Party-list groups called 'legal fronts' of NPAs

A former member of the National People's Army confirmed that some of the party-list organizations are the legal fronts of the communist movement in the country.

Pastor "Jun" Alcover, who was tapped by the province in relation to its all-out war against insurgents, yesterday warned the 888 barangay captains from the province present during the general assembly against these legal fronts being used in the expansion program of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Alcover was one of the original pioneering members in Cebu when the communist movement in the country started in 1969. He returned to the government around 20 years ago.

Alcover named some of these party-list groups as Bayan Muna, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Kilusang Mayo Uno and Gabriela. He also named school-based groups Association of Concerned Teachers and League of Filipino Students, among others.

In addition, Alcover said the reason why Ibon Foundation's reports dealing on socioeconomic issues are always speaking against the government because "it is not an ordinary survey group," adding that it is funded by the Communist Party of the Philippines as one of its officials is a communist who hails from Cebu.

Alcover said there is no sector in society which the CPP-NPA-NDF is not able to penetrate, including the tri-media and the police, but he said there is no sufficient data yet to prove that there are policemen here in Cebu connected with the communist movement.

He said that when he was still active in the communist party the nuns who supported them allowed the group to use the Good Shepherd Convent in Banawa as their headquarters.

Alcover said that based on the protracted war plan of the NPA in the country, "Cebu will be the last to fall" in accordance with the "center of gravity theory" espoused by their founder and leader Mao Tse-Tung.

According to the NPA economic warfare plan of the group, Cebu will easily collapse once Metro Manila in Luzon, where the seat of government is located; and Metro Davao in Mindanao, which is the source of agricultural supplies, are totally subjugated.

"No way. We will not allow that to happen. We will be the first province to make a stand and we will stand up, and we will continue standing for we will win in this battle against the communist-terrorists," Governor Gwen Garcia said yesterday.

In yesterday's general assembly, all the 888 village chiefs and eight municipal mayors present signed a manifestation expressing their support to the total all-out war policy of the government. There are a total of 1,125 villages in the province.

Garcia has given the barangays until August 10 to forward their resolution of support to the said policy to the Capitol.

None of the 29 village chiefs in Bogo town, which is the bailiwick of the opposition Martinez family, were present in the general assembly while only barangay Saksak was represented of all of the 26 villages in the opposition town of Pinamungajan, dominated by the Yapha family.

Moreover, all the coastal barangays were asked to pass an ordinance to mandate color-coding of all the pump boats in their area so authorities can easily recognize new pump boats berthing by the seaside, which possibly carry members of the NPA.

Meanwhile, military and police officials in Cebu adopted a new approach in their campaign against the insurgency problem especially in mid-northern Cebu by using a hotline where the public can relay information related to the activities of the NPA. The 78th Infantry Battalion, based in northern Cebu, can be reached by cell phone no. 09273440444. - Cristina C. Birondo with Jose P. Sollano