‘Rebel extortion fees used to back bets’

From the Visyan Daily Star (Apr 30): ‘Rebel extortion fees used to back bets’

A senior police official yesterday claimed that a portion of the money extorted by the New People’s Army from candidates, is not only used to buy guns and ammunition, but also to support candidates sympathetic to them.

Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, did not name the candidates who are allegedly sympathetic to the NPA, but said this is based on their intelligence reports.

In every election, the NPA intensifies its extortion activities by imposing Permit To Campaign (PTC) fees on candidates, who may hold campaign sorties in their so-called Red areas, de la Paz said.

By paying PTC, he said, candidates indirectly extend help to the “enemy of the state”.

De la Paz also discouraged candidates from paying PTC, stressing that by doing so, they are helping the NPA beef up their logistical requirements, such as guns and ammunition, that are being used against the government.

Maj. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Army 3rd Infantry Division commander, had said earlier that about 50 percent of the political contenders in his area (Negros and Panay) are paying between P50,000 to P5 million to buy protection from the NPA.

Mabanta warned the candidates that giving money to the rebels is illegal.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines, in a statement, issued yesterday, denounced the Armed Forces of the Philippines for what it called its “perverted propaganda” that its armed wing, the New People’s Army, is extorting money from election candidates. It claimed that “There is no such policy as requiring payments for the privilege to campaign within the areas of jurisdiction of the people’s democratic government.”

The CPP said “The enforcement by the NPA of the policies of the people’s democratic government is not for sale.”

The statement added that “On their own volition, a great majority of candidates participating in the reactionary elections seek audiences with the revolutionary authorities in order to forge possible areas of cooperation and coordinate their activities.”

The CPP has repeatedly made clear its policy that the NPA does not participate directly or indirectly in the reactionary elections, it said.

All candidates who cooperate and coordinate with the revolutionary authorities are accorded equal opportunities to campaign within the jurisdiction of the people’s government, the rebel statement added.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2013/April/30/topstory7.htm