What's next? We'll keep exposing Makabayan bloc links with Reds, Lorenzana says

The government will continue to reveal the Makabayan bloc's supposed connection with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.

"What's next? We will... we are still thinking of what to do next because they are members of Congress and they have the legal stature to be there in Congress," Lorenzana said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

"We will keep on exposing their connection with the CPP-NPA," Lorenzana added.

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte, in his late Monday night public address, accused the progressive group as well as Bayan and Gabriela as "participants" in a grand conspiracy led by the CPP to oust the government.

He strongly identified the groups as fronts for the CPP and the National Democratic Front.

"We are identifying you as members in a grand conspiracy comprising all the legal fronts they have organized headed by NDF at Communist Party of the Philippines," Duterte said.

“The AFP is very correct. You are being identified as the members of the communist para alam namin. ‘Yon ang totoo, hindi red-tagging,” he added.

The Makabayan bloc has repeatedly denied that it has connections with communist rebels.

Its members have slammed the government and the military for their continuous "red-tagging" of activists, saying they should instead address present social issues and concerns.—AOL, GMA News