Nine politicians, including five senatorial candidates in the May 13 elections, have been endorsed by communist groups in exchange for millions of pesos, a former officer of a leftist group said Wednesday.
In a press statement, “Ka Nonoy” Alcantara, who said he was the National Democratic Front’s former liaison officer of its Electoral Unit, said among the politicians were incumbent Senators Grace Poe, Nancy Binay and Bam Aquino, former senators Serge Osmena, and former congressman Erin Tanada.
These lawmakers and three other “traditional politicians,” whom Alcantara did not name, were paying up to P20 million each to the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing the New People’s Army, the NDF, the Makabayan party-list coalition and other “communist terrorist groups” (CTG) to gain their endorsement, he added.
At posting time, only Tañada among the group of lawmakers has so far denied his involvement with the leftist groups. He said he was merely a human rights lawyer, not a communist.
Alcantara, who said he was a political officer for the Makabayan coalition, said he revealed this because former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who is running under the opposition Otso Diretso slate, was poised to be named as the last candidate to be endorsed by the communists for the midterm elections.
The former leftist leader also said Poe, Binay and Aquino each gave the CTGs P20 million, Osmena P10 million, and Tanada “got a discount” because his family has been a “long-time ally of the CPP-NPA-NDF.”
Alcantara said he was dismayed that his former comrades are endorsing Aquino, since the local communist movement itself had called for trashing “the US-Aquino tandem that was advancing imperialist and feudal interests in the country.”
“Now, they have exchanged their loyalties for huge sums or simply forgotten about them,” he added.
The former NDF officer said he would not be surprised if his former colleagues “in the lower units at the ‘White area base’ and even in the [main] Red area base” would be demoralized or raise more questions with these developments.
“It’s clear that the movement is now all about money, especially when it is tightening the collection of permit to campaign fees in the countryside” ahead of the midterm elections in less than a month, Alcantara said.
Even his old group, the NDF Electoral Unit, has become an alternative venue to bring in funds for the communist movement, he said.
Alcantara said the movement has also come to accept that its senatorial bet, Neri Colmenares, will be losing in the May elections, so it is “advancing its Plan B to retain its influence in Congress.”
The CTGs are also “cooking up” their support for a Manny Villar-Grace Poe tandem for the 2022 presidential elections, which the movement also did for the 2010 and 2016 general elections, he added.
“This is how desperate the CPP-NDF-NPA-CTG are, they will do everything just to ally with ‘trapos’ (traditional politicians) in exchange for power,” Alcantara said. He called on all voters to be smart in picking their candidates, because what the senatoriables being endorsed by the communists are doing “is treason against the nation.”
“Do these ‘trapos’ still have hearts and consciences? Why are they helping the devilish CPP/NPA/NDF that has cruel and bloody goals? Or maybe they don’t know? Please have pity on our children and their future,” Alcantara said.
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