Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana insisted Sunday that leftist lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc should be removed from the House of Representatives, saying their presence in Congress strengthens the communist rebels.
In an interview over Dobol B sa News TV, Lorenzana said one way of removing the lawmakers was to have their party-lists disqualified in the next elections.
“You know their history. They have done nothing but criticize the government. While they are there, the communist rebels have grown stronger,” he said in Filipino.
“Because they are legal fronts, they have legal cover,” he said.
Lorenzana challenged the Makabayan Bloc members to denounce the activities of the communist rebels, which he said they did not do.
“Nothing happened. They were silent. That means they are part of it (the communist rebellion). We're turning a blind eye, but they are part of it,” he said.
The Makabayan bloc on Sunday maintained that there is no evidence linking them to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said their refusal to renounce armed struggle did not make them members of the CPP.
“While we work for social reforms through elections and legislation, we believe that as a matter of principle, we cannot condemn the people's option to armed struggle because we believe that it is a legitimate option of the people," he said.
He said the belief in armed struggle as a legitimate option against oppression must not be treated as a crime.
The right to political belief is protected under Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution, which states that "[n]o person shall be detained solely by reason of his political beliefs and aspirations,” he said.
The Makabayan bloc said they are registered and elected under the lower chamber's party-list system.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, an umbrella group of left-leaning organizations, said the burden of proof should not fall on the accused.
"No organization is under any obligation to condemn the CPP-NPA just to prove their legality, in the same way no one is required to condemn illegal drugs just to prove one is not an addict," it said.
Meanwhile, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said local government units (LGUs) enjoy autonomy and are not stupid enough to support “the godless and obsolete ideology” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
He made the statement after the CPP said the government was forcing LGUs to declare the communists as persona non grata by threatening to withhold their budget.
“Please do not insult the intelligence of our local government officials,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English. “They are not ignorant and they will not be dictated on to do something against their will. The truth is they know and are witness to CPP-NPA-NDF’s deception in their areas.”
The DILG earlier said a total of 1,546 LGUs nationwide have declared the CPP-NPA-NDF persona non grata in their localities. In response, the CPP released a statement saying that the LGUs were merely forced to pass the declaration on the threat that their budgets would be held up.
Año dismissed the suggestion, saying the annual internal revenue allotment for LGUs is released and downloaded automatically to them in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
In 2020 alone, he said local governments received more than P640 billion in funds without a single complaint from the LGUs.