National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The order to ban alleged pro-communist websites is “anti democracy?”
That’s a bit rich coming from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who is actively pushing for the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon on Thursday.
“Kung galing sa CPP yan, ano ba ang ine-encourage ng Communist Party of the Philippines? Communist revolution, dictatorship of the proletariat. Aba, eh ang gusto natin ay democratically elected and constituted government. So sino ngayon ang mas may masamang balak,” Esperon told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City when asked to react to CPP’s remarks.
(If that’s coming from the CPP, what is the Communist Party of the Philippines encouraging? Communist revolution, dictatorship of the proletariat. Well, what we want is democratically elected and constituted government. So who is now having the bad intentions?)
CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena on Wednesday said the government has erected an “anti democracy internet firewall” after ordering the block of access to over two dozen websites of groups allegedly allied with the CPP.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba ordered internet service providers (ISPs) in the country to block the website of CPP, its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA), the National Democratic Front (NDF), and other supposed communist-linked websites upon the request of Esperon.
The NTC ordered ISPs to block access to 27 websites “affiliated to and are supporting” CPP-NPA-NDF, which the Philippine government designated as terrorist organizations.
Telecommunications companies PLDT Inc. and Converge ICT Solutions Inc. have since complied with the NTC order.
Esperon reiterated that the content of the blocked websites espouses pro-CPP-NPA-NDF propaganda.
“We have evaluated that, indeed, their content is not in the interest of giving true and correct information, but in the interest of propaganda and generating hatred against the government, simply because that is their role, as part of their role to bring down this duly constituted democratic government,” he also said.
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