Trillanes tells Duterte: Fire leftist Cabinet members

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to fire left-leaning members of his Cabinet.

"Now that Pres. Duterte has ordered the AFP to go after the NPA, I am  now calling on him to kick out the communist leaders in his cabinet," Trillanes said.

He said that based on his military sources, hundreds of cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) are employed in government agencies.

He said these government agencies include the Department of Social Welfare and Development headed by Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, the Department of Agrarian Reform headed by Secretary Rafael Mariano, the Department of Labor and Employement headed by Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the National Anti-Poverty Commission headed by Secretary Liza Maza and the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council.

Retired military official Eduardo del Rosario had been appointed as head of the housing agency last July 13.

"These communists are using the resources from these government offices to stockpile arms and ammunition, which they would use later on against our soldiers," Trillanes alleged.

A newspaper report quoting Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said that Duterte wants the police and military to focus on the CPP-NPA after the Marawi City conflict.

Duterte had ordered the government's peace panel to halt negotiations with the communist group after rebels attacked a convoy of the Presidential Security Group in Cotabato last week.

The President sees the attack as an attempt on his life.

Duterte and CPP founder Jose Maria Sison have been locked in a word war after the President's order to hold off talks with the communists. —ALG, GMA News