Members of an anti-communist group on Thursday staged a rally at the House of Representatives in Quezon City to denounce members of the Makabayan bloc in Congress for allegedly being a legal front of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).
The Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIP) members also called on the electorate not to vote for their reelection during the May 13 mid-term polls.
In an interview, Ka Dario Bolivar, LIP's spokesperson, claimed that party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Act Teachers and Kabataan are also legal fronts of the CPP-NPA.
The LIP's aim is to expose and prevent them from returning to Congress in the next elections, Bolivar said.
“We are campaigning against terrorist groups in the hope that in this coming election, their legal fronts would not be returned in Congress, these partylist groups that they are using to promote the interest of leftist or communist groups in the country,” Bolivar told the Philippine News Agency in Filipino.
The Cordillera native pointed out that the Makabayan bloc seems only bent in opposing the government, no matter who is in the Palace.
“If we look at it, no matter who is sitting in Malacañang, they have no programs supporting the incumbent. They oppose whatever administration is in power,” Bolivar said.
He said that these organizations even opposed foreign powers coming in aid of the Philippines, including the United States and even China.
“Where do they really stand? That’s why they really look like terrorist groups,” he said.
Bolivar said during the time of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the release of the groups' respective priority development assistance funds (PDAF) were suspended over claims that the funds were being funneled to the NPA.
“Their PDAF were removed because they are channeling it to the mountains in the guise of livelihood programs. They are giving it to their NPA allies in the countryside,” he said.
He said it was a good thing that President Rodrigo Duterte declared the CPP-NPA as a terrorist group.
The President proclaimed the CPP-NPA as a terror group in Dec. 5, 2017 following continued attacks against state forces, despite the government’s efforts to reach out to communist rebels for peace talks.
The US and EU have also tagged the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.
Bolivar, a former member of the communist movement, said in the 50 years of CPP-NPA’s existence, the rebel movement had only brought misery in their sphere of influence.
He said their revolutionary tactics have been scaring investors and businessmen in the countryside, leading to an exodus of Filipinos to work abroad.
“As Filipinos, we should be working together to advance the development of our country, so that our economy will grow and there will be jobs and livelihood,” he said.
“So now, before the elections on May 13, every Filipino should bear in mind not to return the representatives of their party-list groups like Gabriela, Act Teachers, Anakpawis, Kabataan and Bayan Muna, or the Makabayan bloc, that is their legal front in the House and the Senate,” Bolivar added.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1065223
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