ANTI-INSURGENCY DRIVE. Tribal leaders pose with members of the Filipino community, in a forum hosted by the Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Sunday (July 7, 2019). They appealed to Filipinos to help expose the atrocities of the CPP-NPA-NDF. (Photo by Mac Villarino/PCOO)
WISCONSIN — Indigenous people’s (IP) leaders on Sunday appealed to the Filipino community here to be vigilant in giving support to organizations asking for financial assistance, saying these might be channeled to groups affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
“They have campaigns of adoption of schools, adoption of students, adoption of alleged teachers, but the CPP-NPA-NDF imposes a policy on these organizations, where 60 percent of funds goes to them,” Datu Jacob Lanes said in an interview.
Lanes, of the Mandaya tribe from Davao City, said the CPP-NPA-NDF has built its networks across the world while fostering a strategy that includes armed struggle and the use of progressive fronts.
“The Filipino community, especially in the United States and Europe, should be vigilant so that they will not fall to the deception of the CPP using their different organizations,” Lanes added.
Stopping the channeling of funds to the Reds’ front groups, Lanes said, would constrain the capacity of the their armed wing to operate and frustrate their ability to launch attacks.
Hypocrisy
Datu Ramon Bayaan, on the other hand, said communist insurgents have been deceiving IP communities, bringing them to rallies that go as far as Manila.
“Itong problema namin, malaki ang koneksyon sa US. Mag rally ang mga komunistang terorista sa Manila, sa Davao, unsa ilang gi-singgit? Ibagsak ang US, ibagsak ang imperyalismo (Our problem has a huge connection here in the US. The communist terrorists would rally in Manila, in Davao, what do they shout? Bring down US, bring down imperialism),” he said.
Bayaan, however, said he wondered why amid their call to oppose the US and bring down capitalism and imperialism, they would still ask financial aid from organizations in the US.
“Sa madaling salita, nagilad gyud sila. Kay dili sila gusto sa gobyerno sa US, pero nangayo sila ug suporta gikan sa mga organisasyon sa US (In other words, they deceive us. Because they don’t want the US government, but they ask support from organizations in the US),” added Bayaan, tribal leader of the Obu-Manuvu tribe.
APPEAL TO PINOYS. Tribal leaders speak up against the atrocities of communist terrorist groups in the Philippines, in a forum hosted by the Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Sunday (July 7, 2019). They called on Filipinos to be more discerning of providing financial assistance to groups, citing that communist front groups get funding from countries abroad in the guise of pro-poor programs. (Photo by Mac Villarino/PCOO)
Lanes and Bayaan were among the eight tribal leaders who paid a visit to the Filipino community here to help disseminate their stories in America — how communist terrorists try to control and manage their ancestral domains, killing tribal chieftains who would go against them in the process.
Emotional persuasion
Jocelyn Agoncillo Ramos, executive director of the Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation, Inc., said the communist terrorists have been “utilizing emotions” to rally the Filipino community to believe in their narrative.
“It’s always the sad story that they’ll use, they will use issues on women, labor, and when you empathize with them, then you help them,” she said.
The groups, she said, sow anguish among overseas Filipinos through painting a climate of fear in the Philippines, so they would be convinced to donate money that would supposedly go to disadvantaged sectors back home.
‘Educate yourselves’
Meanwhile, clinic administrator Erlinda Ramos said she has been receiving e-mails from international groups asking donations to help vulnerable sectors in the Philippines.
“These groups appeal to you, like ‘join us,’ or ‘we need your support.’ Well, you need to find out where they are based, where your money is going, what it’s for,” she said.
“The bottomline is, if you’re going to give help to somebody, make sure you know, you research where your money is going to go. You have to know,” she added.
In March, the European Union vowed to investigate allegations that its assistance funds were being funneled to the CPP-NPA.
The Philippine government has requested the EU to "immediately cease" its funding being channeled to groups acting as legal fronts of the CPP-NPA.
Based on a report presented by the Philippine government before officials of the EU, European Parliament, and the European Commission, communist front organizations receive funds from the Belgian government and some European countries in the guise of marginalized and pro-poor programs.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
