City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte expressed his disgust over the revolutionary taxation system being imposed by the New People’s Army (NPA) on Dabawenyos especially those in the boondocks.
“I understand that collecting taxes from the citizens is your way of supporting a revolutionary cause,” Duterte said even as he admitted that he was one of those who received the NPA’s solicitation form last Christmas. The form indicated that he was being assessed for a certain amount by the revolutionary movement.
Duterte chided the NPA and said he has no qualms paying the revolutionary taxes for as long as they will give him a receipt and the collector should collect it directly from his house since he also wants to collect something from them.
Despite his obvious dismay over the NPAs taxation scheme, Duterte said he wants the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) to get on with the peace talks.
“Whether we like it or not Jalandoni, Sison and the Tiamzons will always be important personas in the NDF and we have to talk to them,” he said.
Wilma Tiamzon, Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and her husband, Benito who is chairman of the CPP-NPA, were arrested by the authorities in
“You can kill a person but you cannot kill an ideology,” Duterte said.
“What is the use of arresting the Tiamzon’s and putting them behind bars when the war in the boondocks continues,” he added.
Former Government Peace Panel Chairman Silvestre H. Bello III himself confirmed that Wilma Tiamzon is covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and should be released based on International Humanitarian Law.
Businessmen headed by Mindanao Business Council (MBC) Chairperson Vicente T. Lao have already called the attention of the authorities regarding the tax collection and extortion activities of the NPA.
He said the continued extortion activities of the NPAs has endangered business investments in the city and unless the military can solve this, then businesses can opt to pull their investments and put these somewhere else.
Vicente Lao Construction had four burnings in three months last year and some of these involved the burning of construction materials in broad daylight.
Lao earlier said the NPA’s active extortion activities in the area are meant to destabilize the government.
He said peace and security comes at a price and the business sector is paying the price now.
“We need money to finance our operations, he said, but if the NPA activities continue then how can they operate efficiently?” he asked.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=632679
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