Reds in Mindanao staging plot to oust Duterte – Eastmincom

DAVAO CITY — A military official here said the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), in the region were staging a plot to overthrow the Duterte administration, citing an intelligence report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Lieutenant General Benjamin Madrigal, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Easmincom), said the sectoral organizations under CPP were being mobilized in various parts of the region to oust Duterte.

“Included in areas being considered are Davao and Caraga regions wherein they will be using the above narratives to achieve the critical mass. This will be backed up by hyping the issue of alleged extrajudicial killings, attack on lumad communities, and human rights violations,” Madrigal said.

Madrigal said the communists continued to agitate both the urban poor and rural communities with campaigns like the Bakwit Lumad, attack on indigenous people schools and Lakbay Lumad.

He said the military discovered the destabilization plot being hatched by the communists against the president when the police arrested a communist personality in General Santos City on July 4.

“These pieces of information reveal that the mobilization will be in line with red letter dates, which include September 21, 2018, during the commemoration of Martial Law Declaration and the Peasant Week on the 3rd week of October,” Madrigal said.

In Eastern Mindanao, the NPA allegedly killed six tribal leaders suspected of being either military spies or anti-communist supporters.

Since January 1, this year, 659 communist guerrillas, 910 members of the so-called Milisyang Bayan and 285 members of the Sangay ng Partido sa Lokalidad,  surrendered to the government, according to Madrigal.

He said 7,294 members of underground mass organizations withdrew their support from the NPA.

He also said 256 Lumad NPA members surrendered to the government from January 2017 to September 23, this year. They are now being enrolled in the Enhance Comprehensive Localized Integration Program (E-CLIP)./lb

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