MANILA — A group of ex-rebels welcomed the move of European leaders to look into the information presented by the Philippine government on the reported funding of Belgium and other EU-member countries for activities organized by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“Ka Apo,” leader of the Kilusan at Alyansa ng mga Dating Rebelde or KADRE, made this statement after a Philippine delegation showed European leaders reports that communist front organizations receive funds from the Belgian government and some European countries in the guise of marginalized and pro-poor programs.
The engagements between the Philippine delegation and officials of the European Union (EU), European Parliament, and European Commission (EC) took place earlier this month.
KADRE is a group composed of more than 300 former members of the CPP-NPA (CPP-New People’s Army) nationwide.
Ka Apo backed the Philippine delegation’s report stressing that it was common for CPP-NPA-NDF to use advocacies such as human rights, climate change, education reform among others since progressive nations would provide them with financial aid.
NDF is NPA’s political arm.
“Pinapahayag namin ang pagsuporta sa inisyatibang ilantad ang gawain ng CPP-NPA-NDF para magpasok ng pondo para sa digmaan bayan (We are expressing support for the initiative to expose the CPP-NPA-NDF to acquire money for the people’s war),” Ka Apo said in a statement.
“Eksperto ang international unit ng Partido na gumamit ng campaign advocacy groups particular sa larangan ng human rights, climate change advocacy, environmental issues, educational reform agendas dahil dito galante at nakatutok ang mga mauunlad na bansa sa aspeto ng pagtulong sa mga developing countries (The international unit of the party are experts when it comes to using campaign advocacy groups particularly in the field of human rights, climate change, environmental issues, educational reform because progressive nations are generous to developing countries),” he added.
Ka Apo further claimed that aside from EU-member states, Filipino-American communities were also funding the CPP.
“Hindi lang na Europa ang kanilang ginagatasan, nandyan din ang pang- gagatas nila sa mga ‘Fil-Am Communities’ sa Estados Unidos atCanada. Ang lagi na lang sinasabi yung pondo ay gagamitin sa ‘Campaign Info Drive on Climate Change Resiliency (It’s not only Europe spending for them, there is also the Fil-Am communities in the US and Canada. They keep saying that the funds will be used for a ‘Campaign Info Drive on Climate Change Resiliency),” he added.
Earlier, documents obtained by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) bared that the Belgian government has released its first tranche of more than 621,000 Euros (PHP36,663,840) out of the 15-million Euro (PHP885,600,000) grant to some non-government organizations for the 2017-2021 program. This year, some 1.3 million Euros (PHP76,752,000) are expected to be released.
Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations, confirmed that the communist terrorist groups hide behind legitimate organizations.
Parlade also pointed out that the information about the EU and Belgian government funding organizations affiliated with the CPP-NPA came from EU and the Belgian government themselves.
