AFP psywar resorting to spinning outright lies against NPA--CPP*
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
September 2, 2010
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced the psywar machinery of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for feeding the media with lies against the New People's Army (NPA) the past several days.
The CPP cited three lies that the AFP's psywar production groups have successively churned out in the past several days:
LIE: That the ambushed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were executed one by one by the Red fighters in the tactical offensive launched by the NPA in Barangay Imelda, Catarman, Northern Samar last August 21. TRUTH: The PNP personnel were fully armed combatants deployed to engage the NPA in combat, refused to surrender after being pinned down by the Red fighters and were annihilated in an ensuing close quarter battle.
LIE: That, the NPA scattered pressure-triggered land mines all over the same barangay in Catarman, causing undue fear and panic among the residents, some of whom fled the area. TRUTH: The NPA does not use pressure-triggered land mines that are dangerous even to innocent civilians. Against specific enemy military targets and limited to specific areas of battle, the NPA uses only command-detonated land mines allowed under the Geneva protocols on international rules of warfare. It used command-detonated landmines and only in the particular ambush area to battle the attacking PNP forces.
LIE: That the NPA was responsible for the ambush and killing of five civilians in Sitio Landing, Barangay Bolod, San Pascual, Masbate last August 28. TRUTH: The NPA had nothing to do with the incident. From its initial investigations, the Masbate NPA's Jose Rapsing Command found out that the dastardly act was carried out by rival politicos.
"The psywar tactics of the AFP are obviously meant to downplay the resounding victories of the NPA in its recent tactical offensives," said the CPP. "The AFP wants to portray the NPA as a criminal gang in order to obscure its revolutionary cause, respect for human rights and strict adherence to international rules of warfare."
The CPP urged the mass media to be more critical of the statements being issued by the AFP. "Especially in the face of the AFP's outright distortions of the truth, the mass media will do a great service to the people if they carry out independent verification of statements issued by the mouthpieces of the AFP."
* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2010/09/afp-psywar-resorting-to-spinning.html
Communist Party of the Philippines
September 2, 2010
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced the psywar machinery of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for feeding the media with lies against the New People's Army (NPA) the past several days.
The CPP cited three lies that the AFP's psywar production groups have successively churned out in the past several days:
LIE: That the ambushed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were executed one by one by the Red fighters in the tactical offensive launched by the NPA in Barangay Imelda, Catarman, Northern Samar last August 21. TRUTH: The PNP personnel were fully armed combatants deployed to engage the NPA in combat, refused to surrender after being pinned down by the Red fighters and were annihilated in an ensuing close quarter battle.
LIE: That, the NPA scattered pressure-triggered land mines all over the same barangay in Catarman, causing undue fear and panic among the residents, some of whom fled the area. TRUTH: The NPA does not use pressure-triggered land mines that are dangerous even to innocent civilians. Against specific enemy military targets and limited to specific areas of battle, the NPA uses only command-detonated land mines allowed under the Geneva protocols on international rules of warfare. It used command-detonated landmines and only in the particular ambush area to battle the attacking PNP forces.
LIE: That the NPA was responsible for the ambush and killing of five civilians in Sitio Landing, Barangay Bolod, San Pascual, Masbate last August 28. TRUTH: The NPA had nothing to do with the incident. From its initial investigations, the Masbate NPA's Jose Rapsing Command found out that the dastardly act was carried out by rival politicos.
"The psywar tactics of the AFP are obviously meant to downplay the resounding victories of the NPA in its recent tactical offensives," said the CPP. "The AFP wants to portray the NPA as a criminal gang in order to obscure its revolutionary cause, respect for human rights and strict adherence to international rules of warfare."
The CPP urged the mass media to be more critical of the statements being issued by the AFP. "Especially in the face of the AFP's outright distortions of the truth, the mass media will do a great service to the people if they carry out independent verification of statements issued by the mouthpieces of the AFP."
* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2010/09/afp-psywar-resorting-to-spinning.html
