FOR STARTERS, I’ll just park this: Republic Act (RA) 10168, “The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012”.
It is the policy of the State to protect life, liberty, and property from acts of terrorism and to condemn terrorism and those who support and finance it and to recognize it as inimical and dangerous to national security and the welfare of the people, and to make the financing of terrorism a crime against the Filipino people, against humanity, and against the law of nations.
Toward this end, the State shall reinforce its fight against terrorism by criminalizing the financing of terrorism and related offenses, and by preventing and suppressing the commission of said offenses through freezing and forfeiture of properties or funds while protecting human rights.
For the uninitiated, anybody caught with their knickers down giving financial support to any internationally-recognized terrorist group, i.e. the CPP/NPA/NDF, is in violation of RA 10168.
And with the midterm elections / campaign period just round the corner, it’s the time of the year that the CPP/NPA/NDF traditionally looks to as one of their most profitable fund-raising activities.
This comes in the form of what is euphemistically referred to by “revolutionary tax collectors” as “campaign fees” – in simpler terms, extorting money, usually in ridiculously huge amounts from gullible politicians and wannabee politicians in exchange for permission to campaign unmolested in their so-called controlled areas.
During the heydays of the CPP/NPA/NDF, no politician would dare campaign in their so-called controlled areas without fear of being harassed or ambushed and killed.
But that was then. Things have changed with the relentless military sorties and the campaign of the NTF-ELCAC in winning the hearts and minds of the people; this more than 50 years old communist insurgency has withered away.
Meaning, the AFP/NTF-ELCAC has successfully dismantled all the 89 active CPP/NPA/NDF fronts and former rebels are now lining up to surrender to the authorities.
On top of that, the death of all top CPP/NPA/NDF leaders is the final straw in their demise. They’re now running around like headless chickens. With their ideology no longer able to sustain them, they turned to banditry.
That is why this election thingy is a last-ditch desperate move to resurrect the dying insurgency by reviving or reorganizing new guerilla fronts in the guise of campaigning/organizing supporters for the coming elections, including raising funds ostensibly for election purposes.
Unfortunately for them, this happened: 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.
Take note that this conviction is very much timely as elections are drawing near. 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.
This means that candidates who pay so-called “revolutionary” or “campaign fees” to terrorists are in violation of RA 10168 and face charges of conspiracy to commit rebellion, any financial support to rebels may be interpreted as aiding their cause.
Take note that providing funds to the enemy is a direct support to their cause, and it constitutes a conspiracy, according to the Philippine National
Police – Region 6 Director.
The revolution is dead, bankrupt and will no longer be televised. Joma Sison must be spinning in his grave./PN
