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Sison: AFP Chief Daydreaming About Finishing NPA by 2010
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Posted By Janess
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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
URL to article:
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[1] (Bulatlat.com): http://www.bulatlat.com/
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