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Issue No. 24                        July 29-August 4,  2001                    Quezon City, Philippines

700 politicians in Southern Mindanao paid campaign fees -- NDF

By CARLOS H. CONDE
Bulatlat.com

DAVAO CITY - At least 700 candidates in Southern Mindanao paid the New People's Army (NPA) "permits to campaign" (PTCs) in the last elections, the National Democratic Front in the region revealed last week. Aside from the PTCs, many candidates also paid "endorsement fees," the Front added.

Both PTC and endorsement fees came not only in cash but also in kind including rice, medicines as well as guns and ammunition, the NDF added. The fees were meant to support the revolution but significant amounts would be used for the people's socio-economic or livelihood projects, communal farms, health and literacy campaigns and other projects within the guerrilla zones, it added.

The NDF also admitted that many politicians have been paying permit-to-campaign fees in Southern Mindanao during elections since 1987.

Rigoberto F. Sanchez, spokesman of the Merardo Arce Regional Operational Command of the New People's Army (NPA), made the announcement in the March-June 2001 issue of Pasa Bilis!, the NDF's newspaper in Southern Mindanao. Copies of the newspaper, which is published in Visayan, were distributed to media outlets here.

Although the article did not disclose how much each politician paid the NDF Sanchez pointed out that "most of those who ran for governor, board member, congressman, mayor and councilor recognized the authority of the People's Revolutionary Government in the region."

A check at the regional office of the Commission on Elections revealed that 2,365 candidates ran in the six provinces of Southern Mindanao last May. Most of them (1,800) ran for town councilor while 55 ran for congressman, 18 for governor, 17 for vice governor, 127 for provincial board member, 178 for mayor and 170 for vice mayor.

The NDF calls the PTC another form of revolutionary taxation that allows candidates to enter and campaign in "NDF-controlled or -influenced areas." The NPA assured the security of the candidates in the region, which is considered the hotbed of the communist rebellion in Mindanao.

Sanchez said in the article that the amount of PTC paid by a candidate was commensurate to his or her capacity to pay. Politicians usually paid in cash but would also pay with medicines, rice and, in some instances, guns and ammunition, the article noted.

Recognition of authority

Rubi del Mundo, NDF spokesperson in Southern Mindanao, said the payment of PTCs achieved three things for the movement: "It recognized the authority and power of the People's Revolutionary Government... It allowed us to build alliances with politicians (and)...to gather resources to finance the revolution."

The underground newspaper also reported that politicians were already going to the guerrilla zones in the early days of the campaign period to secure PTCs.

The meetings with the politicians, said Sanchez, "were cordial occasions where we built a climate of trust and respect for each other. Even if there were instances when a politician would complain about the high cost of running for public office, we easily got along when discussing the purpose of the taxation."

The article added that the relationship built by the NDF with the politicians went beyond paying the tax or giving out goods. "The PTC also meant an alliance between the revolutionary government and a vast section of the reactionary ruling elite," it said. "This temporary alliance helped in the expansion and strengthening of the movement. Most important of all, this alliance recognized the authority and the power of the People's Revolutionary Government." 

The election, it continued, "was also a rare occasion for the movement to support progressive candidates and endorse those who were not too reactionary, particularly those who faced dyed-in-the-wool reactionaries and fascists in the elections."

It noted that "fascist" candidates or those who had "blood debts" to the people were not given PTCs. In fact, it said, the election was an opportunity for the movement to carry out penalties handed down by the NDF's people's court.

It cited the case of a mayor in Agusan del Sur who was executed by the NPA during the campaign period. The mayor had been in the NPA's order of battle for a long time after killing a priest in Butuan in 1988, the article said. Scores of politicians who owed "blood debts" were also killed by the NPA during the campaign period.

 Secret endorsement

 The NDF also secretly endorsed several candidates but before any endorsement was made, the article noted, the NDF made sure it studied the track record of the politician, how he or she stood on certain issues, how reactionary or progressive he or she was, and what was his or her general relationship with the masses and the NPA.

 Many of those who asked to be endorsed paid an unspecified endorsement fee while some promised to help in the movement's projects and campaigns after the elections. "These politicians knew that in the face of a growing revolutionary movement and an expanding mass base in the countryside, they had no choice but to align themselves with the Left," the article said. 

 According to the NDF, the PTC and endorsement fees would go to a central fund and would be spent based on the movement's priorities: firearms and ammunition, socio-economic projects such as communal farms and cooperatives, mass movements and agrarian reform, medical and health expenses, literacy and education programs, cultural activities and programs, food and medicines for NPA cadres, support for the family of cadres, and expenses for guerrilla units.

 Extortion

 But Col. Felipe Berroya, commanding officer of the Army's 701st Infantry Brigade based in Mawab, Compostela Valley province, said what the NDF did was "plain extortion."

 "Payment of the PTC by politicians was not a recognition of the NDF because it was plain extortion," Berroya said in a phone interview. He said the NDF was forced to collect PTC and endorsement fees because "it had run out of money." He cited intelligence reports before the elections that indicated depletion in the communist movement's funds after the gold-mining operations in Southern Mindanao dwindled. 

 Lirio Joquiño, the Comelec's director for Southern Mindanao, did not comment on the NDF's disclosure. "I can't say anything about it because I don't know if it is true," she said. Bulatlat.com

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