RP rebels vow to step up attacks

RP rebels vow to step up attacks

PHILIPPINES: Communist rebels on Sunday vowed to step up attacks and the revolutionary struggle in the Philippines as they marked the 36th anniversary of the founding of the underground movement.

In a statement, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it would take advantage of the "worsening crisis of the world capitalist system and the domestic ruling system" to take its fight "to a new and higher level."

"We must take all opportunities to break the enemy's will to fight both through the process of annihilation in battles and through the process of disintegration by doing painstaking political work within the enemy's ranks," it said.

The CPP ordered its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), to intensify offensives against the government, but stressed that it must only carry out operations that are "sure of winning."

"It must attack the most vulnerable enemy units, installations and lines of supply," the party said. "It must arrest, try and bring to justice the most hated oppressors and exploiters."

The CPP said its fighters "run into thousands" and "operate in 128 guerrilla fronts and in substantial portions of nearly 70 of 74 provinces, more than 800 of 1,500 municipalities and more than 10,000 of the 45,000 villages nationwide." --DPA