Case vs. NTF-ELCAC fails ‘credibility test’

THE latest complaint filed against top officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) by the ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) failed to get public sympathy and credibility after former cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) confirmed the petitioners are all ranking communist officials working thru the party’s created legal front organizations.

At a press conference at the National Press Club (NPC) in Manila on Monday, March 28, 2022, 13 former ranking CPP cadres insisted the complaint filed before the COMELEC by the Makabayan Bloc last March 25, 2022, should not be entertained for lack of credibility of the complainants.

Mainly, the complaint alleged that the task force has been engaging in ‘red-tagging’ the members and officials of the Makabayan Bloc, which constitute as a “threat” against them and that the task force has been squandering public money in its red-tagging activities.

The complainants against the NTF-ELCAC officials for violation of Section 261 (Election Offenses) of the Omnibus Election Code (BP 881), are:

Roberto de Castro; Saturnino ‘Satur’ Ocampo; Rep. Sarah Jane Elago; Teodoro ‘Teddy’ Casiño; Rep. Arlene Brosas; Rep. France Castro; and, Ariel Casilao.

Respondents in the case, on the other hand, are:

Usec. Lorraine Marie T. Badoy; Usec. Marlo Iringan; retired justice Angelita Miranda; NICA chief, Alex Monteagudo; NICA deputy chief, Gabriel Luis Quisumbing; Usec. Maximo Carvajal; Usec. Cesar Yano; Usec. Reynaldo Mapagu; Usec Brigido Dulay; and, Asec. Nonita Caguioa.

But according to the former CPP cadres, De Castro, the deputy secretary general of the Makabayan Bloc, is a member of the executive committee (komiteng tagapagpaganap/Execom) of the National United Front Commission (NUFC) of the CPP, the party commission overseeing the activities of organizations under the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Ocampo, a journalist and lifetime member of the National Press Club (NPC), once served as NDF spokesman and is now an “honorary member” of the party’s highest organ, the Central Committee. He was also the former deputy education secretary of the NUFC and current president of Bayan Muna.

Elago has been identified as a member of the executive committee of the party’s National Youth Sector Bureau, presently representing the Kabataan Partylist in Congress.

Casiño, now Bayan Muna vice chairman and seeking reelection as Bayan Muna Partylist first nominee, has also been identified as a member of the NUFC Execom.

Brosas, for her part, has been identified as a former member of the Execom of the Manila-Rizal Regional Party Committee and as secretary of the CPP’s Women’s Bureau for the National Capital Region (NCR). She is currently representing the women’s group ‘GABRIELA’ in Congress.

Castro is pointed to as the Education Deputy Secretary of the National Teachers’ Bureau of the CPP, aside from representing the ACT Teachers Partylist in Congress

Casilao, a former representative of the Anakpawis Partylist in Congress, has been identified as a member of the CPP’s National Peasant Bureau.

He is also the brother of Eric Jun ‘Elian/Wally’ Casilao, the remaining highest CPP official in Mindanao as head of the Mindanao Commission (KomMid) and the Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee (SMRPC), considered as the “last bastion” of communist power and influence in the country.

The attendees during Monday’s press conference who were unequivocal in their statements that the complainants are in fact, ranking CPP officials include:

Mae Garcia, former youth and student organizer for League of Filipino Students and Political instructor of Front 2 Nueva Ecija Provincial party Committee; Jade Cinco, former secretary-general and youth organizer for Kabataan Partylist in Catbalogan, Samar; Genelyn Dichoso, alias Gemma, former secretary-general of Karapatan-Quezon;

Lady Desiree Miranda, alias Ka-Shane, former political guide of the NPA CARABALLO Guerilla Front operating in Nueva Ecija, Eastern Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya and Pampanga and former spokesperson of Anakbayan Central Luzon and former chairperson of Anakbayan Pampanga; Ivylyn Corpin, alias Ka-Red, former secretary of the East Front Committee, Henry Abraham Command and former secretary-general of the Lakas ng Kabataan para sa Lakbay CV;

Alma Gabin, former education deputy secretary of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee and founding member of Kabataan Partylist; Pedro Arnado, alias Ka-Benoy, former regional chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas – Southern Mindanao Regional Committee and national treasurer; Jeffrey Celiz, alias Ka-Eric, former operator under the National Intelligence Unit of the NPA National Operational Command, under the CPP Central Committee’s National Military Staff and former mass organizer and campaign leader for League of Filipino Students, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Anakbayan, Bayan Muna and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Iloilo and Panay Islands; Paulette Castillo, Former Regional Coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Southern Mindanao Region (RMP-SMR); Florida Sibayan, Chairman of AMBALA-KMP (Alyansang Manggagawang Bukid ng Asyenda Luisita); Christoper Garcia,  Spokesperson of AMBALA;

Arkins Evangelista, Former CPP-NPA-NDF cadre operator inside Bayan Muna Partylist; and, Claire Centino, ACT Partylist organizer in Eastern Visayas.

Also present during the media forum are, Usec. Badoy and Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson on Legal Affairs and, Usec. Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS).

“This filing of charges against officials of the NTF-ELCAC comes straight from the Central Committee of the terrorist CPP-NPA-NDF and are merely being implemented by their urban operatives on the ground,” Badoy said.

The attendees also warned the public that any vote for the Makabayan Bloc is a vote for the CPP and the continuation of the 53 years of terrorism being waged by the party and its operatives in and out of Congress.

Interestingly, the filing of the complaint against task force officials came after it revealed, based on the testimony of former CPP cadres, that Vice President Leni Robredo has been “chosen” by the CPP as its candidate for president in the coming May 9, 2022 elections (see also Pinoy Expose, Volume 3, Issue No. 12).

President Duterte, during his ‘Talk to the Nation’ on the evening of March 28, also dismissed the complaint filed by the Makabayan Bloc, stressing the government is not ‘red-tagging’ the group but “identifying” them for what they are—front organizations of the CPP.

“Itong mga legal fronts ng komunista, lahat ‘yan (These legal fronts of the communists) Makabayan, Bayan, they are all legal fronts, Gabriela.

“We are not red-tagging you. We are identifying you as members in a grand conspiracy comprising all the legal fronts that you have organized headed by NDF,” the President said.

Although Makabayan Bloc officials regularly denied their membership with the CPP, they have consistently refused to denounce the atrocities and gross human rights violations being committed by the CPP-NPA.

Casiño, during a Senate hearing early last year on red-tagging that they initiated, even went as far as saying they never consider the CPP-NPA as “enemies” of the State.