By Claudine C. Dumalag
* The victims reveal the suspects who were wearing bonnets pointed at them their firearms that were mostly M14 and M16 armalite rifles
AT LEAST 15 unidentified fully armed men, believed to be guerillas of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), threatened two Municipal Council members in Moises Padilla town last Wednesday afternoon.
Police investigation disclosed that the victims -- Council Members Humphrey Hechanova and Tutie Muchuelas -- were on their way home when the suspects blocked them in a secluded area along Sitio Tobobong, Barangay Quintin Remo, at 1 p.m.
The victims said the armed men wearing bonnets pointed their firearms that were mostly M14 and M16 armalite rifles and directed them to pay the so-called campaign tax or permit-to-campaign (PTC) fees before they could enter the NPA- controlled areas.
The victims further revealed that before the rebels left them, the suspects took their cellular phones.
Troopers of the 11th Infantry Battalion conducted hot pursuit operations around Moises Padilla to locate the suspects.
Brig. General Jeffrey Sodusta, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, recently disclosed that two candidates from southern Negros were receiving extortion letters from the NPAs asking them to pay access fees.
Sodusta deployed troopers in the mountainous areas to prevent further extortion activities.
Reports earlier indicated that NPAs ask politicians P50,000 to P70,000 as campaign fees.
Sodusta advised all candidates not to give in to the rebels' demand.
Many Mindanao bets paid PTC fees
MANY of the candidates in Mindanao have paid the controversial permit-to-campaign (PTC) fees, said an official of the National Democratic Front (NDF). However, Jorge Madlos, NDF-Southern Mindanao spokesperson, refused to reveal the identities the candidates who paid the PTC fees, saying the NDF is abiding by the confidentiality agreement. I cannot reveal the names of these candidates for their protection,” said Madlos, known in the movement as Ka Oris, in an interview over DXDC.
He added that the NDF and its armed component, the New People’s Army (NPA), will always support the denial of the candidates that they did not pay the PTC fees to protect their candidacies.
NDF warns bets refusing to pay PTC fee: Don’t resist
By MANUEL T. CAYON
TODAY Reporter
DAVAO CITY - The National Democratic Front (NDF) said almost all candidates in Northeastern and Southern Mindanao regions had paid or were willing to pay the permit-to-campaign (PTC) fees it has imposed on politicians campaigning in communist-influenced areas.
Singling out North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol for his refusal to pay the PTC fee, the NDF warned against any armed challenge to its “taxation authority.”
“Any breach in the authority of the movement by armed means would be met by armed reaction from the New People’s Army,” said Jorge Madlos, alias Ka Oris, NDF spokesman for Mindanao.
Madlos said “countless” politicians in Mindanao “have paid in full or partially, committed to pay, or have not paid yet but have negotiated” to be allowed to campaign in areas with guerrilla presence.
He said that “almost all have already paid or negotiated in the Caraga [northeastern] and the Southern Mindanao regions, “except [Gov. Emmanuel] Piñol, who vowed not to pay it.”
“Let us just wait at the entire campaign stretch if he would not give in,” Madlos said, referring to Piñol.
He warned that if Piñol or any candidate “would try to breach this taxation rule by bringing his armed bodyguards, he would be met by the armed might of the revolutionary movement which will neutralize his armed men.”
“He will not be our target, but if in the course of the fighting he is hit, then so be it,” he said.
He added, “Armed bodyguards are open targets, especially those without coordination and those whose intention is to protect their master who would not pay revolutionary taxes.”
Asked how much the NDF has collected so far, he said, “it’s already in millions,” adding that candidates from both the administration and the opposition had negotiated or have paid.
Madlos defended the taxation act of the NDF, saying, “We all know that we have two governments existing in the Philippines, the one in Malacañang, the other one in the countryside.”
“Both have territories, constituency, justice system, administrative activities, and both collect taxes,” he said.
Madlos said the big portion of the PTC fees would go “to finance the organizing and consolidation activities of the NPA, and the extending of social services.”
“Only 20 percent of the NPA activities is military, but 80 percent goes to organizing the masses and conducting mass work.”
“You can just imagine, for instance, 60 NPAs doing organizing work in one place. The food stock of the masses would be easily used up if the movement would not subsidize their presence,” he said.
He said the same principle would be used to allocate the taxes paid by logging and mining companies, and other big business activities within the reach of the revolutionary movement.
“The revolutionary movement has long tried to reach these politicians for taxation, but it was difficult to trace their business activities,” Madlos said. “Now that it’s election time, then it would be easier to tax now.”
He said the taxation activity would also be used to exact commitment from or draw their opinion on the “basic demands of the masses for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization.”
Lakas Rep. Josephine Ramirez Sato, a gubernatorial candidate of Occidental Mindoro, urged the government Friday to investigate the two recent ambushes in a month where she was the target and for which the communist-led New People's Army (NPA) claimed responsibility.
"It is not enough that the NPA owned up to these ambushes. I am calling [on] the concerned government agencies to act and investigate these ambushes," she told dzMM. "For all we know, my political opponents are conniving with the NPA to eliminate me."
Sato said she suspects her rivals' involvement in the ambuscades because they would be the "immediate beneficiaries" in case she dies.
For the second time Thursday, Sato survived an NPA attack while her convoy was about to cross a bridge during a campaign sortie.
Sato said she and her running mate, Mario Jean Mendiola, were part of the three-vehicle convoy and were about to cross the Mompong Bridge in barangay Malitbong in Sablayan town when a land mine suddenly exploded but missed to hit their vehicles. No one was reported hurt in the incident.
On March 3 she was also ambushed by NPA guerrillas in Santa Cruz town, which is adjacent to Sablayan. She was with a candidate for the provincial board at the time.
Sato, Provincial Board Member Randy Ignacio and three escorts identified as Senior Police Officer 1 Vic Sagun, Police Officer 1 Larry Hilario and PO1 Noel Layona were wounded in the attack.