Philippine president Duterte ends ceasefire with Maoist rebels

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he now considers the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPC) , New People's Army (NPA), and National Democratic Front (NDF) as terrorist groups rather than rebels.

The CPC , a Maoist communist party, was formed almost a half century ago in 1968. It is banned and its leader Jose Sison lives in exile in the Netherlands. It has its own website on which it announced the cessation of its unilateral ceasefire:

The August 28, 2016 unilateral declaration of interim ceasefire issued by the Central Committee of the CPP (CPP-CC) and the National Operations Command of the New People’s Army (NPA-NOC) is hereby terminated. The Negotiating Panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) shall be given notice today of this termination by the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front (NDFP).With this declaration and notice, the August 28 unilateral ceasefire shall effectively expire on 11:59 p.m. of February 10.

The New People's Army(NPA) is the armed wing of the CPP and has been carrying out an armed struggle against the government for going on half a century now. It controls territory in some rural areas mostly in the main northern island of Luzon but also a few areas in the large southern island of Mindanao. The CPP also has a number of legal political front organizations with the NDF being their umbrella organization. On their website, the group claimed to be waiting for formal notice from the government of termination of peace negotiations. The group noted that all 17 NDFP consultants who had been released from jail were back in the Philippines and not in hiding as apparently some reports said.

Last summer there had been meetings between the government and rebels sponsored by Norway that had been a major breakthrough with both sides declaring a ceasefire. Al Jazeera reported:The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies. "This is a historic and unprecedented event ... [but] there is still a lot of work to be done ahead," President Rodrigo Duterte's peace adviser Jesus Dureza said at Friday's signing ceremony in Norway, which is mediating the talks.

Duterte had shown some sympathy to the rebel cause and had made it a priority to negotiate a peace deal with them that would stop the long costly struggle with the group. In turn, the Maoists threw their support behind Duterte's drug war: "The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement on Saturday that it had authorized its in-house militia, the New People's Army (NPA), to "disarm and arrest" drug lords, local news site GMA News reports."

Now this has cooperation is all ended and it is back to constant low level warfare it would seem. After he announced he was suspending peace talks. Duterte said: "From now on I will consider the CPP-NPA-NDF a terrorist group." He told the negotiators he had released to attend peace talks to return home and go back to prison. They are apparently already back in the Philippines but it appears they are not back in prison as yet. They are out on bail and feel they should not be arrested at least until the term of the bail runs out. Duterte also announced the end of the government's unilateral ceasefire.

The breakdown in the talks is the result of a number of clashes in recent weeks. The leadership of the rebels is not always able to control the actions of every local commander. Government commanders as well have varying attitudes to the struggle some no doubt not favoring a ceasefire. Recently three soldiers were killed in an ambush near Cagayan de Oro on the southern island of Mindanao. President Duterte was visiting the area to attend their funeral. Duterte awarded the three soldiers medals and provided financial support for their families. Duterte also said that the Geneva Convention did not apply to the NPA since they are criminals. Wikipedia reports that from the inception of the rebellion in 1969 until 2008 there were more than 43,000 insurgency related deaths.

Philippine president releases communist rebels prior to Norway peace talks

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte came to power not only on a promise to wage a war against drug trafficking but also to negotiate an end to five decades of conflict with the Maoist New Peoples Army (NPA) that has killed more than 40,000.

The NPA has been operating in the Philippines since 1969, as described by Wikipedia: "The New People's Army (NPA) (Filipino: " Bagong Hukbong Bayan) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It was formed and founded by Bernabe Buscayno A.K.A. "Commander Dante" on March 29, 1969. " The Philippine Army estimates that at the end of 2015 it had about 60,000 fighters. They are spread throughout rural areas of the Philippines. The U.S. State Department designates the NPA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and it is also branded as a terrorist organization by EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. However, the Philippine government delisted the NPA as a terrorist group in 2011 making negotiations somewhat easier.

The Philippines has let 12 NPA leaders out of jail on bail just a few days before new talks are to start in Norway. National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa said the temporary release of the leaders was the result of president Duterte's peace offer. The talks with the government had been stalled in 2012 over the refusal of the government to free the leaders who have been in jail for decades. The chief said the peace offer was one of the most positive developments in years.

Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the leftist Bayan or Nation group that is allied with the communists said that the releases were a good sign and had raised hopes that the talks, set to begin in Norway on August 22, would begin on a positive note. Among those released on bail were Tirso Alcantara one of the highest ranking guerrilla leaders who was wounded in a firefight with Philippine soldiers five years ago. However, top leaders Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma remain in prison. Activists have been demonstrating outside the national police office demanding the release of them as other senior guerrilla leaders. Human rights advocates claim that the government is holding more than 500 rebels in detention, including Muslim rebel leaders.

Another report claims that 17 guerrilla leaders were released on bail to attend the peace talks. They all vowed to return home to the Philippines rather than flee after the talks. Apparently, Benito Tamzon and his wife have also been released and he said: "We will return home after the peace talks in Oslo. We were released from jail to take part in the peace talks and we are serious about it. The negotiations in Oslo are only one part of the process and there are other talks happening in other venues."

Security forces worry that rebel leaders would stay overseas or see them as a pretext to rebuild their army and consolidate their ranks. In 1987, the leader and founder of the Philippine Communist Party, Jose Sison, after nine years of detention went to the Netherlands. He sought asylum and has lived in Utrecht for the last 30 years.

Tamzon praised Duterte saying: "This is the first and only time we have a president determined to push genuine reforms." He said that he had better prospects to end the long conflict than earlier attempts. He said that the two sides hope to negotiate a ceasefire when the talks begin on August 22. The two will also discuss political, economic, and constitutional reforms as well. Another five leaders that are still in detention hope to join the other 17 traveling to Oslo for the talks.

Truce between Maoist rebels and Philippine government ended early

The Philippine government and the Communist Party of the Philippines blame each other for calling off a truce almost two weeks before the scheduled end. This development threatens ongoing peace talks between the Maoist rebels and the government.

The original truce was scheduled to run from December 20th to January 15. However, the CPP called the truce off on January 2nd saying it believed the government wanted the truce to last only until then. A spokesperson for Philippine president Benigno Aquino III said that the Communist Party together with its armed wing the New People's Army (NPA) just wanted an excuse to end the ceasefire early. The CPP statement said:

"The [communist New People's Army (NPA)] and the people's militias should immediately assume an offensive posture and confront and frustrate the enemy campaigns of suppression."

. A spokesperson for Aquino, however, said that the government would continue to observe the ceasefire until January 15. He also claimed that the rebels found an extended ceasefire to be detrimental to them and so ended it early and blamed the government. The two sides had agreed to the peace talks in mid-December. These were the first high-level peace talks in over a year. A military spokesperson in the southern Philippines claims that the NPA had already violated the ceasefire when they mounted an attack on the outskirts of Davao and briefly held two government troops and three civilians. However, no one was injured apparently and those held were released. Peace talks between the groups have often broken down. In November 2011, the CPP pulled out of the talks when the government refused to free jailed comrades who the CPP claimed were actually meant to be consultants in the negotiations. The NPA has been waging armed struggle in the Philippines since 1969. In the 1980's the rebels were much stronger and there were an estimated 26,000 fighters but now the current strength has dwindled to about 4,000 fighters. Although the CPP is outlawed in the Philippines and the NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the US, there are a number of legal leftist groups that even elect members to the Philippine legislature and also operate as NGO's. Most of the NPA operations and support for the movement are in rural areas often neglected by the government. The appended video is several years old.

Philippine Communist Party urges increased attacks by New People's Army

This is from the Daily Tribune a leftist Manila based paper. The NPA (New People's Army) is the armed struggle wing of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines). Although the party is banned and the leadership in exile there are numerous legal fronts both political and other activist organisations. Offensives against offshoots of the separatist movements MNLF and MILF and the Abu Sayyaf are often used as pretexts to attack the MNFL or MILF according to some. There is obviously a certain amount of co-operation between the Muslim separatists and the NPA which are Maoist. Both the NPA and CPP are listed by the US as terrorist organisations. But heck the US was founded by terrorists who overthrew the Brits!
THe strategy urged in the release seems reasonable for a weak force that must attack only where the opposed forces are themselves weak. The NDP specialises in ambushes and otherwise avoids contact with the AFP when possible.

CPP orders NPA: Intensify attacks in Mindanao



08/20/2007

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has ordered all guerrilla fronts established by its New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao to launch tactical offensives against military camps and detachments in the island region after the deployment of more than 5,000 troops in Basilan and Sulu. (See related story)

In a two-page directive released by the Executive Committee of the Central Committee (EC-CC) of the CPP on Thursday, the leadership of the revolutionary underground said, “The deployment of thousands of troops from other regions to Basilan and Jolo (Sulu’s capital) leaves other Philippine Army units more thinly spread in NPA areas,” which the communist rebels “can take advantage of and launch tactical offensives against weakened and isolated units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).”

The EC-CC stressed the NPA must carry out tactical offensives in areas where it operates alongside the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Noting the demoralization within the ranks of the Marines and the Army, the CPP leadership called on the “NPA and all revolutionary forces to take advantage of the heightened and widespread disenchantment within the AFP by intensifying organizing efforts among the rank-and-file and junior officers of the AFP.”

It claimed widespread disarray and




disenchantment have become more intense within the military as a result of the successive losses suffered by government forces especially in Basilan and Sulu.this past month “where Philippine Army units have been suffering one major defeat after another in armed encounters with the MILF and the MNLF.”

The CPP added the ongoing all-out offensive operations of the AFP in Basilan and Sulu are being directed not so much against the minuscule Abu Sayyaf bandit group, but actually against the MILF and the MNLF.

“The Arroyo regime is carrying out attacks against the Moro people to weaken their resolve in the struggle for self-determination and assertion of their ancestral domain. The regime wishes to take away the victories of the Moro people which they have won through several decades of revolutionary armed struggle,” it said.

The communist group also revealed that a new patriotic movement within the military is now aligned with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political umbrella of 14 underground organizations, to pursue the armed and political struggle against the government.

“There is within the AFP a growing democratic and patriotic movement of soldiers who are disgruntled with the leadership of the AFP and the Arroyo regime,” it added.

“The revolutionary forces must directly and indirectly reach out to the rank-and-file and junior officers of the Armed Forces where they can to conscienticize them, enlighten them on the basic problems of the Filipino people,” it said.

THE CPP claimed soldiers “have become more disgusted with the Arroyo government and its top generals in the face of the reckless and all-out offensive being carried out in Basilan and Sulu and the extra-judicial killings, abductions, torture, forced evacuations and food blockades in line with its ‘Oplan Bantay Laya 2.’” Gerry Baldo