The New People’s Army in Northern Samar strongly denies claims by the 78th Infantry Battalion that there were any command-detonated explosives (CDeX) buried in the vicinity of Barangay Magsaysay, Mapanas. Battalion chief Lt. Col. Francis Rosales and his ilk are laughable and absolutely reek of desperation for recycling old CDeX units to yet again conjure made-up victories against the people’s army.
These fascist troops are apparently not content with their fat military salaries, allowances and bonuses and thus seek to be rewarded for recycling years-old war material, just as they do with showing off recycled “surrenderers.”
They then spout hogwash regarding the NPA’s use of CDeX, which is permitted by international humanitarian law under the Ottawa Treaty—something they would know had they bothered to read it. Unlike the AFP’s 500-pound “smart bombs” (that are actually quite stupid for causing indiscriminate damage to farmlands as well as trauma to civilian communities), the CDeX used by the NPA is by design far more precise because it only deals enough damage to a limited radius, upon the firing of a trigger and after careful preparation by Red fighters against legitimate military targets.
After proving himself completely ignorant on the IHL, Lt. Col. Rosales then flailingly paints the AFP as stalwarts of human rights. If anything, they are stalwarts of terrorism; it is common knowledge among the peasant masses that when there are “intensified and sustained focused military operations,” entire barangays such as Barangay Magsaysay are made into hamlets under their direct military control. Battalion-sized units scour the surrounding farmlands and forests, which peasants are forbidden to go to even though these are their sources of livelihood or else they will be shot on sight. They are forced to surrender for bogus crimes or by virtue of the terroristic “Anti-Terror” Law. For one Barangay Magsaysay is among the most militarized barrios in the Pacific area of Northern Samar; the military’s presence here causes the people nothing but suffering.
The peasant masses of Northern Samar are not fooled by the 78th IB’s lies. Everyday they are witnesses to the wanton violations of their rights by the fascist AFP; everyday they suffer worsening economic hardship under the rotten system which the AFP defends. It is by these conditions that the NPA continues to receive the people’s warm support and thrive in the midst of worsening fascist state terrorism in the countryside. In due time it shall gain enough strength through tactical offensives and carrying forward the people’s war until its victorious end.
