THE members of the so-called ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress are now under immense pressure to distance themselves from the accusation that their group is composed of front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) after three of the party’s former ranking officials confirmed this as fact.
In a message of support to Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) undersecretary, Lorraine Marie Badoy, Noel ‘Ka Efren’ Legaspi, former spokesman of the Far South Mindanao Regional Party Committee (FSMR), said Badoy has nothing to be afraid as her statements accusing the Makabayan Bloc as CPP front organizations “is nothing but the truth.”
“I can attest to it based on my 26 years of experience being a former member and a cadre of the CPP-NPA-NDF…
“As a former regional cadre and a spokesperson of CPP-NPA-NDF’s Far-South Mindanao Region, I knew for a fact that the CTG (communist terrorist group) is using the ‘revolutionary dual tactics’ doctrine and principle in order to make (the) Filipino people believe the ‘legitimacy’ of their cause,” Legaspi added.
Two weeks ago, the Makabayan Bloc had managed to stop Congress’ deliberations on the proposed 2021 budget of the PCOO by going after Badoy and accusing her of ‘red-tagging.’
Badoy, in turn, offered to resign immediately provided the Makabayan Bloc would denounce the CPP, its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) and the party’s united front department, the National Democratic Front (NDF).
Alma Gabin, former CPP secretary for Leyte and deputy education secretary for the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (EVRPC), in another message of support to Badoy, also confirmed that the Makabayan Bloc and one of its member organizations, the Kabataan Partylist headed by Rep. Sarah Elago, are all “CPP-led” organizations.
“Their task falls under the CPP’s civil bureaucracy work whose main goal is to destroy the Philippine government from within,” Gabin added.
Ruben Guevara, former CPP central committee member during its early years, also affirmed that the Makabayan Bloc is composed of “legal organizations” organized by the party.
In another statement of support to Badoy that also found its way to Congress, 14 former “cadres, organizers and “operatives” of the CPP-NPA-NDF also affirmed the revelation of Badoy that the Makabayan Bloc is composed of CPP-created organizations.
At present, the Makabayan Bloc in Congress is composed of the following:
Bayan Muna Party-list: Cong. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Cong. Ferdinand Gaite and, Cong. Eufemia C. Culiamat; GABRIELA Party-list: Cong. Arlene Brosas; ACT Teachers Party-list: Cong. France Castro; and, Kabataan Party-list: Cong. Sarah Jane Elago.
It was CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison, who actually first ‘red-tagged’ GABRIELA, ACT and BAYAN/Bayan Muna, as CPP-founded organizations.
At a speech Sison delivered on March 4, 1987, in Brussels, several months after his release from prison, Sison named the above as the CPP’s “legal democratic forces” in the Philippines.