THE military on Monday urged candidates in the May elections to reject the so-called permit to campaign (PTC) fees being imposed by the New People’s Army (NPA) so that they can enter and campaign in areas where the rebels claim political influence among voters.
Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., spokesman for the Armed Forces, said the military has been monitoring some areas in Northern Luzon where rebel groups were distributing PTCs to local candidates.
“The Northern Luzon Command [Nolcom] has been monitoring NPA groups in some areas. The rebels sre distributing their so-called PTCs to candidates who have presumably paid,” Burgos said in an interview.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, Nolcom chief, confirmed this and said they have intensified intelligence operations to thwart the NPA’s plan to extort money from politicians.
Alcantara declined to identify the areas where rebels were distributing PTCs in order not to derail ongoing intelligence operations.
The rebels’ asking PTC prize varies from position a certain candidate is aspiring for, from hundreds of thousands of pesos to millions, if a candidate is vying for national elective position such as senator or party-list congressman.
“Kung sakaling makatanggap sila [candidates] ng demand o extortion letter mula sa NPA, huwag silang magbigay. Ang pinakamaiging gawin ay lumapit kaagad sa mga pulis at ating mga sundalo na nasa lugar kung nasaan man sila,” Burgos said.
Meanwhile, Burgos said the military is “all systems go” for the May elections.
“All systems go na tayo. Ang mechanism namin with the police is gumagana na. Iyong Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council at saka ’yung mga security counter-measures are already in place. We have directed our commanders to intensify ang mga proactive security patrols,” he said.
He said the military is helping the National Police (PNP) to trace, identify and conduct arrest of suspected members of private armed groups (PAGs) used by politicians.
“As usual, we provide operational support to the police such as checkpoints and operations to arrest suspected criminal elements in line with the gun ban policy of the Commission on Elections,” he said.
“As of this time, we have not monitored any significant threat, but we are always ready to respond if there is any. The chief of staff, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, has directed military commanders to intensify proactive security patrols in coordination with the National Police in random checkpoints and enforcement of the gun ban to make sure that there is no proliferation of arms and explosives,” he added.
The military and the police have been conducting periodic security assessment since the Comelec started the implementation of the gun ban on January 13.
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