FILE PHOTO: A flag bearing the logo of the CPP-NPA. Photo from the Philippine Army
MANILA, Philippines — The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Thursday welcomed the decision of a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) denying the government’s bid to tag the communist movement and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, as “terrorists.”
“The decision comes as a pleasant surprise,” CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena said in a statement.
“Having stated that we welcome the September 21, 2022 decision of the Manila RTC dismissing the said petition of the DOJ (Department of Justice) in which it failed to establish any basis for declaring the CPP and NPA as terrorists,” he added.
READ: Huge setback for gov’t as court nixes bid to declare CPP-NPA terror org
Valbuena likewise lauded the Manila RTC for recognizing that the CPP’s action plans “are reasonable aspirations of any civilized society.”
“We see that the judge took a historical point-of-view and situated the revolutionary movement from the perspective of the Filipino people’s struggle against oppression and exploitation,” he noted.
“On initial reading, we found the 135-page decision … reasonable and fair,” he also said.
The Anti-Terrorism Council has labeled the CPP-NPA as a terrorist group since 2020.
Similarly, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have deemed the CPP-NPA a terrorist organization.
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