Opposition congressman, Magdalo Party-list Rep. Manuel Cabochan III listed down the reasons why he thinks the alleged "coalition" between Vice President Leni Robredo and the New People's Army (NPA) is baloney.
"Allegations from different camps regarding the coalition between VP Leni and the NPA are merely black propaganda," Cabochan said in a statement.
"It should be noted that these accusations only arose after the series of crowd-filled campaign rallies of VP Leni," he noted.
"Further, many former high-ranking officials of the military and police have given their endorsement to VP Leni. With their access to reliable intelligence and reputations on the line, I do not think they would be supporting someone with ties with the NPA," the former Navy official argued.
Cabochan then juxtaposed the current allegations against Robredo and President Duterte’s pro-left stance when he was still new in Malacañang.
"Noong 2016, pinagsigawan pa ni Duterte na, 'Mabuhay ang NPA!' (Back in 2016, Duterte was openly saying, 'Longlive the NPA!) He also identified himself as Left. No one expressed alarm about it. Some even justified those pronouncements to mean that Duterte can unite everyone.
"Noong libu-libo ang patayan , tahimik sila. Nang makakita ng libu-libong naka-pink, biglang naalarma (When thousands were being slain in the war on drugs, they were quiet. Now that thousands are sen wearing pink, they get alarmed)," the solon said.
The NPA is the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which the Duterte administration now considers as terrorists.