On the corner of Cagayan del Oro City's Tiano and Del Pilar Streets a band of Higaon-on Lumad ("Lumad" being the generic one size fits all label for Animist Hilltribes of Malayan stock on Mindanao) encamped on Thursday, September 1st, 2011. Leaving their homes in Bukidnon Province they travelled all the way to Misamis Oriental Province to hold a vigil outside the premises of NCIP-10, or the National Commission for Indigenous People Office for Region #10 in order to protest what they adamantly maintain is a bogus FIPC by Ernesto Villalon, ex-Mayor of Kibawe, a small municipality in Bukidnon Province and among other things, a cattle rancher in the neighbouring municipality of Malmag. FIPC, or Free and Informed Priar Consent is a pre-requisite before a lease, or tenement is given for the exploitation of natural resources. Overseen by the NCIP who in theory acts as the advocate for the Lumads who obstensibly hold the power to give, or withold, their signature to any perspective FPIC.
According to a Leftist peasant organisation, Panalsalan Dagumba'an Tribal Association, or PADATA in shorthand, that FPIC had been rendered by a group having nothing to do with the land in question. PADATA's 500-odd members are all Higaon-on and Ta'alandig Tribesmen whereas the signatories to the FPIC, the Barangay Captains of Barangays Dagumba'an and Panalsalan and a female chief, Bae Victoria Jakosalem Pangahin are Manobo Tribesmen and therefore, "not of that place." According to PADATA the Manobo are not originally from that immediate area although Bae Pangahin is the daughter of a reknowned and infamous Manobo chieftain, the late Datu Antonio "Salem" Jackosalem whose clan has farmed the immediate area at least since the first Bisaya settlement was founded in the 1840s. PADATA meanwhile can only prove a presence there dating from the 1990s with a direct connection to the Villalon Tenement merely dating to the Summer of 2008 when the organisation sponsored one hundred of its members in an infiltration of the ranch.
Using "grave hunger" as its raison d'etre the hundred farmers staked out a clearing atop a rocky promontory in the middle of the 480 hectare ranch. Quickly pitching plastic tarps as "homes" and sharing a single carabao (water buffalo) as a beast of burden to plow a 5 hectare plot in which they intended to raise corn the farmers attempted to re-write history, a common pursuit on this strife torn island. As their primary rationale for "taking possesion" of the ENTIRE ranch they arrogantly told anyone who would listen that because the Villalon Tenement, FGLMA #1816, of Forest Grazing Land Management Agreement #1816, expired in 1997, and because Villalon had failed to promptly renew his agreement, the land within that tenement had reverted to Public Lands. Moreover, as Indigenous People they are given automatic preference in any competitive application process so that EVEN IF Villalon subsequently decided to apply for an agreement renewal PADATA's applications for that land would be given first priority. However, PADATA was a bit slow on the uplink...
Ernesto Villalon is perhaps best known as the politician who sat in the centre of a legal precedent concerning Electoral Fraud. In the 1967 Elections Villalon ran against the incumbent, Mayor Arturo Serina in the municipality of Kibawe, immediately adjacent to the town of Malmag, wherein lies the tenement I am discussing. Villalon had bribed the Municipal Treasurer who was doing double duty as the town's Municipal Election Officer. As Election Officer this gentleman was given sealed ballot boxes from all of the municipality's voting precincts. Opening the ballot boxes he would then tally each vote and record it on an official form from which the higher officials within the electoral system would declare the winner. An alert town official however noticed that the Election Officer of Kibawe had already filled in the tally for Precinct #20, despite the fact that that ballot box had not even been picked up yet, much less delivered.
In those dark lonely days before the advent of affordable computers the written word held much more sway. The Election Officer had signed off on the overall tally with the endgame having been succesful in getting Villalon into office as the new Mayor of Kibawe. Naturally outgoing Mayor Serina didn't take this news lightly and wasted no time at all in petitioning the Courts to have the election results from Kibawe vacated and Villalon removed from office. The two politicians wasted each others' time and that of the Philippine Courts up until the mid-1970s and while Villalon managed to win re-election the rivalry turned Kibawe into yet another Mindanowan cliche, a pissant backwater town beset by politically inspired paramilitary violence.
Like most such rilvaries it ended up fading into obscurity as a new generation of greedy and bloodthirsty politicians came of age and strong armed themselves onto the Philippine political stage (I can even blog in verse! Perhaps I should try Haiku?). For his part, ex-Mayor Villalon concentrated on his farming interests which of course brings us back to the present and the "disputed" Villalon Tenement.
PADATA is but one of an umpteenth number of like minded peasant organisations who together form the "Alyansa Bukidon," or the Bukidon Alliance. The Alliance serves as an umbrella group directly reporting to Task Force Malapad, an organisation billing itself as an NGO devoted to advocating for landless peasants. In truth TF Malapad is a constituent organisation of the NDFP, or National Democratic Front of the Philippines, itself an umbrella organisation created by the Communist Party of the Philippines, or as it is commonly referred to, the CPP. Founded in 1974 the NDFP was designed to help the CPP retain its premier role in the Philippine Left as the CPP had been declared illegal at the end of the last decade by then-Dictator Fredinand Marcos who saw the CPP and its armed wing the NPA or New Peoples Army, as the nation's pre-eminent threat.
At the turn of the 21st Century the NPA's Northcentral Mindanao Regional Committee, or NCMRC sought to expand and solidify its mass base of support and concentrated on southern Bukidnon Province as the key sector in which to concentrate this effort, enter PADATA, stage left. With the group's infiltration of the tenement in 2008 an inevitable confrontation had been set in motion. Practically no tenement on Mindanao, whether for agri-business as with Mr.Villalon, logging, or even mining is entirely bereft of "Informal Settlers," the Philippine Government's Politically Correct label for rank squatters, thieves of land, resources, and in the end initiative and energy that may have been invested in any paricular tract. Usually though a Tenement holder will come to a mutually beneficial agreement if not ignoring them outright.
The 2008 infiltration didn't take place without a lot of forethought and posturing taking place with regard to a winnable strategy. Therefore Villalon was generally aware of PADATA's ill intentions and so was jolted out of his complacency and finally re-filed his application for renewal of the tenement. After his initial FGLMA lapsed in 1998 Villalon carried on unperturbed in the least. It wasn't until 2002 that Villalon began breaking out of his inertia as the Alyansa Bukidnon began concentrating on tenement holders in the Kulkul Mountains. In 2003 Villalon filed for his re-newal only to have it fall through the cracks as is so often the case on Mindanao. Satisfied that he had met the legal onus Villalon then concentrated on his cattle operation.
By 2007 PADATA was on his doorstep and with more than a modicum of urgency Villalon re-filed his application for renewal. It was months later that Padata sponsored the aforementioned infiltration and significantly upped the ante. In 2008 PADATA itself applied for a CBFMA, or Community Based Forest Management Agreement for an 800-odd hectare tract that encompassed all of the Villalon Tenement. Citing the causes I touched upon earlier in this entry, severe hunger and the farmers' status as Indigenous People. Just as with all permiting, liscencing and Governmant involved contracting PADATA's application lethargicaly began its long climb through the Philippine bureaucracy but Villalon had had a considerable headstart. In early 2010 Villalon Ranch received its new FGLMA, good until 2035.
Now desperate PADATA filed for a CAD, or Certificate of Ancestral Domain, the first step in a process that would, if sucessful, offer PADATA, via a member acting as a claimant, Title over a tract of land that would- just as with their CBFMA- encompass the Villalon Ranch Tenement. However it is of little import to Villalon since the now elderly rancher cannot be forced out of the Tenement until 2035 and because its issued to his privately held corporation, Villalon Ranch, the Tenement will remain in his family's control after his death.
Knowing that they have little or no chance of gaining total control of the land, PADATA has taken its fight to the media and as shoddy as the Philippine Media is it has served them very well. There is no pretence of objectivity in the Philippines. Journalists here either do as their publishers instruct then or, as is usually the case, seek out a soundbite and concentrate on who says the most. In this case the Villalon Clan will say absolutely nothing. PADATA however is an efficient cog in an extremely well oiled machine. The parent organisation, TF Mapalad, Left of Lenin (or in this case Mao) is quite adept at propaganda bordering on histronics.
Bukidnon, especially the southern portion of the province bordering on North Cotabato Province is largely un-Titled, full of Public Land entirely devoid of tenements such as the FGLMA at the centre of this land dispute. It is an under populated area so that in reality a group representing "landless peasants" whould have no difficulty whatsoever in finding arable land sufficiently suited for any demographic. To try and shove their way into an existing tenement is nothing more than a headline grabbing stunt. As noted, Ernesto Villalon is no angel but that is neither here nor there. I mean, if we are going to be absolutely factual the NPA has mass graves all over the island and its Kampayang Aho (Garlic Campaign, discussed in my recent "NPA Armed Contacts for the Third Quarter" entry covering the resurgence of Front 4B discussed it in detail) was concentrated in THIS part of the island. All the shtick about "big compradores" (landlords) and "enemies of the people" and "counter revolutionaries living off the lifeblood of the people" is nonsense. The Left is just as corrupt as the Right and has done just as much harm to people on BOTH sides. In fact, THAT can't even be said of the Right who only target the Left...
The 2010 Push concentrated on a mixed bag of "class enemies." By infiltrating a tenement held by the Del Monte Corporation the "Alyansa Bukidnon" was able to exercise a neat sleight of hand that had people concentrating on "evil multi-national corporations" while local businessman were extored to the nth degree in order to avoid being targetted by the CPP/NPA's multi-sectoral front lapdogs, like PADATA. Villalon was of course targeted during the Push with "Indigenous farmers at risk of losing their land" coming under gunfire from "goons" who for my two centavos must be the worst shots in the world to miss each and every one of the "peasants" crowding into a tiny tent city that is supposed to represent an "established settlement" inside the Villalon Tenement.
Indeed, these "persecuted" farmers were able to farm corn in a fenced in section of what is legally supposed to be a cattle ranch. In fact, PADATA was so successful in this endeavour that by August of 2011 a third corn crop was ready for harvest. Villalon engaged PADATA in a series of public dialogues, "Forums" as they are commonly called in the Philippines, to try and minimise friction and prevent any violent confrontations, knowing that "peasants harvesting corn to feed their starving families" could only lead to a propaganda nightmare IF Villalon and his men even attempted to prevent it.
Fast forward to Agust 24th, 2011 and the forum in question, where PADATA members were politely asked to leave all weapons and bags at a central point away from the actual meeting site. The media reported the shooting death of Welcie Gica as yet another poor landless peasant murdered by goons in the employ of landed gentry. Facts however, as I hope I have shown, paint a very different picture. Perhaps the larger tragedy is Mr.Gica having died in vain. His death changes nothingon either side. PADATA and by relation the CPP/NPA/NDFP are just as predatory and just as callous as they ever were. Mr.Villalon and his family STILL control 480 hectares (well 475 when one subtracts the 5 hectares consigned to the PADATA thugs) and will do so until at least 2035. What a waste.
Showing posts with label NDFP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NDFP. Show all posts
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
GPH-NDFP Peace Process,Second Quarter of 2011,Part III:Focus Forums are the Flavour of the Day
In the Summer of 2008 the Government of the Philippines (GPH) came within a milimeter of finally bring at least a temporary intermission to the nation's then 36 year old Islamic Insurgency.That this brief reprieve would have ended up tearing the nation asunder mattered little to then President Gloria M.Arroyo who only operated out of avarice and egotism,in that order.Since coming to power in a coup in 2001 Madame Arroyo had obsessed over the Islamic Separatism that has left Mindanao the poorest region in an incredibly poor nation.The"solution"was a document now known as the MoA-AD,or Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
Non-Muslim warlords on Mindanao got wind of a very low key set of under the table negotiations taking place in Kuala Lampur,Malaysia.Moreover they were informed that the Arroyo Government was just about to sign away the bulk of non-Muslim lands in Central and Western Mindanao.These powerbrokers,Mayors Celso Lobregat (Zamboanga City),Lawrence Cruz (Iligan City),and Vice Governor Emmanuel"Manny"Pinol of North Cotabato Province pulled strings in Manila and got the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the signing of the document pending Supreme Court Review.
When the Court finally considered the MoA-AD they Ruled that it was Unconstitutional and that was that.Of course I am omitting a lot of other issues involved,especially the bloody 2 year war it precipitated,but sufficient to say for my purposes in this entry,one of the Constitutional issues cited was the lack of proper disclosure,especially vis a vis GPH and concerned stakeholders...like those aforementioned local warlords.Ergo the GPH-NDFP Peace Process isn't taking any chances.Both sides are taking a proactive stance with regard to stakeholder forums in which the respective Peace Panels jointly present their work to date followed by a Q and A (Question and Answer) Session with the audience.
On April 12,2011 both Panels fielded representatives for a lowkey unofficial forum.Fidel Agcaoli,labeled Vice Chairperson of the NDFP Peace Panel,did the honours for his organisation at Davao City's Mandaya Hotel.Among other things he took great pains to explain that the GPH Concessions given after Hong Kong (December,2010) and before Round I in Oslo (February 15 through 27,2011) weren't Concessions at all but rather were the CPP/NPA/NDFP's just rewards.Agcaoli noted that the Government is party to legally signed bilateral Agreements and as such doesn't have any choice BUT TO put up or shut up.Naturally he segued directly into a spiel about JASIG,the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees.As I have noted in at least 2 other recent CPP/NPA/NDFP entries the NDFP has been less than satisfied with GPH performance with regard to this Agreement.As Agcaoli noted,if the GPH fails to put out on this very simple and incredibly basic document,what hope is there that the CPP/NPA/NDFP could ever see the Philippine Government keep its word about anything.
Predictably,since the forum was being held in Davao City,GPH Panel Member Ednar Dayanghirang spoke at length as well.Mr.Dayanghirang is a native of neighbouring Davao Oriental Province where he splits his time farming mangoes and hosting a local cable access show devoted to local current events.As luck would have it he happened to have hosted that show on a Davao City-based cable television system so that he should be familiar to at least some of the attendees.
Between the 2 Panel Members they covered the entire 4-part Framework for the Final Peace Agreement.Revealingly the extremely verbose Dayanghirang told his audience that it was the NDFP itself that originally suggested that University of the Philippines (UP) Law School Dean Alexander"Alex"Padilla Chair the GPH Peace Panel.Though Padilla was serving the governmeent in addition to his academic position he is well known to the NDFP because he is in fact a former member.In the Marcos Era Padilla regularly provided captured CPP and NPA members with legal counsel.The quotation incorrectly attributed to Churchill comes to mind,"A man who isn't a Socialist by age 20 hasn't a heart.A man who hasn't rejected Socialism by age 40 hasn't a brain."
That the first forum went so well is suprising given the drama that had transpired just the day before,April 11th.Fidel Agcaoli went ballistic when he learned of recent comments made by Alex Padilla.In a radio interview the week before Padilla was asked to offer his take on the chances for success in the GPH-NDFP Peace Process.Amazingly Padilla said that he believed those chances to be very strong given the technological advances experienced in recent years.Asked to clarify his answer Padilla remarked that where as in the Marcos Era rebelliousness only found an outlet in deeds today's youth can vent on Facebook,Friendster and MySpace.Continuing in what has to be the best example of verbal dhiarrea seen in a long while Padilla said that Social Media will put an end to groups like the NPA.Aaaaah,if only it were true Alex,only if...
On April 19,2011 Mr.Dayanghirang was back on Luzon where he joined Sr.Military Advisor the GPH Peace Panel,Brigadier General Reynaldo"Rey"Ordonez in a briefing given to students at NDC (National Defense College) on the grounds of Camp Aguinaldo,the AFP General HQ (Headquarters) in Metro Manila's Quezon City.The students,all in the MNSA (Masters in National Security) Track weren't impressed,to say the least.
To a tee they all doubted the CPP/NPA/NDFP's sincerity.Showing his inexperience Dayanghirang tried to debate the students but only came off looking naïve at best.Luckily BGen.Ordonez stepped in and like an able tactician (rare in the AFP) explained that the CPP/NPA/NDFP's sincerity,or insincerity,is irrelevant.The fact that they are at the Table at all for the first time in nearly 6 years is progress enough for the moment.With that the students were brought to heel and what little time remained in the Briefing went a whole lot smoother.
The Davao City and NDC Talks were just warmups with the bulk of the forums to be held from April 27th to May 6th.
The first one,on April 27th took place in the municipality of Lacub,in Abra Province in Northern Luzon.Entitled"Addressing the Roots of the Armed Conflict Towards a Just and Lasting Peace"it was sponsored jointly by the CPA and the Party List organisation KATRIBU so should have added,"As Long as it Spells Victory for the NPA"as a subtitle.Taking place on the final day of a 3 day festival,the annually held Cordillera Day,the forum took a unique direction by directly inviting not only social and religious leaders but a representative of each of the Cordilleran Provinces who were tasked with representing the views and concerns of the hilltribes within their respective province.While Mindanowan hilltribes are known collectively as"Lumad,"Cordillerans are known either as"Igorot"or as"Tinggurian."Like the Lumad the Igorot/Tinggurian are at the bottom rung of their respective social and cultural ladder.Likewise they also are identical to Lumad in the respect that they are the most vulnerable to NPA/AFP recruitment and violence.Just as on Mindanao they must deal with extra-fierce Developmental Aggression from a government that has never given them a single ounce of respect or assistance.Used by both the Government and the NPA they continue to suffer,caught perennially in the middle.
Cordillera Day is sponsored by the CPA,the Cordillera Peoples Alliance,an umbrella entity founded in 1984 to unite the disparate Leftist groups either under or more usually un-represented by the national Leftist umbrella the NDF,or National Democratic Front (now known as the NDFP since adding"Philippines"to its moniker).Held in a different Cordilleran locale each year the 2011 festival is the 27th and attracts thousands of visitors.Suprisingly then,when Lacub officials learned that the Forum would also be held they suddenly got cold feet for the festival and begged off citing logistical,infrastructural AND security concerns.Festival AND forum organisers weren't about to be shunted aside and so revealed that Lacub's mayor had given the go ahead weeks in advance.
On the day in question the GHP Panel was represented by Peace Panelist Ednar Dayanghirang who concurrently Chairs the Panel's RWC-SER (Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms).Since the forum is only dealing with CASER,or the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms,this made him the best man for the job,besides his being the only Panelist willing to stump for the team.More over Mr.Dayanghirang is himself a Lumad,a Mandaya Tribesmen (how fitting then the locale of the Davao City Forum at the beginning of this entry).Joining him was Father Albert Alejo,Member of that same RWC-SER,and Jimmid Mansayag.Mr.Mansayag is also a Lumad,an Aroman Manobo Tribesman from the upper North Cotabato plateau in Central Mindanao.He is serving as a Resource Person (Consultant) on the RWC-SER with regard to IP (Indigenous People,in this sense Lumad,Igorot and Tinggurian).Sadly one never sees Negritos even mentioned and yet who could be any more"indigenous"than these first Filipinos?Neither Lumad nor Christian and as far as one can get from being Muslim,this demographic is truly the least served of all Filipino demographics.
For the NDFP Panel none other than Rafael Baylosis himself took the honours.Baylosis is a Consultant to the Panel and serves as a Member of its RWC-SER.It will be recalled that My.Baylosis,who is also the Secretary General of the CPP,or Communist Party of the Philippines,was incarcerated until released just prior to Round I,per GPH concession despite his holding immunity under JASIG.Conveniently joining Mr.Baylosis was Beverly L.Longid who not only serves the NDFP Peace Panel as its IP Resource Person but who co-incidentally sits as President of KATRIBU.
The representatives of each Cordilleran Province:
1) Abra
2) Apayao
3) Ifugao
4) Kalinga
5) Mountain
6) Benguet
all voiced the same wish list with very little differentiation.I will spare the Cordilleran-specific issues since I limit my focus to Mindanao but sufficient to say that some concerns were in fact universal.Issues like Global Warming,support for small scale agriculture,the desire for de-militarisation,rehabilitation of the Mining Act of 1995 as well as of IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) and its pursuant CAD and CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain and CAD Title) all scored highly as chief concerns.
Non-Muslim warlords on Mindanao got wind of a very low key set of under the table negotiations taking place in Kuala Lampur,Malaysia.Moreover they were informed that the Arroyo Government was just about to sign away the bulk of non-Muslim lands in Central and Western Mindanao.These powerbrokers,Mayors Celso Lobregat (Zamboanga City),Lawrence Cruz (Iligan City),and Vice Governor Emmanuel"Manny"Pinol of North Cotabato Province pulled strings in Manila and got the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the signing of the document pending Supreme Court Review.
When the Court finally considered the MoA-AD they Ruled that it was Unconstitutional and that was that.Of course I am omitting a lot of other issues involved,especially the bloody 2 year war it precipitated,but sufficient to say for my purposes in this entry,one of the Constitutional issues cited was the lack of proper disclosure,especially vis a vis GPH and concerned stakeholders...like those aforementioned local warlords.Ergo the GPH-NDFP Peace Process isn't taking any chances.Both sides are taking a proactive stance with regard to stakeholder forums in which the respective Peace Panels jointly present their work to date followed by a Q and A (Question and Answer) Session with the audience.
On April 12,2011 both Panels fielded representatives for a lowkey unofficial forum.Fidel Agcaoli,labeled Vice Chairperson of the NDFP Peace Panel,did the honours for his organisation at Davao City's Mandaya Hotel.Among other things he took great pains to explain that the GPH Concessions given after Hong Kong (December,2010) and before Round I in Oslo (February 15 through 27,2011) weren't Concessions at all but rather were the CPP/NPA/NDFP's just rewards.Agcaoli noted that the Government is party to legally signed bilateral Agreements and as such doesn't have any choice BUT TO put up or shut up.Naturally he segued directly into a spiel about JASIG,the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees.As I have noted in at least 2 other recent CPP/NPA/NDFP entries the NDFP has been less than satisfied with GPH performance with regard to this Agreement.As Agcaoli noted,if the GPH fails to put out on this very simple and incredibly basic document,what hope is there that the CPP/NPA/NDFP could ever see the Philippine Government keep its word about anything.
Predictably,since the forum was being held in Davao City,GPH Panel Member Ednar Dayanghirang spoke at length as well.Mr.Dayanghirang is a native of neighbouring Davao Oriental Province where he splits his time farming mangoes and hosting a local cable access show devoted to local current events.As luck would have it he happened to have hosted that show on a Davao City-based cable television system so that he should be familiar to at least some of the attendees.
Between the 2 Panel Members they covered the entire 4-part Framework for the Final Peace Agreement.Revealingly the extremely verbose Dayanghirang told his audience that it was the NDFP itself that originally suggested that University of the Philippines (UP) Law School Dean Alexander"Alex"Padilla Chair the GPH Peace Panel.Though Padilla was serving the governmeent in addition to his academic position he is well known to the NDFP because he is in fact a former member.In the Marcos Era Padilla regularly provided captured CPP and NPA members with legal counsel.The quotation incorrectly attributed to Churchill comes to mind,"A man who isn't a Socialist by age 20 hasn't a heart.A man who hasn't rejected Socialism by age 40 hasn't a brain."
That the first forum went so well is suprising given the drama that had transpired just the day before,April 11th.Fidel Agcaoli went ballistic when he learned of recent comments made by Alex Padilla.In a radio interview the week before Padilla was asked to offer his take on the chances for success in the GPH-NDFP Peace Process.Amazingly Padilla said that he believed those chances to be very strong given the technological advances experienced in recent years.Asked to clarify his answer Padilla remarked that where as in the Marcos Era rebelliousness only found an outlet in deeds today's youth can vent on Facebook,Friendster and MySpace.Continuing in what has to be the best example of verbal dhiarrea seen in a long while Padilla said that Social Media will put an end to groups like the NPA.Aaaaah,if only it were true Alex,only if...
On April 19,2011 Mr.Dayanghirang was back on Luzon where he joined Sr.Military Advisor the GPH Peace Panel,Brigadier General Reynaldo"Rey"Ordonez in a briefing given to students at NDC (National Defense College) on the grounds of Camp Aguinaldo,the AFP General HQ (Headquarters) in Metro Manila's Quezon City.The students,all in the MNSA (Masters in National Security) Track weren't impressed,to say the least.
To a tee they all doubted the CPP/NPA/NDFP's sincerity.Showing his inexperience Dayanghirang tried to debate the students but only came off looking naïve at best.Luckily BGen.Ordonez stepped in and like an able tactician (rare in the AFP) explained that the CPP/NPA/NDFP's sincerity,or insincerity,is irrelevant.The fact that they are at the Table at all for the first time in nearly 6 years is progress enough for the moment.With that the students were brought to heel and what little time remained in the Briefing went a whole lot smoother.
The Davao City and NDC Talks were just warmups with the bulk of the forums to be held from April 27th to May 6th.
The first one,on April 27th took place in the municipality of Lacub,in Abra Province in Northern Luzon.Entitled"Addressing the Roots of the Armed Conflict Towards a Just and Lasting Peace"it was sponsored jointly by the CPA and the Party List organisation KATRIBU so should have added,"As Long as it Spells Victory for the NPA"as a subtitle.Taking place on the final day of a 3 day festival,the annually held Cordillera Day,the forum took a unique direction by directly inviting not only social and religious leaders but a representative of each of the Cordilleran Provinces who were tasked with representing the views and concerns of the hilltribes within their respective province.While Mindanowan hilltribes are known collectively as"Lumad,"Cordillerans are known either as"Igorot"or as"Tinggurian."Like the Lumad the Igorot/Tinggurian are at the bottom rung of their respective social and cultural ladder.Likewise they also are identical to Lumad in the respect that they are the most vulnerable to NPA/AFP recruitment and violence.Just as on Mindanao they must deal with extra-fierce Developmental Aggression from a government that has never given them a single ounce of respect or assistance.Used by both the Government and the NPA they continue to suffer,caught perennially in the middle.
Cordillera Day is sponsored by the CPA,the Cordillera Peoples Alliance,an umbrella entity founded in 1984 to unite the disparate Leftist groups either under or more usually un-represented by the national Leftist umbrella the NDF,or National Democratic Front (now known as the NDFP since adding"Philippines"to its moniker).Held in a different Cordilleran locale each year the 2011 festival is the 27th and attracts thousands of visitors.Suprisingly then,when Lacub officials learned that the Forum would also be held they suddenly got cold feet for the festival and begged off citing logistical,infrastructural AND security concerns.Festival AND forum organisers weren't about to be shunted aside and so revealed that Lacub's mayor had given the go ahead weeks in advance.
On the day in question the GHP Panel was represented by Peace Panelist Ednar Dayanghirang who concurrently Chairs the Panel's RWC-SER (Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms).Since the forum is only dealing with CASER,or the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms,this made him the best man for the job,besides his being the only Panelist willing to stump for the team.More over Mr.Dayanghirang is himself a Lumad,a Mandaya Tribesmen (how fitting then the locale of the Davao City Forum at the beginning of this entry).Joining him was Father Albert Alejo,Member of that same RWC-SER,and Jimmid Mansayag.Mr.Mansayag is also a Lumad,an Aroman Manobo Tribesman from the upper North Cotabato plateau in Central Mindanao.He is serving as a Resource Person (Consultant) on the RWC-SER with regard to IP (Indigenous People,in this sense Lumad,Igorot and Tinggurian).Sadly one never sees Negritos even mentioned and yet who could be any more"indigenous"than these first Filipinos?Neither Lumad nor Christian and as far as one can get from being Muslim,this demographic is truly the least served of all Filipino demographics.
For the NDFP Panel none other than Rafael Baylosis himself took the honours.Baylosis is a Consultant to the Panel and serves as a Member of its RWC-SER.It will be recalled that My.Baylosis,who is also the Secretary General of the CPP,or Communist Party of the Philippines,was incarcerated until released just prior to Round I,per GPH concession despite his holding immunity under JASIG.Conveniently joining Mr.Baylosis was Beverly L.Longid who not only serves the NDFP Peace Panel as its IP Resource Person but who co-incidentally sits as President of KATRIBU.
The representatives of each Cordilleran Province:
1) Abra
2) Apayao
3) Ifugao
4) Kalinga
5) Mountain
6) Benguet
all voiced the same wish list with very little differentiation.I will spare the Cordilleran-specific issues since I limit my focus to Mindanao but sufficient to say that some concerns were in fact universal.Issues like Global Warming,support for small scale agriculture,the desire for de-militarisation,rehabilitation of the Mining Act of 1995 as well as of IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) and its pursuant CAD and CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain and CAD Title) all scored highly as chief concerns.
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Annual NPA Dog and Pony Show
Here on our tropical isle of Mindanao some might think that we aren't as blessed as many Westerners are when it comes to the Xmas Season. Those living in colder climes for example, can very easily make do without their calendars and simply observe the changing colours of the leaves, or fill the air grow nippier. No, we may not be able to enjoy THOSE seasonal changes but we likewise have some peculiarly all our own. When one hears the NPA announce a Ceasefire they can fire up that jeepney and race to Swiss Market for some eggnog because you can bet a plethora of Pesos that its time for old Saint Nick to make his presence known. Those that are in the know however will always wait fir the Ceasefire to commence before rushing anywhere since the days leading up to the implementation of the Ceasefire are always the bloodiest of the preceeding year.
Speaking of "implementation," when will this year's quiet time begin? On December 07th the NPA unilaterally announced that this year's Xmas Ceasefire will begin at 6AM, on December 16th and will last (one hopes) until January 03rd. The date of commencement was by no means arbitrary in that December 16th marks the beginning of the Philippine Xmas Season. The duration of 17 days makes the 2010 Ceasefire the longest in a decade. Again, not an arbitrary fact given the fact that almost immediately after the end of the cessation the resumption of the long stalled GRP-NDF Peace Process takes place in Oslo, Norway.
The Ceasefire Announcement took place after a fortuitous week for the NPA and its political facet, the CPP (Communist Party of the Phillipines). On December 01 and 02 in Hong Kong, long time Chairperson of the NDF Peace Panel, Luis Jalandoni met with his GRP counterpart, Alexander "Alex" Padilla in an informal tet a tet. Also present was Jalandoni's wife and #2 on the NDF Panel, Coni Ledesma. Joining Padilla was GRP Panel member Pablito Sanidad and both sides were joined by attorney Rachel Pastores who is consulting for the overall Peace Process. As was expected both Padilla and Jalandoni got along quite well and dates for both Informal Talks (January 14 through January 18) and the First Round of Formal Talks (February 19 through February 25) were tenatively agreed upon pending formal approval by their respective entities.
During their 2 day meeting in Hong Kong Padilla formally handed Jalandoni a copy of the HDO (Hold Departure Order) had been in effect with GRP's Bureau of Immigration since June 29, 1992. HDOs are issued by the DOJ (Department of Justice) and enforced by the Bureau of Immigration when a targeted individual attempts to leave via a commercial flight. Prior to leaving Manila Padilla had been instructed to hand over the official notification by Malacanang's Chief Counsel Ricardo Paras III. In addition, Padilla also handed Jalandoni an official notification that JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) was still viable. JASIG was a product of a 1995 Round in the Peace Process. It allows for NDF Panel members and other NDF members closely involved in the Process to freely enter and leave the Philippimes as well as to remain unmolested during visits. JASIG had been suspended by former-President Arroyo during the 2004 meltdown following the US and EU classification of the CPP-NPA as "Terrorist Organisations." President Arroyo had lobbied hard for the groups' inclusion in an irrational bout of egotism. Her theatrics then derailed the Process until the present.
JASIG is an extremely relevant issue for the entire NDF but more so for Jalandoni on a personal level given that his aged mother, still in tje Philippines, is quite ill. Jalandoni had wanted to visit his mother for perhaps the last time but the questuin of JASIG's viability loomed large. Jalandoni et al had been informed that President Arroyo had actually lifted her own Suspension Order on July 17, 2009 but without an official notification that fact didn't mean much. On December 04, official notifications in hand, Jalandoni and his wife arrived in Manila aboard a Cathay Pacific flight out of Hong Kong.
As I mentioned, the days leading up to the annual Xmas Ceasefires are inevitably filled with the blood and gore of increasingly bold tactically offencive operations. Case in point? Ka Parago's evening visit to the CAFGU post in Davao City's Barangay Mapula. The post is located in the city's Paquibato District, 1 of 4 city districts in which former Mayor (and current Vice Mayor under his daughter Sarah Duterte Carpio) Rodrigo "Roddy" Duterte had given the NPA free reign.
When Vice Mayor Duterte was stlll a Davao City Prosecutor he had come to a working arrangement with the Maoists.
By 1984, not long after Ka Parago had moved his family from Laak in Davao del Norte Province (the town is now within Compostela Valley Province, aka ComVal, the province later carved out of the northwest corner of Davao del Norte) to the coastal bsrangay of Isla Verde in Davao City the NPA was so deeply ensconced in the poorer barangays that ring Mindanao's largest city that authorities all but conceeded it as NPA territory. From 1979 until that point the organisation had been exponentially all over the Central and Southern Philippines. As so often happens in such situations this uber-rapid expansion severely weakened the NPA's ideological foundation. Forget about Mao, most NPA regulars of the era had no idea who Marx was (granted that today that things have not progressed all that much).
As with any base of power people were joining the NPA for a variety of reasons and virtually none of them were good. Among them were a group of petty criminals in the city's Agado District, an area encompassing some of the city's most depressed barangays.By mid-1984 the NPA began cleaning house, deploying SPARU Teams (Special Partisan Armed Revolutionary Units, often mis transliterated as "Sparrow") to publicly murder NPA members that ran afoul of their hierarchy (in addition to the assasinations of PNP, government officials, informers and non-combatants the group erroneously marked as informers). As SPARU operations became much more frequent elements like those petty criminals abandoned ship. Knowing that withdrawing from the NPA not only did nothing to alleviate their vulnerability but actually made them much more probable targets they banded together and formed an anti-NPA organisation called "Alsa Masa" (Masses Arise).
A lot has been said, erroneously, about Vice Mayor Duterte's suuport of Alsa Masa. Indeed it is claimed often enough that he led the organisation! Duterte did reluctantly develop a working relationship with the group after intially targetting them for prosecution. He really did not have a choice in the matter after the AFP officially sanctioned the group as an integral cog in its Force Multiplication scheme in the Davao Region. By the time the late President Corazon Aquino came to town amd vowed to support Alsa Masa in a nationally televised speech Duterte had long been in bed with the group.
Alsa Masa was the tip of the iceberg in the AFP's anti-Communist Force Multiplication so that by the start of 1989 the NPA was relegated to the city's hinterlands, where it has remained ensconced ever since. The afore mentioned 4 NPA controoled districts, Paquibato, Tugbok, Marilog and Toril (Calinan and Baguio also have a moderate presence if not used tactically), have been consigned to the NPA with understanding that they will refrain from re-entering (or entering as the case may be) the city's other districts. One could say Duterte has merely been a pragmatist but others (the brave and the few) say a lot worse.
The AFP almost always refrains from publicly commenting on Duterte's self-described "Back Door Policy" (aaaah, is THAT what they are calling it these days?) though that nearly changed when current Mayor Sarah Duterte Carpio actually crossed the line and withdrew the city's support for AFP operations within the city's borders.Following through on a threat her father had been making for years Carpio severed municipal support while accusing the AFP of disregard for non-combatants in those 4 NPA controlled districts. The 2 sides have since made uo with Carpio giving the keynote speech at the Commencement Ceremony for a
P and D Mission (Peace and Development, civic oriented projects such as infrastructural improvements or MEDCAPS, aka medical and dental fairs...though in this case the operation merely involved the recently arrived 84 Infantry Battalion doing a house by house census in Toril District). In her speech Carpio lauded the non-combative nature of the current operation and pledged Davao City's assistance.
When one mentions the NPA and Davao City in the same sentence it is a fair assumption that Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao's name will soon be following. Pitao is the CO (Commanding Officer) of the Merardo Arce Command, a battalion sized entity that while primarily operating within the 4 districts I mentioned also inclucludes Davao del Sur (the province in which Davao City sits) as well as parts of Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental Provinces. Comprised of 5 COYs (Companies, a "COY" generally contains 90 to 110 riflemen) of which only 4 are currently operational. Of these COYs, Pulang Bagani Company 1 through 5 (Red Warriors Company 1 through 5), Pitao personally commands Coy 1. Known as Pulang Bagani Company 1, or PBC1, it perhaps the best equipped of all NPA elements on Mindanao, if not the entire nation.
In a long and often brutal relationship the AFP hace. Been at each others' throats. Aside from capturing him at his family home after his sister Evelyn tipped authorities, he has never been caught and this fact cause an extreme amount of consternation. The capture I just mentioned took place almost immediatel after PBC1 released s Brigadier General it captured along with other AFP personnel. That capture was an amazing propaganda coup for the Communist and so it really msade Pitao the highest value target. In the end he spent just over a year incarcerated before being freed sans pre-conditions as President Estrada sought to jumpstart the GRP-NDF Peace Process.
From 2000 onwards Pitao loomed extremely large in AFP sights.
In June of 2008 Pitao's younger brother Danilo was abducted and summarily executed. Unlike his older brother Danilo not only stayed on the right side of the law but actually worked as a Provincial Guard in the Davao del Norte Provincial Capitol Complex in Tagum City. With a sister turned informer and a brother murdered, both because of his role in the insurgency Pitao might have re-thought his long involvement with the organisation...but in fact it seems to have only strengthened his resolve.
After a series of stunning tactical operations in early 2009, Pitao's youngest daughter, Rebelyn "Ivy" Maasin Pitao was kidnnapped as she returned to the family's home in Bago Gallera in Davao City. Found the next day,in Davao del Norte Province, her corpse half naked, physically tortured (including sexually), the 20 year old paid the highest price for her father's membership in the NPA. The AFP denied all involvement but despite its initial reluctance to do so, opened an internal investigation into the matter. Predicting correctly that the military would do nothing the NPA conducted its own investigation and pointed the finger at an AFP Intelligence detachment ensconced in the town of Carmen, Davao del Norte Province and even listed involved personnel by name. After placing the personnel on Restriction to Barracks for almost 3 months the investigation was swept under the rug...though the NPA deployed SPARU Teams who killed a number of the listed men.
Fast forward to December 10, 2010 and Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao's PBC1 abducted the Barangay Captain of Barangay Mapula and a well known local datu (tribal chief) and while wearing AFP uniforms had the Barangay Captain and datuaccompany them to the Barangay Mapula's CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit), an official paramilitary under direct supervision of the AFP) post. Using the Barangay Captain and datu to infiltrate the post compound. Once inside they disarmed all personnel and made off with a nice haul. I am sure that they will look great under the tree...
Not a single shot fired, Ka Parago strikes again.
Speaking of "implementation," when will this year's quiet time begin? On December 07th the NPA unilaterally announced that this year's Xmas Ceasefire will begin at 6AM, on December 16th and will last (one hopes) until January 03rd. The date of commencement was by no means arbitrary in that December 16th marks the beginning of the Philippine Xmas Season. The duration of 17 days makes the 2010 Ceasefire the longest in a decade. Again, not an arbitrary fact given the fact that almost immediately after the end of the cessation the resumption of the long stalled GRP-NDF Peace Process takes place in Oslo, Norway.
The Ceasefire Announcement took place after a fortuitous week for the NPA and its political facet, the CPP (Communist Party of the Phillipines). On December 01 and 02 in Hong Kong, long time Chairperson of the NDF Peace Panel, Luis Jalandoni met with his GRP counterpart, Alexander "Alex" Padilla in an informal tet a tet. Also present was Jalandoni's wife and #2 on the NDF Panel, Coni Ledesma. Joining Padilla was GRP Panel member Pablito Sanidad and both sides were joined by attorney Rachel Pastores who is consulting for the overall Peace Process. As was expected both Padilla and Jalandoni got along quite well and dates for both Informal Talks (January 14 through January 18) and the First Round of Formal Talks (February 19 through February 25) were tenatively agreed upon pending formal approval by their respective entities.
During their 2 day meeting in Hong Kong Padilla formally handed Jalandoni a copy of the HDO (Hold Departure Order) had been in effect with GRP's Bureau of Immigration since June 29, 1992. HDOs are issued by the DOJ (Department of Justice) and enforced by the Bureau of Immigration when a targeted individual attempts to leave via a commercial flight. Prior to leaving Manila Padilla had been instructed to hand over the official notification by Malacanang's Chief Counsel Ricardo Paras III. In addition, Padilla also handed Jalandoni an official notification that JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees) was still viable. JASIG was a product of a 1995 Round in the Peace Process. It allows for NDF Panel members and other NDF members closely involved in the Process to freely enter and leave the Philippimes as well as to remain unmolested during visits. JASIG had been suspended by former-President Arroyo during the 2004 meltdown following the US and EU classification of the CPP-NPA as "Terrorist Organisations." President Arroyo had lobbied hard for the groups' inclusion in an irrational bout of egotism. Her theatrics then derailed the Process until the present.
JASIG is an extremely relevant issue for the entire NDF but more so for Jalandoni on a personal level given that his aged mother, still in tje Philippines, is quite ill. Jalandoni had wanted to visit his mother for perhaps the last time but the questuin of JASIG's viability loomed large. Jalandoni et al had been informed that President Arroyo had actually lifted her own Suspension Order on July 17, 2009 but without an official notification that fact didn't mean much. On December 04, official notifications in hand, Jalandoni and his wife arrived in Manila aboard a Cathay Pacific flight out of Hong Kong.
As I mentioned, the days leading up to the annual Xmas Ceasefires are inevitably filled with the blood and gore of increasingly bold tactically offencive operations. Case in point? Ka Parago's evening visit to the CAFGU post in Davao City's Barangay Mapula. The post is located in the city's Paquibato District, 1 of 4 city districts in which former Mayor (and current Vice Mayor under his daughter Sarah Duterte Carpio) Rodrigo "Roddy" Duterte had given the NPA free reign.
When Vice Mayor Duterte was stlll a Davao City Prosecutor he had come to a working arrangement with the Maoists.
By 1984, not long after Ka Parago had moved his family from Laak in Davao del Norte Province (the town is now within Compostela Valley Province, aka ComVal, the province later carved out of the northwest corner of Davao del Norte) to the coastal bsrangay of Isla Verde in Davao City the NPA was so deeply ensconced in the poorer barangays that ring Mindanao's largest city that authorities all but conceeded it as NPA territory. From 1979 until that point the organisation had been exponentially all over the Central and Southern Philippines. As so often happens in such situations this uber-rapid expansion severely weakened the NPA's ideological foundation. Forget about Mao, most NPA regulars of the era had no idea who Marx was (granted that today that things have not progressed all that much).
As with any base of power people were joining the NPA for a variety of reasons and virtually none of them were good. Among them were a group of petty criminals in the city's Agado District, an area encompassing some of the city's most depressed barangays.By mid-1984 the NPA began cleaning house, deploying SPARU Teams (Special Partisan Armed Revolutionary Units, often mis transliterated as "Sparrow") to publicly murder NPA members that ran afoul of their hierarchy (in addition to the assasinations of PNP, government officials, informers and non-combatants the group erroneously marked as informers). As SPARU operations became much more frequent elements like those petty criminals abandoned ship. Knowing that withdrawing from the NPA not only did nothing to alleviate their vulnerability but actually made them much more probable targets they banded together and formed an anti-NPA organisation called "Alsa Masa" (Masses Arise).
A lot has been said, erroneously, about Vice Mayor Duterte's suuport of Alsa Masa. Indeed it is claimed often enough that he led the organisation! Duterte did reluctantly develop a working relationship with the group after intially targetting them for prosecution. He really did not have a choice in the matter after the AFP officially sanctioned the group as an integral cog in its Force Multiplication scheme in the Davao Region. By the time the late President Corazon Aquino came to town amd vowed to support Alsa Masa in a nationally televised speech Duterte had long been in bed with the group.
Alsa Masa was the tip of the iceberg in the AFP's anti-Communist Force Multiplication so that by the start of 1989 the NPA was relegated to the city's hinterlands, where it has remained ensconced ever since. The afore mentioned 4 NPA controoled districts, Paquibato, Tugbok, Marilog and Toril (Calinan and Baguio also have a moderate presence if not used tactically), have been consigned to the NPA with understanding that they will refrain from re-entering (or entering as the case may be) the city's other districts. One could say Duterte has merely been a pragmatist but others (the brave and the few) say a lot worse.
The AFP almost always refrains from publicly commenting on Duterte's self-described "Back Door Policy" (aaaah, is THAT what they are calling it these days?) though that nearly changed when current Mayor Sarah Duterte Carpio actually crossed the line and withdrew the city's support for AFP operations within the city's borders.Following through on a threat her father had been making for years Carpio severed municipal support while accusing the AFP of disregard for non-combatants in those 4 NPA controlled districts. The 2 sides have since made uo with Carpio giving the keynote speech at the Commencement Ceremony for a
P and D Mission (Peace and Development, civic oriented projects such as infrastructural improvements or MEDCAPS, aka medical and dental fairs...though in this case the operation merely involved the recently arrived 84 Infantry Battalion doing a house by house census in Toril District). In her speech Carpio lauded the non-combative nature of the current operation and pledged Davao City's assistance.
When one mentions the NPA and Davao City in the same sentence it is a fair assumption that Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao's name will soon be following. Pitao is the CO (Commanding Officer) of the Merardo Arce Command, a battalion sized entity that while primarily operating within the 4 districts I mentioned also inclucludes Davao del Sur (the province in which Davao City sits) as well as parts of Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental Provinces. Comprised of 5 COYs (Companies, a "COY" generally contains 90 to 110 riflemen) of which only 4 are currently operational. Of these COYs, Pulang Bagani Company 1 through 5 (Red Warriors Company 1 through 5), Pitao personally commands Coy 1. Known as Pulang Bagani Company 1, or PBC1, it perhaps the best equipped of all NPA elements on Mindanao, if not the entire nation.
In a long and often brutal relationship the AFP hace. Been at each others' throats. Aside from capturing him at his family home after his sister Evelyn tipped authorities, he has never been caught and this fact cause an extreme amount of consternation. The capture I just mentioned took place almost immediatel after PBC1 released s Brigadier General it captured along with other AFP personnel. That capture was an amazing propaganda coup for the Communist and so it really msade Pitao the highest value target. In the end he spent just over a year incarcerated before being freed sans pre-conditions as President Estrada sought to jumpstart the GRP-NDF Peace Process.
From 2000 onwards Pitao loomed extremely large in AFP sights.
In June of 2008 Pitao's younger brother Danilo was abducted and summarily executed. Unlike his older brother Danilo not only stayed on the right side of the law but actually worked as a Provincial Guard in the Davao del Norte Provincial Capitol Complex in Tagum City. With a sister turned informer and a brother murdered, both because of his role in the insurgency Pitao might have re-thought his long involvement with the organisation...but in fact it seems to have only strengthened his resolve.
After a series of stunning tactical operations in early 2009, Pitao's youngest daughter, Rebelyn "Ivy" Maasin Pitao was kidnnapped as she returned to the family's home in Bago Gallera in Davao City. Found the next day,in Davao del Norte Province, her corpse half naked, physically tortured (including sexually), the 20 year old paid the highest price for her father's membership in the NPA. The AFP denied all involvement but despite its initial reluctance to do so, opened an internal investigation into the matter. Predicting correctly that the military would do nothing the NPA conducted its own investigation and pointed the finger at an AFP Intelligence detachment ensconced in the town of Carmen, Davao del Norte Province and even listed involved personnel by name. After placing the personnel on Restriction to Barracks for almost 3 months the investigation was swept under the rug...though the NPA deployed SPARU Teams who killed a number of the listed men.
Fast forward to December 10, 2010 and Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao's PBC1 abducted the Barangay Captain of Barangay Mapula and a well known local datu (tribal chief) and while wearing AFP uniforms had the Barangay Captain and datuaccompany them to the Barangay Mapula's CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit), an official paramilitary under direct supervision of the AFP) post. Using the Barangay Captain and datu to infiltrate the post compound. Once inside they disarmed all personnel and made off with a nice haul. I am sure that they will look great under the tree...
Not a single shot fired, Ka Parago strikes again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)