Pagdumdom sa panahon sang kadulom

Masami nga ginadumdom sa kasaysayan sang Negros ang panghitabo sadtong ika-13 ka tuig nga pag-alsa sang pumuluyo sa pagsikway sa pasistang diktadurya ni Marcos Sr kag ang iya Laye Militar. Bilang sabat sa sistematiko nga pagbayolar sang tawhanon nga kinamatarung kag masobra sa isa ka dekada nga paghugakom sang gahum kag pondo sa amay nga Marcos, naglunsar sang pungsodnon nga koordinado nga welgang bayan sadtong Setyembre 21, 1985. Ang nagkalain-lain nga sektor sa Negros ang nag-organisa sang lakbayan ukon martsa-protesta. Ang lakbayan sa norte kag sur nga bahin sang Negros ang nagsugod sa duha ka adlaw antes agud makalab-ot sa natalana nga lugar sang mas temprano. Ginhimo nga sentro sang pagtililipon amo ang interseksyon sang Magsaysay-Araneta, Banago, interseksyon sang Ramos-Lacson kag Libertad-Lopez Jaena sa syudad sang Bacolod kag Escalante sa norte.

Ang protesta ginpangunahan sang mga pamatan-on, pesante kag mga mamumugon. Mga maisog sila apang sigurado nga indi armado. Pero ang nag-atubang sa ila mga sundalo nga armado sa matag-as nga kalibre, tropa sang Regional Special Action Force (RSAF) kag Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF). Ginpwesto man sang mga armado sang estado ang machine gun sa ibabaw sang munisipyo. Ang mga trak sang bombero ang nagpalibot sa mga nagatipon.

Ginpasumpitan sang mabaskog nga tubig ang mga nagprotesta apang napaslaw ini sa pagbungkag sa ila hanay. Wala pa sila nakontento, matapos ang kanyon sang tubig amo ang tear gas. Nag-uyatay sang hugot sang mga butkon samtang nagapadayon sang pagsinggit, “Bugas, Bugas, Indi Armas!” Tubtob sa nagligad nga oras, sa ila madumduman, nag-inulan sang bala direkta sa mga nagprotesta halin sa posisyon sang mga armado nga pwersa. Ang isa ka lider estudyante kag laban mga mamumugon sa uma ang brutal nga napatay, samtang ang iban nila nga kaupdanan ang naglinapta, nagpalagyo kag nagpanago nga pilason. Beynte sa ila ang gilayon nga napatay.

Ang masaker sa Escalante ang isa lang sa madamu nga resulta sang Laye Militar. Bangud sa pagpamigos kag pagpanghimulos sa mga komprador-agalon mayduta kag ila armado nga hubon, ginpamatay ang pumuluyo paagi sa kagutom ukon sa bala. Base sa pagbulubanta sang Amnesty International (AI), naglab-ot sa 70,000 ka tawo ang napriso, 34,000 ang gin-tortyur, kag 3,240 ang napatay sa panahon sang Laye Militar. Ang pumuluyo ang nakaangkon sang magamay nga pagtamod hambalanon sa palangabuhian, pabalay, edukasyon kag kasegurohan sa ikaayong lawas. Masami nga gintarget sa isla ang mga pari, madre, mamumugon sa uma, tawong simbahan kag ang iban nga may adbokasiya para sa tawhanon nga kinamatarung.

Ang kaakig kag agoniya ang nagtulod sa malapad nga pumuluyo nga manindugan para sa kamatuoran kag hustisya nga gindingot sa ila sa diktadurya ni Marcos Sr kag iya mga kroni diri sa isla. Ang mga uhaw-sa-dugo nga tigpamuno sa Negros, wala lamang naghawan sa dalan sang pagsulong sang paghimakas sang pumuluyo kundi nagpamatuod sa kamakatarunganon nga pagsulong sang rebolusyonaryo nga pagbato agud lab-uton ang hustisya nga gindingot sang nagahari nga sistema. Ang pagbanaw sang dugo nga gin-ula sa ginpangabudlayan nga duta sang Negros, ang nagpukaw sa nagahana nga maglupok nga bulkan sosyal.

Ang tuigan nga komemorasyon sang masaker sa Escalante ang militante nga ginasaulog sang pumuluyo naghalin sa nagkalain-lain nga organisasyon kag indibidwal para sa pagdumdom sa panahon sa kadulom sang mga tinuig sang diktadurya Marcos Sr. Tubtob subong, ang hustisya gapabilin nga gindingot sa ila. Gani sa paglabay sa mga tinuig, nadugangan pa ini sa mga krimen halin sang estado. Halin 2019, sa pagpamuno sang NTF-Elcac, ginakawat ang matuod nga esensya sang komemorasyon sang masaker sa Escalante paagi sa paghiwat sa mga pagpatalang nga mga aktibidad nga insulto sa mga biktima kag sa pumuluyo nga padayon nga nagapangita sang hustisya.

Sosyo-ekonomiko nga krisis sa Negros
Tuig 1965 sang nagpungko sa poder si Marcos Sr kag nagdeklarar sang Laye Militar sadtong Setyembre 21, 1972 sa idalum sang Proklamasyon No. 1081. Naghatag ini sang kakugmat kag kagamo sa pumuluyo apang nagpabilin sila nga determinado sa pagpasulong sang ila paghimakas para sa duta kag hustisya sosyal.
Amo man yadto ang panahon nga ginpaluntad sang mga agalon mayduta kag mga plantador sang tubo ang pagpang-agaw sang duta kag manubo nga sweldo sa mga mamumugon. Ang produksyon sang kalamay sa Pilipinas ang ginadumalahan sang kasugtanan Laurel-Langley natapos sadtong 1974. Kabangdanan ini sa pagnubo sang kuta sang Pilipinas sa kalamay pang-eksport pakadto sa US nga mas nagpalala pa sang krisis. Tungod nga ang Negros ang nagaprodukto sang katunga sang kalamay sang pungsod, nakadugang ini sa pag-antus sang pumuluyo.

Ara man ang peke nga reporma sa duta paagi sang PD 27, nga sa aktwal wala man sa gihapon ginpanagtag ang duta sa mangunguma. Ginhimo lang ini nga ligal nga pagdepensa sa pagmonopolyo sa agalon mayduta samtang ang mayorya gaantus sa kaimolon. Upod sa krisis sang industriya sang kalamay, nagtuga ini sang madamu nga nadulaan sang duta kag trabaho, kag liboan ka mga bata ang nag-antus sang malnutrisyon sa Negros.

Sa tunga sang Laye Militar, ang diskontento nga nabatyagan sang pumuluyo sa serbisyo sosyal kag ang wala untat nga pasista nga pagpang-atake nga ginapatuman sang pwersa sang estado kag sang mga gintukod nga paramilitar, amu ang nagtulod sa pumuluyo nga usuyon ang dalan sang rebolusyonaryo nga armadong paghimakas. Nakaamot ini sa pagdugang sa kusog kag kadamuon sang NPA batuk sa tigpamigos kag sa armado nga pwersa sang estado.

Pagtuis sa Kasaysayan sang Laye Militar
Si Marcos Jr, bisan pa samtang sa panahon sang pagpangampanya sa sining 2022 nga eleksyon, wala gid nagtumod o nagbukas sang talakayan bahin sa Laye Militar kag sang iya amay. Matapos nagdaog si Marcos Jr bilang presidente paagi sa pagpangdaya sa elektroniko nga sistema sa eleksyon, iya gintalana ang bise-presidente nga si Sara Duterte bilang sekretaryo sang edukasyon. Ang paglubag sang kasaysayan sa gilayon ang nangin pinakamainit nga isyu sa pinakabag-o nga sekretaryo sang edukasyon.

Ang mandato sa pagtursi sa kasaysayan ang naghatag sang kakugmat sa publiko tungod sa posibilidad nga madula ang mga bilidhon nga kamatuoran sa mga panghitabo sa aton kasaysayan. Nagpahayag sang pagkadismaya ang pipila ka mga historian, mga manunudlo, pamatan-on, estudyante kag iban pa nga mga organisasyon sa pagtuis sa kasaysayan nga magpatalang sa pumuluyo ilabi na ang mas ulihi nga henerasyon.
Ang sa subong nga rehimen ni Marcos Jr ang naggasto sang madako agud manipulahon ang mayor nga daluyan sang impormasyon kag social media paagi sa pagpalapnag sang wala kamatuoran nga impormasyon may kaangtanan sa “bulawanon nga panahon” sang iya amay kadungan sa Laye Militar. Sa matuod, isa si Marcos Jr ka pigaw nga kopya sang amay nga diktador. Ginahimo niya sa gihapon ang ginhimo ni Marcos Sr apang sa mas buraghal nga pamaagi. Ginapaklaro lang niya nga ang burukrata kapitalismo yara na sa tuman kagarok nga kahimtangan.

Kon basehan ang dalagan sa kasaysayan, ang nagalala nga porma sang burukrata kapitalismo nga indi na makapanago sa maskara sang pagpanginto, athag na nga magagamit sang pagpamintas. Sa tuman nga pasismo sang estado sa tunga sang krisis sosyo-ekonomiko nga pila ka pilo mas lala pa sa nagligad nga tinuig, maglala man ang malakolonyal kag malapyudal nga kahimtangan. Kag ini mismo ang mahimo nga makapaigrab sa rebolusyonaryo nga pagdilaab sang kahublagan masa.

Sini nga 2022, dumdumon ang ika-37 nga tuig sang inhustisya sang masaker sa Escalante kag ang ika-50 ka makakulugmat nga tuig sang deklarasyon sang Laye Militar. Pila na ka dekada ang nagligad apang wala sa gihapon naangkon ang ginapangita nga hustisya. Ang singgitan kag kasakit sang mga biktima halin sa ila mga lulubngan ang nagalanog sa mga kasyudaran kag kabanwahanan padulong sa kabukiran. Ang nalisdan nga pamilya upod ang mga nakaluwas sa trahedya ang wala sang kakapoy nga nagapanawagan sa tagsa ka mga protesta kag bisan sa mga kampanya sa social media sang mga bilidhon nga pahanumdom nga “Never again to Martial Law!”  | AP October 2022

Ang Paghimakas debuts new section in latest release

PRESS RELEASE
November 7, 2022

REFERENCE:
Cleo Fernandez
Ang Paghimakas Editor-in-Chief
angpaghimakas@protonmail.com

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – Negros newsletter, Ang Paghimakas (The Struggle), launches today a new section, Iskulhaws, that will be featuring essays, news, stories and various articles on the practice of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as theoretical guide of the national democratic revolution with a socialist perspective.

“Iskulhaws” is a common term used by Filipino revolutionaries referring to the area inside NPA camps where study meetings are held to raise the knowledge of Party members and Red fighters on ideological and political matters.

In its debut, Iskulhaws features the successful completion of three batches of study meetings on the CPP’s Advanced Party Course “amid intensified and relentless military operations of fascist 3rd ID.”

According to the article, a total of 40 individuals, from workers, peasants and intellectuals, graduated the formal Party course.

#ML50
This issue is Ang Paghimakas’ contribution to the 50th commemoration of Marcos Sr’s declaration of martial law and the 37th anniversary of the Escalante Massacre.

Its editorial juxtaposes conditions in Negros during the dictatorship of Marcos Sr and the present dire situation of Negrosanons, particularly peasants and sugar workers, under Marcos Jr.

It stated that: Marcos Jr poorly imitates his father’s statesman facade to swiftly monopolize political power and accumulate immense wealth. He is unsuccessful in obscuring his family’s crimes and reviving their power to its former glory as state fascism and current socio-economic conditions reveal his hypocrisy to the masses.

Meanwhile, it summed up tactical offensives of guerrilla fronts under the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command – New People’s Army Negros Island (AGC-NPA) in the first nine months of 2022.

Human rights violations in the island from January to September of this year were highlighted as well where Ang Paghimakas documented 88 incidents victimizing 502 individuals and 29 communities.

This October release also featured martyred Red fighter Nikki “Ka Chai” de la Cruz who, with three other hors de combat NPA members, were massacred by soldiers of the 94th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Amelis, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental last July 6, 2022.

Ang Paghimakas was first published in the last quarter of 1972 to condemn Marcos’ Martial Law and show the resistance of the people. Now released in hiligaynon, with english and bisaya translations of its editorial, it can be downloaded through its website, http://www.negrosrevportal.wordpress.com, and CPP’s national website, cpp.ph (alternatively philippinerevolution.nu).###

The Marcos family is unwelcome in Negros



Ka Bayani Obrero
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front – Negros
October 23, 2022

The Marcos family is not welcome in the land where it has caused great suffering. Their presence in Negros is an insult to the victims of injustices during the Martial Law years and the current regime. The festival of smiles is only apt for big comprador-landlords and bureaucrat capitalists like Marcos Jr. and his allies. Their grins are the people’s chagrin.

Negros Island is considered by the Marcoses as one of the pillars of its cronyism. Marcos Sr bolstered the political career of former congressman and warlord Armin Gustilo, and the establishment of the Roberto Benedicto business empire backboned by the monocrop sugar industry.

Under the auspices of the late dictator, cronies Gustilo and Benedicto utilized their positions to sow fear, leech profits, and wallow in corrupt schemes at the expense of Negrosanons. They greatly contributed to the collapse of the sugar industry in the 1970s and the eventual Negros Famine in the 1980s.

To suppress growing social unrest, the festival of smiles, or the MassKara festival, was organized by the local elite. Still true to this day, the festival is aimed at covering up the economic and humanitarian crisis engulfing the island. The plunderer family as guests in lavish events illustrates the worsening disparity between the ruling elite and the oppressed majority in Negros.

Just more than a hundred days of the newly-installed puppet regime, Marcos Jr has proven that he is insincere in addressing the socioeconomic problems plaguing the island. The sugar liberalization stint has adversely affected the local economy and the livelihoods of sugar workers. While wages remain depressed and benefits are inadequate, the peso devaluation and skyrocketing of prices has set conditions akin to that of the 1980 famine.

Aside from economic woes, Negros also currently faces a humanitarian crisis.  Military overspending and the AFP’s recent order of ‘heightened operational tempo’ of its counterrevolutionary campaign has intensified militarization especially in the countryside resulting to human rights violations en masse. Like their commander-in-chief, the military covers up their crimes through media blockades and massive disinformation.

Brigade and division-led operations scourge farmer and indigenous people communities victimizing the innocent and defenseless, including children. Aerial and artillery support has emboldened AFP and PNP ground troops to enforce evacuations, economic blockades, notwithstanding its long list of threats, illegal arrests and detention, and murder. Even when the masses return to their communities, they still face the danger of being attacked by the state as military presence has aggravated further.

Marcos Jr has indubitably shown that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Like the social volcano about to erupt during the Martial Law years, the current conditions will only steel the resolve of the people to resist the US-Marcos II regime like that of the late dictator’s ouster. The National Democratic Front (NDF-Negros) calls on the various oppressed and exploited sectors in the island—farmers, fisherfolk, workers, youth and students, urban poor, indigenous people, human rights defenders, lawyers, teachers, professionals, healthcare workers, the media, the church, and the local opposition—to unleash the strength of the broadest united front against the Marcosian brand of fascism that luxuriates upon the people’s adversity.

As Negros has withstood the father, it shall withstand the son. ###

Negros Island: 100 days under Bongbong Marcos

After 100 days under the illegitimate presidency of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, Negrosanon peasants and farm workers suffer the most in a monocrop sugar economy amidst skyrocketing prices of basic goods, slave-like wages and no benefits.
Farmers are under attack by state forces. Within July to September, 6 farmers were killed by soldiers (5 of them massacred by 62IB) and were declared as casualties in fake encounters.
Focused Military Operation unleash battalion-sized combat ops on Negros Island. The 79IB planned on bombing the North Negros Natural Park last July but was exposed and blocked early on. The 94IB bombed hinterlands of Himamaylan City (Oct6-8) causing mass terror.
Meanwhile, govt programs & projects cause further distress to Negrosanons. Agrarian reform under Marcos Jr means land grabbing and monopoly and “development” projects favor big compradors and multinational corporations.

Only Phil Army thinks Negrosanons are fools, NPA Spox

NEWS RELEASE
September 26, 2022

New People’s Army (NPA) based in Negros Island denounced the 303rd Infantry Brigade for thinking Negrosanons are easily fooled by deception.

Ka Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command – Regional Operational Command of the NPA in Negros Island (AGC-NPA), slammed 303rd Brigade Commander BGen. Inocencio Pasaporte for spewing lies after lies that “only exposes his delusions.”

“Pasaporte knows the origin of the arms cache because he himself orchestrated the discovery,” Magbanua said.

The Mount Cansermon Command – South Central Negros Front of the NPA (MCC-NPA) released a statement yesterday denying claims of the 94th Infantry Battalion of recovering ammunitions and land mines in Sitio Double Yarding, Barangay Mahalang, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental allegedly belonging to the NPA.

Ka Dionesio Magbuelas, MCC-NPA spokesperson, ridiculed the 94IB for the “planned and systematic propaganda using scripted and well-rehearsed videos and pictures but upon close observation uses damaged and unrealistic props.”

He also called it a propaganda of the AFP/PNP/NTF-ELCAC that “aims to drown the resounding commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Martial Law under dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.”

Magbuelas further stated that “human rights violations perpetrated by the 94IB such as extrajudicial killings, torture, bombings, threats and harassments, and going after innocent children only reminds the people of the grave fascism experienced under dictator Marcos.”

Meanwhile, Magbanua trusted Negrosanons to know the truth amidst all the lies spread by state forces.

“The people knows that the military and police conducting combat operations and sowing terror in their communities are their true enemy while the NPA, their genuine army, defends them from the fascist troops and promotes their rights and welfare,” he said.

Magbanua concluded that the abundance of fake news released by the 303rd Brigade reinforces the people’s distrust towards state forces and the Marcos II regime it loyally serves.###

REFERENCE:


Ka Juanito Magbanua
AGC-NPA Spokesperson

Ka Dionesio Magbuelas
MCC-NPA Spokesperson

CPP Negros newsletter asks Ka Luis Jalandoni about Martial Law

PRESS RELEASE
September 21, 2022

REFERENCE:
Cleo Fernandez
Ang Paghimakas Editor-in-Chief
angpaghimakas@protonmail.com

There is no other way to overcome the current Marcos regime but for the people to persist in struggle until victory, just like the fight against his dictator father, former Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center Director Luis Jalandoni told Ang Paghimakas.

In an interview published today on Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – Negros newsletter, Ang Paghimakas (The Struggle), Jalandoni, now senior adviser of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, recounted the situation of the Negrosanons especially the workers and farmers before martial law was declared on September 21, 1972.

“The situation of workers and sacadas (transient workers in sugarcane plantations) and farmer settlers in Negros before martial law was terrible,” he said.

Jalandoni recalled the people’s struggle against land grabbing by warlord Armin Gustilo and then Mayor Heracles Villacin in Barangay Hiyang-hiyang, Cadiz where two elderly women were killed for protesting.

He also shared about the workers strike in Victorias Milling Company against unjust wages and union busting, and the farm workers strike in Bais City demanding the implementation of minimum wage and benefits. Both strikes were able to mobilize thousands.

There was also the plight of farmer settlers in southern Negros who fought massive land grabbing by local landlords.

Ready for martial law
According to Jalandoni, after martial law was declared, young activists went to the countryside (CS) to organize the people.

“Because of various protest actions before martial law, there were already areas in the CS that can be organized,” he said.

Church people contributed much in providing security and bridging the efforts to organize farmer settlers, he added.

In early 1973, barely months after martial law was declared, Jalandoni, with Kaupod Pendong (Edmundo Legislador) from Panay, formed the Special Negros Party Secretariat and put in place the embryo of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the CHICKS (Candoni, Hinobaan, Ilog, Cauayan, Kabankalan and Sipalay) area where, according to him, there were various militant struggles.

“In the warm welcome of the masses, their care and militant support, the NPA in Negros was born,” he reflected.

From being a progressive priest to a revolutionary, Jalandoni deplored the worsening abuses experienced by sugar workers, farm workers including sacadas and the industrial workers in sugar centrals; and the terrible land grabbing in the hinterlands displacing farmer settlers during martial law.

Terror dispelled
In his view, the heroism of youth activists and organizers dispelled the terror sown by the Marcos dictatorship.

Jalandoni also recalled the role of the church sector (progressive priests, nuns, seminarians, church workers and missionaries) who helped frustrate Marcos’ plan to defeat the NPA.

“He (Marcos) cannot launch an encirclement against the NPA in Mindanao and Negros because of the militant Columbans,” he shared.

“The Columbans brought help, including rifles in their golf bags, to the NPA in the mountains pretending to celebrate mass in chapels,” he added.

Triumph over Marcos
Despite the continuing bombing, farmer killings, and red-tagging and arrest of mass leaders, lawyers, and other patriots reminiscent of the martial law years, Jalandoni is optimistic that revolutionary forces will triumph over the current Marcos regime.

He faulted the reactionary regime’s disregard of the vast numbers of revolutionaries and the strength of the NPA now reaching 110 guerrilla fronts in 74 of 85 provinces in the Philippines.

Ang Paghimakas was first published in the last quarter of 1972 to condemn Marcos’ martial law and show the resistance of the people. Now released in hiligaynon, with english and bisaya translations of its editorial, it can be downloaded through its website, http://www.negrosrevportal.wordpress.com, and CPP’s national website, cpp.ph.###

ML50 in Negros| Ang Paghimakas September 21, 2022 Issue

AP interviews Ka Luis Jalandoni on his experience during the martial law years while in Negros Island

Fight US-Marcos II regime’s gross distortion of history!



Ka Bayani Obrero | Spokesperson| National Democratic Front | Negros Island | September 21, 2022

Today, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr’s declaration of Martial Law in the thick of systemic and all-out efforts of his son and namesake Ferdinand Marcos Jr to whitewash and distort history. Since assuming the presidency through one of the most fraudulent elections ever, Marcos Jr wasted no time in instituting measures to reverse the people’s verdict on Martial Law and portrayed the 14-year fascist dictatorship as the country’s “golden age.”

He squandered public funds and resources on social media trolls, PR outfits and akin propaganda machineries to propagate the distorted and revisionist view of history that Marcos Sr was a great statesman and Marcos Jr, as a leader, has parallel qualities; and that there is public exoneration of the Marcoses from their crimes with repetitive twaddle on the supposed “achievements” of Martial Law.

In the light of all these chicaneries, we must not forget how the Marcoses pillaged and terrorized the country with open fascist rule as well as remember how the people valiantly fought back and launched epic struggles and mass movements against the US-instigated Marcos Sr dictatorship.

Let us not forget how Marcos Sr and his crony Roberto S. Benedicto squeezed dry the sugar-based economy of Negros with wanton corruption and imperialist economic impositions. This resulted in the infamous Negros Famine of the 1980s and the emergence of so-called “Batang Negros” as epitomized by the extremely malnourished child Joel Abong.

Let us remember the thousands of Negrosanons who took to the streets to protest the open fascist rule of Marcos Sr amid brutal repression and massacres; those who joined the armed struggle and withstood immense difficulties to advance the people’s war. Their militancy inspire the Negrosanons today to muster all forms of struggles against the fascist and illegitimate regime of Marcos Jr.

Let us continue to seek justice for all victims of Martial Law nationwide. Negrosanons braved the threats and harassments of the NTF-Elcac and defiantly commemorated the 37th anniversary of the Escalante Massacre (Escam) yesterday. Escam is an epitome of Marcos’ brand of fascism as 20, including farmers and a student activist, were brutally massacred on September 20, 1985, day 2 of a three-day “welgang bayan” against fascism and hunger culminating on the 13th anniversary of martial law declaration.

Let us honor the memories of the martyrs of Martial Law and surviving veterans in the anti-dictatorship movement by rejecting outright the lies and distortions of Marcos Jr and, following their lead, launching a broad resistance against oppression, exploitation and state fascism. ###