Militant killings part of new CPP purge — Gonzales

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has ordered another round of purges of informants and suspected infiltrators within its ranks.

According to National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, the CPP leadership revived its infamous internal purges in 1980s to cleanse its ranks of misfits and traitors in the revolutionary movement and its allies in progressive organizations.

Gonzales said the recent spate of killings of militant leaders bore the style and trademark of the "sparrow" unit of the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), the urban hit squad of the New People’s Army (NPA).

"Like today’s assassins, the ABB sparrows then also worked in pairs, riding on motorcycles," Gonzales said.

He pointed out most of the victims are members of organizations known to be legal fronts of the CPP-NPA.

Gonzales recalled the CPP broke into factions known as "RAs" or reaffirmists and "RJs" or the so-called rejectionists of the leadership of founder Jose Ma. Sison.

The RJs took with them the party cadres based in Metro Manila and Rizal province.

The faction also took with them the ABB assassination squads who became infamous for killing more than 200 police and military personnel in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.

"It is therefore probable that most of the political activists killed since 2003 were done to avenge the assassination of RJ leaders (Filemon "Popoy") Lagman, (Romulo) Kintanar and (Arturo) Tabara, which were all owned (up) by the (NPA)," Gonzales said.

"There are very strong indications that a greater number of the slayings are a result of a continuing war between two armed factions of the local communist movement - the RA and RJ," he said.

Gonzales also admitted the possibility that some "ultra-rightist" groups took advantage of the situation.

Gonzales bared the military recently recovered a document that bolsters his belief that many of the killings are part of a new CPP internal purge.

A document titled "Paglilinis ng Bushfire sa mga Nakapasok na mga Ahente ng Kaaway" dated April 7, 2006, was recovered by troops during anti-insurgency operations in Tagkawayan, Quezon recently.

Gonzales also cited intelligence reports indicating a growing schism within the RAs "that may have contributed to the series of slaying of radical activists."

As this developed, members of the militant National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) claimed they have been put under surveillance by the military and placed in its order of battle under "Oplan Bantay Laya."

"We are being closely monitored and hunted down covertly," according to NUSP president Marco delos Reyes.

Delos Reyes claimed several of their student leaders were also being followed by military intelligence agents.

He said that even their fellow students were being recruited to spy on their activities.

Delos Reyes declared they will hold the military and President Arroyo liable if anything happens to their members.

He also said the government has the only motive and resources to conduct a systematic "neutralization" of progressive organizations.

Gonzales, for his part, assured that the government has nothing to do with the murder and abductions of leftist leaders.

"Despite the numerous human rights violations of the CPP-NPA, including mass killing their own members and assassinating their rivals, government would be foolish to want to kill them," he said.

"We want to put the Marxist-Leninists in jail, not to kill them," he declared.

Gonzales, who also chairs the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, appealed yesterday to media organizations to help unmask "the politics of violence and deceit" of the CPP and the NPA, which he said are behind the spate of extra-judicial killings of militants. — With Perseus Echeminada, Sandy Araneta, Paolo Romero