AFP accuses anew Bayan Muna, Gabriela, other groups of having links with NPA in Sorsogon

By Ronron
March 23, 2007

A military commander from Sorsogon echoed on Friday allegations that Bayan Muna and Gabriela party-list groups are enjoying the support of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Lt. Col. Benigno Antonio II, commander of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Battalion based in Juban, Sorsogon, showed to reporters in Camp Aguinaldo a document allegedly seized from an NPA member in a recent encounter in Sorsogon province that indicates the supposed link between the communist movement and the party-list groups.

In a press conference, Antonio said his men recovered a three-page document that laid out the plans of the NPA in said province to help ensure the victory of five progressive party-list groups in the May 14 elections.

The document was found inside the backpack of a slain rebel, identified as Allan Villare, following the encounter last March 21 in Juban town between the NPA and Antonio’s men.

It identified the five party-list groups that the NPA will help campaign for as Kabataan Party, Gabriela Women’s Party, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna and Suara Bangsa Moro.

The first two pages bore the three phases based on certain timelines as to how the NPA will carry out the campaign.

The first phase, from February 13 until March 13, includes the following activities: identify local party-list officials; dissemination of posters; house to house campaign; initial submission of local candidates; asking of possible assistance of the candidates to the party-list organizations; start of hiring watchers; and the establishment of a municipal headquarter or drop-off point of propaganda materials.

The second phase, from March 14 until April 13, will saw the following activities happening: more widespread dissemination of posters; creation of Mobile Propaganda Team; house to house campaign; submission of names of local candidates and party-list representatives to the provincial level; continued alliance with the candidates and political parties; launch of the party-list to the municipalities; sending of delegations to the provincial convention of the municipal officers and party-list groups; submission of names of watchers; sending of delegation, especially municipal canvassers, to the training that will be held in the provincial level; and reporting to the provincial level of incidents of violence and harassments against the five party-lists.

Finally, the third phase, from April 14 until May 14, includes the following plans: participation in meeting de avance in the province to be launched on May 1 together with a massive and nationwide protest action; massive dissemination of posters; provincial caravan of the Mobile Propaganda Team; reporting of incidents of violence and harassments against the five party-list groups’ members; and swift reporting of election results for the party-list categories.

Meanwhile, the third page of the document showed the targeted minimum number of votes that each town in Sorsogon should give for each of the five party-list groups.

For Bayan Muna, Bulan should generate 15,000 votes; Gubat, 7,000 votes; and Prieto Diaz, 3,000 votes.

For Anakpawis, Castilla should provide 5,000 votes; Pilar, 12,000 votes; and Donsol, 8,000 votes.

For Gabriela Womens Party, Casiguran should contribute 5,000 votes; Juban, 5,000 votes; Irosin, 10,000 votes; Sta. Magdalena, 3,000 votes; and Gubat, 2,000 votes.

For Kabataan Party, Barcelona and Bulusan should give 2,500 votes each; and Magallanes, 5,000 votes.

And finally, for Suara Bangsa Moro, Matnog should be able to contribute 5,000 votes.

Asked about his assessment on the seized document, Antonio said: “We can consider this as an evidence that the NPA and the party-list groups have a link with each other.”

The military has long tagged Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela as legal fronts of the NPA.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the military to crush the communist movement before her term ends in 2010.

The communist movement has been waging guerilla warfare in the countryside for almost four decades now./DMS