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Friday, January 20, 2006
NDF lambastes Arroyo anew for Balikatan
By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE National Democratic Front lambasted the Arroyo administration anew for allowing the conduct of a joint military exercise in North Cotabato, which they said would only endanger the lives of the residents there.
In a statement, NDF Southern Mindanao spokesman Rubi del Mundo said "the puppet US-Arroyo regime is incorrigibly adamant on trampling the nation's sovereignty and patrimony."
"Despite the people's widespread opposition, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pushes for the Balikatan in Carmen, North Cotabato--the second time within 18 months. The Armed Forces of the Philippines through its Southern Command spokesman, Major Gamal Hayudini, tried but failed to mislead the public by saying that the civilians are really excited about the training," del Mundo said.
The rebel spokesman said Hayudini failed to cushion the people's outrage against the Balikatan exercises. Del Mundo asserted that the Balikatan exercises only result in massive violations of the rights of the people and trample the people's sovereign right.
"The presence of heavily armed US and Philippine troops in the said Moro Islamic Liberation Front's territory sowed terror and generated fears among local residents who were unwittingly turned into human shields in the event that their enemy attacks," del Mundo said.
"Hayudini's statement that US soldiers will not directly participate in combat operations is an outright lie as there are records and witnesses that would prove they do," he added.
Del Mundo added that the medical missions and other so-called humanitarian missions of the US troops in the resource-rich areas and in areas where revolutionary groups are present, especially in Mindanao, are, in fact, intelligence gathering operations and are part of the US stratagem.
"Balikatan exercises are nothing but part of the US war of aggression. For the US to take full economic and military control, it must crush the revolutionary New People's Army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and even progressive organizations and freedom-loving Filipinos aggressively opposing US imperialism," del Mundo said.
(January 20, 2006 issue)
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