THE Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) had collected a total of P2 billion from its permit-to-campaign (PTC) and permit-to-win (PTW) in the past three elections.

This was the revelation made by controversial military commander Col. Eduardo del Rosario of the Army's 1003rd Brigade, during Thursday's press conference.

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In a presentation made by Col. Domingo Tutaan, 1003rd deputy commander, he said the CPP-NDF along with their armed group, the New People's Army (NPA), collected from as low as P10,000 to councilors and mayors to as high as P20 million from senators.

Tutaan said the NPA charges P10,000 to P100,000 as PTC for councilors; P30,000 to P250,000 for vice mayors; P80,000 to P500,000 for mayors; P100,000 to P350,000 for congressmen; P75,000-P200,000 for provincial board members; P150,000-P300,000 for vice governors; P200,000-P1.5 million for governors and P500,000 to P1.5 million for senators.

For the permit to win, Tutaan said the rebel group charged higher than the PTCs as this will already have the assurance that the politicians will get the landslide support of the areas perceived to be as rebel-influenced.

For the PTW, mayors are charged from P1.5 million to P5 million each; congressmen from P2.5 million to P5 million; and for senators from P5 million to P20 million each.

In the PTW, the rebels assured the candidates that he/she will win the elections through the command votes from members of organized masses of basic mass associations and party organizations in the area thru the NPA, and mass votes from members and supporters of CPP-NPA-NDF affiliated front organizations.

"The rebels then ask for concessions if the said candidate wins and to be sure of their choice, they demand this from all candidates without them knowing it," Tutaan said.

For 2010, del Rosario said they expect the communist group to collect from P500 million to as much as P1 billion from politicians considering that the group had already formed a bigger coalition group, Makabayan.

Asked if there are politicians who really pay the rebels of PTC and PTW, del Rosario said many still do.

In some areas in Visayas and Mindanao, he said communist rebels pick their own candidates and once their candidates win, 20 percent the internal revenue allotment of the politicians' areas go directly to the CPP-NDF-NPA.

Though refusing to cite names, del Rosario said it is a reality and that it is their mission now to expose the "evil plan" of the leftist groups so that the politicians would be enlightened and would no longer give in to the extortion demands of the rebel groups. (BOT)