The Philippine government has asked Belgium and other countries of the European Union  (EU) to stop providing funds to certain organizations in the Philippines which have ended in the coffers of the Communist Party of the Philippines  (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). A Philippine delegation  has met with officials of the EU and the European Parliament and the European Commission  with a request  to “stop the flow of funds to identified Communist  terrorist  front organizations.” The Belgian government, according to Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., Armed Forces  deputy chief of staff for civil-military  operations,  has just released the first  tranch of 621,000  euros  (about P36.6 million) of a  total 15-million-euro  grant to certain non-government  organizations  (NGOs)  undertaking aid programs  for the poor and the marginalized. The Philippine  delegation, however, said  that  some of these NGOs are actually Communist front organizations. The  front  organizations, according to Alex Paul Monteagudo, director-general of  the National Intelligence  Coordinating Agency,  are able to divert  some 60 percent of the donated funds to the Communist  Party  which then uses the funds to support  its activities such as rallies and the purchase of weapons. Gilles de Kerchove, coordinator of   EU  Counter-Terrorism, vowed to look into the information.  Gunnar Weigand, managing director of the European External Action Service, promised to conduct  an independent  financial  audit this month. In the same week that that this report came out,  the  Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)   said that several candidates in the midterm election to be held in May  have paid a least P200 million for “permits to campaign” and “permits to win.” DILG  Secretary  Eduardo  Ano  said  there are now 349  politicians in the DILG “watch list” who have given such “protection money” – including 11 governors, five  vice governors,  10 provincial board members, 55 mayors, 21 vice mayos, 41 councilors, 126  barangay captains,  50 barangay councilors,  and eight other barangay officials. Secetary Ano  admitted  there is  no airtight information to warrant  the filing of  charges against these officials. Very probably,  these officials   see  they have to pay these amounts until government  forces succeed in eliminating the NPA threat in their areas. These two reports – from Brussels, Belgium, and from  the DILG – show one angle of the CPP-NPA problem, how it is able  to support its operations with funding  from  various sources . This may help explain how it has managed to survive  all these years   when other Communist Parties in the world have long  been disbanded. At  the start of his administration, President  Duterte  declared  his intention to reach  out to the CPP-NPA leaders in a bid to end their rebellion, meeting them in talks and agreeing to a number  of social, economic, and political reform  measures. The peace talks have since broken down but  the  hope  remains that they will yet resume  and they will reach agreement, and the  decades-long rebellion will finally come to an end.