By Benjamin Pulta/PNA
MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is not backing down from moves to seek a court ruling to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorist organizations.
“There are developments,” Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong told reporters Friday.
Ong made the remark after Senator Panfilo Lacson called on the DOJ to follow up with the judiciary the court proscription against the CPP-NPA.
He, however, declined to give the government’s next moves before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 19, where he filed the proscription case on Feb. 21, 2018 pursuant to Section 17 of the Human Security Act.
The petition was filed after President Rodrigo Duterte proclaimed the CPP-NPA as a terrorist group following continued attacks against state forces, despite the government’s efforts to reach out to communist rebels for peace talks.
Once the court grants the petition, the government can wiretap rebel communication system and look into the bank accounts of the organization and its members to freeze their assets.
