NPA leader says no fee for campaign

from Philippine Daily Inquirer

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100317-259306/NPA-leader-says-no-fee-for-campaign

BAGUIO CITY — An official of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) said guerrilla leaders would allow political candidates to campaign in Cordillera villages where communist rebels operate without paying permit to campaign (PTC) fees.

Simon Naogsan, spokesman of the CPDF, the local political arm of the National Democratic Front, said New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have never forced candidates to pay the NPA in exchange for access to so-called rebel territories.

Donations

But Naogsan said donations that rebels received during the election period in 2007 reached P500,000 worth of cash and goods in the Cordillera alone.

What rebel leaders in the region wanted was coordination to avoid clashes between guerrillas and security escorts of politicians, he said.

Naogsan said the group would welcome “any help or support from these candidates in cash or in kind … even moral support.”

“Kusang loob nilang ibinibigay (Candidates give us cash or goods on their own volition),” he said.

Goods

The type of goods previously donated to the rebels were firearms, mobile phones and food.

“In fact, even without the PTC, candidates may campaign in areas that we cover. PTC is not necessary. All they have to do is negotiate with us properly because we are strict [about our] security,” he said.

He said NPA rebels needed to know if candidates would bring along armed bodyguards. Rebels also need to be assured that the security men hired by candidates are not serving as spies for the government.

Where cash goes

He said cash donations helped fund the CPDF’s “administrative operations,” as well as training services for farmers.

Major Rosendo Armas, spokesman of the military’s Northern Luzon Command, said the military has no confirmation yet that PTC fees have been paid by candidates in Central and Northern Luzon.

“There were reports in Southern [Luzon], particularly in Bicol [about PTC fees]. We haven’t had any reports in our region [although] there were orders to our field units to closely monitor the areas where NPAs operate,” Armas said.

The military has advised candidates to reject rebel demands for fees to campaign. Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon