http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10150039.html
excerpt: >>The Philippines braced yesterday for a fallout of the arrest of Jose Maria Sison, a top communist leader as his colleagues vowed to intensify their 39-year-old insurgency. The National Democratic Front, the Marxist umbrella, condemned the arrest and raids on Sison's office and at least seven other addresses in Utrecht and the nearby town of Abcoude. "Contrary to the claims of Mrs Arroyo, the arrest of Prof Sison and the raids conducted are bound to terminate the ongoing peace negotiations," said NDF official Fidel V. Agcaoili, who called the allegations against Sison "trumped-up charges".>> http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/35DC70B6-D775-448D-BA6E-46AAF43DF946.htm excerpt: >>Sison has denied any operational role with the rebels since leaving the Philippines in 1986, and calls himself a political consultant for NDF, which has been involved in peace negotiations for many years with Manila. The talks have stalled since 2004 and the rebels have continued to carry out attacks, mostly on security forces and infrastructure. Sison has fought a legal battle to stay in the Netherlands as a refugee, saying he faced assassination if he were to return to the Philippines. The Dutch government has repeatedly rejected all his requests for asylum but has never moved to expel him. The European Union added Sison and the New People's Army to its list of "terrorists" in October 2002. >> comment: The Philippine government, with full US backing, is going all out gangbusters against both the Communist Resistance and the Islamist Resistances. See also below: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/08/26/news/arroyo.tells.military.finish.off.insurgency.terror.before.2010.html Arroyo tells military: Finish off insurgency, terror before 2010 excerpt >>PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to end armed rebellion, Muslim secessionism, and terrorism by the end of her term in 2010. Arroyo said the AFP must be upgraded towards the acquisition of what it needs to win the war in the three fronts. She said this is where the P5 billion AFP modernization fund in next year's budget should go. She said government must stop the "ideological nonsense and criminal acts" of communist rebels once and for all. Arroyo said although the New People's Army (NPA) has been considered as "low-level threat" over the years, they have been impeding progress in rural areas and have been responsible for human rights abuses. "It is either get rid of them now or get rid of them later, whatever happens they must be stopped," she said. Arroyo ordered the military to end the communist insurgency before she steps down from office.>> http://home.casema.nl/ndf/index.html: excerpt of interview >>"US-ARROYO REGIME DRIVES THE PEOPLE TO ARMED REVOLUTION" Interview with NDFP Chief Political Consultant Prof. JOSE MARIA SISON, on the Philippine situation and prospects By ROSELLE VALERIO Editor, Liberation International, 26 August 2007 Gloria M. Arroyo speaks of using her remaining years in the presidential palace to leave an unforgettable legacy. In your view, what is going to be her legacy? Prof. Jose Maria Sison (JMS): Her legacy is one of puppetry to US imperialism, aggravated underdevelopment, corruption, bankruptcy, electoral fraud and gross and systematic human rights violations with impunity. Has Arroyo not achieved a relatively high economic growth rate? Has she not solved the financial crisis? Is she not laying the groundwork for the Philippines to become a first world country? JMS: The Arroyo regime has conjured the illusion of economic growth by engaging in unbridled foreign and local borrowing and by attracting speculative portfolio investments. It has not at all solved the financial crisis but has aggravated it by increasing the debt and tax burden in a stagnant economy that is driven by overconsumption of imports, worst of which are the luxuries of the exploiting classes. The Arroyo regime has subserviently followed the US-dictated policy of "free market" globalization, rejected national industrialization and land reform and has thus aggravated the underdevelopment of the Philippine economy. The Philippine economy has become more dependent on raw-material exports, on low value-added reexports and the export of live human beings as cheap labor. It is always afflicted by a rising level of trade deficit and government deficit spending for debt service, the military and other counterproductive purposes. Without national industrialization and land reform, it is impossible for the Philippines to become a "first world country". Arroyo insults the intelligence of the people by uttering the silly lie that she is making the Philippines become a "first world" country through mega-infrastructure projects and call centers.>> _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
