Why worry if rebel returnees numbers fake, Parlade to Joma

This, according to Major Antonio Parlade, Jr., of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), in a statement forwarded to the Philippine News Agency Saturday. (PNA file photo)

MANILA — If the number of communist rebels and their sympathizers who have surrendered and government initiatives to integrate these surrenderers into mainstream society are false, then why is Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Maria “Joma” Sison worried.

This, according to Major Antonio Parlade, Jr., of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), in a statement forwarded to the Philippine News Agency Saturday.

“Jose Maria Sison has been making a ruckus about the NTF ELCAC’s effort to end insurgency saying a lot of what we say is false like the number of surrenderers and the socio-economic programs government offered to these surrenderers to help them start anew. If he truly believes they are fake, why then should he worry?” Parlade said.

He added that if Sison truly believes that his side is winning the decades-long insurgency campaign, then the former should just shut up and enjoy himself in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

But the problem, he added, is Sison cannot as he is too well aware of what is happening in the field despite his claims of fake surrenderers and government programs to better the lives of former rebels.

“Sison knows exactly what’s happening in the field and he is worried. And the greatest worry of this greedy and corrupt decrepit is how NTF ELCAC has affected and greatly diminished funds he has swindled from international organizations who have finally woken up to the lies of this terrorist,” said Parlade, who is also Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations.

AFP records show that from January 2016 to October 29 this year, a total of 11,969 regular New People’s Army (NPA) members and their allies have surrendered to the government.

Of the total figure, 2,696 are regular New People’s Army members, 1,718 are from the so-called “Militia ng Bayan”, 508 are from “Sanga sa Partido ng Lokalidad“, 1,240 are from the “Underground Mass Organizations” while, 5,037 are “mass supporters”. Around 770 individuals have been placed on the “For Verification” list.

Data showed that of this total number, 317 surrendered to the AFP’s Northern Luzon Command, with another 403 coming from the Southern Luzon Command, 118 from the Western Command, 538 from the Central Command, 487 from the Western Mindanao Command, 10,009 from the Eastern Mindanao Command and seven from the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region.

Numbered days

With these figures, Parlade said Sison knows his days and those of the communist insurgency and terrorism movement are numbered.

“People now know what kind of ideology the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) has — a fake and a dead ideology, long ignored and hated in Europe and the western world. But he has to continue with his deception and duplicity if only to prolong its existence for a few more Euros and dollars from foreign funders,” he added.

He said it is now obvious what the arrested members of the communist terror group were trying to do when arrested by law enforcement agents in their hideouts and safehouses in Bacolod City last month.

“His mouthpiece just said it: ‘To escape the continuous government anti-insurgency attacks and civil-military operations, Sison said the Maoist-inspired Red fighters have also ‘skillfully used the tactics of shifting from areas under concentrated enemy attack, concentrating elsewhere to attack the weak points of the enemy and dispersing to do mass work.’,” he said.

Despite this announcement by Sison, Parlade said members of the Makabayan bloc claim that those arrested in the Bacolod City operations are merely members of progressive groups and that the weapons and explosives captured from these individuals were planted by government agents.

“Clearly what do you deduce from that Mr. (Neri)  Colmenares, Mr. (Renato) Reyes, as well as fellow communist stooges in the Kamatayan (Makabayan) bloc? Tell the people again, if you are worthy of their votes, that those arrested were simply ‘progressive’ members. Does the government really need to plant evidence for these fake ‘advocates’ of human rights? Or fake ‘defenders of the oppressed’?” he added while renewing his call against these groups to engage him and other government officials in a public debate regarding this issue.

“How hard is it to defend this in a public debate that you cannot take our challenge?” he asked.

More revelations

Parlade revealed that based on communist documents recovered in an encounter  with rebels this month, it was clear that the CPP ordered a massive alliance of revolutionary forces, progressives against what they called “fascist US-Duterte” regime

He quoted the document titled “Limang-Taong Programa ng Partido (2017 hanggang 2021) Paliwanag sa 5-Taong Program” as saying, “Ang pasistang reaksyonaryong rehimeng US-Duterte ay nangangailangan ng lubos kayang pagpapalawak at pagpapalakas ng armado at di armadong mga batayang pwersa ng rebolusyon: ang Partido, hukbong bayan, mga rebolusyong organisasyong masa at mga lokal na organo ng kapangyarihang pampulitika.”

Excerpts from page 5 of the document read, “Sa bag-as ng lahat ng ito upang pamunuan at pag-ugnay-ugnayin ang ibat ibang pwersa at pakikibaka, sa larangang armado at di-armado, iligal, malaligal at ligal, sa kanayunan at kalunsuran, kailangan buuin ang malakas na Partido na konsolidado sa ideolohiya, pulitika, at organisasyon.”

“So what is Kamatayan bloc saying that they are not included in the armed revolution? Whether you are a progressive or not, legal or illegal front, it is clear you are geared towards armed revolution,” he said.

He added that no matter how Panday Sining explains it, their “Digmang Bayan” battle cry is not art from all angles, but a bloody revolution.

“Malinaw sa mga dokumentong ito na paubos na tropa ni Joma at sya ay linoloko na lamang ng mga ito. Kaya maniwala ka sa hindi Joma, malaki talaga problema mo. That’s according to your documents. We will also provide documents to your allies in the Kamatayan bloc and those who allegedly signed the resolution of support so they may conduct a Congressional inquiry on why many NPAs are surrendering and why this insurgency is about to end,” Parlade added.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.