CPP members assets freeze will help stop insurgency –AFP's Arevalo

Freezing the assets of members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army will be helpful in stopping Reds' resistance against the government, the Armed Forces of the Philippine said Sunday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, AFP spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo also lauded the the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) for tagging the CPP-NPA as a terrorist group. 

“Dahil po ‘yan sa decalraiton na ‘yan, meron na pong kapangayarihan and ATC na hilingin, for example, sa Anti-Money Laundering Council na tingnan ang deposito ng mga sinasabing miyembro,” he pointed out.

“Napakalaking bagay kung puwede silipin, puwedeng i-freeze 'yung kanilang assets lalong-lalo na 'yung kanilang finances,” he added.

According to Arevalo, the CPP-NPA was using money that they earned from alleged extortion activities.

“Iniimpok nila sa bangko at kinukuha po nila ‘yan, ginagamit upang labanan ang ating pamahalaan, pinambibili ng armas,” he added.

On Saturday, the CPP snapped back at the decision of the ATC to designate the organization, as well as its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), as "terrorists."

"The designation by the ATC is a precursor for heightened fascist suppression against the broad democratic forces which are being red-baited and persecuted for fighting Duterte's tyrannical rule and schemes to perpetuate the Duterte political dynasty," said Marco Valbuena, information officer of the CPP.

"The regime is setting the stage for all-out suppression of democratic rights using 'anti-terrorism' as pretext," he added.

In response to the ATC's terrorist tag that came in time with the 52nd anniversary of the Party on December 26, CPP's founding chairman Jose Maria Sison (Joma) said that the Duterte administration won't succeed in its attempt to destroy the armed revolution.

"When the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army were still small and weak from 1968 to 1972, Marcos exaggerated their size and strength and referred to them as his pretext for imposing fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people...

"But instead, the fascist dictatorship became the biggest stimulus for the armed revolution to gain strength and spread nationwide," Sison said in a statement. —LBG, GMA News