The Communist Party of the Philippines declared on 11 April that it is dispatching units of the New People’s Army to carry out rescue and rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by Typhoon Agaton, in parts of Eastern Visayas, Cebu Island and northern Mindanao. CPP Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena said, “The NPA must immediately prepare rescue, medical and construction teams composed of Red fighters, militias and local activists to respond to any urgent needs of the people.”

Valbuena stressed, “It is the civic duty of the NPA to extend all possible assistance to the people in the face of calamities and disasters.” He also urged all revolutionary forces to organize efforts to ensure the quick delivery of supplies for relief and rehabilitation work.

Tropical Storm Agaton (International name: Megi) is the first tropical cyclone that hit the country this year. Agaton, classified as a weak tropical depression, packed maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour near the center with gusts of up to 105 kph. It pummeled the Philippines from 8 – 13 April.

The tropical depression brought incessant heavy rains and strong winds, resulting in widespread flooding and landslides across the eastern and central Visayas regions. The typhoon left nearly half a million people affected. In Leyte Island, the heavy rains brought disastrous landslides on 12 April, burying farming and fishing communities in Abuyog and Baybay towns.

Lamenting with the people of the Leyte towns, the CPP said, “These tragedies are a result of the widespread destruction of the environment caused by decades of logging and forest clearing for commercial plantations. Communities in mountains, valleys and plains have been made vulnerable to landslides and flooding by deforestation and siltation of rivers.”

The Party called on the Filipino people “to unite, defend the environment and their livelihood, and demand an end to destructive commercial and plunderous operations of big capitalists.” It reiterated its commitment “to enforce the policy of the people’s democratic government prohibiting large scale commercial logging and plunderous mining operations. It aims to achieve greater successes in enforcing this policy as we look forward to preserving the country’s resources for the future use of the people and their truly democratic government.”