By ARTEMIO ALEGRE DUMLAO
SOMEWHERE IN NORTHERN LUZON
- Marxist guerrillas operating in the hinterlands of Ilocos and Cordillera
regions are more than ready to face armed goons of political warlords “teeth
to teeth” as part of their “police function” to ensure orderly and
peaceful elections this May, a top rebel leader said.
"This is a special role
of the New People’s Army (NPA): to ward off cheating and election-related
violence by opposing candidates who have armed themselves against the
people," Ka (Comrade) Rudy, nom de guerre of Jovencio Balweg, leader of the
Abra-based Agustin Begnalen Command (ABC) of the Communist Party of the
Philippines-led NPA bared from his remote mountain lair.
Communist guerillas have
readied themselves and harnessed their skills against armed goons of political
warlords, Ka Rudy said, even as government election officials and the police
have identified possible "watchlist areas" in Abra, Kalinga and Ilocos
Norte where violence could erupt between supporters of opposing candidates.
“To keep the peace, we are
determined to disarm these goons to prevent any armed confrontations,” the
rebel leader said as he disclosed similar experiences of the NPA during the 1998
elections.
In the past election in
Malibcong town, Abra, the NPA launched "military actions" against
local government unit officials who used government-issued VHF radio
communication equipment to command armed goons terrorizing their political
opponents. They confiscated the mobile radios and exposed the dastardly acts to
the voting public. "We were able to deter clashes," Ka Rudy narrated.
In Tineg, an upland town
south of Bangued, the capital of Abra province, each warlord has about 100 high
powered rifles (HPRs) according to the NPA count in 1998, he added.
The rebel leader also
disclosed that warlordism in Abra has become so prevalent nowadays, even as it
is a relatively new phenomenon in upland areas compared to lowland Ilocos
provinces where loose firearms are said to be included in the candidates'
"war chests."
If it cannot be prevented,
the NPA will launch military actions against goons because ultimately it is the
people who will bear the brunt of the crossfire between opposing candidates, Ka
Rudy warned.
In Lagangilang town in 1998,
the NPA engaged armed goons of a politician in a firefight killing two of them.
Ka Rudy however put more
weight to educating political supporters of opposing candidates as a more
effective solution.
He said, they have written
letters to political clans in conflict in Lagayan town as well as their
followers condemning the violence and explaining that they should not be
fighting each other but should instead unite.
Two weeks ago, election
officials and the police failed to convince opposing candidates in Lagayan to
forge a "peace pact" in the midst of a series of election-related
killings starting the last quarter of last year. The latest incident in the town
was the shooting to death of barangay kagawad Rogelio Seguera and the reported
mauling of the witness in Barangay Pangot, Lagayan last February 10.
Early this year, a passenger
jeepney bound for Poblacion, Lagayan was ambushed by men wielding high-powered
firearms. Last January 2, municipal councilor Leonardo Parado, Sr. died from an
ambush allegedly by supporters of his opponents' political camp.
Ka Rudy said that the
campaign against political warlords is a growing role of their police functions
in their areas of operations even as government election officials still earmark
active NPA presence as an indicator of potential election violence.
“Aside from our campaigns
against criminals like cattle rustlers, rapists and businessmen-despots in the
barrios where the armed revolutionary movement enjoys respect and control,
fighting against warlords is a very essential function of the NPA to defend the
people,” he continued to explain.
A local peasant resident who
spoke on conditions of anonymity confirmed that the NPA’s presence in their
barangay deters crime. Crimes only happen when the government's military come,
he told in Iluko vernacular. We appreciate the NPA for doing this where the
government's police could not act as such, he said. #