[News] PHILIPPINES: "For Reds, takeover is 'just a question of time'"

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For Reds, takeover in RP 'just a question of time'
Posted: 10:37 AM (Manila Time) | Apr. 27, 2004
By Karl Wilson
Agence France-Presse

BISLIG--For Ka Oris, it is not a case of whether there will be a
people's revolution in the Philippines, but when.

The 55-year-old is spokesman for the National Democratic Front for
Mindanao (NDF), an umbrella organization for the Communist Party of
the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).

"We are gaining strength every day," he told Agence France-Presse in
an interview from an outpost in the hills above Bislig on Mindanao island.

A revolutionary all his life, Oris, who was born George Madlos,
maintains an unwavering belief in a new order. "It may not happen in
my life time but it will happen. All revolutions take time," he said.

Celebrating the 31st anniversary of the NDF's founding, he surveys the
camp and the platoon of young NPA guerrillas carrying arms and
equipment taken from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

"They are the future of the revolution," he said, dismissing the
oft-quoted government figure of 8,000 armed NPA fighters throughout
the country.

"No matter what the government says we are gaining strength day by
day. Our involvement with the people living in the countryside is solid."

Oris claims that in Mindanao alone the NPA is operating on 38 fronts
with control of over 2,000 villages or districts in cities and
municipalities.

In Bislig there is no sign of a military, other than weapons stolen
from the army and equipment used by the NPA guerillas.

But with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the dramatic
changes that have taken place in China, does he not think he is
fighting a lost cause?

On the contrary, he says, socialism is not dead, "it's just sleeping".

"The masses realize this is a protracted people's war. In the last 35
years the combined forces of the imperialists, the landed classes,
business class,and successive puppet governments in the Philippines
have not destroyed the revolution. If anything they have only
prolonged it. The point is that time is on our side."

On Friday the chairman for the Commission on Elections, Benjamin
Abalos,said the NPA rebels had "become our biggest problem" ahead of
the May 10 elections.

Philippines army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero, said
recently that the communist guerrillas had cost the Philippines more
than a million dollars this year through sabotage and extortion.

He claimed that in the three months to March, the rebels "exacted" six
million pesos (107,600 dollars) in "permit to campaign fees" from
politicians alone, compared with the 12 million dollars they earned
from such fees in the 2001 mid-term elections.

A further 20 million pesos were "exacted" from business establishments
in rural areas, he said.

According to Lucero, for those who refused their demands the NPA
destroyed infrastructure and other equipment such as buses and mobile
telephone broadcast sites worth 32 million pesos (574,000 dollars).

But Oris dismisses the claims. "The revolution does not condone
kidnapping,extortion, or drug dealing. That is syndicated banditry.

"You have to understand that the NPA is the armed wing of our
revolutionary government. We have our own system of justice, land
reform program, social services and other strengths.

"It is an inherent responsibility of any revolutionary government to
implement its own program of taxation.

"Yes, we tax businessmen and people doing business within areas
controlled by the revolutionary movement. And the same goes for
politicians. This is not extortion.

"No one will admit it in Manila but there are two governments working
in this country. One that exploits the masses and the revolutionary
movement that is working for the masses.

"There are many politicians in Mindanao who are seeking our support in
the forthcoming election because they know we can deliver the votes.
All we ask of them is how they intend to help the people."

On a final note, the born revolutionary adds: "This is not an armed
struggle, it's a struggle for the hearts and minds of the people. And
in that we are winning and our strength is gaining every day.

"Just look around the camp at all these ordinary villagers and tribal
people. They know we are here to help them.

"I may not live to see the day when victory is ours but this I am
certain the people's revolution will triumph."

<http://www.inq7.net/brk/2004/apr/27/brkpol_5-1.htm>http://www.inq7.net/brk/2004/apr/27/brkpol_5-1.htm



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