Manila's war against the South

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Abu kills cop in new clash. Hostilities spread to other Mindanao Islands
By Victoria Calaguian, Today, 16 April 1995. Government claims raids were by Muslim Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Abu Sayyaf guerillas, but the people in the area say they were by a non-Muslim paramilitary group.
Ethnic cleansing in Mindanao, Philippines
By Fred Hill, Islamic Horizons, 17 April 1996. Mindanao's distinctive history and culture. Luzon-Christian-capitalist colonization and the various local responses. Hugh growth in an urban poor population.
Philippines Declares 60-Day Rebel Ceasefire
Reuter, 28 November 1996. In October the government signed an accord with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which had sought Muslim autunomy for the southern Islands. Now a tempoary cease fire with Marxist New People's Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The NPA is the military arm of the Communist Party, which seeks a working-class government, while the MILF seeks a Muslim state for the southern Muslim Islands.
Government repression continues
Workers World, 12 December 1996. Brief news report on halt to negotiations between NDF and the government because of the arrest of a negotiating team leader, Danilo Borjal. On November 27, the government had released Filemon Lagman, head of the Coalition of Philippine Workers, whom it held to discourage anti-APEC protests.
Communists In The Philippines Declare Cease-Fire
Agence France-Press, 23 December 1996. News report that the Communist Party's guerilla organization, the New People's Army (NPA), agrees with government's holiday cease fire.
A tribute. Bishop Nepomuceno: A life well-lived for others
From the Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition (NFPC), 15 February 1997. The Bishop, a representative of liberation theology, was active in struggle vs. Marcos, then shifted to anti-nuclear struggle.
May First Message of the Communist Party of the Philippines
From Press-Agency Ozgurluk, 2 May 1997.
Stop the militarization of Central Mindanao!
Karapatan Media Release, 23 May 1997. Human rights group insists that so-called kidnap problem is a cover for militarization of central Mindanao to repress ethnic rebels there.
On Bombings and Bomb Threats by the Ramos Regime
Press statement by Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant, 7 September, 1997, in which he denies NPA responsibility for the bombings, accusing AFP chief of staff General Arnulfo Acedera of scapegoating and lying.
Muslim rebels on full alert in southern Philippines
Reuter, 20 October 1997. In the southern Philippine islands, especially Mindanao, live a Muslim population with a keen sense their own identity. The Ramos government uses excuse of unrelated incidents to amass military forces in area of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Camp Abubakar outside Cotabato, in violation of the cease-fire accord.
Philippines Government Calls Off Peace Talks
KARAPATAN Press Release, 12 November 1997. The Ramos government's unilateral suspension of peace talks with the National Democratic Front over the rebels' alleged bad faith drew the ire of the human rights group Karapatan.
Rights group welcomes Estrada's signing of CARHRIHL
KARAPATAN Press statement, 11 August 1998. KARAPATAN welcomes President Estrada's signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). This is a significant event and a major step towards the continuation of the peace talks at a time when human rights are again being violated with impunity in the name of peace and order and ‘economic development.’
European Parliament urges and supports GRP-NDFP peace negogiations
National Democratic Front of the Philippines Information Office, Press Release, 14 January 1999. The European Parliament unanimously passed today in Strasbourg a resolution in support of the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
War Rhetoric Peaks, Public Tired of It
By Johanna Son, IPS, 17 March 1999. The tough talk of war has hung in the air for weeks now, since the Philippine government suspended peace negotiations with the communist-led movement and cancelled talks with Muslim separatists in February. But many Filipinos have reacted to these developments with a yawn.
Communist pullout from talks, threats: just noise?
By Ivan Gan, IPS, Asia Times 4 June 1999. By withdrawing from long-drawn peace talks to settle a three-decade old insurgency, the communist movement in the Philippines is once again testing the mettle of the government. After about a year of negotiations, the NDF announced it was pulling out of the talks on May 30.