W.Minh Tuan

In 1989, a group of farmers from Thanh Hoa came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper and presented the incident in Tho Ngoc commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. At this time, Thanh Hoa province has just finished solving the case of Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Ha Trong Hoa, and the person assigned to replace him is Mr. Le Huy Ngo, former Secretary of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee.

Comrade Le Huy Ngo was from Thanh Hoa, so he was sent by the Central Committee to be the Secretary of Thanh Hoa province instead of Ha Trong Hoa who had just been disciplined. Weekly Newspapers such as Lao Dong, Tien Phong, and some other newspapers have had great merit in uncovering the negative case of Mr. Ha Trong Hoa. At that time, Dai Doan Ket newspaper was working on the Dong Tien-Hai Hung case, so we could not participate in the Thanh Hoa case.

Now that the Dong Tien case has been completed, Dai Doan Ket newspaper has become a spearhead newspaper for the Tho Ngoc case, Thanh Hoa.

The incident in Tho Ngoc commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, according to complaints and denunciations of Tho Ngoc people, is summarized as follows:

-Tho Ngoc farmers struggle against abusive revenue, against corruption cases of leaders of Tho Ngoc commune. However, the leaders of Thanh Hoa province and Tho Xuan district covered up the wrong leaders in Tho Ngoc commune, sent the police to deal with the suppression of the people, and there was a scuffle between the people and the police, and Procuracy.

As a result of the scuffle, two farmers were shot and wounded. The farmers took as “prisoners” of 3 policemen, and 2 officials of the District Procuracy, including the Chief Procurator of Tho Xuan District Procuracy.

When the farmer group in Tho Ngoc commune came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to report the incident, the scuffle was over. The farmers were holding 5 “prisoners”, and fighting in the village, “no inside, no outside”.

Two farmers who were shot and wounded were taken to Viet Duc Hospital, Hanoi to have their bullets removed. Many farmers followed to Hanoi to guard in the Viet Duc hospital.

Tho Xuan district, and Thanh Hoa province are preparing to deal with and try to free 5 “prisoners”.

After receiving the farmers’ delegation in Tho Ngoc commune, we contacted the other newspapers, and the other newspapers suggested that we organize a delegation of journalists to go to Thanh Hoa to find out the true.

Our Dai Doan Ket Editor-in-Chief Ngoc Thach agrees.

Me-Minh Tuan, reporter, and journalist Le Van Ba, member of the editorial board were sent to Thanh Hoa.

Dai Doan Ket newspaper’s old-fashioned limousine was used to transport journalists. Reporter of Nong Dan Vietnam newspaper (now renamed Nong Thon Moi newspaper) Trinh Thach, my close friend, (currently residing in Canada), accompanied our delegation.

The compact car can carry 5 people, now it has to carry up to 7 journalists from the People’s Army newspapers – Mr. Pham Van Huan (now Major General, Editor-in-Chief of Quan Quan newspaper), and a reporter from Voice of Viet Nam, and other reporters.

Trinh Thach and I, two young reporters, had to sit in the back of the car, where the tires and spare parts were stored. But very happy.

Mr. Pham Van Huan of Quan Quan newspaper, as young as I was, was responsible for telling jokes to journalists to relieve our tirelessness during a few hours of driving from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa.

It must be said that the journalist Pham Van Huan of the Military newspaper has a talent for telling funny stories, going for a few hours, Mr. Huan still has not told all his funny stories, making all the cars laugh, forgetting all the fatigue.

When I have time, I will tell you some funny stories of Mr. Huan. But perhaps it would be better for Major General – Editor-in-Chief of Military newspaper Pham Van Huan to tell the jokes himself.

Back to the Tho Ngoc case, fortunately on the way, there was no traffic police to stop and question this old overloaded car. Arriving in Thanh Hoa province, we were received by Party Secretary Le Huy Ngo.

Mr. Ngo is very sincere and friendly. He briefly presented his opinion. The police are proposing to send a special police team to free 5 people taken as “prisoners”, with the support of special police from the Ministry of Home Affairs (now the Ministry of Public Security).

Mr. Ngo opposes this plan. If so, it is possible that 5 “prisoners” will be killed by the farmers, and there will be great bloodshed, both on the peasant’s side and on the police side.

The army refused to participate in the attack on the village, citing “this is the people, not the enemy”.

Currently, people in Tho Ngoc are fenced in the village, controlling all entrances and exits of the commune, the government cannot enter the village, so the Thanh Hoa provincial government does not know what the situation is in Tho Ngoc commune, what the fate of the 5 “prisoners” like .

Journalist Le Van Ba, on behalf of the journalists in the delegation, suggested that journalists should go to Tho Ngoc first, listen to the people’s wishes, see what the people suggest, then there will be a solution.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Huy Ngo agreed.

The whole delegation of journalists was allowed to rest at the Provincial Party Committee’s guest house, and the next day, our com-mangca car set off to Tho Ngoc.

Thanh Hoa province provided one more car to transport journalists, to reduce congestion, and accompanied by two officials from Thanh Hoa province.

From afar, we see a large, silent village surrounded by green bamboo bushes, located in the middle of a ripe yellow rice field, as beautiful as in a picture.

There was only a single path through the fields leading to the village. It is Tho Ngoc commune. The village gate has a bamboo barie. Young men stand guard. We showed our press pass, and we were allowed to go in. The two officials from Thanh Hoa province who followed us did not have press cards, so they were not allowed to enter the village. They anxiously sat outside, behind the barie, waiting for us to come out.

This is a very beautiful village, inside the village are wide roads, spacious houses, seems to be a rich village. The commune government appointed by the State was paralyzed. The people themselves elect a temporary leadership board to manage the affairs of the commune. Most of the interim leadership are military veterans who have experienced many battles in the Vietnam War against the US, the war against Polpot in Cambodia, the Northern border war against expansion. Some people are commandos.

Now these veterans use their old combat knowledge to train young people in the commune to prepare for an attack. The rudimentary weapons of guerrilla warfare were used, knives, spears, sticks, poles, bamboo poles,,,..In addition, there was one more final plan, if attacked by pressure. On the village, the people will spread straw throughout the village, pour gasoline, burn the village, fight to the death, as in the old days against the French, but definitely not surrender.

I guess if the police attack the village, the loser will go to the police.

When we entered the village, we met Mr. Xuan Ba, a famous reporter of Tien Phong newspaper, from Thanh Hoa, who had entered Tho Ngoc himself before.

He is the “earth magistrate” here.

The temporary commanding officers of the people received us in a large house. Outside in the yard, farmers gathered very crowded, but very orderly.

Journalists and people are friends.

Me and Trinh Thach – Nong Dan newspaper, and a reporter from Voice of Vietnam were assigned to talk to farmers in the yard, while other journalists talked to the temporary leadership of the commune in the big house.

Children curiously look at my and Trinh Thach’s 2 cameras.

The will of the people is very simple. They asked the province to strictly handle corrupt commune officials, asking to reduce unreasonable contributions,,,.

I find all of these suggestions to be legitimate.

Then we were led to visit 5 “prisoners”. These 5 people were kept in different locations, each of them was detained in one place, and were now led to another place to meet the journalist. They are well fed, but their spirits seem to be depressed and brainless. They stood in a horizontal line, with their heads bowed down for us to take pictures, asked for their names, not looking full of the morale of the police and prosecutors anymore at all.

We took pictures of them, recorded their names and addresses.

Outside in the yard, farmers display weapons and police vehicles during the attack on the village. These are batons, guns, speaker batteries, police hats, handcuffs number 8,,,.The police left these things when they ran away.

Our delegation of journalists left Tho Ngoc and returned to Thanh Hoa town during the day. Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Huy Ngo received us again. He listened attentively to our opinions, and finally accepted the conditions proposed by the people of Tho Ngoc.

Thanh Hoa province carried out all the preparatory work.

Early the next morning, our delegation of journalists returned to Tho Ngoc, accompanied by representatives of Thanh Hoa province, led by a provincial vice chairman.

This time, all groups were allowed to enter the village.

The Vice Chairman of the province and representatives of the farmers drafted a document to record the opinions and suggestions of the people, as a condition for the people to release 5 “prisoners”.

It was dark, nearly midnight, all procedures for the return of “prisoners” were completed.

I sat in the first car, the old-fashioned com-mange of Dai Doan Ket newspaper. A prisoner-of-police sat next to me. I held up the camera so people knew I was a journalist. The car crept slowly through the crowded line of people standing on both sides of the village road. The policeman sitting next to me whispered to me that yesterday, when we visited them, when we left, he just wanted to be with us. Because he thought that if Thanh Hoa province chose to attack the village to free them, they would probably be killed, and that our visit might be our last.

Near midnight, we returned to Thanh Hoa town. Provincial Party Secretary Le Huy Ngo, Provincial Chairman, Provincial Police Director, and other leading officials of Thanh Hoa Province are still waiting for us, have not eaten.

We were hungry, and they were hungry too. We are very happy to have helped Thanh Hoa province solve a difficult problem, freed 5 “prisoners”, and helped the people of Tho Ngoc realize their wishes.

Most of us were drunk that day, especially Xuan Ba, a reporter for Tien Phong newspaper.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Huy Ngo thanked us on behalf of Thanh Hoa province, and promised to direct and seriously conclude the negative cases in Tho Ngoc that people have denounced.

Now, I want to talk a little bit about Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Huy Ngo.

When comrade Le Huy Ngo was still Secretary of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee, I went to Phu Tho to interview him several times. He was a very simple man, virtuous, incorruptible, loved by the people. When he returned to Thanh Hoa, I met him again in the Tho Ngoc case. The solution to the Tho Ngoc case shows that Mr. Le Huy Ngo chose a safe solution, beneficial to the people, and beneficial to the Party and State.

Then Mr. Le Huy Ngo was assigned to the Central Committee, as deputy head of the Central Organization Department. He was later appointed Minister of Agriculture.

Minister of Agriculture Le Huy Ngo’s boldest image is that when there were storms and floods, he went everywhere to help his people overcome the consequences of storms and floods.

Minister Le Huy Ngo is different from the image of some other leaders when visiting flood victims, smiling happily to pose for the journalist’s camera lens.

Then came the bird flu outbreak, Minister Le Huy Ngo worked with farmers to deal with all the consequences of the epidemic. There is no agriculture minister as devoted to farmers as Mr. Le Huy Ngo.

Then the La Thi Kim Oanh case happened, two deputy ministers of the Ministry of Agriculture were implicated.

And at the beginning of May 2004, at the 5th session of the National Assembly, the 12th National Assembly, Minister Le Huy Ngo bravely submitted his resignation as Minister to accept responsibility in the case of La Thi Kim Oanh.

It can be said that Comrade Le Huy Ngo is the first minister in Vietnam who dares to resign to accept responsibility for himself for the mistakes of his subordinates.

Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Minister of Agriculture Le Huy Ngo is a respectable person, worthy of many Vietnamese leaders to learn from.///