CPP WARNS OF ATTACKS VS BALIKATAN WAR EXERCISE (tags)
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.
US-RP BALIKATAN IN BICOL (tags)
LEGAZPI CITY—The AJLPP sources learned today that RP-US War Exercise BALIKATAN is underway in Bicol region, southern Luzon, Philippines. Bicol is one of the hot spot of NPA insurgency since 1972. Proof of this, according to Capt. Kelly Schmader, commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, are the 2009 RP-US Balikatan military exercises that will be held in three Bicol provinces—Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon—in April.
Political Fiefdoms Dig In (tags)
A look at the election outcome in some of the political turfs would show whether the geopolitical balance of power has changed without necessarily shaking the infrastructures of political dynasties in those areas. The clan of Macapagal-Arroyo has been in power for 58 years, broken only by the Marcos dictatorship. Even if the clan has spun out its political presence in Camarines Sur and Negros, it has a lot of damage control coming up what with the province of Pampanga - considered Mrs. Arroyo's bailiwick and father Diosdado's birthplace - going to a new governor,
Bayan Muna leader Killed in Sorsogon, Bicol Region, Philippines (tags)
Another BAYAN MUNA activist was killed yesterday morning—the third in Sorsogon province in the Bicol Region, Southern Luzon in two weeks—and the manner of his death was particularly brutal. Francisco Bantog, provincial chair of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna in Sorsogon, was shot 20 times by yet unidentified men in Barangay Dancalan in Donsol town, news sources in Bicol reported.