Update of actions in the People’s War in the Philippines. It is one year since the murder of Ka Benito and Ka Wilma
Actions in the ongoing People’s War in the Philippines continue. These actions are done by the New People’s Army (NPA), the revolutionary army of the country. We have reported on actions done previously.
On 22nd of August, death penalty of Levy Sanoy by NPA was executed after the decision of the Revolutionary People’s Court in La Libertad, Negros Oriental. Sanoy was a big landlord that also collaborated with PULAHAN group. This groups was used to increase the force of the Philippine’s National Police (PNP) and the 62º Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He was also a spy that reported regularly on the actions of the NPA to the 62º Infantry Battalion. After being warned on the consequences of his anti-people’s policies in 2022, he continued with this attitude, ending in conducting his sentence.
Also it was reported that the Croselyn Jean Pelle Command of NPA in the section of Northern Negros did a successful ambush against the counter-insurgent local police force on past 9th of August. After the ambush, the guerrillas came back without any casualties and with a vast armament of high-powered firearms, intelligence documents and materials, mobile phones and identification cards.
NPA denounced the mercenary character of the 91º Infantry Battalion of the AFP in the province of Aurora. Those suffered two attacks done by NPA, causing seven killed as the masses of the area declare. However, NPA did not have any losses. According to the report of the comrades that participated in the fight, a big percentage of the bullets that killed the troops of the old State came from their own troops, what precipitated that they invented more attacks to be able to justify the waste of munition. They even detonated explosives without any objective so it appears to be more real. NPA asks the common soldiers, those who has not participated in anti-people’s actions, to investigate the corruption and the hide of the facts. They add: “For the AFP, it is easy to change a salaried soldier among the many unemployed youths and Filipino families who are mired in extreme poverty and hunger.”
Also, NPA denounces different crimes against the people by AFP: the detention on 7th of August of Romero Balsimo, peasant of 60 years accused of being part of NPA. His son, Nono Balsimo was also persecuted and tortured on July and obligated to say that he was member of NPA or militia unities. This is not the only attack against peasants. On 4th of August, a peasant was detained because of flashlight hidden soldiers while he was irrigate. He was humiliated and then his rice plantation was destroyed. In the same area, in Labo Mountains, peasants were detained and their properties damaged. Also, bomb tests were done in the southern of Negros Occidental on 15th August, where neighbors had to leave mandatory. NPA denounced that this serves the interest of the comprador-bourgeoisie and to big landlords because this makes easier to exploit the land. For example, in one of the affected areas, Candoni, a cultivation of more than 6,000 hectares will be done for bamboo cultivation.
The Napoleon Tumagtang Command – New People’s Army Southern Panay strongly condemns the brutal abduction and killing of two comrades, Jenny “Ka Hope” Fariolan and John Eric “Ka Blue” Talibo. They where attacked when they were disarmed and they were not in a guerrilla area. Those crimes are the revenge of the 61º Infantry Battalion and the 301st Bde PA after the successful attacks in Barangay Camandag, León, Iloilo, where AFP lost four dead and three injured.
On 20th of August the first anniversary of the murder of the comrades Ka Laan and Ka Bagong-ta, together with their eight comrades that scarified their life to serve the people, was commemorated. They where captured while they where disarmed, tortured and murdered, and later their cadavers where destroyed to hide what really happened. A fake report was done, simulating that they was an encounter in the sea and ended in an exchange of bullets. For more than thirty years they led the Central Committee and the New People’s Army. Dedicating their lives to the people and the oppressed masses, “We who are left behind vow to continue what you have started and ensure the success of the people’s war”, adds the report of NPA.
