ANTI-NPA RALLY. Villagers and local officials march toward the Kidapawan City plaza on Monday (Aug. 12, 2019) to protest against the communist New People’s Army, telling the communist rebel movement is no longer welcome in their communities. (Photo courtesy of DXND Kidapawan)
Farmers and local officials of Kidapawan City’s seven far-flung barangays on Monday declared the New People's Army (NPA) persona non-grata during a protest rally on Monday.
The protesters denounced the NPA's alleged atrocities, as well as the communist rebels' "revolutionary tax" that often targets farmers in rural areas.
“Get out of our communities,” one of the placards read, as hundreds of residents and their village officials marched along major streets in Kidapawan to denounce the communist rebel movement.
One of the protesters, who requested that his name not be mentioned, said they are fed up with the NPA's "deception and forced taxation" on farmers.
The NPA, he said, regularly collected "revolutionary tax" every harvest season.
“CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), NPA, NDF (National Democratic Front) layas mo diri sa Kidapawan (CPP, NPA, NDF get out of Kidapawan),” another placard read.
The protesters then streamed into the Kidapawan Plaza and hurled invectives at the NPA, and ended their protest inside the city gymnasium where they burned NPA flags.
Local authorities said the protesting residents are from Barangays Katipunan, San Roque, Gayola, Linangkob, San Isidro, Sto. Niño, and Malinan, all of Kidapawan.
“They must leave us alone. Their promises to lift us from poverty was nothing but lip service, worst they kept on asking for revolutionary tax or food supplies,” Antonio Gorospe, one of the protesters, said in the vernacular.
“If we don’t give in, they will threaten us with harm. It’s good that the government is helping us rid our villages of rebels," he added.
The anti-NPA protest rally was held while the city is celebrating its weeklong “Timpupo Festival” (fruit harvest festival). It was part of the just-concluded four-day peace-building seminar organized by the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion (72IB).
Lt Col. Rey Alvarado, 72IB commander, said the rally "clearly showed the peoples’ dislike toward communism. They have spoken, their presence in communities of peace-loving people is no longer necessary."
Alvarado called on the remaining NPA members to "live normal lives by voluntarily laying down their firearms."
The CPP-NPA-NDF 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/1077643
The protesters denounced the NPA's alleged atrocities, as well as the communist rebels' "revolutionary tax" that often targets farmers in rural areas.
“Get out of our communities,” one of the placards read, as hundreds of residents and their village officials marched along major streets in Kidapawan to denounce the communist rebel movement.
One of the protesters, who requested that his name not be mentioned, said they are fed up with the NPA's "deception and forced taxation" on farmers.
The NPA, he said, regularly collected "revolutionary tax" every harvest season.
“CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), NPA, NDF (National Democratic Front) layas mo diri sa Kidapawan (CPP, NPA, NDF get out of Kidapawan),” another placard read.
The protesters then streamed into the Kidapawan Plaza and hurled invectives at the NPA, and ended their protest inside the city gymnasium where they burned NPA flags.
Local authorities said the protesting residents are from Barangays Katipunan, San Roque, Gayola, Linangkob, San Isidro, Sto. Niño, and Malinan, all of Kidapawan.
“They must leave us alone. Their promises to lift us from poverty was nothing but lip service, worst they kept on asking for revolutionary tax or food supplies,” Antonio Gorospe, one of the protesters, said in the vernacular.
“If we don’t give in, they will threaten us with harm. It’s good that the government is helping us rid our villages of rebels," he added.
The anti-NPA protest rally was held while the city is celebrating its weeklong “Timpupo Festival” (fruit harvest festival). It was part of the just-concluded four-day peace-building seminar organized by the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion (72IB).
Lt Col. Rey Alvarado, 72IB commander, said the rally "clearly showed the peoples’ dislike toward communism. They have spoken, their presence in communities of peace-loving people is no longer necessary."
Alvarado called on the remaining NPA members to "live normal lives by voluntarily laying down their firearms."
The CPP-NPA-NDF 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/1077643
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