President Duterte on Tuesday, March 29, lashed out at progressive party-list groups which he accused of acting as "legal fronts" of the communist insurgency, barely two months before the May 2022 elections.
In his Talk to the People public address aired Tuesday night, Duterte said communists have already infiltrated Congress through the party-list system.
"Totoo 'yan. Nakapasok sila sa Congress (It's true. They have already infiltrated Congress). No doubt about it. They have used the party-list," Duterte said.
The President bared the names of the party-list groups which he called legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines. These are Kabataan, Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, and Gabriela.
"Tama si Lorraine Badoy… Makita naman ninyo sa behavior nila (You can see in their behavior) and the way they espouse their advocacy—left talaga ang drift nila (really leftists)," he said, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson.
Duterte also claimed that these progressive party-list groups have been using government funds to support communist rebels.
Apart from these activist groups, Duterte likewise slammed the rich who have been using the party-list system as a backdoor to further establish themselves in Congress.
"Until the of the day, on my last day , I would continue to criticize and say something about itong mga party-list na ginagamit ng mga mayaman, lahat ng mga negosyante (these party-lists used by the rich, by all business personalities)," he assured.
Several complaints have already been filed against Badoy before the Office of the Ombudsman following her latest red-tagging of several activist groups, as well as Vice President Leni Robredo.