{"id":258990,"date":"2020-06-23T05:11:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T09:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258990"},"modified":"2020-06-23T05:11:13","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T09:11:13","slug":"communists-no-1-threat-to-national-security-duterte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/23\/communists-no-1-threat-to-national-security-duterte\/","title":{"rendered":"Communists No. 1 threat to national security: Duterte"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte holds a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on May 25, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 It is not the no-value terrorists nor the Abu Sayyaf Group but the local communists that pose the No. 1 threat to national security.<\/p>\n

Thus, said President Rodrigo R. Duterte in his Talk to the People during a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually the number one threat to the country\u00a0hindi\u00a0<\/em>(not) Abu Sayyaf,\u00a0hindi \u2018yung mga terorista<\/em>\u00a0(not the terrorists) of no value.\u00a0Itong<\/em>\u00a0(These) high-value targets,\u00a0ito \u2018yung mga<\/em>\u00a0komunista (these are the communists),\u201d Duterte said, adding that it is the reason he has ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be on the offensive.<\/p>\n

He lamented how communists attacked government troops securing employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) who were distributing cash aid to beneficiaries of the government\u2019s Social Amelioration Program amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fight against the NPAs has long been there. It started in the 50s\u00a0hanggang ngayon nandiyan pa<\/em>\u00a0(still there until now). It has undermined the national security of the country, he said referring to the New People\u2019s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).<\/p>\n

Duterte expressed fears that if he does not do his duty as President of the country, like what others did during their time, the government \u201cmight just bargain away, place in jeopardy the democratic values that the Filipinos have enjoyed for the longest time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taken advantage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of helping solve societal problems, he said the current issues on Covid-19 and terrorism have been taken advantage of by critics and detractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cItong mga<\/em>\u00a0(These) forces arrayed against us — Abu Sayyaf, mga terorista (terrorists) with no ideology, the Communist Party (CPP) with ideology but more pernicious ang effect which could undermine the peace and security of our country not only this administration, but it can transcend to the next generation, giving us no respite,\u201d he added. \u201cMaski kaunting pahinga lang na makinga lang man tayo<\/em>\u00a0(Even just ample time to breath).\u201d<\/p>\n

Duterte, who admitted to his anger towards communists, said there was never a time when he was mayor of Davao City that they mistreated an NPA prisoner in Mindanao.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t even allow the mosquitoes to bite them.\u00a0May warning kami sa mga alimatok<\/em>\u00a0(leech)\u00a0na huwag galawin ang mga<\/em>\u00a0NPA\u00a0na bihag kasi baka tayo ang pagbintangan<\/em>\u00a0(not to hurt NPA captives because we might get the blame),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He also expressed disgust that communists talk so much about Geneva Convention rights when the situation is in their favor and invokes the same when in the losing end for the protection that the law gives upon everybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the riddle that I cannot understand\u00a0sa iyo<\/em>\u00a0(with you).\u00a0Tutal<\/em>\u00a0(in fact) if you fight for as a matter of principle,\u00a0panindigan mo<\/em>\u00a0(stand by it and admit) \u2018Oo, pinatay namin kasi kalaban eh<\/em>\u2019,\u201d he said, adding that it is rather acceptable to him.<\/p>\n

Duterte went on to tell communists not to fool him when communists drew a blade across the neck of a captured policeman who was escorting government workers distributing relief assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cPero kung sabihin mo na<\/em>\u00a0prisoner\u00a0na<\/em>,\u00a0tapos luglugin mo ng<\/em>\u00a0Gillette (blade)\u00a0pati \u2018yung pulis<\/em>.\u00a0Nakita ko \u2018yung ano<\/em>\u00a0(wound)\u00a0eh. Huwag ninyo akong bolahin<\/em>.\u00a0Nakita ko talaga \u2018yung sugat dito sa leeg<\/em>. \u2018Yun ang kasalanan nu\u2019n<\/em>,\u00a0nag<\/em>-escort\u00a0ng mga tao sa gobyerno para sa tulong. Mahirap na ang buhay noon eh<\/em>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He appealed to communists not to hijack the distribution of the second tranche of Covid-19 assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time\u00a0ipatikim mo sa tao \u2018yung kanila talaga<\/em>\u00a0(let them have what is truly theirs).\u00a0Iyong una kinuha ninyo eh<\/em>\u00a0(You took away from them the first tranche of relief assistance),” he said.<\/p>\n

Revolutionary \u2018tax\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duterte also warned of having to take more drastic actions like looking into their bank accounts relative to communists\u2019 extortion activities from private companies with operations in Mindanao.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll operating private entities, corporations in Mindanao contributed money to you.\u00a0Alam namin na hindi \u2018yan<\/em>\u00a0transaction doon na magbigay ng pera doon sa bukid tapos tanggapin ninyo<\/em>\u00a0(We know that those are not transactions made in the far-flung areas of Mindanao and you just accept them),\u201d he said, adding that money is deposited in Manila to the bank accounts of the National Democratic Front (NDF),\u00a0 under fictitious names.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 It is not the no-value terrorists nor the Abu Sayyaf Group but the local communists that pose the No. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":256072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-gigie-arcilla","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258991,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258990\/revisions\/258991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}