Communist rebels in the Cordillera region urged communities in Abra province to report persons posing as members of the New People’s Army to extort money so they can be arrested and punished.
The Antonio Licawen Operational Front, the NPA unit operating the quad-boundary of Benguet, Abra, Mountain Province and Ilocos Sur said in an open letter that it had first received reports of the extortionists’ activities in the last quarter of 2016 and continued to get information since the beginning of this year.
“Dadakkel a kantidad ti kikkikilen dagitoy kadagiti mabiktima da. Agpangpangta da pay a no saan nga agbayad dagiti mabiktima da ket patayen da isuda (They are extorting large sums of money from their victims. They even threaten to kill their victims if they will not pay),” the rebel command said.
ALFOC spokeman Salaknib Monteverde said the extortionists’ targets received identical letters saying: “Mangited kayo iti kastoy a kantidad ti kuarta gaputa kasapulan mi ti agas para iti kadua mi nga nasugatan iti labanan. I-envelop yo ken bungonen yo iti newspaper santo ikabil iti sirok ti rangtay weno basuraan iti kastoy nga oras (You must give this amount of money because we need it for the medicines of our comrade who was wounded in an encounter. Put it in an envelope and wrap it with newspaper then place it under the bridge or if not in the trash bin within the hour).”
He said among the latest victims of the scam were Tubo Vice Mayor Johnny Gattud and Budget Officer Antonio Alfonso.
The rebel spokesman said they are working to identify the perpetrators even as he added they suspect military, police or militia personnel.
Explaining why, he said: “Suspetsado a dagus ti namuspusan da a nagkolekta kadagiti nakikil da. Idi i-deliver ti emisaryo ni Gattud ti umuna a bayad ba, waiting shed nga asideg iti detachment ti nangpasardengan da iti lugan ti emisaryo ken nagibilinan da nga pangibatianna ti kuarta, Sintido komon ti mangiladawan a ti saan a mabuteng iti disso nga asideg ti detachment a pangibatiyan iti kuarta ket adda mismo iti detachment (Their manner of collecting the extortion money very obvious. When the emissary of Gattud delivered his advance payment, the extortionists advised him to alight from his vehicle near a detachment and leave the money there, common sense will show that a person who is not afraid to order that extorted money be left near a detachment is himself inside the detachment).”
In the case of Adolofo, he said, it was hard to believe any rebel would expose himself and collect money from the town treasurer in Barangay Dilong, which has a heavy presence of soldiers and militiamen.
Monteverde acknowledged that the rebels do collect revolutionary taxes from foreign and local businesses and landlords operating within guerrilla zones and “using the resources of the Filipino people,” as well as access and permit to campaign fees from candidates during elections, as part of exercising their political power.
He said they send formal letters bearing the logo of the concerned NPA command to those being taxed and conduct negotiations diplomatically, never through threats.
Monteverde urged victims of the extortionists to “bring the matter to a unit of ALFOC so that we can discuss the matter and come to a solution on how we can identify and catch these people who are posing as NPAs. Then we can give these criminals appropriate disciplinary action.”
http://interaksyon.com/article/138187/cordillera-npa-urge-public-to-report-extortionists-posing-as-rebels
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