AFP to intensify info drive vs alleged communist fronts

MANILA, Philippines — The military on Monday vowed to step up its information drive against groups identified as fronts for the communist movement.

In a statement, Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade, deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, admitted that the military “needs to work some more” to inform the public about the “duplicity” of some groups that topped the latest Pulse Asia poll on party-list organizations.

Parlade was commenting on the results of the March 23-27 Pulse Asia poll that showed groups allegedly linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), and its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), were the preferred party-list organizations among voters.

Bayan Muna, Gabriela

He was particularly referring to Bayan Muna and Gabriela.

“It is our obligation to the people to let them know about this duplicity of these people (alleged CPP-NPA-NDFP front groups),” he said.

Parlade questioned the results of the survey saying, “Bayan Muna to be No. 1? Conduct the survey in places where the people have been enlightened and you will get a different result.”

“This means that we need to come out with more exposés so the public will better understand what these groups are,” he said.

“If the people consider them preferred party-lists, it means the public do not have a deep grasp of what these groups are. But it’s their choice,” Parlade said.

“Now our effort would focus on revealing the true nature of these organizations to change people’s minds,” he added.

“These groups only represent the interest of the CPP-NPA and the people should know.  We will expose them some more and let’s see the result of the next survey,” he said.