‘Copals’ denounced by former comrades

From the Manila Standard Today (Oct 26): ‘Copals’ denounced by former comrades

A group of rebel returnees who in 1999 organized the People’s Advocacy for Collaboration and Empowerment Inc., and two other pro-democracy groups on Thursday asked the Commission on Elections to disqualify party-lists which they branded as “copals,” or communist party-lists, from participating in the 2013 elections. Agnes Lopez, a rebel returnee who claimed to be a former high-ranking political cadre in the Bicol Regional Party Committee (Region V) of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said the Elections Commission should disqualify left-leaning partylists because these “copals” enjoy a “special relationship” with the CPP. “If the Comelec can disqualify fake and bogus partylists then it should likewise disqualify communist partylists. While organizations which espouse violence are prohibited by the Party List System Act from joining the partylist elections these COPAL groups continue to enjoy a close relationship with the New People’s Army and the Communist Party of the Philippines in clear violation of the law,” said Lopez, the national president of PEACE, which counts more than 2,000 rebel returnee-members nationwide.... Lopez’s group has linked up with other so-called democracy groups, including the New Guardians for Freedom and Democracy and the Pro Democracy Foundation of the Philippines, which asked the Comelec to disqualify Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Kabataan, and Katribu Indigenous Peoples Sectoral Party party-list groups which they said “were creations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, as part of their struggles, to infiltrate, manipulate, and exploit the country’s free and democratic institutions to support their violent and inhuman ‘National Democratic Revolution.’ Lopez, formerly known as “Ka Tina,” added that the Bayan Muna consortium wielded undue advantage during the elections because of their affiliation with the New People’s Army, the Communist Party’s armed wing. She added that such groups can easily intimidate other partylist groups in NPA-infested areas....

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/10/26/copals-denounced-by-former-comrades/