Vice President Sara Duterte turned her ire on the New People’s Army (NPA) over the death of Sgt. Jernell Ramillano, who died during a gunfight with the armed rebels she referred to as “traitors.”
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte
In a video message on Thursday night, Dec. 21, the official condoled with the soldier’s family and slammed the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
“Taos puso nating kinikilala at binibigyan ng parangal ang katapangan, kabayanihan, at paglilingkod ni (We wholeheartedly recognize and give honor to the courage, heroism, and service of) Sgt. Jernell Ramillano,” she said.
Ramillano, according to a Facebook post of the Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), died during a clash against the NPA rebels in Balayan, Batangas last Dec. 17, 2023. Three other soldiers were wounded.
“Si Sgt. Ramillano ay isa lamang sa mga biktima ng karumal dumal na gawain ng mga teroristang CPP, NPA, at NDFP. Kabilang ang kanyang pamilya sa mga libu-libong pamilyang nawalan ng mahal sa buhay (Sgt. Ramillano was one of the victims of the heinous actions of the terrorists CPP, NPA, and NDFP. His family was among the thousands of families who lost their loved ones),” Duterte added.
The Vice President recalled what happened in her hometown of Davao City in 2018 when 1st Lt. Jaren Relota died after fighting with the NPA.
She shared that Relota’s mother asked her: “Inday Sara, ilang anak pa ba namin ang mamamatay dahil sa mga teroristang NPA (Inday Sara, how many more of our children need to die because of the terrorist NPA)?”
Duterte lamented that there would be many more like Ramillano and Relota who would continue to risk their lives with the presence of CPP, NPA, and NDFP.
“Maraming kabataan din ang hindi makakapagtapos ng pag-aaral kung hahayaan natin silang mabiktima ng mga grupong ito upang gawing armadong terorista (Many more youth will not be able to finish their studies if we will allow them to fall victims to these groups who recruit them to become armed terrorists),” she said.
“Mga kababayan, gusto kong malaman ninyo na ang tanging layunin ng CPP, NPA, at NDFP ay sirain ang pundasyon ng ating demokrasya, pabagsakin ang mga institusyon ng pamahalaan, at kaladkarin tayo sa kahirapan, kaguluhan, at kawalan ng hustisya (To my fellow Filipinos, I want you to know that the goal of the CPP, NPA, and NDFP is to destroy the foundation of our democracy, bring down government institutions, and bring us to poverty, chaos, and injustice),” Duterte, also the co-vice chair of National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), stressed.