Mining has caused real harm in many Philippine communities. Forests have been damaged, ancestral domains contested, rivers polluted and promised benefits unevenly distributed. These are not invented grievances, and no serious discussion of Executive Order No. 122 should dismiss them. But the CPP’s September 7 article, “EO 122: To benefit the US,” turns Executive Order No. 122 into a simple story where foreign capital arrives, the Philippines is robbed and the environment i

Cumpio, Domequil and Abinguna may have performed real public work. That does not rule out the fact that they also served the CPP's underground structure.

Sa huli, ang totoong motibo ng NPA ay hindi ang pagprotekta sa kalikasan kundi ang pagkolekta ng “revolutionary tax.” Kapag tumangging magbayad ang isang kumpanya, doon sila nagiging target — hindi dahil sa kanilang pinsala sa kapaligiran, kundi dahil sa kanilang pagtanggi na sustentuhan ang armadong kilusan. Ito ang mapait na katotohanang kailangang malaman ng publiko upang hindi na sila malinlang ng magandang pakinggan pero huwad na propaganda. Ang tunay na pagtatanggol sa

To them, the ruling does not mean that former rebel witnesses were lying. It does not mean that the support networks they described never existed.