"NPA recruiting child warriors" - 28 April 2010

NPA recruiting child warriors

by People's Journal - www.journal.com.ph

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

THE New People’s Army in the Bicol Region is recruiting children aged 10 to 15 with some of them already undergoing orientation on the rebels’ doctrine and training on sniping, assassination, ambuscade and propaganda.

In 2009 alone, 23 teenagers — the youngest being 12 and the oldest 19 — were found to be active NPA combatants. Of the number, 14 voluntarily surrendered, eight were apprehended while one died in an encounter.

In the first quarter of the year, four child combatants from North Cotabato, Quezon, Bulacan, and Compostela Valley were accounted for. Among them is a 15-year-old who aided the NPAs in a landmine attack against a military convoy of the 602nd Brigade. Two others died in combat encounters, while a 14-year-old amazon was among the 13 rebels apprehended by the 25th Infantry Battalion in Salvacion, Monkayo town, Compostela Valley last March 7.

Last year, 24 NPA child combatants availed of livelihood and reintegration projects of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process.

“The CPP-NPA has long been identified as notorious violator of children’s rights. Out of desperation, they are forced to recruit minors. The NPA’s tactic of involving children in armed struggle is worsening. Children are no longer used for supportive missions but being pushed in the forefront as combatants. These children are being drawn into violence, most of whom are too young to resist and understand,” said Brig. Gen. Francisco N. Cruz, Jr., Commander of the Armed Forces-Civil Relations Service.

The children recruits were taught how to fire weapons, gather intelligence reports and act as barangay spotters or informers. Some are being made into spies, cooks, errand boys and girls and assassins. Underage girls are forced to become wives of leaders or abused by fellow cadres.

Recruitment of minors into armed conflict constitutes a war crime. It violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and Republic Act 7610.

The NPA, in recruiting minors, violated its own policy prohibiting the recruitment of minors.

“While the AFP is proactively working to stamp out this grave abuse of children’s rights and rescue them in the clutches of the NPAs, we cannot do this alone. We urge parents to closely supervise their children; and the general public to be vigilant and more cognizant of such condemnable activities. We have to prevent our children from being recruited into the NPA’s valleys of horrors where violence and abuse become the backdrop of a child combatant’s life,” said Cruz.

"Communist rebels kill one in extortion bid in Mindanao" - 26 April 2010 (Monday)

Communist rebels kill one in extortion bid in Mindanao

The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net

Monday, 26 April 2010

DAVAO: Communist rebels killed a government militiaman on Sunday in the latest incident of guerillas attempting to extort money from Philippine election candidates, police said.

Three militiamen and an undetermined number of rebels were also wounded in the clash in Santa Cruz town, in the southern island of Mindanao, said provincial police Director Ronald de la Rosa.

The gun battle broke out as the militiamen—trained and equipped by the military to defend their communities—were investigating a tip that the rebels were waiting for extortion payments from a politician running in the May 10 national elections, the police official said.

De la Rosa did not identify the politician or say if the money had been delivered.

The New People’s Army (NPA) has been extorting money from election candidates, demanding that they pay anywhere between P5,000 and P20 million or their campaigners will be attacked, the military said.

This has led to more clashes between government forces and the rebels in recent months, including the killing of four policemen in an ambush as they were checking on NPA extortion activities near Manila on Tuesday.

The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969.

The military said recently the NPA’s strength had fallen from a peak of more than 26,000 in 1987 to below 5,000 currently.

However they remain a potent force and the communist insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives over the past decade, according to the military.

The military said last month the communists were set to rake in millions of dollars from such extortion tactics ahead of the elections.

AFP

"4 SAF Commandos die in Rizal ambush" and related articles - 21 April 2010 (Wednesday)

4 SAF commandos die in Rizal ambush

By Aaron B. Recuenco and Nel B. Andrade

Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Four members of the police's elite Special Action Force (SAF) were killed while seven others, including two civilians, were wounded in an early morning ambush Tuesday in a remote area in Baras, Rizal, police and military officials said.

Both the police and military tagged the New People's Army (NPA) as responsible for the deadly ambush, which is considered to have the biggest number of casualty in a single combat on the part of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in its antiinsurgency operation this year.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said a team of SAF troopers from the 34th SAF Company were checking on the reported presence of armed men in a remote area near the boundary of Baras town and Antipolo City at around 6 a.m. when the incident occurred.

Espina said the SAF Defender vehicle carrying at least nine police commandos actually ran over a landmine planted by the rebels in the middle of the road in Kaysakat Road, Barangay Paenaan in Baras town. About 20 to 30 rebels, who were in ambush position, began shooting them after the landmine explosion.

“Evidence of a landmine explosion and exploded grenade were present at the scene,” said Espina.

The slain SAF commandos were identified as Police Officers 1 Rami Baddungon, Jesus Moral, Johnald Tapitan, and Clifford Bacwaden.

The wounded cops who were immediately taken to the Camp Crame Hospital were PO2 Joey Mangawit, PO1s Lito Babling, Indri Majaluddin, Ronnie Baroga, and Alvin Infanta.

“Two civilians were also reportedly wounded,” said Senior Superintendent Jonathan Miano, provincial director of the Rizal Provincial Police Office, adding that two civilians were seen in company with the ambushed cops prior to the incident.

Two SAF commandos were earlier reported to be missing but officials said they are now all accounted for. SAF commandos are highly-trained police personnel and are the ones being used in the frontline of the PNP's anti-insurgency and anti-terrorism campaign.

After the clash, the rebels reportedly took nine M16 rifles from the policemen and even burned the vehicle of the SAF troopers.

But Espina said there was undetermined number of casualties on the side of the attacking NPA fighters, what with the traces of blood in the escape routes of the rebels.

“We believe that those responsible are the dissident terrorists, the area is mountainous and the NPA is known to be operating in the area,” said Espina.

Colonel Aurelio Baladad, commander of the 202nd Brigade, said the ambush was perpetrated by at least 20 to 30 communist rebels armed with high-powered firearms.

“It's the NPA, it was a landmine ambush,” said Baladad in a phone interview.

“They want to show that they are a force to reckon with during the elections,” he added.

Both the police and the military have been accusing the NPA of raking in millions of money through Permit to Campaign (PTC) and Permit to Win (PTW) fees they allegedly demand from local and national candidates.

A lot of harassments were already attributed to the NPA across the country in the past days, all the victims were local candidates whom they would allegedly abduct, disarmed, and warned that something will happen on them if they enter NPA territory to campaign without paying PTC.

Both Espina and Baladad said pursuit operations are now being conducted against the fleeing rebels in the mountainous area of Antipolo City and nearby towns.

“We have deployed more policemen in the area, from SAF, Regional Mobile Group, Provincial Police Office and Rizal Provincial Mobile Group to hunt down the perpetrators,” said Espina.

“We will conduct pursuit operations and offensive operations in the area so that there will be elections on May 10,” said Baladad for his part.

The NPA has been waging armed conflict with the government for the past four decades, making it the longest insurgency problem in the world.

Security officials have been trying to reduce the NPA fighting force to what they termed as insignificant number as part of their objective to defeat the rebel group before President

Arroyo steps down on June 30. So far, they said the number of NPA has already been reduced to a little over 3,000 over the country from its peak of 25,000 in the 1980s.

4 cops killed, 6 hurt in Rizal ambush

By Marlon Ramos, DJ Yap

Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.com

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

FOUR MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL ACTION FORCE (SAF) OF THE Philippine National Police were killed while five others were wounded when suspected communist rebels detonated a land mine and then opened fire on the government troops in Baras, Rizal, Tuesday morning.

Director Leocadio Santiago, Special Action Force (SAF) commander, identified the slain policemen as Police Officers 1 Jesus Moral, Clifford Bacwaden, Johnald Tapitan and Ramil Badungon.

Wounded were Police Officers 1 Idris Madjaluddin, Ronnie Baroga, Arvin Infanta and Lito Pabliing and PO2 Joey Mangawit.

A civilian identified as Lourdes de Rosa, 39, was also hurt during the firefight.

Santiago said the wounded SAF troopers were immediately taken to the Philippine National Police Hospital in Camp Crame.

He narrated that the nine-man team from the SAF’s 3rd Special Action Battalion was on its way to the unit’s headquarters in Taguig City when they were tipped off about the presence of armed men in Sitio Kaysakat, Barangay San Jose.

A land mine suddenly exploded as the policemen, who were on a Defender truck, were searching a forested portion of the area at around 6 a.m.

“The SAF vehicle was razed by fire after it set off a land mine apparently planted by the rebels,” Rizal police chief, Senior Supt. Jonathan Ferdinand Miano, said.

He added that there were also signs of a grenade explosion in the area.

Santiago said four of the policemen were killed instantly while their colleagues were wounded when they engaged the still undetermined number of New People’s Army in a brief gunfight.

The rebels managed to seize nine M16 assault rifles before fleeing toward Baras town.

“My men were not familiar with the area. They went there after residents sought their help when they saw several armed men,” Santiago told the Inquirer on the phone.

He immediately ordered an investigation to find out if the SAF troopers committed operational lapses.

“If my men had indeed failed to observe some operational procedures, they would be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

4 SAF men killed, 5 hurt in NPA ambush

By Non Alquitran

The Philippine Star – www.philstar.com

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - Four members of the Special Action Force (SAF), the fighting unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP), were killed while five others were wounded in an ambush staged by communist rebels in Antipolo City, Rizal yesterday morning.

Senior Superintendent Jonathan Miano, Rizal police director, identified the slain SAF members as PO1s Rami Baddungon, Jesus Moral, Johnald Tapitan, and Clifford Bacwadin.

Those wounded were PO1s Lito Babling, Indri Majaluddin, Ronnie Baroga, and Alvin Infanta, and PO2 Joey Mangawi. They were rushed to the PNP General Hospital at Camp Crame.

Miano said the policemen belonged to the 34th Special Action Command of the 3rd SAF Battalion based in Baras, Rizal.

The SAF men were on board their “defender vehicle” on their way to their main headquarters at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City when they got information on the presence of armed men in Barangay San Jose.

Miano said the SAF vehicle was cruising Kaysakat Road in Sitio Kaysakat, Barangay San Jose when their vehicle hit a landmine believed planted by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels at around 6 a.m.

The guerrillas then opened fire. But SAF members who survived the first volley of gunfire shot it out for several minutes until the rebels withdrew.

Miano said joint police and Army units responded to the scene but the NPA attackers had long been gone when they arrived.

Police recovered fragments of a landmine and grenades at the ambush site.

Miano said tracks left by the NPA rebels showed that they had been in the area since Monday night apparently waiting for their targets.

Miano said they were conducting hot pursuit operations against the retreating guerrillas. – With Arnell Ozaeta and Cecille Suerte Felipe

Four policemen killed, seven injured in NPA ambush

The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Four troopers of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force were killed after a landmine planted by New People’s Army (NPA) exploded in Sitio Kaysakat, Barangay San Jose, Baras, Rizal, at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Jonathan Miano of Rizal said the fatalities were Police Officer 1 Rami Baddungon, Police Officer 1 Jesus Moral, Police Officer 1 Johnald Tapitan and Police Officer 1 Clifford Bacwaden. Those wounded were Police Officer 1 Lito Babling, Police Officer 2 Joey Mangawit, Police Officer 1 Indri Majaluddin, Police Officer 1 Ronnie Baroga and Police Officer 1 Alvin Infanta, who are are being treated at Camp Crame General Hospital.

The well-planned ambush, according to the military, was a show of force before next month’s national elections.

The NPA guerrillas threw grenades at the police vehicle carrying the nine police commandos and two civilians after it ran over a landmine along an isolated road, local police chief Jonathan Miano said.

“The vehicle was completely razed,” said Miano. He said four of the policemen were killed immediately.

Local military commander Col. Aurelio Baladad said it was likely the ambush was intended to intimidate people ahead of the May 10 elections.

“They [the communists] want to show that they are a force to be reckoned with during the elections,” he said.

The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969.

The military said recently the NPA’s strength had fallen from a peak of more than 26,000 in 1987 to below 5,000 currently.

However, they remain a potent force and the communist insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives over the past decade, according to the military.

The rebels are also well known to go on fundraising drives during election periods by charging candidates for “permits” to campaign in rebel-infested areas.

The military said last month the communists were set to rake in millions of dollars from such extortion tactics ahead of the elections.

Candidates are being asked to pay anywhere between P5,000 and P20 million ($110 and $435,000) or their campaigners will be attacked, the military said.

The guerrillas are well known to use deadly enforcement measures.

Communist rebels killed three soldiers who were trying to stop NPA members collect money from political campaigners in the southern city of Davao early this month, according to the military.

President Gloria Arroyo had vowed to neutralize the communist insurgent movement before her term ends in June of this year.

But while government forces have cleared several regions of insurgents during her 10 years in power, the rebels remain active in the hinterlands and maintain grassroot support.

In one controversial move to tackle the communists, the military in February arrested 43 health workers attending a medical seminar, charging they were undergoing NPA training.

Church and human rights groups have criticized the military for continuing to hold them without putting them on trial.

AFP and Roselle Aquino

"DoJ order to clear 2 Ampatuans assailed", "Nograles prods Commission on Human Rights on Davao slay report" 19 April 2010 (Monday)

DoJ order to clear 2 Ampatuans assailed

Protesters suspect ‘collusion’

By Christine Avendaño, Dona Pazzibugan

Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.net

Monday, April 19, 2010

MANILA, Philippines-A Justice Department move to drop murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan who were previously implicated in the Maguindanao massacre has reaped a whirlwind of protests.

One senator lambasted the action of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra as pure hogwash. Others suspected it was done in exchange for votes for President Macapagal-Arroyo’s candidates in the May 10 elections, while one lawyer said it proved the victims of the massacre would not get justice under the present administration.

A Roman Catholic Church official, Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, said one could not help but suspect “a collusion” between the administration and the Ampatuans.

The protests were sparked by Agra’s order to state prosecutors to drop the murder indictments against Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Mayor Akmad Ampatuan Sr.

The two officials are among 197 people facing charges of murder for the massacre of 57 people—including 32 media workers—in an ambush in Maguindanao province in November last year.

A total of 23 members of the Ampatuan clan have been charged with murder. Six of them are now detained, including the patriarch, Andal Sr., and his sons—Andal Jr., Zaldy and Sajid, who is acting governor of Maguindanao.

‘Terribly fishy’

Bracing himself for the backlash from his unpopular decision, Agra said the government would still pursue the rebellion cases against Zaldy Ampatuan and more than 100 other relatives and supporters charged in those cases.

The rebellion charges were previously dismissed by a Quezon City judge for lack of probable cause.

Malacañang yesterday also tried to shield itself from the whirlwind.

“It is obscene to insinuate that the President would interfere for any kind of political or personal reason in the legal proceedings of a heinous crime like the Maguindanao massacre,” President Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson Gary Olivar said on radio dzBB.

Olivar said Ms Arroyo’s critics should “confine any debate to questions of law and fact.”

He added: “Campaign politics … should not be raked up in this tragic affair.”

Maverick Sen. Joker Arroyo deplored the “unbecoming haste” with which the government dropped the charges against the two Ampatuans, and said he found it “terribly fishy.”

In a statement, Arroyo assailed Agra for saying that Zaldy Ampatuan could go free if the judge trying the case would agree. “This is a lot of hogwash,” he said.

Also enraged was Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who said Agra’s move was “suspicious” because it involved a political ally of Ms Arroyo and it was done with the elections just around the corner.

Pimentel said it would have been more “prudent” for the DOJ to allow the courts to clear the Ampatuans and not itself take the initiative of doing so.

In exchange for votes?

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Liberal Party campaign manager, condemned the Arroyo administration and said: “Is this a deliberate move meant to free a political kingpin in order to deliver the votes to Arroyo’s anointed come May 2010?”

Pangilinan described the DOJ decision as “rotten to the core, a shameless whitewash of the highest order.”

Bishop Iñiguez, who heads the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said it was natural to have apprehensions about Agra’s decision.

“We can’t be stopped from having doubts that there might be a collusion between the Ampatuans and the government. It’s possible that Governor Ampatuan is an ally of the government, which is why he was cleared in the case,” Iñiguez said in an interview on Radio Veritas.

“The decision dropping murder charges against them was so sly and done on a weekend when no one was looking,” said Harry Roque, a private prosecutor representing some of the victims’ families. “It is so brazen and shows that justice will not be reached in this administration.”

Agra said Zaldy Ampatuan should be held liable for rebellion.

“We already filed a motion for reconsideration (of the Quezon City court’s dismissal of the rebellion cases) … We are standing by our findings that there was rebellion in the province and Governor Zaldy was involved,” Agra said.

Agra said his decision to exclude Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan from the murder case was not influenced by the Ampatuans’ supposed close ties with Ms Arroyo.

“I based my decision on records before me and not because of that,” he said. “I also would like to think this will not affect the charges against the other accused in the multiple murder case.”

He said there was no strong proof that Zaldy and Akmad were part of the conspiracy to kill the members of the rival Mangudadatu clan and the journalists.

Zaldy said he was in Davao City on Nov. 23, the day of the massacre, and left for Manila the same day to meet with Ms Arroyo and Muslim politicians. With reports from Leila B. Salaverria, Gil Cabacungan and AFP

With reports from Leila B. Salaverria, Gil Cabacungan and AFP

Nograles prods Commission on Human Rights on Davao slay report

By Jess Diaz

The Philippine Star – www.philstar.com

Monday, April 19, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Prospero Nograles urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday to “come out strongly” with its report on its investigation into unsolved killings in Davao City.

The latest victims were two campaigners of the party-list groups Bantay of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and Anad (Alliance for National Democracy) of Pastor Alcover.

The two were abducted by armed men and later found dead.

Bantay and Anad have linked incumbent Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to the death of the two campaigners, but the mayor denied the accusation.

He said if he were to abduct people associated with the two party-list groups, it would be Palparan and Alcover, who have accused the mayor of supporting communist rebels in his city.

Nograles is running for mayor against Duterte’s daughter Sara, the incumbent vice mayor. The mayor, on the other hand, is running as his daughter’s vice mayoral teammate.

"'Morong 43 just want to get public attention'", "Govt troops capture NPA camp...", "Former police chief accuses Davao mayor..." - April 16, 2010

'Morong 43 just want to get public attention'

By Alexis Romero

The Philippine Star – www.philstar.com

Friday, April 16, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Army is unfazed by the supposed fasting of the “Morong 43,” branding it as a mere attempt to gain public attention.

“The alleged fasting and other theatrics to dramatize the case are meant to gain the attention of the public who is already fed up with these antics and lies in pursuing their revolutionary struggle as NPA (New People’s Army) members,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a statement,

“The massive effort to agitate the courts and sway public opinion is an old NPA tactic driven by fear and paranoia since the cases filed against them have prospered in the courts,” he added.

Torres said the suspected rebels are given full meals and have more than enough stock of food.

He added that the rights of the suspects, who are detained at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, are being respected.

Torres noted that five of the suspects have admitted that they are NPA rebels and have availed themselves of the government’s amnesty program.

This means that they have returned to the fold of the law and are no longer supporting the communist movement, he said.

Supporters of the “Morong 43” said the suspects are now fasting to protest their delayed transfer to the police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Govt troops capture NPA camp in North Cotabato

By Al Jacinto

The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net

Friday, 16 April 2010

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Philippine soldiers captured an encampment of communist rebels after a firefight Thursday in North Cotabato province in the troubled southern island of Mindanao, officials said.

Officials said the fighting forced the New People’s Army rebels to abandon the camp in the hinterland village of New Israel in Makilala town. “The fighting lasted for about 10 minutes and the rebels fled leaving behind assorted materials in the manufacture of improvised explosives,” said Army Lt. Col. Bernie Langub, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion.

He said the camp has nine bunkers and foxholes and that troops recovered provisions and military uniforms.

“The presence of a battery switch, detonation cords, improvised explosives and 150 meters of electrical wires are proof that the NPA is a terrorist group behind the spate of attacks in Cotabato,” Langub said.

There were no reports of casualties in the fighting, but the province is a known lair of communist rebels blamed for the series of ambuscades and attacks on security forces in North Cotabato.

Rebel forces this month also killed a government soldier and wounded seven more in separate attacks in Montevista town in Compostela Valley province and in the town of Magpet in North Cotabato province.

Last month, rebels also attacked a military detachment in the village of Luz in North Cotabato’s M’lang town and killed a government militia and wounded two more before ransacking an army detachment and seized 35 assorted high-powered weapons.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a communist state in the country.

Former police chief accuses Davao mayor of funding NPAs

By Jomar Canlas

The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net

Friday, 16 April 2010

A retired police colonel accused Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City of giving P140 million annually to the communist insurgents.

In a press conference in Quezon City, former Philippine National Police Intelligence chief Eduardo Matillano also accused Duterte of giving P375,000 a month to the New People’s Army (NPA).

Matillano said that a memorandum was issued by the rebel group’s Pambansang Komisyon sa Pinansya containing the funding agreement between the NPA and the mayor.

He told The Manila Times that he was able to intercept the memorandum revealing the secret deal. He said that Duterte began providing financial assistance to the insurgents in 2001 when he was reelected as mayor of the southern Philippine city.

Representative Jun Alcover Jr. said in a press conference that Duterte, who is on his third and last term as mayor, is using the communist movement to advance his political interest.

“He is using the NPA to further his political ambition in Davao,” said Alcover.

Matillano stressed that another memorandum was issued by the NPA’s Pambansang Koman sa Operasyon, dated March 8, 2010, ordering the formation of the 250-strong Integrated Tactical Force for the electoral race in Davao City.

These insurgents will be augmented by 50 “elite-forces” from the NPA’s National Operations Command with expertise in bombing and terrorism, said Matillano, a Puerto Princesa City mayoral candidate.

He also cited the same document supposedly seized from the communists, Matillano said the NPA guerrillas were ordered to launch ambuscades, harassments and bombing activities.

When asked if the authenticity of the recovered documents allegedly from the NPA rebels had been verified, Matillano said: “These have been verified by assets.” He did not disclose who these assets are, saying only that they are within the NPA ranks.

“We would like to show the connection of Duterte with the NPA,” Alcover said when asked by media members why they were disclosing this now, just days after reports came out about Duterte’s support for Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd.

“This is a national security matter, which is not entirely political,” Alcover said.