Joma: NPA members in quake-hit areas do not need anything from Duterte

LUCENA CITY — Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison claimed that the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels affected by earthquakes do not need any assistance from the government.

“The NPA does not need anything from Duterte. He is a foolish enemy of the NPA,” Sison said in a short statement from Utrecht in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

“The people’s government, NPA and the revolutionary masses have an effective disaster relief system in the (tremor hit) areas,” he said.

Sison issued the statement after President Duterte ordered the government not to extend any assistance to the NPA members affected by the powerful 6.5-magnitude quake that hit the Visayas on Tuesday.

“Pagka ang NPA nabaon doon, huwag mong tulungan. Gagastos lang ako sa mga p….. i.. (If the NPA are buried there, don’t help them. I will just spend for the ….),” Duterte reportedly told Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Deputy Director Bartolome Bautista after he was briefed about the Eastern Samar quake during a situational conference on the Luzon earthquake in San Fernando City, Pampanga.

The NPA units in the earthquake-stricken areas have yet to issue reports about the damage in their so-called territories.