The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in a statement issued 15 January 2023, revealed that the appointments of former Duterte military henchmen such as Gen. Eduardo Año to key defense and security agencies is halfway towards a coup-de-etat, coupled with increasing political repression and war of suppression.
Marco Valbuena, CPP Chief Information Officer, said that the replacement of Prof. Clarita Carlos as national security adviser by Gen. Año after just six months in office, following the anomalous re-appointment of Gen. Andres Centino as chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and appointment of Gen. Carlito Galvez to the Department of National Defense (DND), completes their control of key defense agencies.
Valbuena said, “Rumors of a Duterte coup have been going around. In fact, the coup is now half done. The shake down at the PNP is still to fully unravel. With Duterte’s men in full control of the military, Marcos Jr is now held by one of his balls. He takes a political risk every time he leaves the country for his junkets.”
According to Valbuena, the military control of the bureaucratic state follows the US doctrine of “anti-terrorism,” and anti-communist counterinsurgency where the military define and dictate state policy and place civil agencies under its control. “To the military, everything is black and white. Anyone who does not bow is either a communist or a friend of the communists,” he added.
“We can expect all the brutal tactics of martial law, political repression, and war of suppression. They will continue to unleash such brutal tactics as extrajudicial killings, abductions and disappearances, attacks against unions and organizations, armed raids on entire villages, aerial bombing and shelling of farmers’ communities, fields, and forests, and so on.”
On the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations, Valbuena said this “fascist triumvirate” are violently opposed to any resumption of the talks to settle the civil war by addressing the socioeconomic roots of the armed conflict. To them “there no other definition of peace, but the peace of the graveyard.”
Valbuena argues “with the ruling clique busy in a tug of war for power, President Marcos is indifferent and incompetent in resolving the pressing problems of rising prices especially of food and agricultural commodities. Instead, the people continue to suffer brutal suppression.
Having learned their lessons during martial law, the people, however, know that they have no other option but to fight back militantly in order to attain their aspirations for a better life.”
“The broad masses of the people are becoming more determined to fight state terrorism, as they struggle to defend their political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Strikes, mass demonstrations and other forms of collective action are seeking to erupt everywhere. A broad anti-fascist united front is set to rise to fight Marcos de facto martial law rule,” Valbuena ends.