THERE seems to be more to Cong. Raoul Danniel Abellar Manuel of Kabataan party-list other than his silly TikTok videos dancing like a salted worm that invaded social media some years back. But we’re not talking about his dancing skills or the lack of it; who cares if he aspires to be a dancing queen or a member of the “Sex Bomb” dancers?
Take note, I never insult anyone, I just describe them properly.
Manuel is a classic eskolar ng bayan, a product of public schools from elementary, high school till university. He is an alumnus of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, graduating with some sort of Latin phrase after his name.
With all the taxpayer’s money spent for his higher learning, it is expected that he uses his education to help the state in nation-building. Unfortunately, that is not the case, if the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) were to be believed. He seems to be more interested in the withering away of the state?
Manuel does not have bragging rights to identify himself as the offspring of peasant parents. He belongs to the middle class, the eldest son of an overseas Filipino worker and an entrepreneur. He strongly opposes a mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program and a staunch LGBTQ advocate (which should not come as a surprise), yet he wants to “defend the West Philippine Sea”, others maybe, but definitely not him as he’s against ROTC.
According to NTF-ELCAC, two persons who claim to be former CPP/NPA/NDF cadres are challenging the Kabataan party-list representative to come out of the aparador, face them, and publicly deny his alleged involvement in recruiting students into the underground movement, and also deny his alleged participation in a revolutionary integration program in Mindanao in 2017 when he was the UP Student Regent.
Justine Kate Raca and Arian Jane Ramos allege that some recruits turned up dead or wounded in encounters with government troops not long after they joined the NPA.
Ramos claims to be a former Gabriela Youth leader/secretary of the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Command. Raca, on the other hand, says she was a former NPA political officer. They are challenging Manuel to publicly deny their allegations, according to NTF-ELCAC.
Of course, Manuel and the Makabayan bloc pulled out the victim card a.k.a. “red tagging”.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict says it welcomes any legal action from Manuel, as such move would provide it a platform to further reveal evidences.
NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres said; “If Manuel genuinely believes we are in the wrong, he should not hesitate to file any charges he deems appropriate. We welcome the legal process, as it will allow for a deeper examination of his affiliations. Let it be clear: we will not retract any of our statements or videos that expose individuals and groups acting as fronts for the CPP/NPA/NDF.”
Finally, don’t vote for all party-lists under the umbrella of the Makabayan bloc./PN
