Article by:
Lade Jean Kabagani
MANILA – The League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) has raised alarm on the call for “intensified recruitment” particularly among the youth by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), during its 53rd founding anniversary on Tuesday.
LPP chairperson Remy Rosadio said there’s nothing to celebrate in “another attempt” to destruct Filipino lives, particularly the youth.
“It must not be a joyous celebration for Filipino people. This day only marks the atrocities of the communist terrorist groups for already 53 years. This day should only remind us that many of our children's lives had been sacrificed by the communists’ worthless ideologies,” Rosario said during an indignation rally in Mendiola, Manila City on Tuesday.
Members of the anti-communist groups LPP, Liga Independencia Pilipinas, and Yakap ng mga Magulang condemned the 53 years of atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its front organizations’ illegal recruitment of youth to join the armed struggle.
“Many parents still crying for the loss of their children who were deceptively recruited by the legal front of CPP-NPA-NDF headed by Joma Sison,” Rosadio said.
On its official website, the CPP-NPA said it will creatively enhance its guerilla tactics “in order to wage extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever-widening and deepening mass base.”
“As always, the key is to arouse the broad masses of the Filipino people in order for them to rise up in great numbers against the fascist tyranny. In the coming year or two, we must carry out some specific tasks to raise the fighting capacity of the NPA and the masses in order to steadily advance of the revolution,” the CPP's 20-page anniversary statement read.
The CPP said the NPA should muster its strength “militarily and politically.”
“The masses are the source of strength of the NPA. We must aim to strengthen the ties that bind the NPA and the masses. We must aim to mobilize the masses in their numbers,” it said. “There must be a clear plan to recruit thousands upon thousands of Red fighters from among the peasant masses, especially the youth.”
With this, the anti-communist groups have cautioned their fellow parents to be wary of the mass recruitment schemes of the CPP-NPA-NDF, especially engaging minors through its allied organizations to join in the armed revolution.
“We are speaking as parents of the students who were victimized by the legal front organization of the communist terrorist group and we hope to stop their atrocities and make sure they will no longer celebrate their anniversary next year,” Rosadio said.
“We want a communist-free country for the sake of our children and the next generation. Stay away from deceptive recruitment processes of the CPP-NPA-NDF and its legal fronts,” she added.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)
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