DSWD's Taguiwalo tells CA she's no longer CPP member

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo denied that she is a member of the communist movement as she faced the Commission on Appointment (CA) on Wednesday.

"No, sir. I'm a member of the Cabinet and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers," Taguiwalo told Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who asked her during the CA hearing if she was still a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF)

The social welfare secretary is one of those nominated by the CPP to President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet.

Taguiwalo was also grilled on the armed conflict between government troops and communist rebels during the CA hearing.

Lacson, former national police chief, recalled during the CA hearing how a classmate of his in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) was shot and killed by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP, back in 1987.

“And now the government is talking peace with the rebels, with the CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front)…Yung unfortunate event na nangyari sa kanila, hindi namin makalimutan…I cannot feel but protest in anger kasi wala namang kasalanan yun,” Lacson said.

He said his slain classmate was only out to purchase spare parts, but was killed on the simple mistake that he was wearing a military uniform.

Lacson then asked Taguiwalo if he was endorsed by the CPP-NPA-NDF, which the Cabinet official confirmed.

The senator then continued, saying: “Do you abhor violence as a means to show dissent against a duly-constituted authority?”

Taguiwalo replied that Lacson was asking a “tricky” question as the armed conflict can be “emotional on both sides.”

“They (communists) died not as combatants, they died because they believe in the same manner, like those who graduated from PMA and those who served the country, believe that they are fighting for the people,” Taguiwalo said.

As the Cabinet official appeared evasive to Lacson, the senator pressed on the issue, saying: “If you don’t want to answer then fine with me, I know more or less what’s on your mind if you don’t want to answer.”

Taguiwalo recalled how she, during her activist days, held a rally in front of Congress, and were “brutally dispersed.”

“I renounce that kind of violence against helpless people…I renounce violence as it is,” she said.

A-Teacher party-list Rep. Julieta Cortuna, also a member of the CA, questioned Taguiwalo on her “connection with insurgents.”

She said the fact that President Duterte nominated her to the Cabinet post is an important step in “moving forward with the [peace] process.”

Taguiwalo committed to help the Duterte administration “put an end” to armed conflict through the ongoing peace process with the CPP-NPA-NDF.

“At the end of the day, we want to serve the Filipino people and we want to see our country advance in the global world,” she said. —ALG, GMA News