Malacañang unfazed by Joma threat to oust PRRD

Presidential Spokesperson Panelo during a press briefing on January 3, 2019, Thursday (Photo: PTV/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday said it is unfazed by threats made by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison that the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), is broadening its alliances and will “prioritize” the ouster of President Rodrigo R. Duterte this year.

“Wala naman talagang maselan na threat yung kay Sison mismo, pero yung nasa ground na siyang gumagawa ng mga pagsalakay, yun ang mga banta. But ready naman ang ating Armed Forces diyan (There is no critical threat from Sison himself, those in the ground who does the attacks are the threats, but our Armed Forces are ready),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

Panelo said it’s about time that Sison should be enlightened and realize that “his is a failed rebellion” after 50 years from the CPP-NPA’s founding.

“The very people that he has sought to fight for eh sila ang nagiging biktima ng kanilang ginagawa (they become victims of the group’s doings),” Panelo said.

The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that President Duterte enjoys the Filipinos’ support as 74 percent are satisfied with the performance of his administration.

Panelo called Sison “an illusionist, a visionary that has become illusory” due to Sison’s exile far from the country.

“Wala talaga siya sa realidad eh, di niya nakikita ang nangyayari dito sa Pilipinas (He is not seeing the reality, he does not see what is happening here in the Philippines),” Panelo said.

Sison is in exile in The Netherlands since 1987, after peace talks with then-President Corazon Aquino’s government failed.

Reacting to Senator Panfilo Lacson’s statement that the government should follow up its petition to declare the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization under the Human Security Act, Panelo said the Department of Justice “is doing its job” as it already filed a pending petition in court.

Earlier reports showed that the CPP-NPA has been involved in cases of extortion, mass murder, and violation of indigenous people’s rights.

CPP founding member Ruben Guevarra has also tagged Sison as the mastermind behind the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing that left nine people dead and more than 90 others injured.

The US State Department and the European Union have both tagged the CPP-NPA as terrorist bodies.