Mindoro Oriental governor admits paying NPA once to campaign

By Ronron
February 21, 2007

Mindoro Oriental Governor Josephine Sato admitted on Wednesday that she once paid permit-to-campaign (PTC) fee to the New People’s Army (NPA) when she first joined politics in 1988 as a vice-gubernatorial candidate.

In a news briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Sato said she gave P20,000 to the communist movement because this was the piece of advice to her by the local leaders then in her province to ensure her victory.

“I have to admit, when I first entered politics, I paid because that was what my leaders told me. But when I won, I began refusing to pay,” Sato said.

Sato revealed that in the past, the NPA has been very successful in extorting money from local candidates in the province that they in fact collect about P50 to P60 million for every election season.

The PTC fees, she said, are paid in cash, ranging from P20,000 to P500,00, or in kind, like ammunitions and laptop computers.

The Governor noted that when she stopped giving in to the NPA demands, she was ambushed twice, but survived, fortunately.

She also disclosed that those who do not pay the PTC fees will rally have a hard time penetrating the remote barangays that are under the influence of the NPA during the campaign period.

Sato revealed that in November or December last year, the local communist movement sent her another letter, seeking for a meeting with her to discuss most probably about the upcoming election season.

But she passed it on to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for their proper action.

“During this campaign period (for the local candidates), we foresee that there will be demands (from the NPA),” Sato said.

To counter this, she said all incumbent local leaders in the province, starting from her, down to the mayors of the 11 towns and city and their respective councilors have agreed not to give in to such demands.

“If you pay, you are subjugating yourself to a group that is fighting against the government, to which we are giving our services. So I call on all politicians to join us in this campaign,” Sato said.

According to Col. Mario Chan, commander of the Mindoro Oriental-based 204th Brigade of the Philippine Army, the NPA strength in said province is only about a hundred. But since they are armed, the rebels remain a threat.

Sato said that of the 162 barangays in Mindoro Oriental, only about nine or 10 are under the influence of the NPA./DMS