Hundreds of riders all over Metro Manila on Saturday joined a day-long motorcade to advocate against the decades-long communist insurgency in the Philippines.
As of posting, the “Ride! Ride! Ride! to End Communist Insurgency” movement was gathering volunteers along the way via their eight-stop route from the Quezon City Memorial Circle (QCMC) to Edsa Monumento in Caloocan, C4, C3, Roxas Blvd., Mall of Asia, the Eastern Police District area back to QCMC.
One of the riders, Ryan Favor, said at least 50 from his group, the Angkas Riders Quezon City chapter, decided to join the motorcade believing this could raise "awareness" of the need to end the local communist conflict.
Favor said this movement could also help distinguish groups allegedly linked to the communist rebels seeking elective government posts.
"Ngayon lang namin nalaman na 'yong ibang party-list pala kahanay ng CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army). Hindi ko alam kung anong party-lists ang may mga (koneksyon sa) CPP-NPA. Ngayon, at least may idea na kami (We just knew that some party-lists are linked to the CPP-NPA. I didn't know what party-lists are connected with them, but at least know we have an idea)," he said in an interview.
"Kami sa grupo mag-uusap-usap kami na wala dapat 'yong mga kaanib sa CPP-NPA ang iboboto (After this, we'll discuss the list of party-lists who are tagged as part of the CPP-NPA)," he added.
Jessie Beronila, a 37-year-old biker, shared similar sentiments, saying it is high-time the public take part in the movement against members of the CPP-NPA.
"Para sa amin, ang NPA, number one nating iisipin, kalaban ng gobyerno. Kaya dapat naman talagang putulin 'yan. Kaya dapat makiisa tayo sa ganitong mga advocacy (For us, the NPA, number one, is the enemy of the government. That's why we have to stop it. This is why we should participate in advocacies like this)," he said.
Beronila said about 20 from his group volunteered to ride around Metro Manila bearing the banner "Save our country! No to CPP-NPA-NDF party-list".
The day-long affair was organized by the Bantay Bayan group, founded by Dr. Ben Caralde.
The government has repeatedly committed to continue its crusade against groups linked to the CPP-NPA to denounce the atrocities committed by these organizations.
In December last year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 70, creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which mandates the government bureaucracy to take a "whole-of-nation approach" in defeating communist insurgency.
Following its establishment, the Department of the Interior and Local Government rallied the country’s 81 provinces “to do their share in bringing local insurgency to its conclusion."
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1069522
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.