Former CPP-NPA-NDF cadre Ka Arkins Evangelista (Screen grab)
MANILA – A former Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) cadre, who was once a coordinator of a party-list group in the Zamboanga area, urged Filipino voters to shun candidates and party-list groups fielded by the different communist legal front organizations in the 2022 elections.
During an interview over SMNI’s Laban Kasama ang Bayan Program on Oct. 11, Ka Arkins Evangelista revealed his work as a cadre operatorof the Bayan Muna party-list during the 2019 elections.
Evangelista said he was recruited into the CPP-NPA when he became a scholar of the Mindanao Interfaith Foundation Services Inc. (MISFI) in 2015.
After that, he became a member of the Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan (KAGUMA), an underground organization whose members are teachers and educators that support the communist armed struggle.
He was also once a volunteer for the human rights group Karapatan.
After graduating from college, Evangelista said he was told by a CPP-NPA Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee secretary, whom he named Ka Precy Alvarez, to go up to the mountains and attend a meeting in preparation for the 2019 elections in support of Bayan Muna party=-list and of the whole Makabayan bloc in Western Mindanao.
During the meeting, it was decided that Evangelista be appointed as the provincial coordinator for Bayan Muna in Zamboanga del Norte.
“Pagbaba ko ng bundok, may nag email na sa akin ng letter na galing kay Jennifer Agoob, dating finance secretary sa region. Tapos ayun sinend sa akin yung authorization letter na ako ang tinalagang provincial coordinator ng Bayan Muna sa Zamboanga del Norte. Pirmado ito ni Atty. Neri Colmenares (When I got down from the mountains, I immediately received an email from Jennifer Agoob, former finance secretary in the region. After that, I received an authorization letter stating that my appointment as the provincial coordinator of Bayan Muna in Zamboanga del Norte. This was signed by Atty. Neri Colmenares),” Evangelista narrated.
After formally receiving his appointment documents, Evangelista said he was sent to gather volunteers that will act as the Bayan Muna and the Makabayan Bloc poll watchers
He said they assigned as poll watchers for every barangay and municipality for the entire Zamboanga del Norte.
Another former CPP-NPA cadre Jeffrey "Ka Eric" Celiz explained they are already expecting Colmenares and the Bayan Muna party-list to deny their knowledge of Evangelista, including their connection to the communist terrorist group CPP-NPA-NDF.
Celiz, however, said it would be ridiculous if Colmenares indeed denies it, especially that he has been a party-list representative of Bayan Muna.
“Ridiculous yan kasi in a normal organization, you do not sign papers if you do not know where it is going and hindi mo alam kung sino ang gagamit niyan (That would be ridiculous because in a normal organization you do not sign papers if you do not know where it is going and you do not know who will be using it),” Celiz said.
Colmenares has already filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) with the Commission on Elections for senator in the May 9, 2022 elections under the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan) bloc, composed of party-list groups that include Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan.
With his experiences as former CPP-NPA-NDF cadre and former provincial coordinator for Bayan Muna, Evangelista appealed to all voters not to vote for Colmenares, and all the party-list organizations under the Makabayan Bloc, whom he calls CPP-NPA puppet in Congress.
“Sa mga botante, sana wag nyo iboto si Neri Colmenares at yung nasa Makabayan Bloc, ang Act Teachers, Gabriella, Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Anakpawis. Huwag na sila iboto kasi konektado sila sa CPP-NPA kasi yung pondo imbes na mapunta dun sa mga projects para sa mga nangangailangan, ang pondo napupunta sa CPP NPA para gamitin at sirain ang gobyerno at para mang recruit ng mga kabataan (To all the voters, please do not vote for Neri Colmenares and the entire Makabayan Bloc, the Act Teachers, Gabriella, Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Anakpawis. Do not vote for them because they are connected with the CPP-NPA and the funds are use are meant to destroy the government and recruit more youth),” Evangelista added.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
