DILG hails ATC decision, says it’s “victory” for PH

DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary, Eduardo M. Año, hailed the decision of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) to also designate the ‘National Democratic Front of the Philippines’ (NDF/NDFP) as a “terrorist organization,” along with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA) and Muslim extremist groups such as ISIS and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Saying the “masquerade” by the CPP-NPA-NDF is now over, Año, in a statement released by is office on July 22, 2021, also described as a “victory” for the entire government the issuance of Resolution No. 21 by the ATC.

The resolution, signed by ATC chair and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and National Security Adviser and ATC vice chair, Hermogenes Esperon, was approved by the council last June 23, 2021 but released to the public only last July 19, 2021 (see related story in this issue).

Año noted that the ATC found “compelling and sufficient evidence” to designate the NDF as a terrorist organization for violating the provisions of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020, specifically: conspiracy to commit terrorism, recruitment to and membership in a terrorist organization, and providing material support to terrorists.

The NDF was created by the CPP on April 24, 1973 and is composed of at least 13 other terrorist organizations comprising the entire breadth and classes of Philippine society—workers, peasants, youth, women, government employees, health workers, teachers, the religious sector, even indigenous Filipinos. The organizations under the NDF serves as the CPP’s legal propaganda channel, recruitment center for the NPA and source of legal defense for captured CPP-NPA leaders and members, among others.

Organizations under the NDF also played a crucial role in sourcing funds from gullible sources abroad and in projecting an image of “belligerency” that justifies the CPP’s claim of being on “equal footing” with the Philippine government during the scuttled peace negotiations.

And “for the longest time,” Año said, “past administrations and even government agencies had been made to believe the false narrative of the enemies of the state that the NDF is a separate entity from the CPP-NPA that can represent and influence them to follow the path towards peace.”

With the ATC’s decision, the DILG chief said the “lies and deceit of the NDF” have come to light.

“The designation exposes the NDF for what it actually is – an integral part and minion of the CPP — which has been working under its command and leadership to ultimately seize power from the government, through armed struggle and other means.”

The issuance of ATC Resolution No. 21, added the highly-respected former Armed Forces chief, “means that the masquerade is over” for the CPP-NPA-NDF.

2022 polls to be ‘rigged’ followed by martial law?

On the same day the ATC resolution became public, CPP ‘Information Officer’ Marco Valbuena said the designation of the NDF as terrorist organization is a “virtual slap on the face” of the Royal Norwegian Government which has long provided its good offices as ‘Third Party Facilitator’ in support of peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Philippine government (GRP).

The CPP mouthpiece also claimed the decision is aimed at “further shutting all doors to peace negotiations” and “a devious attempt to overturn all past achievements attained through peace negotiations, including signed agreements covering human rights and international humanitarian law.”

The CPP also maliciously claimed that the ATC resolution “is part of the schemes of (Pres.) Duterte to cling to power beyond 2022 by all means.”

In a separate statement two days later, on July 21, 2021, the NDF ‘National Council’ insisted it is

“co-belligerent force in the civil war with the GRP and we have the status of belligerency in accordance with international law.”

The NDF, like the CPP, linked its terrorist listing to next year’s polls claiming its designation is part of the plot by the Dutertes to stay in power.

It claimed next year’s poll would be “rigged” in favor of Davao City mayor Sarah Duterte who would then declare martial law.

“Duterte is hell-bent on preventing negotiations for the duration of the final months of his term of office and possibly for as long as his daughter and he can stay in power after rigging the (2022) elections and using martial law to counter the anticipated people’s uprising,” the NDF predicted.

The NDF also unwittingly confirmed the CPP has penetrated even the country’s religious groups when it said:

“Going by its arbitrary rule of guilt by association, without any fair judicial process within its own legal system to determine culpability, the ATC considers as communist and terrorist all the noncommunist organizations within the NDFP, including the Christians for National Liberation and the Catholic and Philippine Independent Church priests, Protestant pastors, nuns, deacons and other religious people.”