Makabayan bloc: Terrorist tag on CPP-NPA will lead to ‘wholesale crackdown’ on dissent

The House Makabayan Bloc on Monday slammed the decision of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) to designate the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), as terrorist organizations.

In a statement, the six-member group said the ATC's move is contrary to the goal of achieving just and lasting peace and will only result in a "wholesale crackdown" on dissent against the government.

"With the ATC's designation of the CPP-NPA as 'terrorists,' the Duterte administration now wields the Anti-Terrorism Law like a sword of Damocles over the broad array of organizations, institutions, and individuals red-tagged by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict," they said.

"To be red-tagged is to be branded as a terrorist. This is exactly the agenda of the security sector: to weaponize the law to silence opposition and dissent," they added.

The ATC on December 9 approved its Resolution No. 12 designating the CPP/NPA, as well as other groups, as terrorist organizations.

"The ATC found probable cause to designate the CPP/NPA as a terrorist group for its violent and armed activities that resulted in the destruction of properties, loss of lives, and damage to business and economy as cited in the pending proscription case and other collated reports from the security and intelligence sector," the council said.

The Makabayan lawmakers said that with the CPP/NPA's designation as terrorist groups, intensified attacks against ordinary Filipinos by the "Duterte regime" can be expected, adding that the resolution would only pave the way for "more arbitrary arrests, trumped-up charges, and brazen killings."

The move also practically closes the opportunity for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of armed conflict between the government and communist rebels, which is rooted in social injustice, they said.

"It should be made clear that designating the CPP-NPA as terrorist groups will not solve the roots of armed conflict in the country; nor will a crackdown on dissent solve the country's woes. This will just lead to more bloodshed," according to the Makabayan lawmakers.

"As long as the Duterte regime remains deaf and blind to the plight of the people and continues its militarist approach to the nation's problems, the path to a just and lasting peace can never be achieved," they added.

Despite their opposition to the ATC's decision, the Makabayan Bloc maintained that there are not members of any terrorist group nor a legal front of the CPP-NPA.

"The Makabayan Blocs shall remain at the forefront of opposition to President [Rodrigo] Duterte's tyrannical rule in behalf of favored local and foreign interests," they said.

"We denounce the crimes against humanity perpetrated in the name of his bogus war on drugs; the violence and harassment against activists and human rights defenders; the incompetent pandemic response; and the failure to address the worsening economic crisis," they added.

The CPP itself has rejected the ATC's move to designate the organization as terrorists.

Apart from Resolution No. 12, the ATC also approved another resolution designating 17 other organizations, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in South-East Asia and the Maute ISIS, as terrorist groups.

In July, Duterte signed the anti-terror bill into law despite objections from various groups, including the United Nations human rights body and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. — BM, GMA News