A March 12 statement issued by the CPP while denying that the CPP ‘simply accepts bribes to let reactionary politicians win in the election’, at the same time indirectly justifies the practice by claiming that “there are already two governments in the country, two different laws, two different systems of life. If the reactionaries want to campaign in the areas controlled by the revolutionary movement, they must recognize the revolutionary government.” Following the logic of this argument, one can justifiably also ask why a revolutionary government should allow a politician belonging to a reactionary government to campaign in its ‘sovereign territory’? Contrast the NPA practice to that of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an armed liberation movement, struggling for self-determination of the Bangsa Moro people in Mindanao. The MILF doesn’t open up its base for money to reactionary politicians during election campaigns, so why should the NPA?

The left rhetoric of the CPP-NPA notwithstanding, this is yet another example of the opportunist electoral politics that permeates the left’s electoral tactics in this country. According to some sources several NPA fighters themselves are extremely critical of this practice. Opening up their areas compromises the security of these NPA bases, increases the vulnerability of their cadre who have to collect the money and opens up the organization to military exposure and attacks.

__________________________________________________________________________


Manny Villar: Why pay when they’re running with me?

by Michael Lim Ubac

DAVAO CITY—Why pay them when their friends are with us?

That, in effect, was what the Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer, Sen. Manny Villar, said Tuesday as he denied television reports quoting the military as claiming he was among the politicians who had paid campaign fees to the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“I haven’t paid any (rebel group),” Villar said at a press conference here. “Why should I still pay when they are already with us—they are our friends.”

Lest he be misconstrued, Villar explained he was referring to his alliance with Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza. Both militant party-list lawmakers are running for the Senate as NP guest candidates.

P5-B campaign fees

“Let’s clarify that we are with Bayan Muna or Makabayan (coalition). We are not (allied) with whoever is violating the law—they are not with us,” he said, referring to the NPA rebels.

“Those who are with us belong to the group within the system of government that also fights for human rights and the welfare of the poor,” Villar added.

Citing a report from an academic group, Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento last week said fees being collected by the NPA this year to allow candidates to campaign unmolested in the rebels’ rural strongholds could amount to between P2 billion and P5 billion.

Villar said the allegation that he was on the list of candidates supposedly paying the NPA for campaign permits was part of a demolition job against him.

“There are many lists that you can see ... but I pay no one,” he said.

Heated campaign

Villar said that as Election Day approached, “throwing black propaganda … would become heated. It should be expected that many lies will be thrown at you, hoping that the voters will believe them and so shave (your) votes.”

Villar also said that he believed no one among the national candidates was finding it hard to campaign “because, normally, we go to cities.”

“In fairness to all of us, I don’t think there’s any presidential candidate who is having problems about it,” he said.

Senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla, the NP spokesperson, said the party would never comply with the rebels’ demand.

“Senator Villar has not paid and has no intention of paying a single centavo for any permit-to-campaign from any armed group,” Remulla said.

Form of extortion

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has slammed the reported NPA practice.

“The ‘permit to campaign scheme’ which, in plain language, is a form of extortion being perpetrated by the New People’s Army and other non-state actors, is repugnant in all possible ways to (the) valued human rights principles and standards, not only of candidates and political parties, but of the individual voters as well,” the CHR said in an advisory.

“This practice arrogates to the requiring group the powers rightfully belonging to the people and lawfully designated authorities. It disregards the rule of law, and scoffs at the principles of free, fair and genuine elections,” it said.

The report quoted by Sarmiento came from the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR), a group composed of experts and academics studying political violence and terrorism and their implications on the country’s security.

According to the report, communist rebels raised P1.5 billion during the 2004 elections and P2 billion in the 2007 elections from the permit-to-campaign fees.

P2M per political party

The military has lower figures. Its records show that the rebels’ permit-to-campaign collections amounted to P56.7 million and P27.6 million during the 2004 and 2007 elections, respectively.

Maj. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the 9th Infantry Division, said that based on the “permit” cards recovered from NPA rebels in Caramoran, Catanduanes, the guerrillas were charging an entire political party about P2 million so they could campaign, especially in upland communities.

The documents show the NPA price for local candidates ranged between P150,000 and P1 million.

PESANTE NEWS
March 26, 2010

All options for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's hold on power are now in place

Los Angeles- The Los Angeles based Pesante News learned today through news sources that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration placing the whole island of Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and the recent Supreme Court decision allowing GMA to appoint the next Chief Justice are but only two among the many measures that prepare the stage for the US-Arroyo regime's continued hold on power.

According to NDF-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge Madlos, in scrutiny with regard to the need, legal basis and motive of placing Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and on the timing and legality of the Supreme Court ruling should be viewed in the context of a regime that is insatiable in perpetuating itself in power.

The National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) holds that there is an abundance of reason to believe that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not intend to relinquish the power she has mustered by way of deceit, bribery, impunity, and militarism over the last nine years. Come hell or high water, she is hell-bent to stay in power, and, like puzzle pieces falling into its proper place, all indication point to this.

Failure of Elections?

The problem-laden election computerization project is such that the Arroyo government can manipulate the election results as it did in 2004 and in 2007 to favor administration candidates. A victory for Gilbert Teodoro and Arroyo loyalist congressional candidates in the May 10 polls would spell victory for GMA, for they can easily amend the constitution and install GMA as prime minister.

Mr. Teodoro, however, is not entirely indispensable because even if he loses in the May 10 elections, so long as loyalist congressmen of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dominate the House of Representatives, they can force the senate to a joint voting in amending the constitution, a debacle which can, there and then, install GMA as prime minister. Should a fierce legal skirmish arise on this matter, the GMA-controlled Supreme Court would then be there to uphold the "constitutionality" of this illegal, undemocratic and immoral act.

GMA Controlled AFP

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, a member of PMA Class'78 that adopted GMA as honorary member, as the new AFP Chief-of-staff and has placed other prominent members from the same PMA class in strategic positions in both the bureaucracy and the army.

This would assure GMA of an armed force prepared to do her bidding should she become either a holdover president in the event of a failure of elections or as prime minister installed by a Congress dominated by her sycophants and political parasites.

Arroyo's Supreme Court appointees have vested upon her the power to pick the next Chief Justice, even if this clearly violates a prohibition in the bourgeois constitution barring a new appointment days before the national elections.

An Arroyo-handpicked Supreme Court chief, together with justices who are toady to the Arroyo government, would be needed to resolve all major legal issues directed to favor the grand design for her to stay in power. These issues would include, among other things, the lifting of the constitutional ban on US military basing in the Philippines and a provision giving the US imperialist the equal right with our landless farmers to own agricultural land in our country.

Her shameless intent to run for congress representing the 2nd district of Pampanga, obviously is a step to retain power. Through another round of election fraud, money and use of the AFP and other private armies she is hell-bent on getting enough number of congressmen to win in the upcoming elections.

Nothing can stop their sheer number in congress from tinkering with the constitution and declare GMA their Prime Minister - not even a battery of legal luminaries can stop this grand scheme in the halls of a GMA-controlled Supreme Court.

Another devious choice for the Arroyo government is to cause a failure of election, which would make it highly probable for it to become a holdover government, or declare martial law in case of chaos brought about by a vacuum of leadership in the event the electoral process collapses.

There is a big possibility for the machines to malfunction, considering that these are low quality and not proven to be reliable. The current election machines are also vulnerable to power shortages and electronic sabotage.

A power crisis that suddenly explodes right in the middle of a country speeding towards national elections, an election in fact that marks the end of the reactionary regime, is, plainly, the Arroyo government riding on the crisis as part of the grand scheme to stay in power.

The power crisis for instance, although most damaging in Mindanao but also felt in the entire country, can ultimately cause failure of election on a nationwide scale. El Niño and the increase of power consumption may have caused the power crisis, but the government neglect in solving this problem already perceived 10 years ago is in fact a scheme in itself -- the strong possibility of manipulating these power shortages to cause the failure of the May 10 national election.

The reported smuggling into our country of thousands of mobile phone/electronic jamming devices that can jam election machines is also a serious threat to cause the elections to crash.Due to the unfamiliarity of a very large section of the Filipino populace in the utilization of automation in election, there is the strong possibility of a low voters turn-out, or that could result in a huge number of invalid votes which, again, may pose as bases for declaring the national polls a failure.

Apart from the power crisis, the country is also beset by other pressing predicament, such as the Moro problem, which continues to rage despite the GRP's brag of nearing a closed peace deal with the MILF, and the continued terrorist threat of the Abu Sayyaf.

Another GMA's Martial Law?

Should all other options fail, this may as well become an opening for a desperate US-Arroyo regime to place the entire country under Martial Law. It would not come as a shock to all should Ms. Arroyo take this course, and become all too imperious about it, given her predisposition to militarism and impunity.

With all these attending circumstances and the development that may unfold as the May 10 national elections draw near, it is highly probable for GMA to stay in power longer and continue to rule with an iron-clad fist. The people must prepare for the worst scenario.

The National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) therefore calls upon the People in Mindanao to join hands with the rest of the Filipino people in exposing and opposing all attempts of the US-Arroyo regime to prolong its hold on to power and clamp the nation down with outright tyranny.#

PESANTE NEWS
March 26, 2010

All options for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's hold on power are now in place

Los Angeles- The Los Angeles based Pesante News learned today through news sources that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration placing the whole island of Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and the recent Supreme Court decision allowing GMA to appoint the next Chief Justice are but only two among the many measures that prepare the stage for the US-Arroyo regime's continued hold on power.

According to NDF-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge Madlos, in scrutiny with regard to the need, legal basis and motive of placing Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and on the timing and legality of the Supreme Court ruling should be viewed in the context of a regime that is insatiable in perpetuating itself in power.

The National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) holds that there is an abundance of reason to believe that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not intend to relinquish the power she has mustered by way of deceit, bribery, impunity, and militarism over the last nine years. Come hell or high water, she is hell-bent to stay in power, and, like puzzle pieces falling into its proper place, all indication point to this.

Failure of Elections?

The problem-laden election computerization project is such that the Arroyo government can manipulate the election results as it did in 2004 and in 2007 to favor administration candidates. A victory for Gilbert Teodoro and Arroyo loyalist congressional candidates in the May 10 polls would spell victory for GMA, for they can easily amend the constitution and install GMA as prime minister.

Mr. Teodoro, however, is not entirely indispensable because even if he loses in the May 10 elections, so long as loyalist congressmen of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dominate the House of Representatives, they can force the senate to a joint voting in amending the constitution, a debacle which can, there and then, install GMA as prime minister. Should a fierce legal skirmish arise on this matter, the GMA-controlled Supreme Court would then be there to uphold the "constitutionality" of this illegal, undemocratic and immoral act.

GMA Controlled AFP

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, a member of PMA Class'78 that adopted GMA as honorary member, as the new AFP Chief-of-staff and has placed other prominent members from the same PMA class in strategic positions in both the bureaucracy and the army.

This would assure GMA of an armed force prepared to do her bidding should she become either a holdover president in the event of a failure of elections or as prime minister installed by a Congress dominated by her sycophants and political parasites.

Arroyo's Supreme Court appointees have vested upon her the power to pick the next Chief Justice, even if this clearly violates a prohibition in the bourgeois constitution barring a new appointment days before the national elections.

An Arroyo-handpicked Supreme Court chief, together with justices who are toady to the Arroyo government, would be needed to resolve all major legal issues directed to favor the grand design for her to stay in power. These issues would include, among other things, the lifting of the constitutional ban on US military basing in the Philippines and a provision giving the US imperialist the equal right with our landless farmers to own agricultural land in our country.

Her shameless intent to run for congress representing the 2nd district of Pampanga, obviously is a step to retain power. Through another round of election fraud, money and use of the AFP and other private armies she is hell-bent on getting enough number of congressmen to win in the upcoming elections.

Nothing can stop their sheer number in congress from tinkering with the constitution and declare GMA their Prime Minister - not even a battery of legal luminaries can stop this grand scheme in the halls of a GMA-controlled Supreme Court.

Another devious choice for the Arroyo government is to cause a failure of election, which would make it highly probable for it to become a holdover government, or declare martial law in case of chaos brought about by a vacuum of leadership in the event the electoral process collapses.

There is a big possibility for the machines to malfunction, considering that these are low quality and not proven to be reliable. The current election machines are also vulnerable to power shortages and electronic sabotage.

A power crisis that suddenly explodes right in the middle of a country speeding towards national elections, an election in fact that marks the end of the reactionary regime, is, plainly, the Arroyo government riding on the crisis as part of the grand scheme to stay in power.

The power crisis for instance, although most damaging in Mindanao but also felt in the entire country, can ultimately cause failure of election on a nationwide scale. El Niño and the increase of power consumption may have caused the power crisis, but the government neglect in solving this problem already perceived 10 years ago is in fact a scheme in itself -- the strong possibility of manipulating these power shortages to cause the failure of the May 10 national election.

The reported smuggling into our country of thousands of mobile phone/electronic jamming devices that can jam election machines is also a serious threat to cause the elections to crash.Due to the unfamiliarity of a very large section of the Filipino populace in the utilization of automation in election, there is the strong possibility of a low voters turn-out, or that could result in a huge number of invalid votes which, again, may pose as bases for declaring the national polls a failure.

Apart from the power crisis, the country is also beset by other pressing predicament, such as the Moro problem, which continues to rage despite the GRP's brag of nearing a closed peace deal with the MILF, and the continued terrorist threat of the Abu Sayyaf.

Another GMA's Martial Law?

Should all other options fail, this may as well become an opening for a desperate US-Arroyo regime to place the entire country under Martial Law. It would not come as a shock to all should Ms. Arroyo take this course, and become all too imperious about it, given her predisposition to militarism and impunity.

With all these attending circumstances and the development that may unfold as the May 10 national elections draw near, it is highly probable for GMA to stay in power longer and continue to rule with an iron-clad fist. The people must prepare for the worst scenario.

The National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) therefore calls upon the People in Mindanao to join hands with the rest of the Filipino people in exposing and opposing all attempts of the US-Arroyo regime to prolong its hold on to power and clamp the nation down with outright tyranny.#