THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said “Red October,” the alleged ouster plot hatched by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) against President Rodrigo Duterte is bound to fail.
Lieutenant General Benjamin Madrigal, Commander of Eastern Mindanao Command, issued a statement Wednesday, September 26, on the movement of the CPP in Davao as part of the “Red October” of the communist group that seeks to overthrow the administration through conducting massive uprising.
“CPP NPA Terrorist Group (CNTG) objective ever since is to overthrow the democratic government and replace it with an authoritarian socialist form, and ever since, this threat has pulled down our country’s growth and development. It aims to foment continuing unrest by way of agitation among the urban poor and rural peasant communities,” Madrigal said.
The communist group, he said, has been conducting such movement especially in the areas in Davao and Caraga regions wherein the left-leaning groups, through their front organizations, are carrying special Indigenous People (IP) campaign narratives such as "Bakwit Lumad”, Attack on IP schools, and "Lakbay Lumad" (Lakbay Europe, Lakbayan or Manilakbayan) to encourage massive participation.
Madrigal said that the armed forces discovered a plan to mobilize different groups and sectors in different regions to oust the President.
“This will be backed up by hyping the issue of alleged extrajudicial killings, attack on Lumad communities, and human rights violations. Likewise, during the law enforcement operations in General Santos on July 4, 2018, wherein the arrested high ranking CTG personalities were allegedly there to plan the mobilization of their masses and implement their plans to oust PRRD,” he added.
Through the recovered piece of information during the operation, it revealed that the mobilization will be in line with the red letter dates, which include September 21 during the commemoration of Martial Law Declaration and the Peasant Week in the 3rd week of October.
“While the government is finding legal ways and means to uplift the socio-economic condition of our people and bring peace in our communities, the CNTG continuously employs threat and coercion, harassing the implementation of 15 government and non-government projects which were intended for the poor when their extortion demand is not met,” the Eastmincom chief said.
The AFP assured that the group will not succeed in their attempt with the effort being conducted now by the government to address the plight of the marginalized sectors.
“All these efforts, to mobilize communities and groups, particularly the Indigenous Peoples in eastern Mindanao, as a prelude to creating the so-called "favorable" situation to oust President Duterte is bound to fail. The people, particularly the IPs and other marginalized communities in eastern Mindanao, are now feeling the sincerity, generosity, and compassion of the government with the socio-cultural and economic interventions being delivered by the Local Government Units,” Madrigal said.