NPA on the offensive to punish Aquino regime's treachery in peace negotiations

By NDF-EV
September 15, 2011

The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today lauded the New People's Army in Western Samar for successfully raiding the police headquarters in Hinabangan town last Sept. 12. “The NPA offensives in the region are meant to punish the Aquino regime's treachery in peace negotiations with the NDFP,” said Fr. Santiago Salas, NDF-EV spokesperson. “The NDFP has been very patient, magnanimous and open to peace talks despite years of the Philippine government's various insults, attacks on the NDFP consultants, and the increasing exploitation and oppression of the people by the reactionary ruling system. But it is now a matter of principle and the revolutionary movement is sending the signal to the Aquino regime that its treachery in peace negotiations will not be taken sitting down.”

Fr. Salas also corrected claims made by Aquino government officials in the region that NPA attacks were against the peace process. “NPA offensives are legitimate even in the context of ongoing peace negotiations, which are still a long way from achieving a politically negotiated settlement and deciding the disposition of the armed forces of both sides. What the Aquino regime is actually irked at is its failure to compel the immediate capitulation of the revolutionary movement or trap it in indefinite ceasefire.

“The provocative statements and hostile actions of the Aquino regime are the ones inimical to the peace talks. The Aquino regime is refusing its obligation to release the detained NDFP peace consultants, including Eduardo Sarmiento who represents Eastern Visayas. The NDFP peace consultants are being held hostage by a capricious regime that cannot honor a simple safety and immunity agreement like the JASIG for those involved in the peace talks. The NDFP consultants and more than 300 political prisoners languish in jail despite the appeals of peace and human rights advocates, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and other concerned sectors.”

Fr. Salas added that the unleashing of Oplan Bayanihan against the people has put the Aquino regime's sincerity for peace negotiations under question. “Oplan Bayanihan has resulted in military occupation of civilian communities and the wholesale escalation of human rights violations. In the three Samar provinces, soldiers control entire villages and coerce local governments to sanction their operations, in violation of international humanitarian law. Civilians and their organizations are harassed and accused of links to the NPA. This is true as well in Leyte, where the Municipal Farmers Assocation of Carigara, a peasant organization in the said town, recently denounced in the media the death threats made by the notorious 19th IB against its members.”