(Eagle News)–Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Friday, Aug. 2, dismissed as “baseless” and “laced with malice” Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares’ remark the recent killings in the country, including the ones in Negros Oriental, were state-sponsored.
In a statement, Panelo said Colmenares’ remarks were “but a part of the propaganda of the Communist Party of the Philippines [CPP], to which obviously he subscribes and parrots, to discredit the administration and the security forces of the government..”
He said this was while Colmenares was “trying to give himself the appearance of relevance after being repeatedly repudiated by the electorate in the national elections..”
He “has purposely turned deaf to the voice of the people,” Panelo said.
According to Panelo, “it is common knowledge that the armed component of the CCP, the New People’s Army [NPA], has committed various crimes to the people and to the nation, including the murder of many innocent government agents and civilians in ambushes, skirmishes, extortion, and burning and destruction of properties.”
Colmenares, however, he said, “never condemned any of the atrocious and illegal acts of this rebellious group, a fact that demonstrates not only his use of double standards when it comes to his principles but it also shows where his loyalty belongs.”
“We agree that justice must be delivered to the victims, as well as to the families of those who were killed in Negros Oriental,” Panelo said.
He said the government condemns “all forms of arbitrary killings,” adding it was “time for the Left and its supporters and leaders to stop throwing everything to the government and admit that theirs is a failed rebellion.”
“It is time for them to join the rest of their surrenderers who have been coming out in droves as they respond to the call of the President to return to the democratic society and embrace constitutional order,” Panelo said.
In a statement on Thursday, Aug. 1, Colmenares said “two matters of evidence” show the killings were state-sponsored.
He cited what he said was “direct evidence” arising from the statement of witnesses pointing to the police as the gunmen, and the “indirect evidence” which is “the pattern of killings which publicly vilify the target.”