CPP VOWS ATTACKS ON US-RP BALIKATAN WAR EXERCISE

LUCENA CITY – AJLPP learned from news sources in the Philippines that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to attack American and Filipino military forces when they hold joint exercises in the Bicol region in April.

"NPA units in Bicol are specifically instructed to launch as many tactical offensives as they can in many areas of the region in mockery of the Balikatan [Shoulder to Shoulder] exercises and to prevent the US military from strengthening its foothold in the region," the CPP said in a statement sent to Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday.

This year’s Balikatan exercises are set to be held in the provinces of Albay, Masbate, and Sorsogon. The 2008 edition of the annual exercise was held in Mindanao and Central Luzon.

The CPP also urged the public to mount protests against the annual war games, which they said smacked of US intervention in Philippine affairs.

"In doing so, the US seeks to pave the way for the future regular access of US troops in guerrilla fronts in the Bicol region where the New People's Army (NPA) operates," the CPP said.

BALIKATAN 2009 in Bicol

The rebels also claimed that several sightings of US spy planes across the country showed that American troops have become “increasingly active” in local military operations, a violation of the Constitution.

Some 400 American doctors, engineers and nurses, predominantly belonging to the military, will join the month-long exercises to provide humanitarian aid to depressed areas in the three Bicol provinces, said Kelly Schmader, commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment.

Schmader visited the Bicol region last week to see to the final stages of surveying and planning for the scheduled Balikatan.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has given security forces until the end of her term in 2010 to defeat the NPA, the roughly 5,000-strong armed wing of the CPP that has been waging a Maoist guerilla campaign from the country side for 40 years.

The AJLPP believe that the CPP warning might have an adverse effect on the peace talks between the NDFP and the GRP whose peace negotiations has been deadlocked and stalled for more than four years.

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