Army general to Karapatan: ‘Stop spreading lies’
Brigadier General Randolph Cabangbang, commanding general of the 203rd Infantry Brigade, castigated front organization Karapatan for spreading lies surrounding the recent capture of three communist terrorists in Oriental Mindoro and for using the issue to amass money through an “alert-surface-donation-release” (ASDR) scheme.
“Mga sinungaling kayo, mga mandurugas,” Cabangbang said during a virtual press conference by the Integrated Communications Office Center (ICOC), the media bureau of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
In the same press conference, Director-designate Joel Sy Egco, ICOC head and NTF-ELCAC spokesman, also lambasted Karapatan for duping the public calling the captured rebels – Alia Encela, Peter del Monte and Job David – as “IP advocates” (Indigenous People).
“They are fake IP advocates. Hindi nga nila (3 rebels) alam na IP advocates sila, ang alam nila ay NPA (New People’s Army) sila,” Egco told the media.
This was affirmed by Cabangbang, saying that even the three were surprised when they learned Karapatan was calling them IP advocates.
Egco said Karapatan and other communist terrorist groups (CTGs) use the “ASDR” template not only to generate funds to aid terror activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing NPA, but also as a tool to recruit from the youth sector as young as junior and senior high school students and out-of-school youth (OSY) from vulnerable communities.
“The three are not aware they’re IP advocates,” said Cabangbang, even as he urged the public not to subscribe to the donation campaign of the CTGs.
He also set the record straight that the three NPA rebels were not abducted by presenting a video of the location where Encela, del Monte and David were captured in a legitimate military operation on October 3, 2023 in Sitio Malaglag, Barangay Lisap in Bongabong town.
Cabangbang emphasized the three were not abducted or a case of enforced disappearance.
“It is very impossible na lalakarin namin ng tatlong araw para lang mangidnap ng kung sinuman na wala namang nakatira diyan. If you are an IP advocate, dun ka mag-advocacy sa community ng mga Mangyan,” he said.
Encela, David and del Monte are facing a case for violation of Republic Act 8294, or illegal possession and manufacture of explosive devices, a non-bailable offense.
Also in the press conference were the parents of the captured rebels who expressed their gratitude to Cabangbang’s unit for taking care of their children.
“(It’s) an answered prayer,” said Mr. Jerome Christopher David, father of Job, in a recorded video of him played by ICOC during the conference.
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