NDF formally designated as terrorist organization

From the Mindanao Examiner (Jul 19, 2021): NDF formally designated as terrorist organization

THE NATIONAL Democratic Front (NDF) has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

In the five-page Resolution No. 21 dated June 23, 2021, ATC Chair and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea cited the NDF as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) created in April 1973.

“Article IX of the 2016 CPP Constitution shows the command, lead and guidance of the CPP over the NPA, while Article X shows that the NDF (a.k.a. NDF of the Philippines) is the core and most consolidated group that provides support to the armed and organizational expansion of the CPP-NPA,” the resolution read.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra previously said the principal effect of the designation by ATC is the freezing of bank accounts and other financial assets of the designated person/entity, not immediate arrest.

The resolution also said the “direct and indispensable role of the NDF in armed operations“ has been repeatedly confirmed by CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, including the latest when he identified the CPP-NPA as allied organizations of the NDF in his message for the NDF’s 48th anniversary in April 2021.

Sison and his wife, Juliet, who is the interim chairperson of the NDF negotiating panel, were previously designated as terrorists, too.

Records showed that the CPP-NPA has conducted 1,506 terroristic activities since 2010, including the abduction of 544 children who were forced and or deceived to become child warriors.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. has reminded the public of the duplicitous nature of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

"To the Anti-Terrorism Council designation of the NDF of the Philippines, let us remember by nature, the CPP-NPA-NDF has open organizations or what they call legal fronts, but in truth, it has underground mass organizations and officers that control these open organizations," he said during the July 19 episode of the "Tagged: Debunking Lies by Telling the Truth" online briefing organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

The CPP-NPA is also listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. ( Benjamin Pulta)

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