By Priam Nepomuceno/PNA
MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will continue gathering information on alleged ‘front groups’ of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
“The AFP will continue gathering information to unearth hidden or embedded organizations in the identified fronts as mentioned in the documents submitted to EU (European Union). The AFP will continue supporting this endeavor to cut off the foreign funds that is being squandered by the recipient front organizations by funneling it to fund the armed groups and other effort(s) to subvert the Philippine government,” AFP public affairs office chief, Col. Noel Detoyato, said in a message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Friday.
The military official made the remark when asked about the AFP’s next move after it submitted to the EU Embassy and Belgian Embassy in Manila initial documents and pieces of evidences that will show the connection between these progressive groups and the revolutionary movement.
“This illegal funding of (the) terrorist organization has to stop. In this regard, we are calling on all Filipinos who have information that will lead to the destruction of this setup so that once and for all, peace will reign in the countryside,” the AFP official said.
In a letter from National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon to the EU, the task force claimed that at least 60 percent of the funding often received by these alleged legal fronts are diverted to the CPP-NPA through a “triple or multiple funding scheme.”
The scheme is believed to be implemented by simultaneously submitting a single proposal to different countries.
“Countries or funding agencies who have given their seal of approval are unaware that they are funding a particular project, which had already been funded by other countries or funding agencies,” the letter reads.
The single project then receives double funding, making it easy to liquidate the use of the solicited money when audited.
AFP deputy chief-of-staff for civil military operations, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., earlier said international partners have continuously supported legitimate groups found to be linked to the communist rebels from early 2000 up to the present.
In its most recent grant, the EU already released a total of 621,000 euros or the first tranche for one Filipino NGO linked to the CPP-NPA, he added.
“The second tranche and third tranche, that’s amounting to 1.3 million Euros, parating pa (are on their way). Some were advanced, but they are going to conduct (an) audit and freeze once they review these (documents),” he said.
On the part of the Belgian NGOs, Parlade said about 15 million Euros had been allocated for a period of five years.
“We don’t know yet if there had been an advance there but I think it was Belgium who froze the funding first when they were given notice by a Philippine delegation in Europe,” he added.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.
