PASAY CITY --The Philippines, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict submitted on Thursday a formal request to the European Union to “immediately cease” its funding of non-government organizations (NGOs) acting as legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
The formal request signed by National Security Adviser and Vice Chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) Hermogenes Esperon was submitted along with other documents and pieces of evidence to EU Programme Manager on Governance Louis Dey and Belgian Ambassador Michel Goffin during a meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
B/Gen. Parlade shows a copy of an evidence sent to EU. (Photo by Gelaine Gutierrez/PIA InfoComm)
In his letter to the EU, Esperon divulged that thru front organizations, the CPP-NPA is able to solicit and exploit funds from countries in the EU and EU itself, to support legitimate projects that are made to appear as aiding the poor, the farmers, and the education of children in the remote areas, among others.
The task force claimed that at least 60 percent of the funding often received by these alleged legal fronts are diverted to the CPP-NPA through a "triple or multiple funding scheme."
It claimed, the EU funds that goes directly or indirectly to the CPP-NPA front organizations are being used to sustain its terrorist activities; propagate terrorism through international alliances and networks; recruitment, trafficking and exploitation of children to become child warriors; and recruit and exploit vulnerable sectors such as indigenous people resulting in the destruction of culture and value system and the murder of IP’s leaders.
Some of the documents and pieces of evidence that were sent to EU along with the formal request to stop funding CPP-NPA fronts. (Photo by Gelaine Gutierrez/PIA InfoComm)
"Countries or funding agencies who have given their seal of approval are unaware that they are funding a particular project, which had already been funded by other countries or funding agencies," the letter reads.
The single project then receives double funding, making it easy to liquidate the use of the solicited money when audited.
Admiral Vicente Agdamag, deputy director general of the National Security Council said they are expecting the EU to make their own investigation and audit after receiving the documents.
He said, the task force is collating more proof to confirm the allegation against dozens of groups linked to the communist rebels in the Philippines.
Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Armed Forces of the Philippines' deputy chief of staff for civil military operations, said the task force is expected to complete and submit all pieces of evidence in at least a month.
Parlade said international partners have continuously supported legitimate groups found to be linked to the communist rebels from early 2000 up to the present.
Among them are Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV); IBON Foundation; Karapatan; Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc.; Salugpungan; and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.
Parlade said, in its most recent grant, the EU already released a total of 621,000 Euros or the first tranche for one Filipino NGO linked to the CPP-NPA.
"The second tranche and third tranche, that's amounting to 1.3 million Euros, are on their way,” Parlade said, “while about 15 million Euros had been allocated for a period of five years, on the part of the Belgian NGOs,” Parlade added.
“We don't know yet if there had been an advance there but I think it was Belgium who froze the funding first when they were given notice by a Philippine delegation in Europe," he added.
Jake Lanes, executive director of the Mindanao Indigenous People's Council for Elders and Leaders (MIPCEL), who said he had been part of CPP-NPA network confirmed the details shared by the task force during a press conference held after the submission of the formal request and other documents to the EU.
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1020352
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