BAGUIO CITY – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) underscored that people are not all surprised that the Makabayan bloc, led by their partylists and candidates, has once again singled out the National Task Force, this time training their sights on me (Executive Director Ernesto Torres, Jr).
By their own standards, being targeted is a mark of success, for it means the task force has made an impact strong enough for the Makabayan bloc to pull all strings to keep the truth hidden.
Unfortunately for them, the Filipino people can already see through this overly familiar pattern: vilify the institution that dares to expose the links that bind supposedly “legal organizations and individuals” to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) by painting themselves as victims, propagating divisive rhetoric and exploiting our democratic processes.
The NTF-ELCAC is not in the business of fabricating allegations. The task force is mandated under Executive Order No. 70 to dismantle the machinery, both underground and aboveground, that sustains the communist insurgency in this country. Further, the task force’s statements are based on facts, not far-flung fantasy. It has testimonies and declarations from former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres and ex-Makabayan bloc members who have come forward to attest to the ideological, political, and organizational linkages between these groups.
It is the task force’s duty to expose how certain organizations have systematically used legal fronts and electoral platforms to legitimize, support, and even recruit for the communist armed insurgency. The public deserves to know how partylist groups like Gabriela, Kabataan, and ACT Teachers have repeatedly echoed CPP-NPA-NDF narratives, and engaged in obstructionist politics aimed at discrediting the gains of our whole-of-nation counterinsurgency campaign.
The March 16 statement cited in their complaint does not incite violence; it issues a challenge. A challenge for Makabayan leaders to finally and unequivocally denounce the terrorism, extortion, and recruitment perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF. But they never have, and judging by their actions, they never will. Instead, they mischaracterize firm, factual language as harassment while excusing or sanitizing the real threats coming from the armed insurgency.
Before they accuse others of peddling lies, they would do well to keep their own house in order. To claim that ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro was not convicted by a regional court of child abuse is gaslighting the public. The same goes for their deceptive propaganda of using photos of deceased individuals and misrepresenting the nature of their deaths. They dismiss former rebels as “traitors and state agents” yet elevate others to the status of “whistleblowers or insider witnesses.” This selective outrage only reveals the depth of the Makabayan bloc’s hypocrisy.
The NTF-ELCAC remains well within its legal and moral mandate. We will not be cowed by intimidation or legal maneuvering designed to silence the truth. We urge the Commission on Elections to critically view this recent complaint not as an issue of electioneering, but as part of a systematic and coordinated campaign to undermine the government’s efforts toward national peace and security.
As long as the CPP-NPA-NDF continues to infiltrate our institutions and manipulate public discourse through its “legal democratic organizations,” the NTF-ELCAC will persist in its mission to fearlessly provide a platform for plain old truth to speak for itself.
