By Priam Nepomuceno/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The military strongly supports efforts of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) to expose the links of some party-list groups to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
“AFP, being part of NTF ELCAC, will continue to support the TF (Task Force) bid to synthesize among its other advocacies to expose the link of some partly list groups to the CPP-NPA,” said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson, Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, in a media briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Tuesday.
The CPP-NPA is listed as terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
“The AFP supports the NTF’s challenge to the so-called “Kamatayan” (Makabayan) Bloc the NUPL (National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers), and it’s allied organizations for them to condemn terrorist CPP-NPA’s murder of many innocent civilians including children and minors; premeditated killing of former comrades who surrendered to government; of arson, extorting activity atrocities and many human rights violations of the terrorist group,” Arevalo said.
Earlier, Major Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., AFP Deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations who is head of the NTF ELCAC, said the country needs more people like Angela O. Aguilar who will surface to expose the truth about the so-called progressive groups with links to the CPP-NPA terrorist movement.
The military official made this comment last April 28 after learning of Aguilar’s petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) calling for the cancellation of the registration of a number of party-list groups linked to the CPP-NPA.
“We need more Aguilars to tell their story. We need more former rebels like Father Balweg, whom the NPAs silenced, to expose the true colors of these Kamatayan Bloc and the politicians who are supporting them. We need more to speak about these crook politicians kowtowing with the Kamatayan (Makabayan) bloc and its armed NPAs that perpetuate their selfish agenda rather than national interest,” Parlade said.
Named in the petition, docketed as SPP 19-006 before the Comelec on April 26, were the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan), Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Kabataan, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action (Gabriela), with senatorial aspirant Neri Colmenares as the lone individual respondent.
In her petition, Aguilar cited the Comelec’s motu propio powers under the Republic Act 7941 or Party-List System Act’s Section 6, Paragraphs 2 and 5 as reference.
The Party-list System Act, which was passed in 1995, allows the Comelec to cancel the registration of any group, which among others, “advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal” and “violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections.”
Parlade said Aguilar’s petition is very timely and should serve as a wake-up call for Filipinos long tired of the insurgency being foisted upon them by the communist rebels.
As this developed, AFP public affairs office chief, Col. Noel Detoyato said electioneering and negative propaganda accusations made by the progressive groups against the military is an example of the “beauty of democracy”.
“That is the beauty of democracy, they were able to express themselves and the Filipinos deserve the right information so that they will be empowered to vote for the right groups, that is why our counter-insurgency operations is continuing and we have to inform the people who these groups are and what they are espousing and the groups that they are supporting so that they will also have an informed decision comes election time,” he added.
Also, democracy is demonstrated as nobody has stopped these party-list groups from filling a complaint at the Commission on Elections (Comelec). “That is again the beauty of democracy, nobody stopped them from filing their complaint in the Comelec, let the Comelec decide,” Detoyato said.
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