The NPA carries out a military operation in the province of Abra to punish AFP

One AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) soldier was killed yesterday, the 27th of June, by the the Agustin Begnalen Command of the New People’s Army – Abra. The military operation took place in Sitio Mangmangga, Barangay Naguillan, Sallapadan, in the northern province of Abra, and was done to punish the AFP for the crimes it constantly commits against the people. Another soldier from the 102IB was also injured.

The 24th Infantry Battalion of the AFP is conducting military actions that disrupt the productive actions of the people, and constantly harass people it suspects to be supporters of the NPA. In addition to this the so-called Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of the State is showing clearly to be false, bringing nothing but suffering to the people in Abra. The CARP was introduced by the administration of president Aquino in 1987, with the premise of redistributing land to landless peasants and farm workers. This has been continued by different administrations since then, latest by the current president Marcos Jr., who is going to sign a new ”Agrarian Emancipation Program” bill in July. This new law would ”empower” those who have benefited from the CARP through ”support services and credit facilities”, promising that those who receive land through the program in the future will receive it without debt. As all the earlier bills in the sphere of the CARP, this would not do anything to break the rule of the big landlords. Despite this ongoing ”comprehensive” land reform, peasants still suffer from the rule of the big landlords and monopolies, burdened by high land rent, costs of fertilizers and pesticides as well as high interests on their rents. Many peasants also have to move to cities to work in low-paying and dangerous jobs.

Also in other parts of the Philippines the struggle continues. Lately on the 16th of June, five combatants of the NPA, Ka Adonis/Do/Dolly/Dodo”, “Ka Kiya/ Apol/April”, “Ka Chippy/Raffy/Maleya”, “Ka Renz” and “Ka Mitz/Third were martyred in an aerial bombing by the AFP. The NPA Agusan del Norte denounces this as a vain attempt to destroy the revolution, highlighting the paper tiger character of the enemy. In Negros Oriental, the 62nd Infantry Battalion massacred residents of Sitio Cansampo, Barangay Bagtik, La Libertad, Negros Oriental on June 23rd by firing around randomly. Also in Masbate the AFP has continued its genocidal actions. In Sityo Abanggan, Barangay San Carlos, Milagros, a man working on a road was killed, and on the 16th of June a minor was killed in the town of Dimasalang. During this time there has also been attempted killings of peasants and of a barangay chief. In the first mentioned case the murdered man was an active member of an poor peasants’ association, which has lately strongly opposed the expansion plans of the foreign company Filminera-Masbate Gold Project in the area. The NPA calls to intensify the armed struggle to make the enemy pay for its crimes.