Año unfazed by inclusion on Reds ‘hit list’

FILE: Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019) (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA — Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday shrugged off threats from communist rebels.

“I will not be intimidated by such an evil plot. We are prepared for that. We will get them before they can execute their plan. We’ll keep this country safe against these godless communist terrorists/bandits,” Año said in a text message.

Año’s remarks came after Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., a ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), said he and other government officials are targeted by the communist front groups for leading President Rodrigo Duterte’s counterinsurgency program.

“There is no need because my security measures are enough. Like a soldier, I am always prepared to fight!

,” he added.

In a media forum Wednesday, Parlade, also the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations, said aside from him and Año, included on the ‘hit list’ of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) are National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples chairman Allen Capuyan.

He said also included on the list as well are five former communist leaders who are helping the government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

“We just have to show to the people that there is a job to be done, somebody has to do it. Matakot ka, sino gagawa nito, pero ako sabi ako nga wala akong kinakatakot sa kanila kasi wala akong utang na dugo, wala ako inagawan o kinamkam na lupa, wala akong kasalanan sa masa nila. Ang akin lang ay i-share ang mga katotohanan na ito sa mga kababayan para magkaroon ng kalinawan ang ating mga kababayan kung ano itong duplicity ng (Get scared, who will do this? But as for me, I am not afraid of them because I don’t have a blood debt. I did not take anything or any land from somebody. I did not sin against their masses. As for me, I just want to share these truths to our fellow Filipinos so that they will know the duplicity of the) CPP,” Parlade said during the forum in Quezon City.

The CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.