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Sunday, February 08, 2004
Candidates start giving NPA guns, money: AFP
By Harley F. Palangchao
CAMP ALLEN, Baguio -- Politicians in Abra province and nearby Ilocos Sur have reportedly started giving guns and money to communist guerillas to gain access to rebel-controlled areas once campaign period starts.
Lieutenant Col. Elias Escarcha, Civil Relations Service (CRS) group commander for the Cordilleras and Ilocos Region, reported on Saturday that the mainstream New Peoples Army (NPA) under Jovencio Balweg allegedly started collecting P1,000 to P3,000 from politicians in the towns of Malibcong and Bangilo.
Campaign period for national candidates will start on Tuesday while local candidates will start campaigning next month.
Balweg is one of the primary suspects in the assassination of his brother and former renegade priest Conrado "Ka Ambo" Balweg in Malibcong, Abra on Dec. 31, 1999.
Escarcha reported that the rebels were collecting money from mayors and councilors on a monthly basis. He claimed that some of the money even came from the towns' Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share.
In Ilocos Sur, Escarcha said one of the barangay captains in Bananayo town allegedly gave two M-16A1 riffles to the rebels purportedly to gain the support of other barangay chairmen whose areas of jurisdiction are reportedly controlled by the rebels.
Escarcha said the giving of money and guns to the rebels is "simply a form of extortion," chiding the rebels for taking advantage of the May 2004 polls to promote their vested interest in the guise of sourcing out funds to finance livelihood projects in government-neglected areas.
"The rebels have managed to steal blood money from the people and development funds intended for the barangays," Escarcha said.
On Wednesday, communist guerrillas in the Cordilleras announced they would be charging a maximum of P500,000 as permit-to-campaign (PTC) fee from each congressional candidate who wants to woo voters in areas that the former controls.
The Agustin Begnalen Command of the mainstream Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) also clarified that only congressional and other local candidates who have no anti-revolutionary records would be allowed to conduct campaign sorties in NPA-controlled areas.
Diego Wadagan, the command's spokesman, also said the P500,000 PTC fee is also negotiable, depending on the economic status of the candidate.
(February 8, 2004 issue)
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