sitio Pandan, Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan City on November24, 10 p.m. Dilfen and his childrenwere inside the house when the

shooting took place. On the sameday, soldiers also ransacked twohouses at Sitio Tagmanok.

Illegal arrestManila Police District opera-

tives arrested four members ofPanday Sining after a mobilizationin Mendiola, Manila on November30. One of the arrested is a minor.Plainclothes policemen dragged thefour through the streets from ajeepney and mauled them.

On the same day, 94th IBtroopers arrested and mauled Mel-chor Lembaga and his father-in-lawat around 4 a.m. at Sitio Enatito,Barangay Bukalan, Canlaon City,Negros Oriental. Arresting officersdid not disclose the victims' where-abouts to their relatives. The Leo-nardo Panaligan Command vehe-mently condemned the inhumaneand illegal arrest.

In Negros Occidental, elementsof the 62nd IB arrested five resi-dents of Maho-Paho, Barangay SanAgustin, Isabela on November 23.The victims were identified as Ma-ricar Estoya, Merencia Gaudia,Elizabeth Antrone, Jorgen Lizajoand Erlinda Garzola. They were im-

plicated by the military in an NPAraid in Barangay Tinongan.

MilitarizationAt least 150 elements of the 3rd

Mechanized IB entered and en-camped in Aeta communities at SitioBunga, Mt. Dueg in San Clemente,Tarlac on November 4. Soliders im-posed an economic blockade andrequired residents to present iden-tification documents. Those whowere unable to present identifica-tion documents were prohibitedfrom going to their farms and wereforced to go back to the barrio.

Harassment and intimidationTwo military agents entered and

took photographs in the campus ofTribal Filipino Program of Surigaodel Sur (TRIFPSS) at Sitio Han-a-yan, Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao delSur on November 12. Earlier, onOctober 7, the same violation wasperpetrated by five soldiers of the3rd Special Forces Batallion (SFB) ina TRIFPSS campus at Sitio Simowaoin the same barangay.

Individual cases of forcible en-try and illegal search were also re-ported in Toboso, Negros Occiden-tal; and San Dionisio, Iloilo.

Incidents of harassment andintimidation were also recorded inButuan City, Quezon City, and inAgoo and Balaoan, La Union duringthe same period.

branch has remained consolidateddespite the onslaught of continuoussuppression campaigns. It is alsoamong the branches that deployedthe most number of NPA recruitssince 2008.

Currently, the branch isstudying Oplan Kapanatagan,

Duterte's counterinsurgency pro-gram. Its members are eager tofight any attack of the fascist US-Duterte regime. They pledged tocontribute to the struggle of Pa-nayanons to frustrate this, as inprevious fascist regimes. TheParty branch members culminated

the assembly with renewed vigorand readiness to heed the call andchallenge of the Party to firmlylead the masses in waging therevolution, and strengthen thearmed struggle to overthrowDuterte's reactionary govern-ment.

"Assembly...," from page 5

ANG BAYAN December 7 , 2019 7

MO 32: A year of killings and crackdown

Successful jeepney

strike in Bicol

DESPITE BEING HARASSED by theregime, jeepney drivers success-fully launched their jeepney strikein Albay and Camarines Sur onNovember 25-26. The strike wasmounted as a form of resistanceagainst the "jeepney moderniza-tion" scheme which will kill thelivelihood of operators, drivers andworkers in the jeepney industry.

On the first day of the strike,Condor-PISTON declared that 97%of jeepney operations in Albay wasparalyzed, and 85% in CamarinesSur. Tricycle drivers stood in soli-darity with the strikers. The per-centage recorded in Albay rose to90% on the second day.

In an attempt to suppress thestrike, the Land TransportationFranchising and Regulatory Boardcoerced the Sorsogon TransportFederation to explain before thecourt their strike last September.In Catanduanes, military agentswent to the house of the chair-person of Federation of Virac Tri-cycle Operators and DriversAssociation to purportedly inves-tigate and know the names ofPISTON members.

Various sectoral groups protested in front of the headquarters of the De-partment of National Defense in Quezon City on November 22 to com-

memorate the first year of the implementation of Memorandum Order (MO) 32.They strongly condemned the continuing human rights violations perpetratedby the AFP and PNP.

The most vicious attacks on hu-man rights in Samar, Negros andBicol were perpetrated underDuterte's MO 32 and Executive Or-der 70. MO 32 paved the way forthe deployment of additional policeand military troops in the said prov-inces to purportedly end insur-gency. The said order, however, ac-tually targets activists, humanrights advocates and civilians.

Oplan Sauron 1-3 was imple-mented in Negros and resulted in the

killing of at least 20 civilians and theillegal arrest of many others.

MO 32 is also being used to sowterror in the island of Samar. Ac-cording to Katungod Sinirangan Bi-sayas, 34 cases of extrajudicialkillings have been documented inEastern Visayas. Among thosekilled, 20 were farmers while allothers were local government offi-cials. Around 500 barangays aremilitarized. Last month, the AFPeven bragged about its bombing of

farmlands at Sitio Corong, BarangayCapotoan, Las Navas.

In Bicol, the 9th ID is relent-lessly fabricating lies to make it ap-pear that its counterinsurgencycampaign is succeeding. Simultane-ously, its officials are pocketing mil-lions of funds that are allocated forthe said program. Killings and mili-tarization also continue unabated.

Approximately 30 AFP and PNPbattalions are currently deployed inthe said regions.

Sectoral groups are calling onthe people to unite and oppose MO32 at EO 70.

Similar protests were mounted inBicol, Negros and Panay.

60th IB murders Red fighter hors de combat

THE 60TH IB brutally killed Marjun "Ka Hiker" Casal on November 27 inDavao del Norte. Ka Hiker was a Red commander of the NPA-SouthernMindanao Region (SMR).

Ka Hiker was recuperating afterundergoing a medical operationwhen he was abducted in Tagum Cityon November 13.

His lifeless body was only foundtwo weeks after in Barangay Kapa-tagan, Laak, Compostella Valley onNovember 27. Residents who foundthe cadaver said that the victimbore torture marks on his neck.

To cover up its violation of therules of war, the 60th IB made itappear that Ka Hiker was killed in anencounter. This was contradictory tothe testimony of residents. They saidthat they saw a convoy of the 60thIB entering their barangay on the

same day. The said troopers firedtheir guns to make it appear that anencounter took place.

Another team of soldiers troopedto Purok Tadok on the samebarangay and illegally arrested NiloOstia along with another civilian. Thetwo were falsely accused of beingmembers of the NPA. They are stilldetained until today.

The NPA-SMR paid tribute to KaHiker who served the people and therevolution for 18 years. As a Redcommander, he headed variousunits of the people's army in Davaodel Norte, Compostela Valley andAgusan del Sur.

Resolution against water privatization

BAYAN MUNA REPRESENTATIVES filed a resolution calling for the immediatereview of the privatization concessions of the Metropolitan Waterworks Se-werage System (MWSS) with Manila Water and Maynilad.

This came after the decision is-sued by the Singaporean tribunallast November which favored ManilaWater. In the said decision, the re-actionary government was ordered

to pay P7.83 billion for water ratehikes that have not been allowed bythe MWSS to be implemented since2015.

"Water...," continued on page 8

December 7 , 2019 ANG BAYAN8

Among those lined up for trans-fer are Frank Fernandez and CleofeLagtapon, Adelberto Silva, OliverRosales, Edisel Legaspi, Ireneo Ata-dero, Julio Lusania and Maximo Re-duta who are currently detained atCamp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

On December 4, Kapatid, an or-ganization of political prisoners'relatives, questioned the plan totransfer the detainees to areaswhere their charges are filed. Therelatives said that this scheme fur-ther persecutes political prisioners,who in the first place are detainedillegally. In addition, this will sub-ject the detainees to harsher condi-tions.

In a dialogue held on the sameday, officials of the Bureau of JailManagement and Penology admit-ted that the order was handeddown by Sec. Delfin Lorenzana ofthe Department of National Defense

purportedly through the ExecutiveOrder 70.

Relatedly, the Communist Partyof the Philippines issued a solidaritystatement to all political prisoners,their relatives and supportersacross the country. This was inconjunction with the commemora-tion of the 14th year of the Inter-national Day of Solidarity with Po-litical Prisoners and Prisoners ofWar.

The Party extended its saluta-tion to all the detained who con-tinue to act and advance the call forfor genuine freedom and democ-racy. The Party also called on alldemocratic forces to support andcarry forward the struggle of polit-ical prisoners for freedom in orderfor them to directly participate inthe struggle.

There are currently at least 629political prisoners in the country,

Prison transfer scheme sparks condemnation

Kin and supporters of political prisoners are wary of the plan to transfer theirrelatives in local jails.

382 of whom were arrested underthe US-Duterte regime.

Release Ka Diego Padilla!

The revolutionary movement vehemently condemned the illegal arrest of Jai-me "Ka Diego" Padilla, spokesperson of the New People's Army (NPA)-Sou-

thern Tagalog. Ka Diego, 72, was arrested last November 25 while confined atthe Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City. He was undergoing special-ized medical treatment for his heart ailment.

The Communist Party of thePhilippines (CPP) demanded KaDiego's immediate release and thatthe trumped up charges slappedagainst him be junked. The CPPalso condemned the reactionarystate for prohibiting Ka Diego fromaccessing his lawyers. It said thatthe arrest is a violation of the JointAgreement on Safety and Immu-nity Guarantees as Ka Diego is anNDFP consultant.

Ka Diego's relatives and lawyerscondemned the reactionary state forunderhandedly transferring KaDiego's from Camp Crame in QuezonCity to the San Jose Municipal Jail inMindoro Occidental on November27. He was held incommunicado for

more than 24 hours by the AFP andPNP.

In Rizal, three NPA memberswere slain by joint forces of the 80thIB and PNP-Region IV-A on Decem-ber 5, 1 a.m. The three were killedwhile sleeping in a house at SierraVista Subdivision, Barangay Cupang,Antipolo City. Among those killedduring the incident was Ermin Bellen,popularly known by comrades and themasses as Ka Romano. His compan-ions, Jose Villahermosa and LucioSimburoto, were also killed.

Before the incident, the threehelped in resolving the problemsconfronted by the masses in thearea. To make it appear that theywere killed during an encounter, po-

lice operatives and soldiers plantedguns and explosives at the massacresite.

The Regional Committee of theCPP in Southern Tagalog offered itshighest tribute to the three com-rades who offered their lives in ser-vice to the Filipino people.

Ka Romano served the revolu-tionary movement for 36 years. Be-fore his death, he served as a mem-ber of the Executive Committee ofthe said Regional Committee. He alsoserved as the secretary of the Sub-regional Committee of the Partywhich covered the provinces ofRizal-Quezon and Laguna in previousyears. Under his leadership, revolu-tionary forces advanced in the sub-region by fighting and frustratingvarious military operations.

Ka Romano was also elected as anon-attending delegate of the sec-ond Congress of the Party in 2016.

Rep. Ferdinand Gaite saidthat the concessions must beimmediately reviewed andamended, if not junked, basedon the interest of consumers."These companies are profit-oriented, that is why we haveto nationalize water services,"said Gaite. He asserted thatthe privatization of water ser-vices by the MWSS must bestopped and must be fully reg-ulated, and prioritized by thegovernment.

A research disclosed thatthese companies pass on notonly their corporate taxes toconsumers, but also their ex-penses for operations, sportscompetitions, vacations, andmany others through farehikes.

"Water...," from page 7