Says it will file disqualification cases against candidates supporting communist rebels
(Eagle News) — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) warned all candidates in the 2022 national and local elections not to give money to communist rebels when they start their campaigns for next year’s polls.
In a statement, the DILG said that paying “extortion money” to New People’s Army rebels and giving support money to the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front would be cause for their disqualification.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año cited Memorandum Circular 2019-26 which calls the NPA’s “permit to campaign fees” as a “clear form of extortion and defilement of the sanctity of the right to suffrage.”
“Huwag po tayong magpaloko at matakot. Ang ibabayad n’yong extortion money sa mga komunista ay gagamitin din nila para makapaghasik ng terorismo sa bansa (Don’t be fooled nor scared. The extortion money you pay to the communists will be used to sow terror in the country),” Año said.
“All local officials should steer clear of directly or indirectly giving financial, material and political support to the CPP-NPA since this is a clear violation of law. This is something that the DILG under my leadership will never tolerate,” he said.
Fuelled by one of the world’s starkest rich-poor divides, a Maoist rebellion that began months before the first human landed on the moon plods on even though the country now boasts one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. / AFP PHOTO / Noel CELIS /
-Directive to ensure security of candidates in all LGUs-
Año, a retired army general, also directed local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure that all candidates are allowed unhampered entrance in every LGU.
He also directed local officials and the police to “guarantee peace and order in all areas especially those considered as hotspots for insurgency.”
“We must secure all candidates and political parties and ensure that they are given access to the electorate during the campaign period without intimidation and manipulation from communist terrorist groups,” he said.
-Supporting communists, an election offense, says Malaya-
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that the DILG will file disqualification cases against candidates who will be proven to have supported and cooperated with the CPP/NPA/NDF.
“Supporting communist terrorist groups through financing or other means is an election offense and is sufficient to cause the disqualification of a candidate,” said Malaya who also serves as DILG spokesperson.
“We will follow through on our words, those politicians who will be proven as accomplices of the CPP-NPA will face disqualification cases from the DILG,” he said.
(Eagle News Service)