Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Chief for Administration Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia. (Screengrab from RTVM video)
CEBU CITY – The second highest official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday called for a unified force to fight attempts to disrupt the May 9 elections and to resist any forms of destabilization of the government.
Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, PNP deputy chief for administration, underscored the need to intensify measures that counter the efforts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) to undermine the sanctity of the upcoming elections.
Speaking before members of the force multipliers and advocacy groups attending the Duterte Legacy Caravan at the Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. here, Sermonia hinted at the successful intrusion of the communist front organizations into the different sectors of the community.
“Lalo pa po nating palakasin ang puersa na ito dahil sa darating na eleksyon, marahil bago mag-eleksiyon or even during the day of election or even pagkatapos ng eleksyon ay meron pong pagbanta na panggugulo ng mga rebelde through their front organizations sa ibat-ibang sektor (Let's strengthen further our force because in the coming election, or before the election or even during the day of the election or even after the election, there is a threat of unrest by the rebels through their front organizations in various sectors),” Sermonia said.
He urged Central Visayas residents not to allow the communist terrorist groups to win in their intention to destroy the integrity of the forthcoming national and local elections.
“When we go home, let’s tell them, warn the members of the CPP-NPA-NDF to stop deceiving and exploiting the Filipinos,” he said in Filipino.
Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) who also graced the Duterte Legacy Caravan hosted by the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Region 7, echoed Sermonia’s call for a unified effort to combat destabilization attempts against the government.
Malaya said the report about the plan of the leftists to disrupt the forthcoming elections was exposed by the presidential aspirants.
“Kalabanin po natin ang ano mang uri ng destabilization at ano mang uli o plano na hindi nila sundin ang boses ng taumbayan sa Mayo 9 (Let's oppose any kind of destabilization and any recurrence or plan that they will not follow the voice of the people on May 9),” Malaya said.
In an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in March, President Rodrigo Duterte said the opposition and the communist rebels had “working relations” and might disrupt the upcoming elections.
Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director, Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, who also attended the caravan, said the national government is winning the war against the CPP-NPA-NDF because of the whole-of-national approach espoused by Duterte in the Executive Order No. 70 that formalized the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the ATC on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
