Tuesday, August 18, 2015

‘Don’t pay NPA campaign fees for 2016 polls’

From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 18): ‘Don’t pay NPA campaign fees for 2016 polls’

Camp Bancasi, Butuan City – The Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Committee (JPSCC)  of the Armed Forces the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) is now on a tight watch on the “permit to campaign and win” fees that the New People’s Army (NPA) will impose for the 2016 national elections.

“These fees will allegedly be imposed on any candidate who will campaign in the insurgents’  ‘self- declared turfs,”  Supt. Martin M. Gamba, spokesman of Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13) and Capt. Joe Patrick A. Martinez, regional Army spokesman of Northeastern and Northern Mindanao 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division said.

“These are illegal and they (NPA) are not mandated by law to collect fees,” they emphasized.

“Collecting fees from any politician seeking posts in 2016 is a gross violation of the law,” Gamba stressed as he was exclusively interviewed by the Manila Bulletin yesterday.

Gamba and Martinez urged politicians, who would receive solicitation or extortion letters from the rebels, to immediately report the matter to the nearest police station or military camp.

They said police and the military in the Caraga region would release a list of areas that are not categorized as election hotspots.

They reminded those planning to run in the 2016 elections that giving in to the rebels’ demand for fees would constitute “a criminal act”.

Declassified intelligence record showed that during the 2010 and 2013 elections, the NPA collected millions of pesos from candidates and political parties, who campaigned in areas said to be under their control.

Citing intelligence sources,  Gamba and Martinez also disclosed that the NPA has started making a list of prospective candidates in the 2016 elections.

Top officials and commanders of the AFP and PNP are set to have their JPSCC meeting here.

http://www.mb.com.ph/dont-pay-npa-campaign-fees-for-2016-polls/

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