MANILA – The European Union said it would investigate the supposed diversion of its aid to the communist movement through nongovernment organizations (NGOs), as what the Philippine government had alleged.
In a statement on Saturday, the EU Delegation in Manila said it has set an audit this April of EU grants to certain Philippine organizations allegedly being funneled to communist rebels.
The European bloc said it already received documents that serve as evidence on the Philippine government’s allegations that a certain group was acting as legal front of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
The EU took action in response to a new Philippine report that elaborated on the allegation the latter first made in January, which the bloc “has so far not been able to verify.”
With the submission of evidence, the EU said it would conduct a fresh audit.
“On 28 March, the EU received a set of documents concerning the more specific allegations by the Government. The EU now will verify and evaluate these documents. A financial audit by an external company is due to be conducted in April,” the EU statement read.
The EU noted that it would not allow these “terrorist groups” to hold the assets of the 28-country union. It has considered the CPP and the NPA as terrorist groups since 2005, “which means inter alia that no assets can be held in EU by these organizations.”
It did not identify the NGO, but noted that it is “fully registered and continues to operate legally in the Philippines.”
In a letter dated March 26 to Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Philippine National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. alleged that “EU funds are used to sustain terrorist activities of the longest existing communist-terrorist organization in the world, the CPP-NPA.”
He added that EU funds were being “used to finance terrorist front organizations to recruit, traffic and exploit children to become child warriors.”
Esperon cited information disclosed by the Belgian foreign ministry that supposedly showed that “several CPP-NPA-linked alternative schools and NGOs are funded by the Belgian government through its NGOs.”
“The Belgian government, through different NGOs based in Belgium, has indirectly and unwittingly partnered with various NGOs in the Philippines that act as legal fronts of the CPP-NPA,” read part of Esperon’s letter.
Esperon identified the Belgian organizations as SOLIDAGRO, Viva Salud and KIYO. (ABS-CBN News/PN)
