Didn’t we tell you that the Year 2013 is the year that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) would try to achieve their dream of overthrowing the Philippine government through a strategic stalemate? Last Jan. 27 nine persons were killed in an ambush in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, a mere 28 kilometers south of Bacolod City. Initial reports said the ambush was perpetrated by the New People’s Army (NPA). Isn’t it proof that the Communist movement has support from our local government officials when Bacolod Governor Alfredo Marañon issued a statement that the NPAs do not attack civilians? Who’s side is this Governor supporting huh?
But a couple of days later, the NPA’s spokesman admitted that they killed those men and this was confirmed no less by Fr. Luis Jalandoni in the safety of faraway Netherlands, who said that it was a legitimate encounter. But did we hear any howl from those Senatorial bets from the Liberal Party condemning that massacre in La Castellana? No Sir!
Last Tuesday, at the height of typhoon “Crising†around 6 p.m., 150 NPAs raided the Del Monte Philippines facility in Camp Philips, Bukidnon in what I would call a well-orchestrated military style attack. I’ve been reading reports about NPA attack, but in my book this was the biggest operation that they ever did in their 40-year armed struggle.
While the NPAs only killed one security guard and injured three others, this raid is proof that under the Aquino regime, the CPP and the NPAs have gained so much strength. They can attack at will! What is crystal clear here is that military intelligence failed to discover the NPA plans for the Del Monte raid and it is only because under the Aquino regime, thanks to those leftists inside his government, the budget for military intelligence has been slashed to the point that the military no longer have any idea what is happening outside their own camps, especially in Mindanao.
I gathered that the 403rd Infantry Brigade based in Malaybalay City is planning a hot pursuit operation, but as the late Sir Max Soliven would write, “This would be akin to shutting down the barn door after the rats have left.†For sure, we shall see more NPA raids happening even before the May 2013 elections, unless that military wakes up from slumber.
Again let me reiterate that the Year 2013 is the year that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) will try to grab power in this country. The countryside by the NPAs and the Philippine government through those seeking seats in the Senate, many of them are with the Liberal Party and many more seeking party-list votes from Bayan to Gabriela. They were emboldened when no less than P-Noy said “I and the Akbayan think alike!†In Rep. Pastor Alcover’s book Akbayan is an above ground ally of the CPP.
But whenever Jun Alcover issues statements against the CPP/NPA/NDF, Teddy Casiño of Bayan who is seeking a Senatorial seat would retort that “Communism is already passe.’†That’s because the Communists at this point don’t want to be called Communist. They would rather be called atheist, because that’s more acceptable to Filipinos.
This is one clear proof that the CPP has changed tactics. Many of them have already been elected as party-list representatives and therefore they can use their “pork barrel†to fund their campaign to eventually destroy our legitimate and democratic way of life. How many more warning should we give before innocent Filipinos realize that we’ve been fooled by Fr. Luis Jalandoni and CPP Chairman Jose Maria Sison?
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Meanwhile, the Peace Process is in peril when 200 or more armed men belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Crown Prince Kiram have decided to stand their ground in a coastal town of Sabah. They complain, “Why will Malaysia deport us when this is our home?†Again we go back to the time when Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiran, the great grandfather of the reigning Sultan Fuad Kiram I had Sabah rented to a British Company, but with clear provisions that it cannot transfer sovereignty to other nations without the consent of the Sultan of Sulu and Sabah.
If indeed Malaysia recognized the legitimacy of Sultan Fuad Kiram I by paying the Kiram family rental after they were granted Independence by the British in 1963, then there is basis for Filipinos staying in Sabah to stay put where they are. If there has been no real peace in Mindanao, it is because our political leadership who come mostly from Luzon did not sit down with the Sultanate to solve this problem once and for all. If the Sultan gave the sovereignty of Sabah to the Philippines, then we have a legitimate claim to Sabah. So why haven’t we brought this case to the International Court or the United Nations (UN)? I think it is high time that we should do so.
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E-mail: vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com