Esperon denies ‘creative ways’ accusation of Red groups

FILE: National Security Council (NSC) Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. holds a press briefing for the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) at the New Executive Building (NEB) in Malacañang on October 25, 2019. (Photo Screengrab from Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines)/Facebook)

MANILA – National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., on Wednesday denied claims that government security troops are using “creative ways” in detaining individuals allegedly red-tagged by the government.

The “creative ways” reportedly include the filing of false charges like homicide and illegal possession of firearms and reportedly being done to offset the repeal of the Anti-Subversion Law of 1957 or Republic Act 1700 which was repealed in 1992.

“Ano namang creative ways eh talaga namang nangyayari yan dahil miyembro sila ng armandong grupo dahil sila gusto nilang pataubin ang ating gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng armed struggle (What creative ways are they saying? Such incidents are really happening because they are members of the armed group and they want to topple our government via armed struggle),” Esperon said when asked to comment during a “Laging Handa” briefing at PTV-4.

Being part of an armed struggle against the government, he said, means members of these groups are known to carry weapons that are often found in their underground safehouses when discovered and caught by authorities.

“Doon sila talaga nakikita, ayon yung nagiging ebidensya sa kanila na kasama sila sa violent overthrow ng Republika ng Pilipinas (Those are seen there and used as evidence against them for their role or part in violent overthrow of the Republic of the Philippines),” he said.

Also, during the course of operations aimed at neutralizing communist terrorists, such weapons and other equipment, including laptops, are seized by government forces.

He added that these captured laptops, when checked, often revealed the extent of the involvement of their owners to the armed struggle or armed revolution being espoused by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and its allies and aimed at the overthrow of the existing government.

“Wala tayong ginagawa na sinasabi nilang planting of evidences, yung mga nakukuha sa kanila ay talaga kanila yun at malimit naman ay sa engkwentro nakukuha yan. Kung ano talagang makuha sa engkwentro, ayon yung ebidensya natin (We do not plant evidence as they claim, all items seized from their possessions are recovered during encounters with them. What was captured or taken during encounters are our evidence against them),” he said.

Republic Act 1700 outlawed the Communist Party of the Philippines of 1930 (Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930), the Hukbalahap, and organizations succeeding them, including the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP),  the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) on the grounds that these groups are involved in a “conspiracy to overthrow the government and imposed a totalitarian regime”.

It also prohibited association with these groups.

  It was repealed by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1992 through Republic Act 7636.

Esperon said the red-tagging did not come from the government, adding that it was CPP founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison, in a video clip, who identified progressive groups allied to the communist terrorists.

In the same video clip, Sison identified the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Gabriela, League of Filipino Students, Bayan, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Kilusang Mayo Uno, and many others as his allies in the so-called “National Democratic Revolution”,  he said.

“Kaya siya mismo, kung may masasabi tayong-red tagging, siya mismo ang nag-red-tag (It is Sison himself who red-tagged his companions, if others are saying that we are the ones red-tagging, it is Sison himself who did that,” Esperon said.

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.

“Sa totoo lang, tama yung sinabi ng Pangulo na ini-inform natin ang public. We are informing, we are identifying them and that was for the information ng public para hindi mapasubo ang kabataan na sumama sa kanila (What the President said about informing the public about them is right. We are informing, we are identifying the public so that the youths won’t be lured into joining them),” he said.