| Introduction
In the course of its thirty-six years of struggle for national
and social liberation, the Philippine revolutionary movement has
fought for the fundamental national and democratic rights and interests
of the Filipino people. Thus its programs for land reform, health,
education, and culture are meant to respond to the demands and aspirations
of the peasants, workers and other sections of the people.
We are convinced that the unjust social order, the corrupt and
rotten semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system, inflicts the most
intolerable exploitation and oppression on the people. Furthermore,
US imperialism and the local exploiting classes of big compradors
and landlords subject the people to the daily violence of exploitation
and the use of its military, police and paramilitary forces to violently
suppress the people’s just struggle against this unjust social
order. Therefore, the revolutionary movement fights to overthrow
this unjust social order and to achieve genuine independence, social
justice, democracy and peace.
In carrying out its legitimate struggle, the revolutionary movement
relies on the support of the people. Because its programs respond
to the people’s deepest aspirations for national liberation,
land reform, national industrialization, and for social justice,
democracy and peace, it has been able to grow strong and develop
mass organizations, organs of political power and units of the people’s
army in more than 800 municipalities and almost 70 provinces throughout
the country.
The revolutionary movement has taken pains to observe the highest
standards of human rights and international humanitarian law in
carrying out its struggle as a national liberation movement. It
has laid down the fundamental rights and duties of the people in
its Guide for Establishing the People’s Democratic Government.
It has declared its adherence to the Geneva Conventions and Protocols.
It has proclaimed the strict standards in the Basic Rules of the
New People’s Army. It took the initiative to have both the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and itself to
respect the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights
and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
As it grows in strength, the revolutionary movement is subjected
to all kinds of attacks against its integrity. Relying on the support
of the people in their millions and confident that the truth will
prevail against false claims, we present the stand of the revolutionary
movement regarding various claims that have been raised against
it recently. Since we wish to present our responses concisely, we
refer all interested persons to feel free to visit our websites
for further information:
www.philippinerevolution.org and
http://home.wanadoo.nl/ndf
CLAIM: The revolutionary movement maintains a “hit list”
of its political and ideological adversaries.
ANSWER: The revolutionary movement does not maintain a “hit
list”. This is an immediately slanted way to ridicule the
revolutionary movement.
Political and ideological adversaries are engaged by the revolutionary
movement on the level of debate and struggle of ideas. They are
not subject to criminal proceedings for their ideas.
Persons charged with criminal offenses are guaranteed due process
under the revolutionary movement’s legal and judicial system.
The principles and norms of the legal and judicial system of the
people’s revolutionary government can be gleaned from the
following documents, among others: Guide for Establishing the People’s
Democratic Government, October 1972; Basic Rules of the New People’s
Army, May 13, 1969; Declaration of Adherence to International Humanitarian
Law, August 15, 1991; Declaration of Undertaking to Apply the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 and Protocol I of 1977, July 5, 1996; and the
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law, 1998.
The people’s courts are created by the revolutionary government
at different levels and consist of a panel of at least three judges.
Persons charged with criminal offenses before a people’s court
are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and have the right to
be informed of the charges filed, the right to counsel, and the
right to appeal, among other rights.
CLAIM: Those who drop out from the revolutionary movement and become
ideological and political adversaries of the movement are targeted
for killing.
ANSWER: Individuals voluntarily join the revolutionary movement
and voluntarily participate in revolutionary struggle -- utilizing
their knowledge and skills, facing the hardships and sacrifices
of revolutionary struggle, and laying down their very lives for
the advancement of the national democratic aspirations of the people
-- for as long as they are willing and able. Individuals can voluntarily
leave the revolutionary movement when they wish to.
Leaving the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s
Army, or any of the revolutionary mass organizations is not a crime.
The constitutions of these organizations guarantee the right to
voluntarily join and the right of every member to resign.
Persons claiming they were formerly active members of the revolutionary
organizations or the CPP are proof to refute the claim that those
who drop out from the revolutionary movement are targeted for killing.
CLAIM: The armed struggle being waged by the revolutionary movement
is the cause of poverty and underdevelopment in the Philippines.
ANSWER: This is turning the truth upside down. Before the people’s
armed struggle, there is first the existence of the unjust social
order. This unjust social order is more violent and vicious because
it kills the poor daily and silently. This unjust social order cannot
remain; it must be overthrown.
Those who benefit most from this existing oppressive and unjust
social system and fight with all their might to maintain it are
sometimes the loudest in calling for “peace”. But in
fact what they want is peace of the grave. They are the first to
use violence against the poor and struggling people, as in the case
of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre last November 16, 2004.
Without the armed revolution started by the Katipunan in 1896,
we would still be under colonialism. And so long as the Filipino
people do not yet win victory against US imperialism and the local
reactionaries, they would remain oppressed and exploited by these.
CLAIM: The NPA engage in gross human rights violations and destruction
of property in much the same way as the AFP, the PNP, and their
paramilitary units.
ANSWER: This claim is not at all borne out by the complaints and
facts submitted to the Joint Monitoring Committee of the CARHRIHL
and to the various human rights organizations. After six months
in existence, the JMC thus far has received only two complaints
of human rights violations committed by personnel and units of the
NPA, in sharp contrast to the 275 complaints of human rights violations
filed against the armed forces of the Government of the Republic
of the Philippines.
The Red fighters and commanders of the New People’s Army
follow a strict code of conduct under the rubrics of the Three Main
Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention requiring them
to always take the interest of the people at heart and to refrain
from any action that may harm them. The people know that the NPA
fights for their interests and they willingly give their best sons
and daughters to serve in the people’s army.
On the other hand, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the
Philippine National Police (PNP), the CAFGU and other paramilitary
units commit the grossest forms of human rights violations like
indiscriminate bombing and strafing of villages, ransacking of peasant
homes, torture, summary executions and disappearances in the hope
of terrorizing the people. They are corrupt to the core and despised
by the people.
Under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, human rights organizations have
documented a total of 2,461 cases of human rights violations, victimizing
169,530 individuals, 18,515 families, 196 households, and 71 communities.
CLAIM: The Communist Party of the Philippines is responsible for
the bloody witch-hunt called ‘Kampanyang Ahos’.
ANSWER: The CPP openly criticized, repudiated and comprehensively
rectified the ideological and political errors which led to the
tragedy and crime called ‘Kampanyang Ahos’. The Party
condemns the vicious crimes committed under Kampanyang Ahos and
is exerting all efforts to bring to justice those who have been
accused by the surviving victims, the victims’ families, and
the masses as the most responsible for the torture and unjust killing
of hundreds of mass activists, NPA commanders & fighters, and
CPP cadres & members.
To date, those who have been identified have managed to escape
revolutionary justice by callously denying all responsibility for
the crimes and violently refusing to present themselves before the
people’s court, seeking refuge within the territory of the
GRP, and allying themselves with rabid anti-communists. One of the
accused masterminds of Kampanyang Ahos is now the chairperson of
Akbayan, which is most vicious in attacking the revolutionary movement.
CLAIM: Revolutionary taxation is extortion.
The revolutionary movement is building a new society to replace
the present semi-feudal and semi-colonial society characterized
by widespread poverty and economic backwardness. The new society
that is being built promotes the interests of the overwhelming majority
of the Filipino people comprised of the workers, peasants and the
middle-classes. In many areas under the control and influence of
the revolutionary movement, the democratic organs of people’s
government are being set up and socio-economic programs that benefit
the people are being carried out.
Revolutionary taxation is a function of the people’s government.
It is implemented to defray the expenses of the organs of the people’s
government and to finance the socio-economic programs for the good
of the people.
In general, revolutionary taxes are levied on businesses and economic
concerns operating in areas under the control and influence of the
revolutionary movement. Businesses, however, that cause harm and
injury to the people and the country, such as commercial logging
for export that causes denudation of the forests are not allowed
by the revolutionary movement in areas it controls.
Real extortion consists of the reactionary government’s imposition
of a heavy tax burden on the people only for the revenues to be
stolen by the high bureaucrats, and then denying the people of basic
social services. They collect the most taxes from the people through
withholding taxes from employees’ wages and through sales
taxes and the VAT. They condone notorious tax evaders like Lucio
Tan. Every year, an estimated 20 percent of the budget of the reactionary
government is eaten up by corruption. In 2003 alone, this amounted
to PhP 180 billion.
CLAIM: The revolutionary movement is responsible for deforestation
because the NPA controls the forests.
ANSWER: The widespread denudation of the forests that has been
going on for many decades is caused by the reactionary government’s
policy of allowing the unbridled plunder of our forest and other
resources. The logging companies are licensed by the reactionary
government through Timber Licensing Agreements (TLA). They are protected
by this government wherever they operate, and bureaucrats and the
military collaborate with illegal loggers. Just before the recent
calamities, the Macapagal-Arroyo regime granted logging concessions
to cronies of Mike Arroyo.
Logging for export – legal or illegal – continue because
the reactionary government allows the logs to move through the highways
and through the ports.
CLAIM: Permit to campaign is a form of extortion and is a violation
of the freedom of expression and freedom to campaign.
ANSWER: The so-called permit to campaign is but an agreement between
the revolutionary movement and politicians participating in reactionary
elections. These politicians voluntarily approach the movement since
they recognize its mass following. They declare that they have no
hostile intentions against the movement, express their support for
the movement and its programs, and agree to respect the rules of
the movement for the safety of the communities and their own security.
They are then granted security clearance and safe conduct in the territory of the
revolutionary movement. There is no extortion. There is no violation of the freedom of
expression or freedom to campaign.
CLAIM: The New People’s Army (NPA) recruits child guerrillas
in violation of international standards and rules of war.
ANSWER: The NPA carries out a longstanding policy of the Central
Committee of the CPP that only those who have reached the age of
18 or above may be recruited as NPA fighters. In 1988 the Political
Bureau of the CPP issued a policy establishing 18 as the minimum
age for NPA fighters. Furthermore, on October 15, 1999, the Executive
Committee of the CPP Central Committee issued a memorandum to all
Party organs and NPA commands entitled: “On the Minimum Age
Requirement for the New People’s Army Fighters”. In
this memo, the EC of the CPP CC stipulates the minimum age of 18
and amends the Basic Rules of the New People’s Army.
The revolutionary movement upholds the rights of children and is
committed to implement the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement
on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)
pertaining to them, such as, Article 10, Part IV Respect for International
Humanitarian Law: “The Parties shall provide special attention
to women and children to ensure their physical and moral integrity.
Children shall not be allowed to take part in hostilities.”
Article 2, No. 24, Part III Respect for Human Rights states: “The
right of children and the disabled to protection, care, and a home,
especially against physical and mental abuse, prostitution, drugs,
forced labor, homelessness, and other similar forms of oppression
and exploitation.”
Children are victimized by the widespread military operations of
the AFP-PNP that are marked by forced evacuations, food and population
control, indiscriminate bombardment and firing, illegal searches
and arrests and other forms of fascist abuse and intimidation. The
AFP-PNP have been kidnapping children from rural communities, labeling
them “NPA combatants”, detaining them indefinitely,
and subjecting them to cruel and humiliating treatment.
The revolutionary movement recognizes the right and capability
of children to perform their role as children in cultural, health,
educational and other non-combat tasks.
CLAIM: The New People’s Army (NPA) uses land mines in violation
of international humanitarian laws.
ANSWER: The NPA is committed to uphold and carry out the Geneva
Conventions and Protocols and other international humanitarian law.
It is committed to implement the CARHRIHL. All these stipulate that
the civilian population and civilians are to be protected in the
course of the armed conflict.
The NPA makes use of command-detonated landmines directed at legitimate
military targets. The detonation takes place upon sight of the enemy
vehicle or military target. This method ensures that civilians and
other non-military targets are not harmed.
Those who call on the NPA to stop using command-detonated landmines
should call on the US to stop launching cruise missiles, dropping
cluster bombs, using depleted uranium, and other weapons prohibited
by the international laws on armed conflict. They should demand
that the GRP’s armed forces stop using attack planes, helicopter
gunships and 101 mm. howitzers against civilian communities and
suspected areas of the NPA.
It is worth noting that the US, which is the principal supplier
of weapons to the GRP’s armed forces, refuses to sign the
agreement to ban anti-personnel mines. It has caused, for example,
many casualties due to anti-personnel landmines around the Guantanamo
Base in Cuba. ###
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