A MILITARY official challenged to a debate on Monday, March 18, the activist group, Karapatan, as a response to the call of its leader for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to release pieces of evidence linking them to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-New People’s Army (NPA).
AFP deputy chief of staff for operations Brigadier General Antonio Parlade, who is also a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF), said they have subversive documents, videos and other pieces of evidence to prove that Karapatan, Ibon Foundation, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and other activist groups have links to the CPP-NPA, which is considered a terrorist group.
Parlade said there was also an invitation to the groups from CPP founding chairman Jose Mari Sison for an assembly, books with radical teachings for Lumad students, and a list of militant group members with husband or wife who are members of the NPA.
“Ang sinasabin natin kay Karapatan hindi tayo nagsasalita ng walang ebidensya hindi katulad nila dakdak sila ng dakdak kung ano-ano ang sinasabi nila tungkol sa gobyerno, kung ano-anong fabricated statements and reports ang ipinapadala nila sa UN (United Nations) na ebidensya nila kung bakit tayo sirang-sira sa national community,” he said.
“So ‘yung mag-asawa, si karapatan at si NPA. Pamilya. Marami pa niyan, napakarami pa niyan. Karapatan sa umaga, NPA sa gabi,” he added.
Parlade said the AFP will file a formal complaint against Karapatan before the European Union (EU) for the withdrawal of its funding.
Earlier, Parlade said EU’s ambassador admitted that the regional bloc will be releasing at least two million euros to the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines -- an inter-diocesan and inter-congregational organization of religious, priest and lay people.
He said Belgium, meanwhile, is funding seven groups, including Karapatan and Ibon foundation.
Earlier, Karapatan’s secretary general Cristina Palabay maintained they have no links to the CPP-NPA and that what the military is doing is a mere red-tagging to discredit their organization, which aims to protect everyone’s human rights.
“It is not lost on us that Parlade was among the jesters who ridiculously peddled the 'Red October' destabilization plot, which fizzled out after a lack of any evidence. Now, these fictionists are taking their stage to the international platform, this time targeting other governments and persuading them to discredit and question the organizations which the defunct 'Red October' plot failed to do. These false claims are built on untruths, fake news, and a sinister agenda to cripple the machinery of all those who remain critical to the Duterte government,” she said.
“The military is not a credible institution, yet it still insists on making these laughable and unsubstantiated claims. We do not discount the possibility that in the coming days, not only will we be subjected to continuous smear campaigns, but that our human rights workers will be further subjected to an array of trumped-up charges and other forms of violations. After all, the military is an expert at creating allegations out of thin air,” Palabay added. (SunStar Philippines)