Communists always see Philippine elections as an opportunity to penetrate and potentially overthrow a duly-elected leadership, presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Friday, March 11.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate National Defense and Security Committee, said the longstanding war between government forces and groups espousing communist ideologies is not only political, but also a personal tragedy for him.
He emphasized that he did not intend to ruffle the feathers of Vice President Leni Robredo and her supporters when he expressed concern over the possibility that they have been infiltrated by persons linked to leftist organizations--something that he says has been clearly taken out of context.
His statement also stirred the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which stated in its social media page that ‘’Lacson’s red-tagging against the camp of presidential candidate Leni Robredo is serving the tyrant Duterte’s scenario-building to justify the possibility of imposing martial law as a last resort option to secure power.’’
‘’The presidential candidate Lacson who surely is aware that he has no chances of winning, is using his campaign as platform to serve as Duterte’s attack dog against the Robredo camp,’’ the CPP statement added.
Lacson, the Partido Reporma standard-bearer, recalled he once figured in an ambush perpetrated by Red rebels, which resulted in the death of a young lieutenant.
He said this was the context behind his statement about a "coalition government", which he said already happened during past administrations to disappointing results.
Lacson said he has personal knowledge about this issue, having been sent to reinforcement missions against the New People's Army (NPA) during his stint in the military.
“‘Yung sa akin, sinasabi ko lang, voice of concern ‘yon from someone na merong experience na... Alam mo, ako, na-ambush na ako ng NPA. Ang namatay nga ‘yung aking tinyente na batang-bata, Class , kasi nangyari ‘yon I think I was assigned in Isabela (In my case, I was only saying, it was a voice of concern from someone who already has experience in... You know, I was already ambushed by the NPA. It led to the death of my young lieutenant from Class because it happened, I think, when I was assigned in Isabela),’’ Lacson said over Radyo 5 Friday.
Lacson was referring to Lt. Rosauro Toda Jr., who died in his arms, after they were attacked by members of the NPA in Jones, Isabela where he served as provincial commander of the defunct Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command between 1988 and 1989.
The presidential aspirant has never forgotten that moment to this day, which made him an ardent supporter of government actions to end communist insurgency. He is hoping that whoever is elected as the next Commander-in-Chief would not compromise this mission to serve a political goal.
“I was looking or thinking ahead na in case 'yung partikular na kandidato nakatulong 'yung CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front) sa kanilang mobilization sa kanilang kampanya, at mauwi ito sa coalition government, saan na naman tayo dadalhin? (I was looking or thinking ahead in case a particular candidate has been working with the CPP-NPA-NDF in their mobilization for their campaigns that might lead to a coalition government. Where will we end up again)?,’ he asked.
Lacson reminded Filipinos that the government already made significant gains in its five-decade battle against the NPA, bringing its active guerrilla fronts from over 200 in the past to just 43, based on the last briefing of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“Hindi ko naman sinasabing alam ni Mrs. Robredo ‘yan. Pero kinulayan na nila, pinagbintangan ako na nag-red tag, hindi po ako nag-red tag. Sinabi ko lang na pag-aralan nating mabuti na baka mamaya mauwi sa coalition government (I did not say Mrs. Robredo knew about it. But they already put some colors behind it and accused me of red-tagging. I was not red-tagging. I was only saying study the problem carefully because we might end up under a coalition government),’’ he said.
‘’What we are only avoiding... What I just don’t want to happen...is that... Let us not allow ourselves to fall into a trap... The armed struggle...can never be justified. The armed struggle cannot be justified no matter how you look at it. Armed struggle is only trouble)," Lacson said.
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