CPP-NPA denounced for threatening to attack COVID-19 vaccine deliveries

THE government, thru the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), assailed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) for refusing to pledge not to attack government vehicles and personnel delivering anti-COVID-19 pandemic to resident of far-flung communities in the country.

AFP spokesman and Philippine Marines M/Gen. Edgard Arevalo, in a statement last week, said the communists “should not sound chivalrous about allowing the passage without delay of vaccines in all parts of the country.”

“As a matter of fact, they should have done so in many instances in the past instead of killing military personnel who were both security and workhorses in bringing relief goods to our calamity-stricken ‘kababayans’ in the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs),” Arevalo said.

The military’s rebuff came after ‘Marco Valbuena,’ the purported ‘chief information officer’ of the CPP, “strongly suggested” that the government not use military trucks and personnel in the delivery of the vaccines and instead turn over the job to the Philippine Red Cross or the International Committee of the Red Cross.

If followed, Valbuena said the CPP-NPA is willing to give “humanitarian corridors” in their purported “territories” to enable the delivery of the vaccines in remote communities.

Valbuena’s statement, in turn, was after Pres. Duterte “pleaded” with the terrorist groups not to harass or attack government personnel during the delivery of the vaccines.

Only last year, as the country battles with the explosion of Taal volcano in January and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NPA did not hesitate to attack soldiers during their relief and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, undersecretary and spokesman, Jonathan Malaya of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), also slammed the CPP for “laying conditions” on Pres. Duterte’s appeal for the armed communists not to interfere with the vaccines’ delivery in all pars of the country.

Malaya said that during this time of pandemic, even terrorist groups “must place the country first before their selfish ideological interests and should not impose any conditions for the benefit of the people.”

 “Can’t the CPP/NPA/NDF declare a cessation of hostilities for a change if only to allow the delivery of the vaccines,” the official asked.

“In all countries of the world, the military are mobilized to assist in the vaccination program. In the US, the National Guard has been mobilized to ensure the fast delivery of their vaccines,” Malaya also pointed out.

Aside from the military, DILG officer in charge (OIC), undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr., had also alerted the Philippine National Police (PNP) “to secure” and “guard” the delivery of the vaccines wherever in the country this may be.

Florece said these vaccines are “as precious as gold and should be secured and escorted by the PNP to their intended destinations.”

“Ang mga bakuna na ‘yan ay parang ginto lalo na ngayong kulang  pa ang supply kaya pinaghahanda natin ang PNP sa anumang insidente,” the official stressed.

The country’s national vaccination program is expected to commence this week (stating on February 15, 2021), with the initial batch of 117,000 doses supplied by Pfizer-BioNTech. 

The National Task Force COVID-19 aims to inoculate first the healthcare sector’s 1.4 million individuals.