PESANTE BULLETIN

August 16, 2010

The NDF reaffirms its commitment to the MILF and the Bangsamoro struggle for genuine self-determination

Los Angeles--The PESANTE NEWS learned today through news sources from Mindanao that the National Democratic Front - Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) shares with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in raising concern with regard to the capability and sincerity of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), presently under Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, in undertaking peace negotiations as a venue to address the just demands of the Bangsamoro.

The NDF spokesperson Jorge Madlos said " GRP would have the Moro as well as the Filipino people believe that credible talks under a favorable atmosphere for peace with the MILF would promptly resume after the Holy Ramadan, but all indicators point otherwise.

First, while the MILF has categorically stated that it is prepared to resume peace talks with the GRP, the Aquino government has beefed up the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in terms of budget, personnel, and armaments, including missiles courtesy of the US, aimed at intensifying military offensives against the Moro resistance movement and pressure it to accept the terms for the talks set by the new regime.

In parallel, division-level AFP combat operations are on-going in NPA areas in the whole of Mindanao, belying Mr. Aquino's public pronouncement on pursuing "a negotiated resolution of conflict." It is grossly ironical that Mr. Aquino has stepped-up the strengthening of the AFP, the deployment of troops, and the escalation of military offensives in MILF and NPA areas in Mindanao, clearly showing that he is poised more for war than for peace.

Second, Noynoy Aquino kowtows to US imperialist interests in adopting and implementing the US counter-insurgency (COIN) manual, a strategy that, in fact, dismisses the need for "peace talks" in the plan to defeat militarily the New People's Army and the MILF, both considered threats to US economic and military basing interests as well as to the national security of the puppet state. Noynoy Aquino is no different with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in defending and facilitating US economic interests as well as the basing of US troops in Mindanao.

And, third, Mr. Aquino and his warmongers in the cabinet, led by Deles in OPAPP and Gazmin in DND, cannot be seen agreeing to a lasting solution for the Bangsamoro problem because all they could offer are just public pronouncements of motherhood statements with no definitive program in the granting the Moro people genuine autonomy.

In lieu of these, the NDF-Mindanao reaffirms its commitment to fight for our Moro brothers' and sisters' struggle for the right to self-determination.

We reaffirm our formal agreement signed on 24 July 1999 with the MILF in Camp Abubakar, which stipulates among others the NDF's support for the fight for self-determination of the Moro people and the common struggle against foreign intervention in Mindanao.

We call upon the MILF and the Bangsamoro to stand steadfast in their revolutionary struggle for their right to self-determination. Be on guard against the manipulation and deceptive concepts of peace and autonomy peddled by the puppet Aquino regime and its US imperialist master.

Long live the struggle of the Bangsamoro! "

end of the statement.