National Security Council (NSC) Director General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. disclosed Friday, Aug. 13, that he has supported the cancellation of the election registration of Gabriela Women's Party (GWP), a progressive group that advocates for women's issues in the Congress.

Esperon said he appeared before the 2nd Division of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) via virtual teleconference on Thursday to support a petition calling for the cancellation of the registration of GWP; General Assemly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action, Inc. (GABRIELA, Inc.); and General Assembly of Women and Reforms (GAWR) in the partylist system.

GWP or simply Gabriela is a political party that advocates for women's issues in the Congress. It said that it is separate, although allied, with GABRIELA Inc., which is a non-government organization (NGO) that seeks to address social issues affecting women. Meanwhile, the GAWR is another feminist group.

The petition was filed by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the country's primary anti-communist insurgency group, where Esperon serves as its co-chairman.

He said the petition was filed based on the ground that GABRIELA allegedly has been receiving multi-million peso worth of foreign funding from at least two non-government organizations (NGOs) based in Belgium and United Kingdom.

Although it was the GABRIELA Inc. that supposedly accepted the fundings, Esperon flagged GWP, GABRIELA Inc., and GAWR's alleged ploy in using its names "interchangeably," implying that the funds being obtained by the NGO -- supposedly for community development programs and women empowerment initiatives -- may have also been used in the previous elections.

"GABRIELA, Inc., GWP, and GAWR are closely interconnected," Esperon said.

In its Twitter account, the Gabriela Women's Party denied that it is "one and the same" with GABRIELA, Inc.

"Following Esperon's logic, anyone who uses Gabriela in her name is the same entity as us. This is utterly ridiculuous - we can name dozens of notable people around the world with the name Gabriela!" it said.

However, Esperon insisted that GWP violates Section 2, Paragraph 5, Article 9 (C) of the Philippine Constitution which states that political parties, organizations or coalitions "which are supported by any foreign government" shall "be refused registration" by the COMELEC.

Esperon further stated that GWP allegedly violated Rule 32, Section 8 (D) of the COMELEC's Rules of Procedures. The provision states that a political party's registration may be cancelled if it "has become a religious set or denomination, is pursuing its goals thru violence or other unlawful means, is refusing to adhere to or uphold the Constitution of the Philippines, or is receiving support from any foreign government."

He said GABRIELA received P1,811,867.35 from VIVA SALUD NZW, an accredited NGO in Belgium, on March 28, 2019; and six remittances ranging from P1,058,392.42 to P2,190,628.52 from INTL. FCSTONE LTD., based in London, United Kingdom from Sept. 2015 to March 2019.

Further, he pointed out that past representatives of GWP to the Congress were also ranking officials of GABRIELA Inc., including Rep. Emerenciana de Jesus who, he said, served as GWP representative from 2016 to 2019 and GABRIELA Inc. incorporator from 2013 to 2015; and GWP Rep. Liza Maza and Lana Linaban, who supposedly became incorporators of GABRIELA Inc.

He noted that GWP used the acronym "GABRIELA" when it submitted its Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) to COMELEC in 2016, and in its General Information Sheet (GIS) which they sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2014 to 2015.

To emphasize his point, the national security adviser bared that GWP Rep. and GABRIELA Inc. Chairperson De Jesus allegedly contributed P930,000 to the campaign funds of GWP during the 2019 National and Local Elections.

With the "continued legal action against GWP," Esperon said he is trying to "expose the partylist's willful and deliberate circumvention of the provisions of the Constitution and COMELEC rules."

The next hearing on the petition to cancel the registration of Gabriela Women's Party will be on August 26.