Opinion: Ber months: When CPP exploits natural disasters to the hilt

Opinion piece posted to the Manila Times (Aug 27, 2021): Ber months: When CPP exploits natural disasters to the hilt

 

By (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.

IT is almost the end of August and by experience, this is when the country begins to experience stronger typhoons and monsoon rains. These natural phenomena bring to us natural disasters almost incessantly until January of next year. Undoubtedly, these have made us a resilient people. This piece, however, is not about resilience but about how other people and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) allied organizations have exploited our situation, to bring more misery to our communities via a man-made one - conflict.

In an earlier series last February 2021, I wrote about the CPP fund scam in five parts. I talked about their Climate Change Network for Community-based Initiatives and Community Empowerment Resource Network and how these organizations have duped European organizations and governments, including the European Union, into funding many of their programs and advocacies, a huge portion of which would be channeled to the underground.

I thought a five-part series would be sufficient in writing about this scam. But the breadth and depth and width of this scam are so extensive that a five-part dissertation on it is not nearly enough.

As I read through this 36-page report of foreign funding agencies being hoodwinked by CPP front organizations for their insidious agenda, I can only imagine how many billions of euros Jose Ma. Sison and his ilk have mulcted from foreign donors in the name of disaster resilience and relief operations for the "poor and the marginalized." While these 112 or so foreign organizations and funding agencies are providing aid for "rescue services, humanitarian aid and charity, community resilience and development, or disaster response," many of them are also providing assistance for "political, social and cultural initiatives; humanitarian, spiritual, and pastoral aid; human rights;" and many more advocacies of questionable motives.




I wish to emphasize that many of these foreign organizations and agencies mean well when they send support to nongovernment organizations in the Philippines. We are one with them in their sincere desire to help the poor, the afflicted and the needy, especially at this time of pandemic when every government in the world right now struggles to address the basic needs of the people. It is precisely because of this that we must blow the cover of those who deceive the good hearts of others and use their pure benevolence for their nefarious agenda. Those of us who are aware have the moral obligation to warn and educate humanity about the unscrupulous, unprincipled and scheming methods these CPP front organizations employ to take advantage of their generosity in order to finance their terrorist agenda.

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Since the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), we already saw how Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc., through the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, was able to set up alternative learning centers like the Salugpongan schools, Alcadev, Trifpss, CL, etc. in remote areas near the guerrilla zones in Mindanao. The government was able to establish how these alternative learning centers were being used to radicalize indigenous peoples and their children. Some of these foreign funding agencies which provided the funding are Noveb Foundation, Misereor, Diakonie, Brot fur die Welt, Solidagro, KIYO, Heks Foundation, Camillian Task Force, Fairpen Netherland, Relief International (UK), Enfants Du Mekong, Action by Churches Together Alliance (San Salvador, Thailand, the US, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Kenya and Jordan), Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (Japan), Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, etc.

IBON Foundation, another CPP front organization which publishes books and manuals for radicalization, is also being funded by many of these organizations. The same is true for Karapatan, another terrorist front.

In the hot seat right now is Gabriela Women's Party, the party-list; General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action (Gabriela); Gabriela, the Inc; or Gabriela the women's organization. While it is facing disqualification by the Comelec for violating Rule 2, Sec 8d of the Commission on Elections rules of procedure, that is, for receiving foreign funding from Caritas Schweiz based in Luzern, VZW SFDW-International Solidarity of Brussels, and 12 other foreign entities from Europe, the US and even Malaysia. I will write about that in another column but for now I would like to highlight the deceptive manner this organization presented itself at Securities and Exchange Commission like a mafia, with four faces, same board of directors, and a set of interlocking officers. This raised eyebrows in Brussels after the NTF-Elcac brought the matter to their attention.

So, what if they have different juridical personalities? The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) believes they are concealing something that is not probably known to their funders. In fact, the AMLC found multiple transactions with these 12 foreign entities. This merited the Belgian government's attention enough to conduct an independent audit. It must be remembered that the Belgian government already conducted an audit in 2019 after we reported the matter. The auditor's report, however, absolved the organization of any anomaly. We persisted, however. And this led the Belgian auditors to the right people to interview and audit, including the finance officers of Misfi who already admitted to siphoning money to the underground, specifically to the NPA of northern Mindanao, their families for the "suporta sa pamilya" (Supamil), and the captured CPP cadres now known as "GenSan 12."

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As the Ber months bring in the ubiquitous natural disasters, we expect many of these CPP front organizations to conduct their usual duplicitous fund-raising activities. Our duty is to remind our people and these foreign governments as well that funding these organizations allied with the CPP-New People's Army-National Democratic Front,which have been designated already by various international entities and governments as terrorist organizations, make them liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Some things do change.

Watch out for it.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/08/27/opinion/columns/ber-months-when-cpp-exploits-natural-disasters-to-the-hilt/1812452