The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said today that the New People's Army (NPA) “expects to earn from P3 billion up to P5 billion” from “permit-to-campaign” fees in its strongholds in the countryside.

In an interview on ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda (Pleasant Morning) TV show, Colonel Daniel Lucero of the Philippine Army said that the NPA's alleged “extortion” activities is “very disturbing.”

"There used to be different types of permits including permit to campaign. Now there's a PPP (permit to post posters). You cannot stick a poster in these areas without that permit," Lucero said.

"The going rate [of the NPA] is from P5,000 to P20 million (about USD109 to USD435,000) from municipal councilor to president. The rates may vary in different regions and depending on the candidate's affinity to the (rebels)," said Army Major Eugenio Julio Cosas.

CHR slams NPA “extortion”

For their part, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) condemned the NPA's collection of “permit-to-campaign fees” as a “form of extortion” and "repugnant... to valued human rights principles and standards, not only of candidates and political parties, but of the individual voters as well.”

“Many human rights are affected, as they are impaired, by this pervading practice attributed to the NPAs, such as the rights to equality, free expression, freedom of movement and freedom against discrimination... Not only is it an unfair and illegal electoral practice, but it cuts deep into the very essence of free and genuine suffrage,” said CHR chair Leila De Lima in a statement.

The CHR classified the NPA as a “non-state actor,” which “may also be held liable for human rights violations” under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law.

“Observe policies in revolutionary areas”

The NPA, which is the armed group of the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), dismissed the AFP's claims as “dirty psywar attacks against the revolutionary forces.”

It also said that the CHR, upon issuing its statement, was “caught in the web of tell tales spun by the AFP.” The NPA added that it is “confident” that the CHR and De Lima will “keep open minds” on the said issue.

The NPA said that it is not a “non-state actor,” as the CHR claimed, but is a “government” on its own and “has its own state powers.” It defended its “permit-to-campaign” policy, saying that it had “effectively eliminated election-related violent incidents in areas under revolutionary jurisdiction.”

“In many areas in the countryside, these two governments [national government and the 'revolutionary' CPP-led 'government'] exist side by side... even as the ruling reactionary state remains formally in power and some activities of the reactionary system, such as the reactionary elections, still go on in varying degrees,” the NPA explained.

The CPP, although branding the May 2010 elections as a “farcical” one, supports the presidential candidacy of Senator Manny Villar, the Philippine Star earlier reported.

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