UNDERSTANDING THE STRATEGIES AND TACTICS OF THE CPP-NPA-NDF

FOREWORD

The focus is the pervading threat of the Maoist communist-terrorist Communist party of the Philippine-New People s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) which is now into their 38th year of insurgency war against the duly constituted democratic government of the Republic of the Philippines. It is disheartening to note that despite the continued atrocities, harassment, extortions, and skillful manipulation of the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen by the CPPNPA-NDF, few of us consider them as a serious threat against our freedoms and democratic life. Lamentable is the fact that many have completely ignored the issue and concern because they incessantly refuse to accept the true state of our people and country. Complacency would be the very bullet that would kill our freedoms and altogether drive us into the dimly pit of uncertainty under a Maoist communist dictatorship. This is the very same attitudinal response/reaction that caused the demise of freedom and democracy in South Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, and recently Nepal. We surmise that the citizens of these countries not only failed to do their share in the defense of their freedoms and rights, especially the right of choice, speech, and to live as a family, but did not lift a finger to confront and oppose the onslaught of the communist forces. Nonchalance shall have no place in our own corridors. This should not happen considering the fact that we are constantly badgered by the forces of a Godless, violent, and ruthless ideology. With the same fervor and seal of protecting our freedoms and democratic institutions, the Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) humbly shares with you the important facets of our worst enemy, the Maoist communist terrorist CPP-NPA-NDF, with the view that we shall not fall into the deep and dark lairs of deprivation and inhumanity under the vociferous, atrocious, and demonic governance under a Maoist communist dictatorship. INTRODUCTION For the past 40 years and probably still going on, the Filipino nation faced the same threat and, sad to say, still exhibits the same complacency. This is alarming because I know how the communists operate and how fanatic they are in pursuing their goal. I was one of the first NPA organizers in the Visayas and I know exactly how the CPP-NPA-NDF operates. From a band of 40 ill-equipped rebels in 1969, they are now able to build thousands of armed regular guerilla fighters throughout the country. We are only taking account of their armed elements. This excludes their mass-based supporters and those in their sectoral front and pseudo partylist organizations.

Some might ask: Why were the previous and present administrations helpless in curbing the insurgency problem? It is in this light that I am sharing with you what I have experienced in my more than ten (10) years with the communist underground movement. I am hoping to atone for my misdeeds when I was there. As such, you might profit from my horrendous experience. It is not enough that we know the enemy only by name. The more important thing is that we should know the nature, characteristics, strategies, tactics and weaknesses in its entirety so that we will be able to effectively engage the enemy in combat. Lack of knowledge regarding the enemy is fatal. The late president Ferdinand E. Marcos, during his administration, employed full military strength against the Godless insurgents. Instead, the latter was able to gain more solid grounds, as they incesssantly inched ahead to reach undeniably 17,000-strong armed regulars. The Aquino administration, with its policy of social reconciliation, became a laughingstock in the eyes of the communists. In just one year and a half into Cory s ascendancy to power, the NPA s swelled to 25,000 regulars. Then Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos Lambat-Bitag strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the people was an effective formula. He subscribed to the idea of using the enemy s methodology of counter-education, organizing, and mobilizing the Filipino people against the communists. The wave of NPA surrenderees and mass supporters in the late 80 s and early 90 s can be accredited to this outreach project. Some factors such as the massive factionalism within the underground movement due to tactical differences does contribute to its downturn. In tandem with the Armed Forces and my own initiative, the National Alliance for Democracy (NAD) the umbrella organization of anti-communist groups formed in l988, we initially and successfully implemented the project. This is an alliance of quite a number of anti-communist organizations, throughout the country. The idea of educating and organizing the people gained ground. But during his presidency, Ramos legalized the CPPNPA-NDF, by repealing RA1700 (Anti Subversion Law) without the pre-condition of laying down their weapons. The joint effort lost steam and utterly failed. It forced us to distance from him (Ramos) and modestly continued our own pro democracy campaign. Ousted President Joseph Estrada might be popular in his all-out war policy against the insurgents but his purely military approach in curbing a very complex problem brought him tragedy, instead. He succeeded in the military aspect but failed to recognize the fact that communist forces are not just those who carry firearms. The bulk of their forces are the organized workers, student activists, the urban poor, as well as those who carry only pens and books but adept in manipulating public opinion to advance their cause. As good tacticians, the communists were able to exacerbate the contradictions between the two socalled reactionary (liberal and conservative) forces. By employing pressure politics, Erap has to go after being impeached.

Going daily to the streets and replacing presidents from time to time is part of the communist retinue and objective to destroy our country: politically and economically,. The communists had a great and fantastic ride. To project to our lowly folks that the Philippines cannot attain stability as a result of Uncle Sam s imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism doctrine and menu is proof enough of their deceptive propaganda. The ills of isms are not the makings of America but of the Spanish regime! History would tell us that this is so. When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her oath of office as the country s new President, she ordered a stop to military and police operations against the NPA and its newfound tactical ally the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). This resulted to countless deaths of government officials (mostly congressmen and mayors), civilians, military and police officers. The communists also pressured her administration to release from prison all convicted NPA assassins without giving consideration to the pleas of the victims relatives. The release from prison of Donato Continente, primarily responsible in assassination of US Army Maj. James Rowe, was the No.1 issue that the communists demanded. She ordered the resumption of the peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF in Oslo, Norway. The information that I will share with your will enormously be of great importance in the fight against the Maoist communist CPP-NPA-NDF. For us, the famous Chinese military leader Sun Tzu said Know yourself and your enemy to win a hundred battles , holds true until today. TYPES OF COMMUNISM Russian Communism (Marxist-Leninist). This group adopts the policy of hegemonism and socialist imperialism in spreading communism to the world. War materiel, firearms, troops and or military advisers are being sent to other countries for permanent conquest. It believes in the flexibility of parliamentary struggle and in violent urban insurrection with the proletariat or industrial workers as the leading force. The old Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (aka Huks)-Democratic Alliance and Congress of Labor Organization headed by the Lava brothers and Luis Taruc are classic examples of revolutionaries espousing this type of communism. In the present time, the group of the late Felimon Popoy Lagman, the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Sanlakas group (PMP-ABB-BMP-Sanlakas) are strong adherents to this ideology after they rejected the basic doctrine of Maoism during a split in the mid-80 s. Chinese or Maoist Communism. This group believes in the Protracted People s War (PPW), a combination of armed and political struggles and uses the peasantry or the farmers as the main force of the revolution . It espouses the dictum of encircling the cities from the countryside as its main strategy to destroy government and ultimately capture political power. The CPPNPA-NDF, Bayan Muna, KMU, etc. are espousing this type of communism although they prefer to be called as National Democrats (Natdems). Their form of struggle is armed and bloody.

 Euro-Communism. They primarily believe in parliamentary struggle through national and local elections to attain its communist objectives. However, armed struggle is not ruled out. In the Philippines, there are several groups espousing this type of communism but they prefer to call themselves civil society (socialists) to hide their true communist identity. In the spirit of internationalism, they extend financial assistance to other communist revolutionary groups throughout the world. COMMUNISM IN THE PHILIPPINES Only a few of us are aware that there are several communist parties in the Philippines advocating three types of communism. The old Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) organized in November 7, 1930 and its military arm the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB) or Huks organized by Crisanto Evangelista and Vicente Lava were espousing the Russian-type. It was crushed in the 1950s through the unstinting effort of the late President Ramon Magsaysay. However, recent developments would show that the PKP is again active in Central Luzon. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), founded by Jose Ma. Sison in December 26, 1968, and its military arm the New People s Army (NPA), organized in March 29, 1969, initially composed of whatever was left of the Huks , headed by Bernabe Buscayno, are espousing Chinese or Maoist type of communism. It vigorously pursues and reaffirms the doctrines of Mao Tse Tung. Their group call themselves the Reaffirmists . Right after the Edsa revolution in 1986 or People Power 1, Fr. Conrado Balweg formed the Cordillera People s Liberation Army (CPLA) to advance autonomy to the Cordilleras. He and the CPLA practically repudiated the communist ideology in this mountainous region. His year-ender assassination in 1999 perpetrated by his own blood brother, Jovencio, brought a vivid realization of the fact that communism does not respect consanguinity nor family relation. He was treacherously killed right in their own ancestral home. The brother is still a communist-at-large. In the mid-80 s, the CPP s Manila-Rizal Regional Party Committee and its armed component, the Alex Bongcayao Brigade (ABB) headed by the late Felimon Popoy Lagman and Nilo de la Cruz, broke away from the mainstream and formed their own underground party the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP). They are the core of the Rejectionists faction. A firm believer of the proletarian s role in urban uprising, Lagman formed a big labor center the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino. The group s political party-list is Sanlakas which participated in the 1998 elections and won a seat in the 11th Congress in the person of Renato Magtubo. In the run-up to the 2001 elections, Sanlakas did not make it but their other party-list, Partido Manggagawa, gained two (2) during 12th Congress with Renato Magtubo and JV Bautista. In the current 13th Congress, the Partido Mangagawa only have one representative in the person of Renato Magtubo.

Another underground group, the Marxist-Leninist Party of he Philippines (MLPP) and its armed wing, the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB) was established. Its area of operation is basically in Central Luzon. Thus, only in this part of the country, a threecornered fight, so to speak, exists between the RHB, the NPA, and the government armed forces. In 1997, Lagman and De la Cruz parted ways. The latter joined another break-away group the CPP s Negros Island Regional Party Committee headed by Arturo Tabara, Manuel Caliso and Ike de los Reyes to form the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas (RPMP) and its military wing, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Bongcayao Brigade (RPAABB). Arturo Tabara used to head the CPP s Visayas Commission. Unknown to many is their ideological leanings that is however apparent that of espousing reforms. Akbayan s Etta Rosales increasingly has been defending the lines of the RPMP-RPA-ABB. The alliance of Akbayan with the RPM-P/RPA-ABB is on a tactical level. Akbayan s ideology is based on the Euro-communist type. It won a seat held by Etta Rosales in the 11th and two seats in the 12th Congress. In the current 13th Congress, Akabayan has 3 partylist representatives: Etta Rosales, Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Mario Aguja. In the 14th Congress, aside from Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, UP Professor Walden Bello took his seat in the House of Representatives, last April 28, 2009. Though anti-US, they currently espouse a non-violent approach in attaining reform. Let us only focus on the CPP-NPA-NDF in as much as it is the most deceptive and most brutal among the communist rebel groups. As stated earlier, the CPP-NPA s strength multiplied by leaps and bounds, from an initial national membership of 40 then to tens of thousands of ideologically-equipped regular armed cadres. At present, there are more than 100 CPP-NPA-NDF fronts, all over the country. They thrived and grew with the use of various deceptive techniques and strategy to manipulate our people. Foremost is their penchant to instill fear on hapless Filipinos, especially in the countryside. WHITE PAPER THEORY The communists are vigorously implementing Mao s strategy of recruitment based on the so-called White Paper Theory. The Philippines, as we all know, is an agricultural country with a 75% farmer population. According to Mao these farmers, with their little or no education, are like white paper. He said that . . in a white paper, you can write or draw in their minds anything that you like. Indeed, the CPP-NPA-NDF has immensely succeeded. During farmer s rallies, the effective manipulation of their minds and emotions are very evident. Are they just plain farmers or were they brainwashed by communism ideologues? This is so because under the Maoist concept, the farmers must be given importance as they are the main force needed to encircle the cities from the countryside. Mao said: In order to win the revolution, it must start from the countryside by organizing the farmers (using the white paper theory) and slowly encircle the cities. To organize the farmers they effectively used the issue of land reform as a come on saying that they will implement it

genuine and revolutionary . After winning the revolution lands owned by hacienderos shall be seized by the state and distributes it to the farmers for free, so they said! This promise is just so tempting for the farmers to ignore! Thus they are led to believe that the communist struggle is their very own struggle! What they do not know is that in any of the current communist states, the communist party owns the lands they till in a slave system concept by way of communal or collective farming. If overproduction happens, party leaders say it is profiteering. If underproduction happens, it is indolence. Both are punishable by death as what had happened in Russia and Red China. Also, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia did the same.

ISSUE OF POVERTY One strategy of the communists in luring the uneducated poor farmers and the urban poor into their cause is the issue of poverty which they instantaneously and spontaneously blame on government. This is very alarming because this attracts not only the poor but also those whose concerns are for the poor, like the clergy. Yes, it cannot be denied that there is massive poverty in our society today. But while the communists are shouting and complaining about poverty, nobody dare expose that the prevalence of poverty is the condition that the communists wanted most. They are primarily responsible in our people s misery. Look, what prosperity the country had before 1968. There was no widespread insurgency problem during that period, the Philippines managed to be the second richest country in Asia next to Japan. Poverty reared its ugly head only after the establishment of the wily CPP-NPA. Why? Because when the NPA activities were intensified in the 70 s up to present, people in the provinces who wanted to live in peace were forced to leave their places and move toward urban centers. They prefer to become refugees in the cities rather than continue farming and are caught in the crossfire between the military and the NPA. As a result, farmers were being displaced from their natural place of work and without any urban technical know-how, were forced to live in poverty, in the cities. A condition that would naturally led to social problems. Those who were left behind in the rural areas have no other choice but to stop working in part or in whole, at the farms, then join the guerillas. Instead of planting and growing something, the farmers are now fighting against the government. Considering that our country is an agricultural economy and when nobody intends to work in the farms, this will naturally led to food shortages and underproduction. This has resulted in the shortage of rice and forcing our government to import rice from nearby Vietnam and Thailand. Not only that, this condition is deemed as the root cause of rice smuggling which is prevalent and rampant now. Instead of attracting investors to resolve the growing unemployment, the communists are too busy organizing workers to engage in labor strikes. These resulted to the massive closures of companies and capital flight outside of the country thus vigorously contributing to the ever-increasing unemployment of our people. Are these not that factors leading to poverty? And yet, they keep blaming on the system, the Americans, and the

people in government! Poverty is not the cause of insurgency but rather the other way around. It is insurgency that causes poverty!

SWORD AND SHIELD THEORY Another strategy employed by the communists is the so-called sword and shield theory. According to Mao, a communist should fight like a knight with sword and shield as its weapons. The sword represents the armed struggle policy of the communists, or simply put, revolution. To implement this theory, they organized the NPA. As a knight, the sword is used to kill the enemy. So is the NPA the killing machine of the CPP. It is tasked to kill military personnel and all anti-communist elements of society.

The shield represents the United Front organ of the CPP. The implementing arm, with regard to the CPP s united front policy, is the National Democratic Front. As shield, the NDF protects the body and the head, which is the CPP. Its primary task is to influence or attract the sympathy of the middle forces or the petty bourgeoisie in the urban centers. When it has succeeded, the CPP is now ready for war. It has the sword (NPA) operating in the countryside, and the shield (NDF) operating in the cities and town centers. Both the NPA and the NDF are directly under CPP s powerful Central Committee. But the communists are always projecting the NDF as the umbrella of all national democratic organizations including the CPP to make it appear that the communist party is not in control of all revolutionary forces fighting for reforms. This is a classic case of deceptive strategy to avoid the issue of communism as the word communist is not generally acceptable to the people.

The Sword

The New People s Army (NPA). How do they play their role? For its part, the NPA organizes different units to become smooth and effective. First, they have the Semi-Legal Team (SLT) and Propaganda Organizing Team (POT) to enter rural communities and do work for the masses. The first thing they do is to establish contact persons (CPs). From these CPs they are able to implement social investigation and class analysis (SICA) and gather information. Usually the economic and social conditions of the people in the barangays especially the economic status of every resident must be given due importance to determine who will be their possible ally and prospective enemy. The CPs will then be formed into Barangay Liaison Group (BLG) whose primary task is to invite selected barangay folks (mostly poor peasants and farm workers) to a meeting. The topics mainly focuses on the basic problems of society allegedly brought about by feudalism , bureaucrat capitalism and US imperialism. There and then brainwashing starts with other issues with propaganda values taking cue. Usually, their education touches on some environmental protection. This the reason why they are against mining activities,

construction of dams, and illegal logging. They also concentrate on the issue of land reform to agitate the peasants to hate the landlords and government. After a series of indoctrination, convinced participants will now be formed into Barangay Organizing Group (BOG) and will now start to organize the people into different cells: men, women, youth and children. When the BOG is already selfsustaining, the SLT/POT will now proceed to the next targeted barangay to continue their mass work. They leave behind a now-politicized barangay whose conditions are ripe for the Sandatahan Yunit Propaganda (SYP). This unit makes entry to the barangay unhindered. In military parlance, the barangay is already considered as infiltrated at this stage. The presence of armed men might alarm the barangay officials and other residents and usually report this to the military or police. But military/police operations usually bear negative results because the BOG has already been consolidated and has provided assistance to the armed SYPs like pasa-bilis and extend refuge to the communist armed NPAs. These organized and brainwashed barangay folks will then be mobilized to attend rallies, demonstrations and other forms of anti government mass actions. Usually, mass actions are centered on the socalled massive military operation in the countryside. A barangay with a solid mass-based structure will then be transformed into a Barangay Revolutionary Committee (BRC) or Komite sa Balangay ( KOMBAL). It will take time for the military and the police to detect such presence because of mass support coming from the civilian population. Anybody who would dare report the presence of NPAs in the barangay would be killed in front of barangay folks. Anybody who would dare oppose their views would be eliminated in the guise of cleansing the barangay of bad elements. Those who refuse to be convinced are subjected to the muzzles of the gun placed on their mouth. A sort of political power growing out of the barrel of the gun practice. The NPA is composed of several regular units that operate in their respective areas of operation. One is the Main Regular Guerilla Unit (MRGU) that serves as the regional force of the CPP s regional political structure the Regional Party Committees (RPCs). The Front Guerilla Unit (FGU) or the District Guerilla Unit (DGU) operates within specified district or province covered by the RPCs. The Local Militia (LM), considered as the NPA s first line of defense, and the masa that provides the logistics are put to work as pasa bilis a sort of communication system efficiently established by the NPA. Nowadays, they effectively the cellphones dubbed as text bilis to send information to the communist NPA. Before the military reaches their objective, the NPAs are already forewarned that the enemy is coming. This is because the communists have already assimilated all the information regarding the operation of government forces. The higher operational command of the NPA, for its part, will order the local militia to harass and engage the military in combat. Usually, in this kind of operation, many among the local militia are killed and several masa arrested. The government armed forces will then issue a press release saying: Communist Terrorists Killed in Encounter. Many of us will take the news at its face

value and would think that it is military might versus the dismal armed strength of the NPAs. But the exact opposite becomes the issue. This is the classic example of - -Bayan Muna by day; NPA by night. The communists will exploit the issue through their sectoral front organizations, like KARAPATAN, Promotion of Church People s Response, Gabriela, and others. They will then send fact-finding missions to conduct investigation and agitational propaganda among the relatives and friends of the socalled victims. Thus, another round of recruitment ensues. They usually have use trimedia facilities to discredit the military. It would be foolish to believe that the communists are saddened because ofthe incident. In fact, the more members of the local militia and masa that the military kills, the happier the communists would be. In the first place, killing is the primary scheme of eliminating different classes of people in line with their aim of achieving a class-less society. According to the communists, the peasant farmers are the most unreliable allies of the revolution because they are individualistic and unscientific. Unscientific because they believe in so many superstitions and that their faith in God is very strong. In the program of the communists, the peasant sector is the first to be eliminated. But in the process they will use the farmers for the advancement of their cause. This is the very nature of the communists! They will use anybody for as long as you are still useful but once you have outlived your usefulness, they will kill you. Lest we forget that they could just kill you easily for they do not value human life. For any communist, everything in this world is just- - matter in motion. If they kill you as a human being, they then would just hasten your transformation into another kind of matter, not in motion but as - - fertilizer. The communists are masters in the art of deception. Take the issue of land reform, for example. Is there land reform in Red China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Cuba, and other countries under communist rule? The answer is a resounding NO! But look at how they use the issue of land reform just to deceive our brother Filipinos. In fact, one of the reasons why many farmers are joining the ranks of the communists is because they were made to believe that after the revolution, lands would be given for free. At times, there is a grain of truth in their promise because those who get killed are indeed given a parcel of land- six (6) feet below the ground The farmers will become the first beneficiaries of this genuine and revolutionary land reform promised by the communists. The latest proofs of their insatiable thirst for people s blood are the victims who were unceremoniously dumped in the Inopacan mass graves, in Southern Leyte. Revelations by relatives of the victims showed that the latter were manipulated, deceived, or forced to join the Maoist communist armed movement without the knowledge or consent of their respective families. Not only in Inopacan did this happen. There are quite a number of newly discovered mass graves of the Maoist communist terrorists. In the mid- 80s, several prominent party members like Rollie Kintanar and Nilo de la Cruz were responsible in organizing NPA special urban hit squads called Sparrow units . They

operate in the urban centers as part of their strategic offensives. The move sparked squabbles among party members when Joma Sison criticized it as a premature strategy since the political mass work in the countryside is not yet ripe for the final encirclement of the cities. The squabbles resulted to factionalism when some leading cadres of the CPP finally rejected the basic principle of Maoism!

The Shield

The National Democratic Front (NDF). The NDF s main concern is to poison the people s minds with half or twisted truths by using its front organizations or the so-called causeoriented or militant groups. Take for example the case that I mentioned earlier. It would appear in the newspapers that it was an encounter. But the NDF and its front organizations would demonstrate and go into mass actions to condemn it and call it MASSACRE! If an NPA is killed, they will shout military abuses, militarization, fascism, human rights violation, etc. but when and if a government soldier or a plain civilian is killed by the NPAs they won t shout human rights violations at all because for them it is alright . Their propaganda is aimed at discrediting the government and to demoralize the military. How does the NDF carry out its program effectively? The NDF organized different sectoral front organizations or infiltrate existing organizations to advance their cause. All these front organizations are under the umbrella Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or BAYAN. It is directly under the NDF which in turn is under the CPP Central Committee. The role of BAYAN is to coordinate and supervise the activities of all aboveground (legal) sectoral front organizations. With one effective structure or command lineage, it would not be surprising to learn that when one of these groups raise an issue, it is immediately echoed and re-echoed down the line. It is clear though that they are only mouthing things fed to them by the CPP. In the labor sector, they have the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) organized by Bert Olalia, a confessed Marxist. Today, it is headed by Crispin Beltran, a Bayan Muna representative during the 12th Congress and used to be an original member of the CPP s National United Front Committee (NUFC). This fits well in the communist s program of subjugating the Philippines. In fact, KMU is playing one of the most important roles towing the NDF agenda. The communist ideology considers the working class or proletariat as the most advanced class or elements of the revolution. Under the KMU are different labor federations and smaller labor organizations bringing the name of democracy, nationalism, progress, militancy and such other attractive words? Mao Tse Tung in this regard, said: Let a hundred flowers bloom, - meaning, the more flowers they grow, the more bees it would attract. Following that line, the more organizations, the more workers they could attract and recruit. Mao has said: A good communist is like a good fisherman. A good fisherman uses bigger nets to catch a lot of fish. In communism, the more organizations, the better it is for the

communists in their recruitment campaign. I did not say that all members of the KMU are communists. It only takes two or three communists to manipulate its decisions and actions. These are the so-called party group . This would ensure that all of the organization s activities and programs must carry the seal of approval of the CPP. Their ultimate aim is to destroy our national economy. Jose Ma. Sison in his book entitled Philippine Society and Revolution , said: The workers can temper its own class by waging strikes and general strikes (Welgang Bayan) to paralyze its class enemy (capitalists) in preparation for the seizure of political power in coordination with the New People s Army. In the student and youth sector, they have the League of Filipino Students, the National Union of Students in the Philippines, and Youth for National Democracy, Kabataan para sa Demokrasya at Nasyonalismo (KADENA), etc. They now have chapters in many high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. The students also are very important because in every NPA squad there is always a political officer and it should come from the student sector, according to the book Philippine Society and Revolution by Jose Ma. Sison. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is the biggest and foremost umbrella front organization in the peasant sector. You try to listen to the arguments of the supposedly unlettered farmers against issues on RP-US Balikatan exercises, globalization, or hear him talk about US imperialism, fascism, capitalism, and about the Philippine economy. For sure you will shake your head in disbelief. Before, they do not know anything about ismo , pasismo , imperyalismo , kapitalismo , and piyudalismo . All they knew were only misis mo , ikaw mismo , and pasmo. In the professional sector, they have the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT). They are now infiltrating government employees through the Confederation and Unity for Reform and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE). The religious sector has its Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Promotion of Church People s Response (PCPR), and the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP). The Church is even backing the very and obviously biased human rights group KARAPATAN. It is hard to believe that many spiritual leaders fell prey to the communist standard of double-talk. But this is true! The international spokesman of the NDF is a Roman Catholic priest Fr. Luis Jalandoni. He is from the Visayas. He is now in Europe with his wife an erstwhile nun and a ranking party member Connie Ledesma. Sometimes it is hard to call Jalandoni father but somehow, it is justified because the truth is he has fathered many children. The award-winning movie Sister Estella L. was based on the life story of his wife Sister Connie Ledesma, portrayed by actress Vilma Santos, the current Governor of Batangas. The Maoist communist CPP-NPA-NDF has succeeded in infiltrating the legislative branch of government. This is in line with Vladimir Lenin s teaching: Use democracy to destroy democracy, use nationalism to destroy nationalism, and join the parliament to destroy the parliament. In fact, the communists are now Congress. Their deceptive propaganda lured millions of votes for Bayan Muna in the several party-list elections that they joined. As

members of Congress, they now can spend millions of pesos in taxpayers money to finance their armed struggle. Just recently, Bayan Muna representatives were able to convert all the areas, earlier considered by the military as red areas , into Bayan Muna chapters. In short, any attempt of the military to send out patrols into these areas are considered illegal acts or pure harassment. Now, the military would be helpless if Satur Ocampo and Crispin Beltran visit these areas bringing along with them food provisions, guns, and ammunitions for the NPAs. To top it all, no one can question their use of government funds, through the Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), many have said are Pork Barrel funds, to fuel the communist insurgency s cause against the government. In the 13th Congress, the Maoist communist party-list representatives are as follows: BAYAN MUNA Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casio, and Joel Virador; ANAK PAWIS Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano, GABRIELA Liza Maza. Despite their being small in number, somehow they were able to influence the House leadership. We must not forget that they once sought refuge in the Lower House and used their immunity from arrest, which the House leadership easily agreed to. With the 14th Congress, the Maoist communist got its own dose of medicine: an effective antidote to their malicious propaganda, wily character, and the manipulative use of Congress to advance their cause. My entry into Congress was actually proverbial. A decision of the Commission on Election, sitting en banc as the National Board of canvassers for Partylist, issued NBC Resolution No. 09-001, April 24, 2009 implementing a Supreme Court decision enjoining the inclusion of ANAD as among the new partylist organizations in Congress. Many a Representatives in Congress have expressed satisfaction that the Maoist communist pseudo partylist organizations, Bayan Muna with Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino, and Neri Colmenares; Gabriela with Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan; Anakpawis with Rafael Mariano and Joel Maglungsod, and Kabataan Partylist with Raymond Palatino, have now found themselves in a very untenable position with ANAD Partylist holding sway and effectively unmasking them as Maoist communist partylist personalities and organizations. In same way, these pseudo partylist organizations are practically using government funds to fan the flames of their sworn objective to overthrow the duly constituted free and democratic government and replace the same with a communist dictatorship. In a nutshell, ANAD s entry has not altered the course charted by these personalities for the Maoist communists-terrorist organization. Notwithstanding the fact that they had to glaringly subdue their intentions and machinations in the Lower House of Congress, they have become emboldened with a new strategy of getting at least 3 seats in the Senate, during the May 10 national elections. Courtesy of Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan), the Maoist communist are currently training their sights on the Senate titillating political mainstream parties with their self-acclaimed 2.3 million captive votes and about Php 1 billion pesos in election booty

in exchange for these political parties support for the Senatorial bids of Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, Teddy Casino, and Rafael Mariano. This is aside from the programmed increase in their partylist representation in the Lower House by adding the Alliance for Concerned Teachers (ACT), the Confederation for the Unity, Reform and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), and MIGRANTE (Overseas Filipino Workers). CEASEFIRE The Maoist communist CPP-NPA-NDF lives and thrives on deception and terrorism. If one does not fall on their deception, terrorism sets in. In 1986 the entire country, through the Cory government, fell into the communist trap. The NDF claimed that, through Antonio Zumel and Satur Ocampo, they are the legitimate body to represent all revolutionary forces in the Philippines, including the CPP-NPA. This is not true! It is lie! The NDF and the NPA are two co-equal bodies under the CPP Central Committee.Therefore, clearly stated that the NDF was a wrong party that the government should dealt with during the ceasefire period and peace talks. It should have been the CPP Central Committee! To exemplify this hile the military stopped all of their operations against the communist terrorists during the ceasefire period, the NPA was having heydays liquidating civilians, military and police personnel. They continued firing despite the agreement. This is a case of talk, talk, talk orchestrated by the NDF; while the armed NPA does the fire, fire, fire . The most cogent reason is that the NPA is not bound to comply with whatever agreement signed between the government and the NDF. Also, this shows the insincerity of the CPP in the negotiations for peace because in the first place, the communists do not believe that they can take over power of government through peaceful means. As Mao Tse Tung said Peace is only possible after the revolution. They use the ceasefire issue to advance their intentions. The elbow room afforded to them, during any of those 60 days ceasefire periods were immense: a) they could not be arrested because of the safe conduct passes issued by the government; b) they continue recruiting members, conduct retraining programs, re arming and redeployment of troops in the different parts of the country. After the 60-day ceasefire period, the enemy grew even stronger. That is what Mao Tse Tung was referring to when he said - take one step backward and two steps forward. To emphasize our point, in June 2001, the Arroyo administration made another mistake when she once again offered to talk peace with the communists. While the negotiations were going on somewhere in Norway, the NPA intensified its armed assault on hapless civilians and government officials that costs the lives of Gov. Rodolfo Aguinaldo of Cagayan, Cong. Marcial Punzalan of Quezon, Mayor Cesar Platon of Batangas and several others. The supposed talking points are the issues of human rights, peace, democracy, etc. The discussion for a possible peace was a complete failure because both sides failed to arrive at the exact definition of terms acceptable to both. Besides, the communists do not have a fiber of intention to seek and talk peace with a government that it seeks to overthrow and replace!

The recent initiatives for the resumption of the peace negotiations, with Norway playing an important role as facilitator, turned out to be a big dud with the Maoist communist NDF asking one-to-many demands pushing, as always, the GRP and the government of the Philippines to subvert its own laws by setting free and quashing all the criminal cases filed against 14 Maoist communist rebels who are currently in detention by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by our courts of law. Jose Ma. Sison s appetite for double talk and lies continues to holds sway as he blatantly threatened to scuttle the Norwegian sponsored resumption of the oftenly stalled peace talks after the government refused to budge-in to their demand. This despite government s bending too much by releasing from detention Elizabeth Principe and Randall Echaniz, both top leaders in the Central Committee of the Maoist communist s CPP-NPA-NDF plus an assurance that Rafael Baylosis and Vicente Ladlad would not be arrested pending the holding of the talks. Like a spoiled brat, the Maoist communist s penchant for deceit and lies has shown and as always would be.

MOVEMENTS OF THEIR SO-CALLED PEOPLE S ORGANIZATION How did they succeed in deceiving the people? First, they conduct massive propaganda campaigns, followed by organizing works, and finally mobilization. The Maoist communist CPP-NPA NDF is skilled in conducting AGITATIONAL PROPAGANDA to fan the flames of discontent and hate against the sitting government of our country. An example is when an encounter happens between the military and the NPA with the latter suffering from heavy losses and casualties, the NDF would initiate a spin of the true story and make it appear that it was a massacre instead of the factual encounter. Day in and day-out they keep on repeating the issue that it was human rights violation, fascism, military abuses, etc. Once the minds of the people are conditioned by their propaganda, the organizing work will follow through their sectoral front organizations. This is a classic case of A lie repeated several times ultimately becomes a living truth. After that, mobilization follows. Mobilization is either in the form of rallies, demonstrations, sympathy strikes, and other forms of mass actions. The communists aptly call this the tempering stage in preparation for a higher form of struggle, which is armed struggle. THREE STRATEGIC STAGES The CPP-NPA-NDF follows these three stages to determine the development of their struggle. These are the-

Strategic Defensive Stage; Strategic Stalemate Stage; and the Strategic Offensive Stage. In the strategic defensive stage, the NPA is always on the run. It is the longest process of encircling the cities from the countryside through protracted war. The NPA at this stage always evade the war of annihilation. It is also a propaganda force in the countryside. The fighting capability of the NPA is only good if the situation is favorable for them. The strategic stalemate stage can be achieved once the NPA can equal the force of the military. And according to them, this is the most temporary or shortest stage because anytime from this point the balance of power would tilt in their favor. The last and final stage is - the strategic offensive stage where the balance of power is already in their favor. This will be the time when the NPA becomes a real military force. When this happens, be sure that you have a banca to ride on and just keep your fingers crossed and pray that you will not land in Cam Ranh Bay or China just like the Vietnamese refugees!

FIVE STAGES OF RECRUITMENT IN THE LABOR SECTOR How does a common laborer become a member of the CPP without him knowing it? Preliminaries. For a starter, there is a certain targeted factory. If the management is hiring new employees, the communists through the Kilusang Mayo Uno will send somebody to apply, and once accepted, communist infiltration will start. In cases where the company is not hiring new employees, they will befriend somebody who is working in that factory. Once they become friends, the communists will start asking about the working conditions, the behavior of the owner of the factory, its managers and supervisors, and most of all, the problems of the workers. The common laborer is not aware that the communists are now going the rounds of so-called social investigation (SI). The SI is very important for them because based on the information being gathered, it is where they will start the recruitment process. After this, they will conduct the so-called class analysis (CA). In class analysis, the communists start classifying the workers into: a) well-to-do workers; b) average class workers; and, c) poor workers. Once they have identified the poor workers, the communists will now look for their weaknesses, discontentment and grievances. Through their weaknesses, it is where the communists will start to establish closer contacts with them. Then the communists talk about the workers problems. Ultimately, they will talk about militant unionism as the only solution to said problems. This stage is called the contact stage. The common and standard method used by the communists in labor organizing is as follows:

The Labor Cadre Team (LCT) will approach and befriend somebody preferably, a discontented company worker. Usually, the cadre teams are full-time organizers of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, a CPP legal labor front. From that discontented worker, the communists are able to know other problems faced by the workers. They will then ask the guy to recruit or invite some of his close co-workers for a meeting. During the meeting, the LCT will discuss the advantage of having a union so that all their grievances can be addressed through the collective bargaining agreement or CBA. Once they have convinced this small group of workers, the communists will then give them assignments- to recruit more co-workers from the different departments for the next meeting. This is called tasking . The LCT will see to it that all the participants have signed the attendance sheet for it is one of the necessary requirements needed when the time is ripe for the registration of their union at the Department of Labor. When there are enough convinced workers in every department, the LCT again calls for another meeting. In this round, they elect from among them a set of officers with each one holding different committees including the organizing committee (OC). The OCs are now in charge in the preparation of the application forms and in formulating guidelines for the organizing work, of course, with the guidance from the LCT. They then ask the workers to sign their respective signatures for the ratification of their Constitution & By-Laws (at least 50% plus 1 membersignatures). Another set of signatures for the application for registration needs only 25% of total rank and file workers. After the union has gotten approval by the DOLE, the LCT again ask for another round of signatures to petition for certification election which only need 20% of total workforce. After receiving the petition, the DOLE will then summon the management and the union president for a hearing to determine the validity of the union membership. Management will attest if union members are indeed company employees.. This is called inclusionexclusion proceedings . If the union could get 50% plus 1 signature in that petition, the management has two choices, either to give way for an election or to give the unio direct recognition . However, direct recognition seldom happen. Management does not allow the union to become the bargaining agent without putting up a fight. The DOLE will facilitate the conduct of certification election. If no intervenor (other unions) is present, the election must only be a yes or no . If the yes votes win, the union would be the workers new bargaining agent for a period of 5 years. If no wins, the company would only have one year to attain industrial peace because under the labor law, No union is good only for one year. The communists will again have an opportunity to ask for another certification election, a year after. But once the union, thru their labor front organization the KMU, has established a legal personality in the company, it would cause management lots of trouble because during CBA negotiations, a lot of unreasonable demands will be presented. The first stage. The ordinary worker, for his part, is unaware that upon signing the petition he is already marked as a mass member. From there he will be invited to join rallies, strikes,

demonstrations, and other mass actions. During those mass actions he can hear the communists shout leftist slogans. The most common slogans raised are the three isms (US imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, and feudalism) of which according to them are the root causes of our society s problems. The worker, being unfamiliar with these slogans, will start asking questions about these isms . The communists would just be too happy to discuss things with him. The second stage. By the next mass action, having been convinced that the three isms are indeed the evils of society, he will now also join in shouting these slogans unawares that he is already marked as a national democratic activist. So, from a mere unionist he now becomes a reformist. He is always in the frontline during demonstrations because he wants to achieve change. More often than not, demonstrations become violent, a condition which is intentionally done by the communists. After that, they will agitate the workers some more. They will say, Look, we made a peaceful demonstration but what happened- the military used brute force against us. Peaceful means is not really a solution to our problem. It is necessary to use force against force, there ought to be a violent revolution to overthrow this oppressive regime. The third stage. By the next demonstration, aside from the three isms , the worker-turned unionist will also shout Isulong ang rebolusyon! or Rebolusyon, sigaw ng bayan! From reformist, he is transformed into a revolutionary. He is now at the third level- a prospective candidate member or PCM of the communist party. At this stage, the communists will start giving books of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Tse Tung, Joma Sison, among others. With this on hand, the worker will ask why is he given books about communism. In reply, the communists will say: We want change, and if we want change we should broaden our knowledge. Let us study these books about communism and put into practice the good ideas and reject the bad ones. The fourth stage. Once the worker starts reading those books, little by little his anti communism feelings would be erased. He will start appreciating the theories of Marx, Lenin, and Mao. With that in mind, his level will be raised to candidate membership (CM) level. From that time on, he will be exposed and invited to higher level of discussions. The fifth stage. Once the communists are already sure of his commitment to the revolution and to the cause of communism, he will be invited and formally sworn in as a full-pledge member (FM) of the CPP. The long process of systematic brainwashing and deception is now over. The total personality of the worker has been changed. From mere unionist to reformist, to revolutionary and then lastly as communist. That is the communists very systematic process of recruitment and brainwashing. It is also the reason why many are deceived to join their ranks.

OUR PARAMOUNT TASK

Our primary task is to use their weapons against them: First, conduct a massive propaganda drive against the communists and expose its evil and sinister goals; Second, organize the people who are already aware of the communist threat so that we can put up a common front against the communists or red unions ; and Third, mobilize the people, especially the workers, against the front organizations of the CPP. They have succeeded in infiltrating our country s legislative mill Congress. The elections in 2010 will tell us if indeed they would efficiently worm their way amidst the bells of awakening consistently being sounded by ANAD. We have to act now. Let us not wait for the unborn children to take up the cudgels and fight for us. It might be too late. The time to act is now! Today! Do we have to wait till the blood-red flag with the hammer and sickle is waving proudly all over the land? In Parting It is usually not by force of arms that the communists bring a country down, but by MANIPULATING public opinion to their advantage. -o0oJun M. Alcover, Jr. ALLIANCE FOR NATIONALISM AND DEMOCRACY (ANAD) PARTYLIST 2009 Edition

About the Author

Formerly: Student leader of the first school demonstration in Cebu City, 1969. Ranking officer, Kabataang Makabayan (KM) & Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK), 1970. Labor organizer, organized the first CPP labor front- Union of Democratic Workers (UDW), 1970. Original member of the CPP/NPA expansion team for Visayas & Mindanao Regions, 1971. Organizer, first NPA armed squad in Cebu Province, 1972-1973. Organizer, first CPP/NPA units in Southern Leyte, 1973-1974. Ranking Party Member- Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee, 1973. Commander-Political Officer (CO-PO), NPA Regular Armed Unit in Samar Island, 1974. Captured in 1978 and put in solitary confinement for more than six months. Released after amnesty was granted. At Present:

 Member, House of Representatives, representing the Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) Partylist Full-time anti-communism lecturer. He was invited to Australia and the United States for a series of lectures. Founder of the largest anti-communist organization in the Visayas and Mindanao: Katipunan para sa Demokratikong Reporma or Movement for Democratic Reforms (KADRE). National Chairman: National Alliance for Democracy (NAD) - an NGO assisting the government s counter-insurgency campaign. National Chairman: Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) - a political party-list with national constituency as duly registered with the COMELEC. National President: National Guardians for Freedom and Democracy, Inc. (NGI) President/Chairman: National Alliance for Democracy and Freedom Foundation, Inc. NADFFI).

It is usually not by force of arms that the communists bring a country down. It is by MANIPULATING public opinion to their advantage