Police say no incidents during anti-communist rallies

December 26, 2019

The Philippine National Police ( PNP) on Thursday said no untoward incidents were recorded as simultaneous anti-communist public indignation rallies were held by civil society groups.

“Simultaneous anti-communist public indignation rallies were held today by civil society groups in separate locations nationwide culminated peacefully with no untoward incidents reported with PNP units providing area security for the events,” said Police Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa, PNP’s officer-in-charge, said in a statement.

Gamboa said the indignation rallies were held in 74 locations across the country, from Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao including five in Metro Manila as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) celebrated its 51st anniversary.

“There is no reason to celebrate if the cause they are fighting for over the last five decades has already resulted in tens of thousands of Filipinos dead,” he said.

“Instead, this whole of nation approach against communist insurgency offers brighter prospects for peace and national unity among broad sectors of Filipino society,” he added.

The indignation rallies were attended by civil society organizations, families of victims of CPP-NPA hostilities, youth and student sector representatives.

Local government units and religious and indigenous people organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) condemned the terrorist activities of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Prominent among participants were aggrieved parents, the Hands-off Our Children Group, and members of the League of Filipino Parents in the Philippines who took turns to condemn the CPP and (NPA) as the terrorists induced its supporters through propaganda to arouse and mobilize marginalized sectors in the countryside and infiltrate state universities and colleges and public schools to advance their cause and create chaos in the community.

“The latest acts of treachery and deceit by the CPP-NPA-NDF (is) when it carried out landmine attacks on troops returning to barracks upon declaration of unilateral ceasefire on December 23 manifests its insincerity to give peace a chance,” Gamboa said.

The National Democratic Front (NDF) denied the claim of the police and military that their armed wing, the NPA, violated a holiday ceasefire declared by President Rodrigo Durterte on Sunday. Ella Dionisio/DMS