Ariel Badiang
Ariel Badiang, 64, a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Southern Mindanao Region, has been missing since Feb. 6, 2023. Read about it: NDFP consultant still missing after 3 years
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https://www.bulatlat.com/2026/03/25/ariel-badiang/

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Women Are Steadfast Warriors Against US-Imperialism: PRWC

On the occasion of International Women’s Working Women’s Day, we salute the women who make factory machines hum, till the fields, keep the home running in order, and do all the other indispensable but belittled “odd” jobs inside and outside to make the world a livable place for everyone.

We salute the revolutionary working women of the world who fought and still fight for liberation and equality of women and oppressed peoples against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism that engender all forms of patriarchal oppression and exploitation. We remember courageous women like the socialist Clara Zetkin and her colleagues who pushed to put March 8, International Women’s Day on the world’s calendar as a reminder of women’s struggle for equal rights and liberation against capitalism and imperialism.

We salute the Filipina who sacrificed life and limb in the revolutionary armed struggle in the countryside and the revolutionary urban underground to advance liberation against national, class and gender oppression in the national democratic movement, and also in the progressive and democratic protest movements nationwide. The tradition of Lorena Barros, Liza Balando, and Lilliosa Hilao continues on to Myrna Sularte, Concha Araneta, Hannah Cesista, and thousands of named and unnamed women fighters all over the country.

As patriarchal and misogynist imperialist rulers continue to plunge the world into chaos today by distorting economies through trade impositions, imposing starvation through sanctions, invading sovereign countries and bombing rivals in their quest for global hegemony, it is the oppressed peoples, many of them women, who bear the brunt of suffering. In Palestine, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and Syria, US imperialists have killed or violated thousands of women and children and destroyed the lives and livelihood of their families. In neocolonies like the Philippines and other countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, US imperialism continues to intensify plunder and worsen poverty while supporting puppet governments with funds and weapons to wage war against their own people. Against their own women.

It is the scourge of imperialism that grants license to men in power in dominant nations to viciously torture and massacre women and children abroad in the name of greatness or national security while lasciviously brutalizing and sexually exploiting women and children in pedophiles’ special islands in their own country. It is the same system that grants impunity to local bureaucrat-capitalist despots and militaries in neocolonies such as the Philippines to employ brutal sexual assault as state weapons against women whom they perceive as threats to their positions of power while condoning misogynistic descriptions of women as objects of lust in open and official government discourse.

But because women bear the brunt of imposed suffering, women are also among the most active and steadfast in resisting imperialist aggression and domestic repression. The fight to defend their dignity, their rights, the safety and well-being of their families and the security of livelihood necessarily becomes the fight against class exploiters and oppressors.

The Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ sole all-women member-organization, continues to grow all over the Philippines, spearheading the struggle for women’s liberation within the national democratic movement. And because we uphold women’s liberation, as clearly stated in #11 of our 12-point program, the whole united front likewise continues to arouse, organize and mobilize women in all other organizations among the proletariat, the urban poor, youth, peasants, indigenous peoples, cultural activists and professionals. As more women participate in the revolution, they enrich the perspectives of the revolutionary movement with their own lived experiences as women and start the process of their own liberation from patriarchal strictures and stereotypes.

Today’s intensifying conditions of poverty and repression call on the national democratic movement, the women’s mass movement and all progressive forces to also intensify the struggle against US imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. Revolutionary mass organizations must expand and consolidate their ranks, drawing in as many women as possible to their organizations. Women must not only continue to form the bulk of the membership but also develop more leaders of the national democratic movement and more commanders of the New People’s Army. They must increase their presence and actively participate in global anti-imperialist solidarity networks. Together with all oppressed peoples, the women’s movement must develop a solid front against US imperialism, the number one enemy of women in our own country and worldwide.

Long live the Filipino people’s struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism!

Long live the Filipino people’s struggle for women’s liberation!

Oppressed women of the world, unite!

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NPA Units Carry Out Punitive Actions Against 2 AFP Intelligence Assets In Negros Occidental Province

Last night (February 28) at about 8:30 & 9:10 p.m. respectively, special operations units of Roselyn Jean Pelle Command-New People’s Army (RJPC-NPA) implemented the standing order of the people’s court on two armed military intelligence assets in Sitio Biga and Sitio Malasaging both in Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental Province.

Eddie Catipay, a staunch Intel asset in the locality and; Jerry Lapus, responsible for the encounter in Sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City on February 21, 2024—resulting in the death of two Red fighters and one farmer who was tending a nearby rice field. Confiscated firearms are two .45 caliber and .357 pistols with ammunition.

The punitive actions were carried out even amidst almost two months of military operations in the area. This disproves #DiMasaligan79th IB’s braggadocio on the “decisiveness” of “Battle of Pinapugasan” in eliminating the revolutionary armed movement in Northern Negros. It was, in fact, a single defensive engagement in which a superior enemy force failed to wipe out a small guerrilla unit. The said unit was able to maneuver through a fierce firefight and recover strength afterwards.

Justice is served for the martyred revolutionaries Emarie “Ka Janine” Pastidio and Joshua “Ka George” Sultan, farmer Jose Caramihan and all the victims of red tagging, surveillance, threat, coercion and harassment. This is surely a reassurance for the masses who continuously support the movement, and will inspire revolutionaries to continue the struggle through the path of armed resistance.

Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/back-to-back-rjpc-npa-actions-in-escalante-yield-3-firearms/

Marcos Jr. Sells Out PH Patrimony, Feeds the US War Machine in Critical Minerals Deal With Trump

The recently signed Philippines-United States Critical Minerals Pact last February 4 is a clear sell-out of Philippine natural resources to US imperialist interests. This agreement is part of US attempts to secure cheap and strategic raw materials for the US to tighten control over critical minerals supply chains as it intensifies its economic and political confrontation with China.

The term “critical minerals” refer to minerals and metals that are essential to modern industrial production, renewable energy systems and military technologies. These “rare earth” minerals are essential in the manufacturing of batteries, semiconductors, renewable energy infrastructure, as well as weapons systems. They are considered “critical” because of their strategic importance and the high risk of supply disruption due to concentrated global production and processing.

China currently controls over 69% of global rare earth production and nearly 90% of rare earth processing and refining, as well as commanding major shares of lithium, cobalt, graphite, and nickel processing. The US by contrast, is scrambling to catch up. Last February 4, the US convened a critical minerals ministerial summit with its Western allies, explicitly aimed at shoring up investments to create a critical minerals supply chain independent of Chinese influence.

As early as 2023, right after the US signed an agreement to develop battery technology for electric vehicles with Japan on March 2023, the US has been deliberately preparing the ground for the critical minerals agreement with the Philippines. In November 2023, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) financed a $5 million technical assistance program aimed at mapping resources, reforming domestic regulations, and aligning the mining sector with US supply chain requirements.

The US push for a critical minerals deal with the Philippines is not geared toward building lasting national industries in the country. To date, there are no binding commitments to establish full local processing capacity or ensuring technology transfer. Instead, this critical minerals pact with the Marcos Jr. regime is focused on integrating the Philippines’ substantial reserves of copper, nickel, and cobalt into a US-controlled supply chain.

This pattern of resource predation extends beyond the Philippines. In Venezuela, the US escalated military aggression, abducted President Nicolás Maduro, and now exerts control over the country’s oil outputs, boosting Venezuelan oil exports to the US while displacing Chinese offtake. In January 2026, under US control, Venezuelan oil exports climbed to about 800,000 barrels per day, with approximately 284,000 barrels per day going to the US, as Chinese imports fell. This shift serves US imperialist interests, recompenses major US oil companies such as Chevron, and entrenches Trump’s grip on Venezuelan natural wealth at the expense of the country’s sovereignty and the people’s welfare.

Similarly, the attack on a uranium storage facility in Niger on January 29 (carried out by ISIL and targeting a country whose current regime is backed by Russia) has been linked to attempts to seize control of uranium supplies, another critical mineral central to nuclear energy and weapons systems.

The same logic is being applied to the Philippines. As a semicolonial and semifeudal country, the country is viewed by US imperialism as a site for cheap raw material extraction and a dumping ground for surplus commodities.

Ultimately, Marcos Jr.’s sell-out of the country’s patrimony will serve to feed US war industries. Critical minerals extracted cheaply from the Philippines will be funneled into US-controlled supply chains that underpin advanced weapons systems and military electronics, strengthening the US war machine while the Filipino people bear the costs of extraction, environmental degradation, and even the risk of being collateral damage in a war not of their own making. By tying the Filipino people’s mineral wealth to the US military-industrial complex, Marcos Jr not only surrenders economic sovereignty, but also drags the Philippines deeper into preparations for future wars that do not serve the interests of its people.

source: NDFP

No Peace to Be Found Among Warmongers – NDFP

The recent news that US President Donald Trump has invited Marcos Jr. to sit on his so-called “board of peace” is beyond absurd. There is no peace to be found among warmongers and mass murderers. What both Trump and Marcos Jr. represent instead is the peace of the graveyard marked by the silence enforced by bombs, bullets, and a climate of fear and impunity.

Trump’s attempt to posture himself as a “peacemaker” is exposed by his own record of unabashed US warmongering from military aggression and regime-change operations in Syria, Venezuela, and Iran, to his brazen threats against Greenland and even Canada, In the United States, Trump has unleashed brutal attacks against immigrants, and activists, criminalizing dissent and stoking racist violence, further isolating himself alongside a government of loyal sycophants.

Under the Marcos Jr. regime, at least 48,200 people, mostly peasants and indigenous communities, have been forcibly displaced as a result of relentless aerial bombardment and intensified “counterinsurgency” operations across the Philippine countryside. At least 15 individuals have been forcibly disappeared, while more are killed including NDFP peace panel consultants and negotiators. At least 134 civilians have been murdered, including children and women, as the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continues indiscriminate bombings and ground operations that violate international humanitarian law.

Far from pursuing genuine peace, the Marcos Jr. regime has consistently refused to address the roots of armed conflict – chronic landlessness, joblessness, and poverty.  Decades of failed agrarian reform programs have left millions of farmers landless, with 7 out of 10 farmers still unable to own the land they till, and condemned instead to semifeudal and feudal forms of exploitation. Workers’ wages are virtually stagnant. In 2025, incomes rose a measly 7.5%, far below the skyrocketing inflation of basic goods and necessities, effectively eroding real incomes and pushing more families into hunger and debt. Instead of confronting these structural injustices, Marcos Jr. has chosen the familiar path of militarization and fascist repression, branding any form of dissent as “terrorism.”

It is therefore no wonder that more and more Filipinos are joining the armed struggle in the countryside. Much like his father, Marcos Jr. has increasingly groomed himself as the number one recruiter of the New People’s Army.

That Marcos Jr. now finds himself embraced by Trump comes also as no surprise. Marcos Jr. has proven himself a loyal lapdog of US imperialism, faithfully implementing Trumps’ military, economic and geopolitical agenda. Recently, the US itself revealed the formation of a new permanent ground force in the country: the so-called “Army Rotational Force Philippines” further confirming the accelerated militarization being carried out under Marcos Jr.’s watch. This new US troop deployment exists alongside other US units such as Task Force Philippines and the Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia, signaling a state of perpetual US military presence on Philippine soil. This expansion also coincides with the deployment of US Typhon mid-range missile systems last year, the use of US drones, establishment of additional EDCA bases, and plans for over 500 large-scale military exercises involving more than ten thousand foreign troops in 2026 alone.

The farce of Marcos Jr.’s inclusion in Trump’s so-called “board of peace” is a futile PR tactic to launder the crimes of warmakers and US puppets. A harbinger of war, Marcos Jr. recklessly drags the Philippines closer to catastrophic US conflict with China out of his desperation to please Trump and his imperialist patrons.

Marcos Jr. is increasingly isolated. Recent impeachment complaints filed against him reflect the widespread people’s outrage over his regime’s brazen corruption and betrayal of the Filipino masses. The reactionary Philippine Congress may have blocked these actions to impeach Marcos Jr., but they cannot suppress the growing, uncontainable anger of the Filipino people.

Source: https://ndfp.info/no-peace-to-be-found-among-warmongers/

On the War Crime of Disproportionate Use of Force and Bombing That Killed 3 Mangyan-Iraya Children in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro

There is no military, legal or moral justification for the relentless bombardment carried out by the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro last January 1 that killed three Mangyan-Iraya children and terrorized entire Mangyan communities. Reports suggest that the AFP dropped at least 12 bombs and conducted aerial strafing in the area. These bombings and indiscriminate firing against civilians are tantamount to war crimes, and the NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children hold the 203rd IB and Marcos Jr. as their commander-in-chief, directly responsible.

Under International Humanitarian Law, the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution are absolute. The bombing of areas where the Mangyan national minorities live constitutes a blatant and deliberate violation of these principles. The deaths of the three children, two youth, and now the AFP’s continuing refusal to release an unarmed civilian in their custody expose that the AFP’s so-called “counterinsurgency operations” are in essence indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

These attacks are grossly disproportionate, and the AFP knew fully well and yet deliberately ignored that Mangyan-Iraya children and civilian families would be in the areas they were bombing. But they proceeded regardless.

Since the time of war criminal Gen. Jovito Palparan, Mindoro Island has been turned into a permanent killing field, with the 203rd IB at the center of systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. For decades, Indigenous Mangyan communities have been subjected to indiscriminate bombings, enforced evacuations, food blockades, the military occupation of civilian spaces, the harassment, and interrogation of children, and the routine collapse of the distinction between civilian and combatant. Under the current Marcos Jr. regime, Mindoro is effectively under de facto martial law, marked by constant troop deployment, aerial bombardment, checkpoints, surveillance, and restrictions on movement – conditions under which Mangyan communities, and especially children, continue to be treated as expendable in an ongoing counterrevolutionary war against the people.

We demand the immediate cessation of all AFP military operations in Mindoro, including aerial bombings, combat patrols, and so-called “clearing operations” that continue to place Mangyan communities in grave danger. The de facto state of martial law in the island must stop.

We further demand the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, whose continued detention under the custody of the AFP forms part of a broader campaign of repression against those defending the rights of indigenous communities. We warn the Marcos Jr. government and the AFP that the international community is watching closely, and that those responsible will have their day of reckoning.

The NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children will continue to monitor, document and expose these violations of IHL and children’s rights committed in Mindoro, and will pursue all available avenues to hold perpetrators accountable. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the three Mangyan-Iraya children and to all victims of militarization in Mindoro.

Coni Ledesma, NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children

US Imperialism Wages War Against Venezuela Amid Strategic Decline

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) International Office condemns in the strongest terms the United States’ bombing of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its open military aggression against Venezuelan territory, and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. These actions represent a blatant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, international laws, and yet another chapter in the long and bloody history of US imperialist intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.

US imperialism, facing strategic decline and overlapping crises, is waging a war against Venezuela in a desperate attempt to maintain its hegemon status. In its 2025 National Security Strategy, the US government itself admits that it “will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region.” It goes on to say that it seeks to “deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere.”

The real objective of US aggression against Venezuela is not the fictitious “war on narcotics,” nor any concern for democracy or human rights. What US imperialism seeks is control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and strategic resources, control over its political orientation, and control over the direction of LAC as a whole.

A key motivation behind US attempts to control Venezuela and reassert dominance over the LAC region is its sharpening inter-imperialist rivalry with China and the accompanying economic stagnation that has plagued the global imperialist system in the past decades. In this context, the US seeks to prevent China from establishing economic, political, or military footholds in the region, particularly as the former explores military cooperation and expands basing arrangements in other parts of the world. Venezuela’s continuing assertion of national sovereignty, its potential alignment with the US government’s primary imperialist rival, its refusal to submit to US economic and military domination therefore make it a prime target for destabilization and attack.

This aggression is part of a broader offensive across the region under the Trump administration, which has intensified coercion against Latin American and Caribbean countries that deviate from US imperialist interests. Sanctions imposed against Colombia’s president in October 2025, open meddling in the electoral processes of Honduras and Argentina, and renewed threats against Mexico all point to a coordinated effort to control the region.

This same imperialist policy is fully at work in the Philippines. In recent years, the US has deployed advanced missile platforms across the archipelago, including the Typhon mid-range missile system, which is capable of launching Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and SM-6 missiles. These deployments have been accompanied by repeated rotations of HIMARS rocket systems, which can deliver long-range precision strikes. The US has escalated the scale and aggressiveness of the Balikatan war exercises, transforming them into full-spectrum war simulations involving missile launches, amphibious assaults, and integrated command-and-control systems. These exercises and missile deployment programs are explicitly aligned with the US “first island chain” strategy and are designed to position the Philippines as a forward operating base in a potential war against China.

To fully realize this objective, US imperialism seeks to crush the national liberation movement in the Philippines, which stands as a major obstacle to the permanent militarization of the country. This is why the Trump administration continues to provide political backing, military aid, intelligence support, and supervision to the Marcos regime and the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines as it wages a brutal counterrevolutionary war against the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the broad revolutionary mass movement. The suppression of the people’s democratic revolution in the Philippines and the attacks against Venezuela’s anti-imperialist government are meant to create a stable platform for further imperialist wars. Just as Venezuela is bombed and besieged to enforce US dominance in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Philippines is militarized and subjected to counterrevolutionary violence to secure US control in Asia Pacific.

Whether in Venezuela or in the Philippines, US imperialism seeks to maintain its hegemony by tightening its grip over the semicolonies, waging wars against nations assertive of their sovereignty, and crushing all efforts by peoples to chart an independent path free from US imperialism and its hegemonic program.

The Filipino revolutionary movement affirms its full solidarity with the Venezuelan people in their valiant resistance against US imperialism. The NDFP has a long history of friendly relations with the people of and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, forged through shared struggles against foreign intervention and local ruling classes subservient to the US. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Venezuelan masses in the common struggle for sovereignty and against US imperialism.

Stand with Venezuela against US imperialist aggression!
Down with US imperialism!

NPA Units in Negros Suspend All Offensive Operations — Philippines

Starting 12:00 am today, all New People’s Army (NPA) units including its auxilliary militia and section guerilla forces in the five guerilla fronts of Negros halt all its offensive military operations against state security forces in strict compliance to the ceasefire order issued earlier by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). This suspension will take effect until 11:59 pm tomorrow and will resume its effectivity on December 31 to January 1 next year.

All units are instructed to assume active defense posture and refrain from conducting any action that will negate the purpose of CPP’s ceasefire order. However, they should maintain a high level of vigilance against all forms of treacherous attacks and provocative maneuvers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and its paramilitary forces and always ready to give battle to fend off any attacks or intrusion of their positions.

The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command (AGC-NPA) stands in solidarity with Negrosanons in their simple celebrations of the traditional Christmas and New Year holidays amid the backdrop of grave and worsening socio-economic crisis.

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CPP Lambasts AFP-PNP Holiday Spoilers For “No Ceasefire” Declaration

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) lambasted the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) for shutting the door on a holiday ceasefire declaration by their government.

The Party said it clearly showed the AFP and PNP’s blood lust and intention to spoil the traditional holiday celebrations of Filipinos across the country, especially in areas where all-out war against peasant communities and guerrilla forces is being conducted.

“The knee-jerk reaction of the AFP and PNP to the CPP’s unilateral ceasefire declaration shows that Marcos has nothing to offer the people during the traditional holidays but bullets and bombs, as it orders the AFP and the PNP to mount relentless combat operations in the coming days,” says CPP Chief Information Officer Marco L. Valbuena.

He added that the suppression campaign being carried out by the military and police, now packaged as “peace and development” operations, target mainly peasant communities which they suspect of supporting the New People’s Army. Units of the NPA have become invisible to the military as they carry out deep and wide mass work in the countryside.

“The AFP refuses to even grant the people a reprieve from its terrorist activities of aerial bombing, artillery shelling, strafing, killings and arrests, and other human rights violations,” Valbuena said.

In July, Marcos ordered the AFP to go on a nationwide full-scale war in the countryside against peasant communities and guerilla fronts of the NPA, even after he declared that there are “no more guerrilla groups” in the Philippines.

The CPP Central Committee earlier today ordered the NPA to implement a four-day ceasefire during the traditional holidays. The unilateral ceasefire declaration will take effect from 00:00 of December 25 to 23:59 of December 26 and again on 00:00 of December 31 until 23:59 if January 1, 2026.

The Party said that the ceasefire declaration was issued in solidarity with people as they hold simple celebrations of their traditional holidays “amid grave social and economic conditions.” It also called on its membership and revolutionary masses to mark the 57th anniversary of the CPP on December 26.

“On the above specified days, all units of the NPA are directed to go into active defense mode especially in the face of relentless military operations of the AFP against peasant communities and guerrilla fronts across the country,” the CPP Central Committee said.

The CPP leadership said the NPA must be ready to strike when necessary to defend themselves and the people against attacking forces of the AFP and PNP.

While Valbuena noted that the CPP did not expect any positive or negative response from Marcos, he said that the very immediate reaction of the AFP and PNP bares its fascist and anti-people agenda.

Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/cpp-lambasts-afp-pnp-holiday-spoilers-for-no-ceasefire-declaration/

Resistance in Philippines Declares Four Day Ceasefire

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines hereby orders the New People’s Army (NPA) to go on a 4-day ceasefire that will take effect during the following days:

00:00 hours of December 25, 2025 to
23:59 hours of December 26,2025

and

00:00 hours of December 31, 2025 to
23:59 hours of January 1, 2026

On the above specified days, all units of the NPA are directed to go into active defense mode especially in the face of relentless military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against peasants communities and guerrilla fronts across the country.

During the said days, all Red commanders and Red fighters must remain on high alert against treacherous ground and aerial attacks of the AFP. They must work closely with the masses, and must be ever ready to maneuver or counter-attack, when necessitated by the situation.

This temporary ceasefire order is being issued in solidarity with the Filipino people as they conduct simple celebrations of their traditional holidays, amid grave social and economic conditions. This is also to mark the 57th anniversary of the Party and celebrate the ideological, political and organizational gains and revolutionary achievements during the past year of the Party’s rectification movement.

During these days, units of the NPA and local peasant organizations are enjoined to conduct cultural and education activities, to deepen their understanding of the crisis of the rotten ruling system under the corrupt and fascist Marcos regime, and heighten their resolve to defend their rights, and fight for their aspirations for land, justice and freedom.

Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/declaration-of-4-day-ceasefire/