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Sison: AFP Chief Daydreaming About Finishing NPA by 2010
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Posted By Janess
Latest Posts, Other Stories | No Comments
May 16, 2009 @ 6:24 pm

http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2009/05/16/sison-afp-chief-%E2%80%98daydreaming%E2%80%99-about-finishing-npa-by-2010/

- Bulatlat - http://www.bulatlat.com/main -

THE NETHERLANDS The chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which has been engaged in on-and-off peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) since 1986, has derided new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado for daydreaming about finishing off the communist insurgency by 2010, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to step down after completing her term.

Early last week, military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said in a radio interview that Ibrado has ordered the intensification of operations against the communist-led New Peoples Army (NPA) to ensure that the insurgency is defeated by the time Arroyo finishes her term.

We will speed up the tempo of our operations, Brawner had said. This is the last minute. When he [Ibrado] visits the camps, he tells them that all our soldiers should feel this sense of urgency to carry out this mission, to beat the insurgency by 2010.

Lieutenant General Ibrado believes we can do it?with our existing resources, Brawner also said. Its just a matter of refocusing our resources. We just have to look at our programs and provide all the support to those on the front.

Prof. Jose Maria Sison, however, has dismissed these claims as part of what he called psywar fakeries of the reactionary armed forces, adding that these claims are being belied by the intensifying tactical offensives of the NPA on a nationwide scale.

Sison also berated Malacañang for claiming to be interested in pursuing the peace negotiations even as bounties have been put up for him and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesperson Gregorio Ka Roger Rosal in connection with the killing of journalist Nelson Nadura in 2003. He said this only shows that the GRP is negotiating in bad faith and is engaging in deception.

Sison tackled these and other matters related to the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in an e-mail interview with Bulatlat. Following is the full text of the interview:

Alexander Martin Remollino (AMR): What can you say about AFP Chief Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrados statements about finishing off the insurgency by the time Arroyo ends her term in 2010?

Jose Maria Sison (JMS): Like all previous quickie chiefs of staff of the reactionary armed forces, General Ibrado is trying to score propaganda points in the mass media. He is daydreaming about finishing off the revolutionary movement of the people before his short term or the Arroyo regime ends. The public is very aware of the psywar fakeries of the reactionary armed forces. These are being belied by the intensifying tactical offensives of the NPA on a nationwide scale.

AMR: What does this imply for the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations?

JMS: The constant propaganda of the Arroyo regime and the reactionary armed forces that they are finishing off the NPA through military force runs counter to their occasional pretenses for peace negotiations. They are not really interested in peace negotiations as a way of addressing the roots of the armed conflict and moving towards a just and lasting peace through basic social, economic and political reforms. They wish to be perceived as interested in peace negotiations but in fact they merely wish to misrepresent the NPA as already weakening and to confuse the people.

AMR: How would you respond to the AFPs claim that the NPAs numbers have been greatly reduced through intensified counter-insurgency operations?

JMS: The people know very well that the Arroyo regime and the reactionary armed forces are lying when they claim that they have greatly reduced the NPAs numbers. The NPA is gaining strength and advancing because the people want revolutionary change and the crisis of the ruling system is ever worsening. It is intensifying its tactical offensives.

These belie the false claims of the AFP about killing off so many NPA fighters (in fact civilians and unarmed social activists), reducing the number of guerrilla fronts, overrunning NPA camps and armories, successfully forcing or bribing NPA fighters to surrender and so on.

AMR: What do you make of Malacañangs statement that it is still willing to pursue the peace negotiations even as bounties have been put up for you and Ka Roger Rosal?

JMS: Such a statement is exposed as an expression of bad faith and deception by the offer of bounties for my head and that of Ka Roger Rosal. The so-called peace tactics of the Arroyo regime are meant only to serve the main though futile objective of destroying or pacifying the revolutionary movement of the people.

AMR: Why do you think the Arroyo administration is hell-bent on ending the insurgency by 2010?

JMS: The Arroyo regime wants to end the armed revolutionary movement in order to preserve the rotten US-dominated ruling system of the big compradors, landlords and corrupt government officials. It wants to continue the oppression and exploitation of the Filipino people. It wants to keep the power and loot that it has accumulated.

AMR: Why still go into peace negotiations with the Arroyo regime?

JMS: The NDFP may still go into a resumption of the formal talks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations if the GRP complies with all the bilateral agreements that have been made since 1992. It is important for the NDFP to act in the interest of the Filipino people and use every way possible to address the roots of the armed conflict and advance the peoples struggle for national liberation and democracy.

Before the preparatory meeting towards the formal meeting, the GRP should respect and comply with the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). That is one immediate test for the Arroyo regime. The NDFP is prepared not to negotiate any more with the GRP under the Arroyo regime if it goes on violating the JASIG. The NDFP is already looking forward to the possibility of negotiating with the next administration of the GRP. (Bulatlat.com) [1]

Article printed from Bulatlat: http://www.bulatlat.com/main

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