Resist the neoliberal and militarist imperialist offensive! Strengthen the united front for national democracy!

Ka Bayani Obrero
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front – Negros
April 24, 2024

The revolutionary forces and revolutionary mass organizations on Negros Island commemorate the 51st founding anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) with utmost zeal and optimism, determined more than ever to topple the semi-colonial and semi-feudal grip of imperialism in cahoots with local feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.

Negrosanons are increasingly enraged over the worsening crises brought about by the imperialist neoliberal agenda on top of the El Niño phenomenon. Both multinational companies and local big compradors owning destructive mining and quarry operations, solar farms, ecotourism, export-oriented agribusiness ventures, among others, continue to displace Negrosanon peasant communities from their land and livelihoods. “Super” and “smart” cities in Bacolod and Dumaguete aim to demolish urban poor communities and exploit natural resources for profit. The PUV modernization scheme will result to thousands of jobless drivers and impoverished families amid extreme crisis.

As real wages dwindle in value compared to skyrocketing prices of basic goods, the El Niño phenomenon has further unmasked the reactionary government’s neglect of Negrosanons. Sugarcane, rice and corn fields and even agricultural work are adversely affected by severe drought while the Marcos regime has done nothing but pump militarization into communities both in cities and the countryside.

As the anti-people onslaught continues, the tiempo muerto has become a perennial ordeal for majority of the population on the island reliant on the monocrop sugar economy. The AFP, PNP, and NTF-Elcac let loose increasing reactionary violence on the island causing monstrous human rights violations against the poor and oppressed Negrosanons.

The AFP’s ludicrous effort to defeat the revolutionary movement after uncountable extended deadlines prove their eagerness to appease their US imperialist master. They are rushing to an impossible target of surmounting the armed struggle that will eventually blow up in their faces.

Furthermore, US imperialism is desperate to impose global hegemony. It is utilizing its cohorts in the AFP to push its rival, China, into “pulling the trigger.”

The threat of an inter-imperialist war grows more imminent as the US war machine has ramped up the Philippines and its other allies to engage in saber-rattling to push China until it is brought to the brink of an armed confrontation. The US is maximizing its neocolonial grip on the Philippines to use it as a military base and cannon fodder against China, while also leeching off the country’s rich natural reserves.

Amid this volatile situation, the NDF-Negros and its allied organizations are committed to broadening the united front against imperialism and continue to be at the forefront of the Filipino struggle against monopoly capitalism. At a time of sharpening socio-political crises, the masses must be aroused, organized, and mobilized in millions to resist the neoliberal and militarist imperialist offensive.

The NDFP represents the oppressed and exploited classes and sectors in Philippine society. It strengthens itself and its allied organizations in the cities and the countryside to fight for national liberation and democracy and overthrow the exploitative and oppressive ruling system by means of a national democratic revolution through protracted people’s war.

Along with the NPA and through the leadership of the CPP, the NDFP ensures the basic alliance of peasants and workers, the progressive alliance with the petty bourgeoisie, the patriotic alliance with the national bourgeoisie, and maximize the splits in the ruling class. Through this, the broadest number of people will be organized against imperialism, and struggle for national liberation, democracy, and just and lasting peace. ###

Linibu-libo nga pamatan-on ang manubli sa armas ni Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista! Hustisya para sa Bilar 5!

Kabataang Makabayan-Southwest Negros
March 13, 2024

Ang Kabataang Makabayan-Southwest Negros nagahatag sang amon pinakamataas nga pagsaludo kag pagpasidungog sa mga rebolusyonaryong martir ilabi na sa pareho namon nga pamatan-on, Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista, isa ka abogada nga gindakop-patay upod nila Domingo Compoc (Ka Laser), Albert Sancho (Ka Juaning), Parlito Segovia (Ka Aldrin), kag Marlon Omosura (Ka Darwin) sa Brgy. Campagao, Bilar, Bohol sadtong Pebrero 23, 2024.

Hugot namon nga ginakundenar ang pagmasaker sa Bilar 5. Wala sang kamatuoran kag dugang lang sa mga serye sang peke nga engkwentro ang ginpalapta sa mga nagapanguna nga “fake news peddler” sang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) kag Philippine National Police (PNP). Nasaksihan mismo sang mga pumuluyo nga gindakop ang lima ka Pulang hangaway antes ginmasaker sa ila atubang agud magtanom sang kahadlok kag mapunggan ang masang mangunguma nga maghimakas para sa ila kinamatarung kag demokrasya.

Ang ginhimo sang mga berdugo nga AFP-PNP sa Bilar 5 wala sang kinatuhay sa mga pagpatay sa mga hors de combat diri sa isla sang Negros. Wala huya nga ginlapas sang militar kag kapulisan ang mga kasugtanan sa Geneva Conventions kag Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

Indi sayang ang kabuhi nga ginhalad sang Bilar 5 kag sa linibu-libo nga martir sang rebolusyon. Nagakaangay nga sundon ang ila rebolusyonaryo nga banas ilabi na ni Ka Maya. Partikular nga kuhaan naton sang inspirasyon ang iya rebolusyonaryo nga diwa.

Bilang isa ka abogada, namuklat si Ka Maya sa lapnagon nga paglapas sa tawhanon kinamatarung, kag sang mga makasiligni nga mga krimen sang rehimen Marcos Jr paagi sa mga pasista nga mga ido-ido sang AFP-PNP sa kasyudaran man ukon sa kaumhan. Ini nga krisis naghangkat kay Ka Maya nga magbiya sang iya komportable nga kabuhi kag mag-amot sa iya kinaalam kag propesyon para sa ginapigos kag ginahimuslan nga pumuluyo kag sa rebolusyon.

Sa atubang sang nagapermi nga krisis sang malakolonyal kag malapyudal nga sistema, wala sang kasanag ang buwas damlag sang mga pamatan-on. Ginadingutan ang pamatan-on sang edukasyon, ginprograma nga daw mga robot paagi sa mga neoliberal nga polisiya sa edukasyon, kag ginahimo nga gatasan sang barato nga kusog pangabudlay.

Sa garok nga sistema nga mala-kolonyal kag mala-pyudal, wala untat nga mag-ilig ang dugo sang mga bag-ong pamatan-on nga mag-usoy sa banas sang armado nga rebolusyon. Linibu-libo pa ang magsugpon sa kabuhi ni Ka Maya kag manubli sang iya armas agud maangkon ang pungsodnon nga kahilwayan kag demokrasya. Mga pamatan-on magpasakop na sa NPA!

Hustisya para sa Bilar 5!
Mabuhay ang mga rebolusyonaryong martir!

Mabuhay si Ka Jandy! Iloy, Pulang hangaway, Rebolusyonaryo!

Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan-Southwest Negros
Marso 13, 2024

Ang Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA)-Southwest Negros taas-kamao nga nagapaabot sang amon hugot nga pagsaludo kay Emmarie “Ka Jandy” Pastidio, isa ka iloy, Pulang hangaway kag rebolusyonaryo. Sadtong Pebrero 21, 2024, namartir si Ka Jandy upod si Ka Jorge (Joshua Sultan) sa isa ka engkwentro sa Sityo Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

Ginapaabot namon ang amon pagpangasubo sa mga abyan kag pamilya nila Ka Jandy kag Ka Jorge ilabi na sa iya banahon nga si Ka Peeta, isa man ka Pulang hangaway, kag sa iya anak nga si Baby Marx Cairo Salino nga tubtob subong, ara pa gihapon sa kamot sang reaksyonaryong estado paagi sa NTF-Elcac.

Mabakod nga nanindugan si Ka Jandy sa rebolusyon tubtub sa iya kamatayon. Masalimuot ang nangin kabuhi ni Ka Jandy nga naghatag kabakud sang iya panindugan nga lubos panahon nga mag-alagad sa masang mangunguma. Puno sang kaisog kag determinasyon niya nga gin-atubang ang mga pagpamintas, pagpanghimulos kag pagpamigos nga bunga sang burges-pyudal nga panan-awan sa kababainhan sang sosyedad.

Antes nagpasakop sa New People’s Army (NPA), nangin pamatan-on nga organisador pangkultura si Ka Jandy sa nabukid nga bahin sang San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. Gindakop siya upod ang isa pa ka organisador sang 2018 kag napaidalum sa mental torture kag pagpamahug sang terorista nga tropa sang 79th IB sang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Sadtong Enero 13, 2021, gin-abdak siya sang nag-maternity leave agud maatipan ang duha ka bulan niya nga bata nga si Baby Marx. Indi matupongan ang sakit nga naagum ni Ka Jandy sang pilit nga ginhamulag sa iya ang iya bata. Iya man nga gin-antus ang mental torture kag pisikal nga pagpanghimulos pareho sang pagsunog sang sigarilyo sa iya nga lawas kag paglugos sa iya sang mga wala kaluoy nga soldado sang 79th IB sulod sa 10 ka adlaw.

Bisan amo ini ang mga inagihan ni Ka Jandy, wala niya ginbaylo ang iya rebolusyonaryo nga panindugan para sa paltik nga kahilwayan paagi sa programa nga amnestiya sang reaksyonaryo nga estado. Wala nagpabaya si Ka Jandy sa iya pagka-iloy kay Baby Marx kundi ginhungod mismo sang reaksyonaryo nga estado paagi sa NTF-Elcac nga dingutan siya sa iya bata. Ginhimo nga siod sang pasista nga rehimen si Baby Marx agud mapasungka si Ka Jandy kag Ka Peeta. Namartir si Ka Jandy nga wala makita liwat ang iya bata.

Indi makatarunganon ang paghimo kay Baby Marx bilang hostage sang NTF-Elcac sa sulod sang tatlo ka tuig kag lapas ini sa internasyunal nga laye sang gyera kag  internasyunal nga makitawhanon nga laye kaangot sa ispesyal nga proteksyon sang mga lapsag, mga kabataan kag sa mga busong.

Ginpakita sa kabuhi ni Ka Jandy ang kadesperado sang rehimen Marcos Jr nga tapuson na ang armado nga rebolusyon, apang indi ini malutos tubtub indi magabot ang ugat sang burges-pyudal nga sistema—ang imperyalismo, pyudalismo, kag burukrata kapitalismo. Tubtub indi pa mahilway ang ginapigos kag ginahimuslan ilabi na ang mga kababainhan, magadamo pa ang mga kababainhan nga makigbahin sa pungsodnon demokratiko nga rebolusyon.

Ginapanawagan man sang MAKIBAKA-Southwest Negros sa tanan nga mga progresibong organisasyon sang kababainhan, mga tagasakdag sang kinamatarung sang mga kabataan kag sa tanan nga progresibong pwersa nga magtib-ong para sa kampanya sa paghilway kay Baby Marx.

Mabuhay si Ka Jandy!
Mabuhay ang mga rebolusyonaryong kababainhan!
Free Baby Marx! ###

Follow Hannah Cesista’s revolutionary spirit!

PRESS STATEMENT

Kabataang Makabayan – South CentralNegros
February 29, 2024

KABATAANG MAKABAYAN – SOUTH CENTRAL NEGROS vehemently condemns the merciless killing of Domingo Compoc, Hannah Jay Cesista, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura, and Alberto Sancho or collectively known as Bilar 5. Contrary to the narrative fabricated by the 47th IB and PNP Bohol, the Bilar 5 was not killed in an encounter between the New People’s Army (NPA) and AFP and PNP forces in Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao, Bilar, Bohol last February 23, 2024.

The repressive state machinery was sunk in humiliation by repeatedly exposing itself as “fake news peddler.” With clear evidence, it was revealed that the Bilar 5 was captured by the 47th IB and its accomplice, PNP Bohol. Accordingly, the Bilar 5 should have been considered as prisoners of war (POW). To make things worse, instead of granting them the rights accorded in the Geneva Convention, they had experienced physical and psychological torture at the hands of the merciless enemy.

Tracing the history of the AFP’s deeds, this is not the first time that the institution resorted to massacre and other brutal forms of attempting to cripple the revolutionary movement and silencing the masses who speak and stand for the truth. This has been their modus operandi since time immemorial. In South Central Negros, similar bloody incidents have occurred such as killing of the Quillano couple, the Binalbagan 4 massacre, the salvaging of farmer Jose Gonzalez, the torture and murder of AGC-NPA spokesperson Ka Juanito Magbanua (Romeo Nanta), and the massacre of the Fausto family (including two minors).

In their desperation, the AFP as an institution has worsened its tainted integrity and maintained its reputation as “protector” and “lapdog” of the ruling class of big landlords, big comprador bourgeoise, and their imperialist master.

More so, the KM – South Central Negros raises its fist to pay the highest tribute to the Bilar 5. Among the martyrs is Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista, a lawyer who eventually embraced armed struggle as a means of forwarding the national democratic revolution with a socialist perspective. Due to her comprehensive grasp of the objective conditions of the country and empathy toward the exploited masses, Ka Maya, as a revolutionary youth, took a resolute step of leaving her comfortable life to fully immerse with the masses.

Hannah Cesista left a fiery path full of revolutionary spirit for the next generation of youth to follow. With this, we highly urge the Filipino youth to study the social ills of the country, take a critical stand on it, be organized, and eventually join the highest form of struggle. Join the NPA!###

Ka Jandy, an epitome of a woman revolutionary fighting for justice and social liberation

Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan-Negros
February 28, 2024

The Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA)-Negros pays tribute to Emarie “Ka Jandy” Pastidio who gave her life for the struggle for justice and social liberation. Her life as a woman revolutionary gives inspiration to us all and nurtures our determination to carry forward the people’s democratic revolution. Ka Jandy was martyred, together with Joshua ‘Ka Jorge’ Sultan, while facing enemy troops in Sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental on February 21, 2024.

MAKIBAKA-Negros grieves with the families and friends of Ka Jandy and Ka Jorge, most of all, Ka Peeta, Ka Jandy’s husband and comrade-in-arms, and Baby Marx Cairo, her son, and the revolutionary forces and masses of Northern Negros.

We demand justice, as well, for Tatay Jose Caramihan, an ordinary farmer who was planting rice during the armed encounter. He suffered the brutality of the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (79IBPA) when he was butchered and presented afterwards by the military as a casualty of the New People’s Army (NPA), along with Ka Jandy and Ka Jorge.

Revolutionary women in Negros would like to highlight Ka Jandy’s life that was full of struggles for a young woman. She did not just suffer under a fascist patriarchal system, but up to her death, she is being exploited by the Philippine Army for monetary rewards, promotion and empty accolades. 

Ka Jandy was captured twice and experienced all sorts of torture at the hands of the fascist military.

In 2018, Ka Jandy was organizing a cultural group in the hinterlands of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental when 79th IB soldiers raided the house where she was resting in with her fellow organizer. Both of them were dragged out and made to drop face down on an anthill before bringing them to the 79th IBPA Headquarters, where they experienced more mental torture during interrogation. Both Ka Jandy and her companion were eventually freed after public pressure.

Her experience under illegal detention and torture by the reactionary state was the turning point for Ka Jandy. From a cultural youth group organizer, she became a young woman fighter of the NPA. As a Red fighter, she contributed much and more to the armed struggle to the best of her abilities. Her comrades in the NPA unit she belonged to acknowledged her great contribution in guerrilla zone expansion work.

On January 13, 2021, in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, while Ka Jandy was on maternity leave, she again suffered at the hands of the 79th IB for a second time. She evaded a raid by armed soldiers of the 79th IB on the house where she was recovering and taking care of 2-month old Baby Marx Cairo Salino, but she was eventually captured. She experienced torture, specifically cigarette burns all over her body, and was repeatedly raped by 79th IB soldiers. For days, she was fighting for her life, determined to see her baby again.

On the 10th day of her incarceration, Ka Jandy was able to escape the enemy camp and was rescued by her comrades. However, Baby Marx, whom she left with a family for his welfare, was reported as a ‘recovery’ by the raiding enemy troops and remains a hostage of the Philippine government to lure his parents into capitulation.

Until now, after three years, despite numerous efforts, Baby Marx’ grandparents strive to bring him home but they are facing bureaucratic hindrances put in place by the reactionary government’s NTF-Elcac. They are also being targeted by fascist reactionary state forces to pressure their son, Baby Marx’s father, to surrender. Ultimately, Ka Jandy died without seeing her baby boy again.

Even after her death, the fascist Philippine Army is maligning Ka Jandy’s life and legacy in their black propaganda. They spread lies and intrigues to tarnish the memory of Ka Jandy and the revolution she stood for. Yet, they will of course fail.

On International Women’s Day this March 8, let Ka Jandy’s story of a revolutionary woman and mother advancing the liberation of women in this macho society and struggling to end of all forms of abuse generated by the ruling system, spur a new wave of women to participate in the revolutionary armed movement.
The MAKIBAKA-Negros also continues to demand the immediate and safe return of Baby Marx to his family. We vehemently condemn the reactionary state for violating international humanitarian law, specifically the special protection for infants, children, and pregnant women.

We call on peace and human rights advocates all over the world, as well as women’s organizations, to support the campaign for Baby Marx Cairo Salino’s release to his family. The Marcos Jr regime must be made accountable for the war crime of keeping Baby Marx and, other infants and children in similar circumstances, hostage.

Long live Ka Jandy!
Long live women Red fighters!
Long live the people’s democratic revolution!

Justice for the Bilar 5!

Kabataang Makabayan – Negros
February 25, 2024

Kabataang Makabayan (KM)-Negros expresses its utmost rage and vehemently condemns the 47th Infantry Battalion and Bohol Provincial Police Office upon confirmation that there was no encounter last February 24 in Bilar, Bohol, but another cold-blooded massacre of captured revolutionaries. We demand justice for victims Domingo Compoc, Hannah Cesista, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura and Alberto Sancho.

According to recent information, the five Red fighters were captured by the AFP’s 47th IB and PNP Bohol in Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao, Bilar, Bohol. Thus, they should have been afforded their rights as prisoners of war as stated in the third 1949 Geneva Convention, in Additional Protocol 1 of 1977 and under the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on  Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). As neanderthal goons of the elite however, the AFP and PNP tussled over the reward money of Domingo Compoc and committed their business-as-usual scheme of torturing and eventually brutally killing hors de combat.

Compoc was suffering from arthritis and old age, and was stabbed to death in front of villagers. Cesista, along with Compoc and the other victims, was made to crawl in the mud until the fascists decided to kill her as well. There was no encounter to begin with, only a showcase of the wanton violent nature of the AFP and PNP against the defenseless.

The reactionary state continues their brutal streak of massacres of hors de combat and civilians in the hope to threaten the masses. We also condemn the killing of farmer Jose Caramihan in Sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City last February 21. He was murdered by the 79th IB and paraded as a NPA casualty after an encounter with Red fighters. These kinds of mercenary gestures only show the people that the illusion of peace propagated by the AFP, PNP, and NTF-Elcac is ridden with blood.

Thus, like Cesista, more youth are enticed to join the NPA after being disillusioned of the pseudo-democracy indoctrinated by the ruling class in our educational system. It is not a waste for a lawyer to go to the countryside and defend the oppressed and exploited. Utter waste and garbage should be used to describe the 47th IB and the reactionary state as a whole, who are in truth the ones capitalizing upon their murders to keep up with their twisted sense of besmirching the revolution that they cannot defeat and instead always end up expanding.

The revolutionary youth of Negros have not forgotten the brutal murder of National Democratic Front consultant Ericson Acosta and peasant organizer Joseph Jimenez at the hands of the 47th IB in Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City on November 2022. The 47th IB is also accountable for separate incidents of extrajudicial killing of farmers Jonel Bayno and Rogelio Lacton who were taken by the 47th IB from their homes and were only seen by their families as cadavers left along the road in the hinterland of Sipalay City on May 2023. This same butcher battalion massacred five hors de combat, including a pregnant woman, and a tricycle driver on September 21, 2023 at Barangay Tabugon, Kabankalan City.

As we pay our highest tributes to the Bilar 5, KM-Negros also vows to continue expanding and consolidating its ranks to strengthen the revolutionary movement. We take inspiration from the likes of Rachelle Mae Palang, Nikka dela Cruz, Cheene Dacalos and Hannah Cesista, and the rest of the radical and progressive youth who chose to join the armed struggle and offer the highest form of sacrifice for the interests and welfare of the exploited masses.###

A Red Salute to Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista and All Revolutionary Martyrs in the Recent Bohol Encounter

Kabataang Makabayan – Negros
February 24, 2024

Kabataang Makabayan (KM)-Negros gives its firm red salute to Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista, along with Domingo “Ka Silong” Compoc, Parlito “Ka Aldrin” Segovia, Marlon “Ka Darwin” Omosura, and Ka Juaning, who were martyred after an encounter between Red fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Bohol and combined fascist troops of the Bohol Police Provincial Office and 47th Infantry Battalion last February 23 in Barangay Campagao, Bilar, Bohol.

We extend, as well, our sympathies to their families and the broad masses of workers and peasants whom they chose to fight for to their last breath. We mourn the loss of such valiant comrades, but grief shall serve as fuel to the revolutionary flame in our hearts that can never be extinguished until the national democratic aspirations they offered their lives for are achieved.

We particularly raise our fists to our fellow youth, Hannah Jay “Ka Maya” Cesista, whose revolutionary martyrdom serves as inspiration in expressing our militancy through joining the ranks of the NPA. Her pursuit of championing human rights took her to the difficult path of armed struggle after witnessing state fascism and terrorism and, by extension reactionary law, as but utilities of the ruling class to exploit and oppress the people.

Ka Maya offered her expertise and intellect to strengthen the revolutionary ranks of the NPA in Bohol, serving the people wholeheartedly. Despite the incessant smear campaign of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Ka Maya’s life was far from wasted. In fact, she has proven, along with the thousands of martyred Red fighters, that the revolution continues through the ceaseless flow of new blood from the youth who are radicalized in the cities and the countryside, eager for genuine national democracy and lasting peace.

In this semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, it is both just and necessary to revolt against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. Fellow youth, let us succeed Ka Maya’s revolutionary aspirations that can only be realized through a people’s democratic revolution.

Long live all revolutionary martyrs and heroes!
Advance the people’s war!
Join the NPA! ###

Reject both Marcos and Duterte

February 3, 2024

Ka Bayani Obrero
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front – Negros

Barely two years later, the unholy alliance between tyrannical plunderer families of the Marcoses and Dutertes have shattered. Both sycophants to imperialism, their true colors as representatives of the ruling class are exposed as they feud over power to pursue their own selfish interests. If anything, their in-fighting is a testament of the necessity to topple the status quo and establish a genuine people’s democratic government.

The fake people’s initiative for charter change spearheaded by Marcos and Romualdez aims to solidify their control of the reactionary state, while also depriving the Dutertes of an opportunity to seize the upcoming 2025 senatorial and 2028 presidential elections. As both cliques incessantly bicker against each other, genuine issues of the people are forsaken.

By now it is crystal clear to the exploited and oppressed Negrosanon masses that the same fascists who emboldened tyranny and violence on the island are still very much birds of the same feather. Both Marcos and Duterte are their class enemies. Neither is a lesser evil, especially after the neoliberal economic attacks and countless human rights violations that continue both in the cities and the countryside.

The turmoil between bureaucrat capitalists, however, are reflective of the rapidly disintegrating semi-colonial and semi-feudal system. The despair of both sides manifests their willingness to contribute further to the socioeconomic crisis and appease their also-bickering-masters at the brink of war, the US and China, at the expense of the Filipino people.

Now, more than ever, the broad toiling masses, led by the Communist Party of the Philippines embodying proletarian class leadership, are determined to follow and uphold the revolutionary class line—to isolate and destroy the worst of the enemy, represented by Marcos and Duterte. With this, NDF-Negros enjoins all patriotic and progressive sectors, organizations, and individuals, to rally efforts in building a broad alliance against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. It is high time that the people of Negros Island, together with the entire Filipino people, muster courage to end the culture of impunity and terror and to advance the national democratic revolution, in pursuit of a just and lasting peace. ###

Negrosanons top victims of human rights violations

NEWS RELEASE
February 3, 2024

The National Democratic Front (NDF) – Negros called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental to conduct more independent investigations in peasant communities and far-flung areas on the island where mainly farmers, farm workers and indigenous peoples are victims of human rights violations (HRVs) perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and their paramilitary forces, and the National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac.

“Negrosanons remain as top victims of HRVs as the island is a priority of state-sponsored violence,” NDF spokesperson Ka Bayani Obrero said.

According to Obrero, they have documented at least 345 cases of HRVs with more than 14,000 victims in 2023. “There are already 30 incidents of human rights abuses all over Negros involving over a thousand victims just this January 2024, increasing the US-Marcos II regime’s HRV toll to almost 600 cases with nearly 40,000 victims just on the island.”

Obrero listed the cases for January: extrajudicial killings – 2 (four victims), frustrated killing – 1 (one victim), illegal arrest – 2 (three victims), physical assault – 1 (two victims), indiscriminate firing of firearms – 2 (90 victims), illegal search and seizure – 1 (five victims), threat, harassment and intimidation – 14 (582 victims); forcible evacuation and displacement – 1 (50 victims), coercion – 1 (50 victims), and encampment in populated areas – 5 (400 victims).

“There are certainly undocumented cases, as well. What’s clear is the continually escalating and intensifying attacks by the AFP, PNP, and NTF-Elcac in the countryside and even in the cities,” he added.

Obrero also pointed out that the recent CHR complaint count is left wanting in grassroots data, especially that “the culture of impunity enveloping reactionary state troops has turned them rabid and on a rampage threatening, harassing, and silencing civilians in the countryside.”

“Additionally, the CHR should take supposed ‘encounters’ with a grain of salt, taking into account the military’s consistent history of faking encounters to justify their crimes against hors de combat revolutionaries and peasants,” said Obrero.

The rebel spokesperson noted that there have been 39 fake encounters in Negros Island under the current US-Marcos regime wherein 23 occurred last 2023 and two this January 2024. The most recent victims were two farmers in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

The NDF-Negros urged the CHR to dig deep into the data offered by the AFP, PNP and NTF-Elcac, and assist the exploited and oppressed in their struggle for justice.###

Reference:

Ka Bayani Obrero
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front – Negros

Resist the anti-poor jeepney modernization and neoliberal agenda of Marcos Jr

Ka Bayani Obrero
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front – Negros
January 4, 2024

The National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros lauds the efforts of drivers and small operators in Bacolod City to confront the sham and anti-poor “jeepney modernization program” that is a neoliberal scheme to allow the privatization and monopolization of the transport sector. Through transport strikes and protests they were able to raise the awareness of Negrosanons and gather support against the transport monopolization program of the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) dutifully implemented by the US-Marcos II regime.

The current Marcos regime is abandoning thousands of drivers and small operators in forcing them into losing their livelihoods and is depriving the riding public of cheap transportation. According to recent data of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), only 23 percent or 540 of the 2,313 traditional jeepneys in Bacolod have ‘consolidated,’ which means a vast majority of them are bound to be disenfranchised and thus affecting almost two thousand families.

Marcos Jr has callously dismissed the successive nationwide jeepney strikes as only a ‘minority’ who are against the franchise consolidation, when in fact the solidarity shown by various sectors and its burdensome effect on Filipinos’ daily lives reveal otherwise. At the whim of imperialism, especially the WB and the ADB, the reactionary government is poised to insist on another neoliberal agenda of handing over the public transportation sector to the hands of foreign corporations in connivance with big compradors and bureaucrat capitalists.

The Marcos regime promotes the dominance of foreign companies over public utilities, including transportation. Old surplus vehicles from Japan, Korea and even China, packaged as ‘modern jeepneys,’ are being dumped in the Philippines to continue profits for foreign monopoly transport corporations. Due to the excessive prices, poor drivers and operators are either forced out of their livelihoods or further exploited in ‘franchises’ that are bound to control their wages and earnings, and minimum fares.

In Negros Island, the socioeconomic crisis forces farmers and farm workers from the countryside to search for odd jobs likely in the construction and transportation sector in the cities in the hopes of supporting their families only to experience another kind of oppression and exploitation. They barely even make the minimum wage far from the family living wage of Php996 in Western Visayas and Php1,253 in Central Visayas.

On top of the bogus jeepney modernization program, the reactionary government fails to address the absence of genuine land reform and national industrialization. The NDFP’s Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) tackled these very problems in the peace talks so despised by the previous Duterte regime.

Instead of solving the transport crisis, jeepney phaseout will only cause further problems for the Filipino people along with the continuous rise of oil prices and basic commodities, joblessness, perennial poverty and hunger, landlessness, lack of social services especially health and education, and militarization, among others.

Ultimately, ending the imperialist domination of Philippine economy through a national democratic revolution is the only means to truly achieve national liberation that will end the oppression and exploitation of the Filipino people, including drivers and small operators. ###