On the Anti-imperialist Camp in Assisi a delegate from BAYAN as well as a member of the International Leninist Current, who participated in a BAYAN solidarity delegation to Mindanao lately, will report about the situation on the Philippines.
The following text is a statement of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) condemns the brutal shooting of an unarmed and defenseless man by American trooper Reggie Lane around midnight July 25, 2002 in Barangay Kanas, Tuburan, Basilan, Philippines.
Through this act of extreme arrogance by an American soldier, the trampling of Philippine national sovereignty by the escalating U.S. military intervention in the Philippines is concretely demonstrated. All the illusions about the U.S. troops being in the Philippines only for training and not getting involved in combat operations, or having weapons only for self-defense, — all these are dispelled in this midnight raid on the Isnijal family and the U.S. soldier leading the armed troopers in barging into the family home and shooting Mr. Isnijal.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her regime must be held accountable for their utter puppetry to the U.S. government. She cannot avoid through simplistic comments the serious issues raised concerning the shooting of Isnijal by the U.S. soldier and the coming in of many more U.S. troops, which she said should be “more geographically spread”. The Filipino people are bound to rise up in huge mass actions to vigorously oppose this intensifying U.S. military intervention. The forthcoming visit of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and the threat of a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) being signed will only rouse greater and more militant popular protest.
The NDFP and all its allied organizations are committed to uphold Philippine national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to defend these against those who would trample on these fundamental rights of the Filipino people.
The NDFP calls for the immediate presentation of Buyong-buyong Isnijal by the Southern Command of the Philippine Army under Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina to his family and religious (Muslim and/or Christian) and human rights organizations acceptable to the Isnijal family. This is necessary for his safety and protection against further gross violations of his rights and the rights of his family.
The NDFP likewise calls on the American people to stand up, as they did during the U.S. war of aggression against the Vietnamese people, to vigorously oppose the military interventionist policies of the Bush administration. We count on their support as we also count on the solidarity of other peoples.
Luis G. Jalandoni
Member, NDFP National Executive Committee
