BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
INDEED, history was made with this landmark conviction of an accomplice in terrorism financing, marking the first of its kind in Western Visayas and a significant milestone in the government’s intensified campaign against the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and their illicit networks.
On September 2, 2023 at the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 in Kalibo, Aklan, Ian Arevallo y Inson pleaded guilty to being an accomplice in terrorism financing.
Arevallo, a member of the CPP-NDF-NPA Komiteng Rehiyon Panay “taxation unit,” was involved in extorting money from businesses, contractors, and politicians across Panay Island and other parts of Western Visayas. He was apprehended during an entrapment operation in Makato, Aklan. While in detention, he confessed the exploitation and deceit underlying the CPP-NPA-NDF’s extortion activities.
“This conviction under the Anti-Terrorism Financing Law and Rebellion is a landmark victory for the people of Western Visayas in our campaign against terror and all those who are supporting them,” according to Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson, RTF6-ELCAC.
This marks the end of the long-standing syndicated extortion activities being conducted by the communist terrorist group, which resulted in substantial economic losses to businesses, private and public contractors, and infrastructure projects of the government.
This victory in court is a fair warning to the CPP-NPA-NDF and their enablers that the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them.
Take note that this conviction is very much timely as elections are just around the corner. In the past, it was always an open season for the CPP-NPA-NDF to extort “campaign fees” or whatever they call them from gullible politicians.
Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr., executive director of NTF-ELCAC, described the conviction as a crucial victory in the nationwide fight against terrorism, saying;
“This landmark conviction sends a clear and powerful message: terrorism and its financing have no place in our society. It reflects the collective resolve of the Filipino people to reject those who seek to disrupt our peace and security.
“This conviction is a testament to the strength and fairness of our justice system. It underscores that those who support or engage in terrorist activities will inevitably face the full force of the law and this legal victory strengthens our resolve to continue our campaign against all threats to peace and order. The NTF-ELCAC remains resolute in its mission to end the communist insurgency and ensure that justice prevails for all Filipinos,” Usec. Torres added.
Of course, this successful operation was executed in partnership with the Special Task Group on Countering Communist Terrorist Group – Resource Generation and the Joint Focus Legal Action Team 6, alongside the National Prosecution Service. Likewise the NTF-ELCAC extended its commendation to the Police Regional Office 6 for their unwavering commitment to combating terrorism.
Meanwhile, with this more than 50 years old communist insurgency nonsense withering away, I have yet to hear the usual suspects and the “useful idiots” make the usual noises about this landmark conviction.
The boring slogans and whining about “human rights” and “red tagging” no longer work as their ideology can no longer sustain them, so they turn to banditry and extortion and that too was foiled with this landmark conviction.
All their leaders are either dead or simply senile with old age, more concerned with adult diapers and maintenance pills than running a revolution.
What’s left are the noisy “useful idiots” in the universities, the usual suspects in Congress, you know the remnants of the so-called Makabayan bloc party-list representatives now aligning themselves with the traditional “crocodiles” err politicians and behaving like seasoned “trapos”.
The “revolution” will no longer be televised./PN
