Ex-Pres. Duterte insists communists are terrorists despite court order

Former president Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday insisted that communists are terrorists, after a Manila court ruled junked the government's proscription case seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) terrorist groups.

"There is no need for anybody to declare them terrorists. Kasi dati na silang terorista. Dati na silang kalaban [They have long been terrorists. They have long been enemies]," Duterte said during the National Assembly of PDP-Laban which he chairs.

"You don’t need a license or a new mandate to fight them. It’s a continuing [mandate to fight the] CPP," Duterte added.

During the same event, PDP-Laban also adopted a resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to activate the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) even if the task force has already been allocated P10 billion under the proposed P5.26-trillion budget for 2023, the first proposed budget of the Marcos administration.

"There is supposed to have a program that has a continuity, even if it is out of power, or no longer the ruling party," Duterte said.

"That program stays. It is very important that it is maintained because it is the one that is most effective in going after pseudo…those pretending to be fighting for democracy, but in reality, their end game is to destroy government and install another one," he added.

In March 2021, Duterte said he befriended communists in the past to get their votes. — BM, GMA News